A day after completing the online application process, I was called in to interview.

I asked who would be interviewing me, and she told me that she and her supervisor would be interviewing me.

I asked for names and titles, and she sounded annoyed and curtly told me to just show up the next day at 2:00.

I got there at 1:48.

At 2:39 she came to summon me.

About ten minutes later, while she was reviewing the information printout with me regarding my availability, an employee with very dirty gym shoes and tattered khakis entered the room.

He was unshaven.

I assumed he was there to ask for her assistance.

He sat down and then walked up to me to shake my hand.

I usually would respond with my name and a "nice to meet you."

In this case, I had no idea what he was doing, so I made the mistake of simply saying nothing.

He rolled his eyes at me and asked, "Have a name?"

He took over the interview.

It seemed to go well after that point, until the last question.

He asked me what I thought good customer service was.

I made the second deadly mistake of saying being a good listener.

He exited the room without saying a word.

She told me that she would contact me tomorrow.

I knew that meant, "Sorry for you."

He never introduced himself to me, and all I kept thinking was how unprofessional he was the entire time.

I've been out of the workforce for seven years now as a stay-at-home mother, and it was my first interview in my attempts to re-enter the workforce.

I have been a loyal Costco customer for many years, and still am.

I think the correct answer he was looking for was "get them in and out, and who gives a whit about their satisfaction. Just get them out of the huge line as fast as you can."

I should have told him speed and accuracy was the height of customer satisfaction, but that would be lying.

How do you define excellent customer service?