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jrc1963 posted 6/11/2013 10:19 AM

Where did it go?

Went to a local hardware store (not a big chain place) to have my BBQ Grill's propane tank filled... (We don't do that exchange thing because it's a rip off) I went in and told the guy I needed my tank refilled. He said someone would be right out.

Waited

Waited

Waited

No one came... I went back in to the store... old fart says "Oh, I forgot you were there."

I went back outside, got into my car and drove off...

Went to another location and got instant service - that was good.

Went to Dunkin' Donuts to get some coffee and breakfast...

Waited in drive thru line... get to box. Girl's voice... "How can I help you" or whatever she said. I ordered a combo deal comes w/ coffee.

She says "Do you want coffee or anything to drink"

I say, "Doesn't that come with the combo?"

I swear... the rest of the conversation got worse.

I think she spit in my coffee.

Whatever happened to good customer service???

Deeply Scared posted 6/11/2013 10:39 AM

jrc...

Customer service is a thing of the past, just like good manners are. It's really sad, isn't it?

I just make sure I show being thoughtful to others. I still hold the door open for someone, smile at people in line and overall just be nice to people. It makes me feel good and hopefully others as well

Amazonia posted 6/11/2013 10:43 AM

I saw this topic from the front page and thought, "I bet Treasures posted that!"

You have much worse customer service down in Florida than I see here! Maybe you need to move.

jrc1963 posted 6/11/2013 10:56 AM

Ama! That's funny! Where should I move to? What I really need is a WayBack machine so I can go back to when good customer service exsisted!

DS- I am like you... I won't succomb to being a jerk like the others... I still use good manners and hold doors and smile. Maybe I'm a good example for my kid and my students!

simplydevastated posted 6/11/2013 10:58 AM

When I held a management job in customer service NO ONE wanted to screw up when I was there. NO. ONE. That is my biggest pet peeve, treat people they way you want to be treated. If they don't like the job, quit, I can always find someone else.

My husband used to laugh at me (not in a bad way) and say that I was the Gordon Ramsey of the retail world

I also always make sure I notify a manager when I receive excellent service as well as bad. I called our recycling company because the guy running my street brought up my recycle bins to me when I had a sprained wrist. I also told the manager of a restaurant of the excellent service we received from our waiter. He treated my kids like they were people and they had a great time

karmahappens posted 6/11/2013 11:01 AM

I went to the gas station the other day, made my purchase and waited with my hand out for my change as the 2 girls stood behind the counter carrying on a conversation....I finally had to say "excuse me, can I have my change"

DUH

Drives me crazy!!!!

But make sure you tip!!

jrc1963 posted 6/11/2013 11:15 AM

I alwayss tip well the people who provide good service. We always ask for specific servers when we go to restaurants. I even tip when I do carry-out from places I go frequently.

But I generally only return to places where I got good service to begin with!

I also tell the managers when I get good service or bad... But more for good.

Usually with bad service I figure the manager already doesn't care or I would've gotten good service to begin with. Kwim?

Undefinabl3 posted 6/11/2013 11:24 AM

I have worked in the CS pretty much all my working life, and i can not stand it when I get someone that is horrible at CS.

I pretty much tell them that they suck, that I am sure they are only doing it for the money, but they need to suck it up buttercup (actually said that to a person) and do your job right.

Comcast got my best rant and I sure wish I would have recorded it.

authenticnow posted 6/11/2013 11:49 AM

I work at a chain pharmacy and we strive for excellent customer service. We love our customers and I'd say 99% of them leave smiling. If we get a negative response from the customer service survey, the store gets fined. That never happens.

On the other hand, we have many customers who come up to the counter and talk on their cell phones and act like the cashier is invisible. THAT is my biggest customer pet peeve. Get off your damn phone! Acknowledge my existence for 5 minutes! So rude!

tushnurse posted 6/11/2013 11:59 AM

IT is GONE.....

I was super nice the other day at a big name pharmacy while picking up a few necessities, I swear the kid behind the counter thought I was being a smarta**. So then I told him if he tries his J-O-B could be F-U-N sometimes. He responded Yah, right.

Makes me crazy.

Fireball72 posted 6/11/2013 12:45 PM

Sorry, but as usual, I’m going to be the fly in the ointment.

I have worked, in various fields, in customer service for over 15 years; every job I have had, honestly, has customer service components. I am convinced that unless you’ve worked either in retail or in food service (both EXTREMELY difficult jobs), you really don’t know what these people go through on a daily basis.

I used to work at a returns desk for a rather large (now out of business) computer store. You would not believe what I went through in that seven years:

- I’ve had a stapler thrown at my head. Why? Because the customer didn’t have a receipt to return their item. By the way, it SAID the receipt was required.

- I’ve been called seven different kinds of a bitch in seven different ways, of course. Once I was cursed out for 20 minutes because a customer wanted 2 cents – that’s right, TWO CENTS – back on his American Express card. Which I was in the middle of processing.

- I was once referred to as a “peon”. Excuse me? This “peon” is in charge of making sure you get your money back – I’d be nicer if I were you.

- Often, a smile and a cheery “hello!” net me – zilch. Zero. Nothing. One guy actually threw his items across the desk and growled at me to “hurry the hell up”. Well, good morning to you, too, jerk.

Do we follow through on any of the thoughts we’re having? Of course not. We smile, grit our teeth, and keep going even though all we really want to do is give you a good dose of what-for, which you very likely deserve. It’s afterwards that we’d go home and drink. And talk about you.

There are customers (undoubtedly like yourselves!) that were very nice, indeed, and those were the people we looked forward to the most. I had one lady come in every week, stop at the desk, and say hello even though she didn’t end up buying anything – the point was, she stopped to talk to me and made me feel just a little more human than usual.
I had one guy come in and leave me a fifty dollar tip. No kidding. Since when do you tip the counter girl at the returns counter?

