CSotD: Notice: This blog posting may include Loose Parts
Skip to comments
I love disclaimers.
I love the lawyer-directed disclaimers, like the one on the Q-Tips box that warns you not to stick the Q-Tip in your ear. Obviously, they don't want to get sued if you puncture your ear drum with their product, but, really, what would happen to sales of Q-Tips if everybody heeded that warning?
And the "Don't look at me" disclaimers, like the warning in the store parking lot that tells you they won't be responsible if someone whacks your car with a grocery cart. I think a smart lawyer could get around that disclaimer pretty readily, but I also realize that smart lawyers chase vehicles with a little more heft than your average shopping cart.
Having put in my time at the grill, I'm in some sympathy with the "It's not our fault that you're an idiot" menu disclaimer that disclaims responsibility for steaks ordered well done. I don't like my steaks well done, but, back when I was in the groove, I could grill a well-done steak that I'd be willing to stand behind, assuming the person who ordered it could recognize a properly grilled well-done steak. But that's assuming an awful lot, against a great deal of contrary evidence.
Where I worked, we didn't have an idiot disclaimer. We simply assumed the customers didn't know what the hell they were talking about and, when they ordered their steaks well-done, we'd give them medium-well on the theory that, if one ever came back, we could toss it on the grill for a few more minutes. I don't recall ever having to do that. Here's a disclaimer: I'm not responsible if you eat in a place that has to warn you about the cook's lack of insight.
But what Dave Blazek is riffing on in today's "Loose Parts" is the "So what?" disclaimer. Yeah, we ruined your jacket. So what?
There''s an element of "Your call is very important to us" in this. If my call were that important, you'd be staffed up to a level where people might sometimes have to be put on hold, but not so consistently that you'd need a recording telling them how important they are.
It's one thing to have a disclaimer at an automatic car wash, warning people that the machine is apt to take off their bike racks, because there's no attendant there to let them know. Fair enough.
But, at a dry cleaners, where you've got someone at the counter physically counting each item of clothing, shouldn't that person be trained to spot the pieces that might not respond well to dry-cleaning?
Yeah, yeah. I don't know what I was thinking either.
Comments
Comments are closed.