The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-05-25
WHEN SERVICE
 IS NOT SERVICE

This is an automobile story. It is written by an automobile man in the hope that automobile owners will be little more charitable, sometimes, when they expect perfection in auto mobile iestablishments--and do not find it.
 It Is q story about "Eciyres." Ecivres is 8 disease-a business dis- ease. It is service spelled backward. It is pandemic in all business lines and therefore the automobile business does not escape. When service is built backward, that business suffers from Ecivres.
 This, then, is a hotel story-to illus trate the thought. 5..s. In the middle west there is a chain of hotels. have stopped Utmost of them in the cities in which they are operated. In each guest room, in each hotel, there are several printed cards carefully set up against the mirror on the dresser. In the center is ( con sptcuous card which says something like thiss
 WE ARE HERE
 TO PLEASE YOU
 l liked that. I felt as if they ap- preciated my patronage.
 So, in the course of events and my stay there, I asked the cashier to Five me $5 bill for 50 dimes I had saved.
 Cant use that many dimes," he eruffly informed me-,
 @Id like to have. the biil,' I told him, ~and surely you will have use for the dimes D. S.tE
 Haven't got time to fool with them" s
 Then told him about the signs up stairs in my room and walked away.
 That illustrates ECIVRES-sefvfc built backward. The management should have SOLD that cashier on the signs BEFORE it displayed them to the guests. The lack of accom-. mediation on the part of the cashier was emphasized in my mind because I had read the signs-and they LIED to me.
 The next day I stepped up to the cigar counter and asked for a dimes worth of stamps.
 ''Just out of stamps" the clerk told me. Have some in about an hour" In an hour I was back. I wanted forty cents worth by that time.
 Cant sell you that many"
 "Why not?" asked. "What is the limit you place on guestP'
 ''If you want that many stamps" I was informed, Ego to the post office and get them. Selling stamps is just an accommodation anyway"
 "Oh, no, it isn't" I said. 'It is a arf nf avatxy hokaIga .,a-.,..- you don't know who am, do you? ?"
 For a moment the clerk thought he was in bad. He looked at me won deringly. Perhaps I was the president of the company or something like that.
 "I am the customer" I told him. T am the fellow who keeps you back of that counter. I am the guy who read a sign upstairs which said that this hotel wants to please me-"
 That hotel had a particularly bad case of Ecivres. The remedy was at hand but unapplied. The remedy con sisted of the injection of a little UNI OUTSTANDING into the systems of those with whom the sign readers ac- tually came into contact-the custo- mers.
 firmly believe that the automobile business has less of the disease than any other line. I never yet saw. an automobile merchant who would not quickly right a wrong-or "call down" an employe for disc0urtesy. I have never yet been actually insulted in an automobile establishment. Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone" said the great Teacher. "
 Copyright, 1924, by Percy Chamber
 lain.)
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