Providing customer service....is it a foreign concept???

I believe that all people are looking for in this day and age and in these times is just some good old basic customer service and some basic niceness. Virtues that seem to have taken a back burner to rudeness, insincerity and just plan old non-caring. What has happened? Is niceness and caring something that is just archaic and old fashioned. Is it just "not hip" any more to be nice or to want to do a good job? Have people skills disappeared with the advent of text messaging, email and telephone answering machines?

We have certainly started to use technology and non-personal contact to help us with scams. Take for instance my old friend Bank of America. In the September issue of the AARP bulletin a story is written by Sid Kirchheimer. Mr. Kircheimer relays a story about a 98 year woman from California who neither drives or owns a car. Yet Bank of America was deducting $18.95 a month from her checking account for Bank of America Auto Insurance, that was never ordered. This makes total sense since the 98 year old lady doesn't even drive or more importantly own a car! The woman's 78 year old daughter discovered that this money had been deducted over an unspecified period of time when she went to take care of her mother after she had suffered a fall. The daughter called Bank of America customer service and even went in to 2 branches and throughout all of those interactions not one person did anything about it. the daughter was finally told that the insurance money was being deducted due to the fact that it had not been cancelled during the initial 30 day period. The daughter said "but how can you cancel something you never ordered?" A policy was never received and a bank account number was never provided.
Now to continue this story you have to let go of all sense of reason. Apparently Bank of America, yes good old Bank Of America, the people who are constantly teaching us about how not to provide customer satisfaction or care about their clients can send an offer to your house for life insurance, car insurance whatever and if you do not specifically say that you do not want it. IT"S YOURS!!!!!! Yay, doesn't that just make you all secure and happy. I know I feel much happier and more secure about all of my Bank of America accounts! I may find out one day that since I didn't cancel the offer for insurance for a house in Zimbabwe I am actually insuring a house I do not actually own, wow. that is certainly going to help me sleep a lot better at night!
Of course after much dialogue and lack of customer service the charges were eventually refunded to the 98 year woman. But what if her daughter hadn't come? What if nobody ever noticed? Why couldn't it just be handled immediately? More importantly, why can't people just be nice!