ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Remember when customer service actually meant someone served the customer?
Somewhere between the 1980s and 2026, we became the cashier, the bagger, the travel agent, the tech-support department, and apparently the unpaid employee of every business we visit.
Welcome to Episode 150 of Dancing With Ourselves: A Totally RAD 80's Podcast!
Jimmy, Jeremy, Josh, and Kane are back for a hilarious, unfiltered Gen X conversation about the disappearing art of customer service.
It all starts when Jimmy walks into a McDonald's and discovers a sea of ordering kiosks, no traditional ordering counter, and an older woman struggling to place her order. Who steps in to help her? Another CUSTOMER.
Wait… do we work here now?
From the personal service of the 1970s and 1980s to today's automated everything, the guys explore how businesses are changing the customer experience—and who is actually benefiting.
In this episode:
- McDonald's ordering kiosks, missing cashiers, and Josh's disastrous table-number experience.
- Self-checkout, mobile apps, automated systems, and whether customers ever see the savings.
- Why customer service used to mean something different.
- The difference between helpful employees and companies that promise more than they deliver.
- Kane's firsthand perspective on retail operations, customer expectations, and employee accountability.
- Jeremy's experiences with frustrating business services and surprisingly helpful government offices.
- Automated tech support, phone trees, and the frustration of trying to reach a real human being.
- Technology, artificial intelligence, and the gradual disappearance of everyday human interaction.
- Gen X memories, service horror stories, road-trip adventures, and more.
And just when everyone thinks the madness is over, Jimmy unleashes October 20 Gen X trivia, featuring historical stumpers from 1980–1990 and a redemption round that may not be quite as easy as advertised.
Is modern customer service really getting worse? Or have our expectations—and our willingness to do everything ourselves—changed?
EPISODE CHAPTERS
00:00 — Opening Banter, Family Life & Pigeon Forge Adventures
08:10 — What Does Good Customer Service Look Like?
11:03 — McDonald's Kiosks: Where Did the Employees Go?
15:06 — Whatever Happened to "The Customer Is Always Right"?
19:37 — Bad Service, Marketing Failures & Broken Promises
24:54 — Dunkin' Donuts, Ordering Apps & Kiosk Frustration
26:38 — Josh's McDonald's Table-Number Disaster
28:00 — Good vs. Bad Service and Customer Expectations
32:37 — Plumbers, Repairs & Service Calls Gone Sideways
36:52 — The Nightmare of 1-800 Technical Support
45:18 — Are Companies Making Customers Do the Work?
48:07 — Automation, Car Parts & Confusing Technology
51:19 — Government Services: Can the DMV Get It Right?
54:29 — Retro Current Show & Jeremy's Amusement-Park Book
1:00:07 — Remembering Human Customer Service
1:02:08 — Phone Etiquette, Texting & Changing Generations
1:06:29 — Customer Attitudes, Employees & Human Interaction
1:11:31 — October 20 Gen X Trivia: The Hard Stumpers
1:40:28 — The Redemption Round!
1:44:41 — Final Debate: Customer Satisfaction & Survey Scores
1:50:56 — Auditory Ecstasy Outro: "The Dirty Work"
FEATURED OUTRO MUSIC — AUDITORY ECSTASY
🎵 "The Dirty Work" — Auditory Ecstasy
A gritty, swagger-filled celebration of the people who roll up their sleeves and keep things running.
The perfect musical send-off for an episode asking who is really doing all the work.
🎧 Stream "The Dirty Work":
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/auditoryecstasy/the-dirty-work
🎬 Explore Auditory Ecstasy music videos on the official VEVO channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@AuditoryEcstasyVEVO
🎬 Auditory Ecstasy on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@auditoryecstasy
Music produced by Auditory Ecstasy / Eagle Bradley Productions LLC.
MORE FROM THE DWO FAMILY
📺 Retro Current Show — Gen X music, nostalgia, and retro entertainment.
https://www.youtube.com/@RetroCurrentShow
🎙️ Dancing With Ourselves:
https://dancingwithourselves.buzzsprout.com/
JOIN THE CONVERSATION
Do you prefer self-checkout or a real cashier?
And if you're scanning your own groceries, bagging your own purchases, troubleshooting their app, and filling out their customer-service survey…
Shouldn't you at least get an employee discount?
Gen X memories. 1980s nostalgia. Four friends. Zero filters.
Dancing With Ourselves — A Totally RAD 80's Podcast!
Explicit language and adult humor.
#GenX #DancingWithOurselves #CustomerService #SelfCheckout #80sNostalgia #AuditoryEcstasy
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