Customer Service Follow up

Amy touched on what I had in mind in her comment to the first post. Basically I think that customer service is rooted in the wrong pursuits. People need to be treated well because they are cared about, not because they can potentially spend more money. Lets use an example: Lets say I am going to Verizon because I want a new cell phone (this was my situation about a week ago). If the customer service there were based on the employees wanting me to have the phone and service plan that is going to work best for my needs, at a price I'm comfortable with my experience would go something like this: I walk in and am greeted by a sales rep whom I tell I need a new phone and I need to sign a new contract to continue my service. At this point the rep could ask if I want anything particular in a phone, does it need certain capabilities, in what ways do I use a phone, and do I have a price range in mind. Based on what I tell him/her I would then be shown a few options with the features I had asked for and within my price range, he/she would then tell me to take a few minutes to play around with each phone and see if they seem right for me. When I was ready I could then make my selection and buy it, or I could ask to be shown some more options. Once I had made a decision the rep could then ask me if I would like to make any changes to my plan before I sign a new contract or am I happy with how it is. Being content with it I could sign for another 2 years, get the new phone activated, pay, and leave happy with the experience.
Customer service at Verizon however, is rooted in the fact that if you are too rude the customer won't buy anything so you have to be nice in order to make money off the people that walk in the store. When I went in I told the rep my needs and he looked up how much of a credit I had toward a phone, then proceeded to walk me over to the most popular and most expensive phones that would be a good upgrade from what I was using. He pointed out the features such as being able to download and play music from my phone, the easy text message capabilities, Internet exploring and what not. At this point I told him I don't need to listen to music on my phone and that I don't text message or intend to use the phone for the Internet. This is where he looked at me like I was an idiot, as if to say "who in their right mind wouldn't use all these cool capabilities, everyone should be texting and playing music on their phones, this guy must be like 30 years older than he looks or something." Then he walked me over to basically the "old" phones and said I might be looking for one of these, rather than show me any features or try to sell me on these phones he said tell me if you have questions and walked away. So I started looking at all the phones he didn't show me to compare capabilities and prices and he asked my 3 times if I had any questions. I finally picked one and then he tried to sell me on adding text messaging to my phone plan after I had just told him I don't use texting. Finally I got my plan signed and got out of the store, and my feelings were ones of "did I get the right phone" "did he screw up my plan at all" "am I going to see a big bill or something", rather than feeling good about the transaction.
All of this to say, I don't think businesses can expect to provide good customer service unless it is based on them caring about the people they are servicing. Profits will likely come as a result of that service, but those profits cannot be the motivator or truly good customer service will not be what is delivered.
I would encourage you to think about the service you receive and take mental notes on why you think it is the way it is. I believe the overall level of service in our country can improve, I just don't think its going to.