In this economy you’d think that anyone with a client or customer would bend over backwards to keep them. I had an experience lately that make me think that the message just isn’t sinking in. Or maybe these folks have so much work that they don’t see the need to focus on customer service.

The first case involves my father, who recently moved to an independent senior living center in Manhattan. On March 3 he wanted to change his meal plan for the month and was told that he had to wait until April because the month had started.

It took me two phone calls that day to convince them that they could — and should — make an exception if for no other reason than he is on a three-month satisfaction guaranteed lease agreement. Once they saw the explicit relationship between the meal plan and potentially losing a resident all was fixed but their knee-jerk reaction was no, it’s too much trouble.