Thursday, October 21, 2010

Thoughts on diction

I just saw a sign at a bank that said "Servicing Austin for over 14 years!"

I guess that's technically correct, but I would have gone with "serving Austin" myself. I don't really want to think about my bank "servicing" me. Maybe my mind is in the gutter, but the wording made me immediately think of things I don't want my bank doing to me. [I encourage banking-related puns in the comments.]

The wording on the sign reminded me of a customer service promotion at the grocery store that drove me absolutely bonkers:
Managers: We want you to provide OUTRAGEOUS customer service!"
Jane: Really. Outrageous. You're sure about that?
Managers: Absolutely! We want our customers to TALK about the service they get here.
Jane: Um, I think customers not talking about us at all would be better than having them call our customer service "outrageous."
Managers: Silly girl.
Jane: Oh whatever.
As tempted as I was to actually provide "outrageous" customer service, I was too much of a chicken. Oh well.

P.S. On a tangentially related note, is 14 years really a long time? Am I just getting old?

4 comments:

Elle said...

I'm now very curious to know what 'outrageous' customer service generally entails! Hehehe. >.<

Kim said...

14 years is a long time. You are getting old. But we all are. :)

Maybe they meant to say "outstanding" and slipped up to say "outrageous." I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt. I have no idea why.

angelasw said...

a bank that can service for 14 years probably has a very satisfied, exhausted ATM, if you catch my drift ;)

Anonymous said...

I'm always the only idiot that starts laughing when someone says something supposedly innocent that actually turns out to be a little raunchy. Awk. Ward.

Also, my bank has been servicing me for years. Only not in a way that benefits me. Bastards.