I'm watching Customer (Dis)Service on CNBC. I highly recommend it for anyone who works in a customer service position.

Speaking of Customer Service, I had a very weird experience the other day with Animas: the makers of my daughter's insulin pump. I called about our supply order: she was running out of supplies and I needed to get some in the house ASAP. I called on Monday and paid the previous bill, then I was transferred to Customer Service to get the shipment sent second day air. We needed the order in house by Wednesday.

I looked at our order on Tuesday: no UPS tracking number had been assigned. I called back and was assured that I would receive my order on Wednesday. She verified that it had not shipped, but told me it would ship second day air for delivery Wednesday.

Blink. What? I explained to her that if it was shipping second day air, that would place the order getting to me on Thursday, not Wednesday. She insisted that it was shipping with my requested delivery method for delivery Wednesday. I told her that I work with UPS all the time, and I know to get it to me the next day that they would have to ship it overnight. Then she said the one thing that set me off.

"I'm just reading what it says on the screen."

My response: "Forget what's on the screen and just think logically for a minute, okay?" After explaining once again why a second day air package would not get to me on Wednesday because it takes two days to ship. and Wednesday is only one day away from Tuesday, and the package had not shipped yet, she once again insisted I would receive the shipment second day air on Wednesday. I said, "We'll see," and ended the call.

By the way, I did get the shipment on Wednesday. UPS Next Day Air Saver. *sigh* At least I got it, right? True. But it does prove a point: there are so many times in customer service where we have to go away from the script or whatever is in front of us, think logically, and take care of the customer. I did not walk away from that call feeling like I had a good experience. I did not feel listened to. I did not know how the problem was going to be corrected. It made me more aware of my own listening skills and helped me in my own customer service interactions. But I wonder how many more companies just read what's on the screen and hope it's enough.