Total quality service is more important today than it was ten years ago. Quality is a key factor in customer satisfaction and service is expected. In the past quality service may have been an afterthought to some companies, now it is essential to remain a competitive and successful business. Satisfied customers are the driving force that keeps a company in business. In my own experiences, when I have received poor service from a particular restaurant, store, service or company I tend to avoid giving my business to them.
Companies that provide a poor quality of service should remember that they need me as a customer more than I need them. Often times I have interacted with people who work in the food service industry who seem to have a problem with their job so they take it out on their customers. It is that attitude that will cause customers to go elsewhere. I would have to say that is a pet peeve of mine. This person chose this job, knew that the job entailed them to provide service to people all the time, but for some reason they have a problem doing it. That's your job! If you don't like people, you should probably find a job where you don't have to interact with them constantly.
I found the following on the internet as an excerpt from the Harvard Business Review; I think it sums up an excellent attitude of total quality service. "A discovery by Xerox shattered conventional wisdom: Its totally satisfied customers were six times more likely to repurchase Xerox products than its satisfied customers. The implications were profound: Merely satisfying customers who have the freedom to make choices is not enough to keep them loyal. The only truly loyal customers are totally satisfied