Now that I am no longer employed by a new car dealership, I recently was forced to find a facility to service my vehicles and buy parts.  My first stop was to a newly renovated, state of the art dealership located on a familar "AutoMile".  As I drove on to the lot, "Customer Parking" was clearly marked and directed me to the side of the lot closest to the service drive.  On this visit, I was going to order a part for a Corvette, so I needed to park and enter the building; however, the customer parking area was full and I could not really find another open area.  When I did pull into what looked like a space, a gentleman, who may have served as lot attendant yelled to me that I could not park there!  After I did find a spot in front of the dealership, I entered the dealership where I found lots of people walking around with stern frowns on their faces.  I proceeded towards "reception" and found myself standing in front of a young lady engaged in a phone conversation, rolling her eyes and holding the phone away from her ear, (she was not pleased by the conversation to say the least).  An older woman walked out to her with what looked like an employee time report, and started questioning when she had arrived and taken her breaks...(All while I stood there waiting for direction).  A young bouncy man then walked around the corner and asked me if anyone was helping me, and when I said no, he asked me if I needed a salesperson.  I told him I was looking for the retail parts counter, and he then pointed me to the rear of the building...(duh...I knew it would be there, but wanted to follow this experience through).  I then walked in the direction he pointed me in, and found the retail parts counter with nobody there working!!! Finally, a man walked forward, but didn't even look at me, just picked up the phone and responded to the customer he had already been speaking to.  I again began my quest to wait... looked around at a beautiful accessory showcase, a clean, neatly organized spacious parts department, adjoining a busy service facility with brand new equipment, floor you could eat off of, and a sign pointing to the customer lounge.  I peeked around the corner to find a cafe, work stations with wi-fi, comfortable seats, big screen TV, play station for the kids, and every luxury you could ask for...Wow!  They must have spent plenty of dough on this upgrade, I thought...checking to see if it was designed according to factory specs and code.  I then walked back to the parts counter, to find three people now behind the counter, but all on the phone!  One woman glanced at me and I did notice the edges of her lips curl a bit in a slight attempt to smile...I smiled back...Finally, she finished her call, and offered her assistance.  I knew it would be a special order, and because of all the negative signs I had read posted around the counter, "No return on electrical parts, No return on parts special ordered, 100% deposit on Special Order Parts, etc..." I knew I would pay for the part up front, but this was pointed out to me again verbally, in a very negative fashion.  As I walked away from that experience, I mentally revisited my visit and thought of how unhappy the entire team seemed to be, and how this was conveyed to the client (me) and probably the majority of folks who would visit that day.  The old saying, "money doesn't buy happiness", came immediately to mind.  I personally would have forfeited all the luxuries and state of the art design for a mere smile, and a friendlier approach...I guess all the complimentary coffee, tea, and Wi-Fi could not replace good old-fashioned Customer Service!