'customer experience' isn't in the Omani vocabulary

Alright.

Imagine with me; you're standing in a line and have been waiting for a long time to make an order/complaint at some place and all of a sudden, someone cuts in at the very top and totally ignores the fact that you are already there. What do you do?

This has happened to me many times here in Oman.

It's happened at Al Shatti Plaza, Starbucks, Nawras, OmanTel, Oman Mobile, Pizza Hut. You get the idea of it happening to me almost everywhere I have ever been. And what really makes my blood boil, is that these people get to do this kind of rude and inconsiderate behavior because of two reason; one of them being that we let them get away with it; and two being that they get away with it also because they happen to know Sulaiman or Mohammed or Abdullah or Khalid who is the man behind the counter at the place you're standing in line in front of.

I had decided, a long time back, to take matters into my own two hands and give every person who does such an act, a piece of my mind.

So what happened?

Here's what happened; one time I was standing in a very long line waiting for my turn to grab such snacks at Al Shatti Plaza and when it was my turn (after a very long wait), a woman cuts in from the other side and makes an order, I give her one of those angry looks, and the person behind the counter just continues with her order as if I didn't exist. I turned to him and shouted at him, right there and then telling him off that he had served someone who was not waiting in line while I certainly was. The man repeatedly apologized but I wouldn't take it. And the woman tried to apologize but I never replied to her either.

There is just no concept of customer experience in Oman, as long as they make the dough needed to profit, they think they're alright. Which is shame, since this means they should know that there are plenty of fish in the sea. I could have gone and bought several DVDs and watched them all at home and dragged my friends to see them with me just to make sure they got the message right.

Businesses and governmental offices and officers should consider these things when offering a service or a product to the public. As this determines the successfulness of an idea or a project that is launched.