My point is, it’s not always easy on the other side of the desk. If you go somewhere and they’re rude to you, ignore you, etc. – they may not be doing it on purpose. They may just be trying to help someone else at that particular moment, or just finished dealing with a person that’s given them a very rough time, etc. You just don’t know what’s going on in their lives.

Sure, if it’s blatant, go to the manager – I’m not saying that there isn’t a time to do that, absolutely there is. I’m as much a stickler for good service as anyone. But I do try to give them the benefit of the doubt – because I’ve BEEN there.

travels posted 6/11/2013 12:58 PM

I often say the world would be a kinder, more patient, and a more gentle place is everyone was required to work retail for a year and be a waitress for a year.

jennie160 posted 6/11/2013 13:00 PM

I am convinced that unless you’ve worked either in retail or in food service (both EXTREMELY difficult jobs), you really don’t know what these people go through on a daily basis.

This^^^ I worked retail for over 6 years and can't even tell you all the names I was called and how less than human I was treated. I even had my life threatened a few times.

Also keep in mind most of these people work for minimum wage (your meal probably cost more than they make in an hour), they don't get very good benefits and they're expected to work shitty shifts.

[This message edited by jennie160 at 1:01 PM, June 11th (Tuesday)]

jrc1963 posted 6/11/2013 13:31 PM

I am convinced that unless you’ve worked either in retail or in food service (both EXTREMELY difficult jobs), you really don’t know what these people go through on a daily basis.

I worked in a major department store chain for 10 years and 6 of those years was behind the Customer Service Desk.

I worked two separate customer service phone jobs in my life.

I am not unaware of what people go thru in the customer service industry.

I also know that it's not freaking rocket science to know your companies menu or to remember you have a customer waiting for service, especially when you have no other customers in your store.

And for the record, I was a trainer at my store because of my skill at providing good customer service.

Which is probably why I'm less than tolerant of crappy customer service now.

[This message edited by jrc1963 at 1:33 PM, June 11th (Tuesday)]

Deeply Scared posted 6/11/2013 13:51 PM

Try working for the cable company in the repair department I spent the better portion of 10 years getting yelled at by irate customer, but I also talked to alot of famous people too

For me, it's so much easier to say something nice and to be nice...it takes way too much energy working on being rude and angry at the wrong people.

Fireball72 posted 6/11/2013 14:38 PM

Try working for the cable company in the repair department

I bet THAT was a laugh a minute!

I often say the world would be a kinder, more patient, and a more gentle place is everyone was required to work retail for a year and be a waitress for a year.

I completely agree. When I go out to eat (very rare these days mainly because of limited finances), I make sure that the server gets a very generous tip (unless the service was SO incredibly bad that it was beyond comprehension - that's only happened ONCE to me, though) because... well, 2.13 an hour isn't enough to live on. I find it SHAMEFUL that restaurant servers are apparently exempt from earning a living wage like the rest of us. If they were paid decently, we wouldn't HAVE to tip...

...but that's another rant and not germane to THIS subject, heh.

The point of the original post isn't lost on me - I agree for the most part that customer service skills are declining at a rapid pace, and I'm in agreement that a lot of it has to do with cell phones. I just recently had a situation where I was waiting for acknowledgement for over 15 minutes because the other person was too busy texting away on their phone. Now that IS bad service, and that is definitely something that warrants a manager's involvement.

I just felt it necessary to point out that not all servers (restaurant, retail or otherwise) are ignorant of the concept of quality service, and oversights aren't always intentional. Anyone that has worked in service-oriented positions knows that, every now and then, you're going to have a bad day. They also know that it's not right to take it out on the customer - that is, if they're good at their job (which I certainly was, and still am). However, I do NOT subscribe to the old adage that "the customer is always right", because I've seen enough to know that this is most definitely NOT true. There are occasions where the customer is BEYOND the seventh level of wrong.

I always got a minor form of revenge, though - I would always wish them a nice day, with a big smile. If they were obviously ticked off, a lot of times it got them even more P.O.'d. But what are you going to do - complain to the manager that their employee wished them a nice day?

Deeply Scared posted 6/11/2013 14:46 PM

I agree Fireball

I served buckets of beers for 3 years at night in our local pool hall/bar. I was lucky, rarely did I have a shitty customer...most were great people that came in with good attitudes wanting to hang out, drink beer and have fun with their friends.

WHen MH and I go out, whether it's a fancy place or just the local hang out with our friends...we always tip generously. Even if the service sucks, MH will still do a 15% tip so the server is at least getting a decent tip to help her/him. I will usually talk to the server privately to let them know why they're not getting a more generous tip. I don't do it to be rude and I certainly don't do it in a manner to humiliate them...more of an FYI type message in hopes that it will help them in the future to want to do better

I've been in customer service way too long to ever talk down to another CSR

Dark Inertia posted 6/11/2013 21:05 PM

Try working for the cable company in the repair department

Last month I left my job working in tech support for a major cable/internet/phone service provider. One of the greatest days of my life. People are quick to blame the company. Do you know how many calls I got that went like this:

"My router is down in the basement in the closet, I am on the opposite end of the house on the fourth floor, and my wireless is sloooow. Why is my wireless sooo slooow? Your company sucks, you people suck! I want to go back to Comcast!!!"

I do not agree with the motto that the customer is always right, in fact it has been abused. More often than not they are wrong, and I think demanding people who get upset for the tiniest infractions do the rest of the population a disservice because putting up with the nitpicking gets old real quick and wears people down.

Also, while I agree with waiting on gas was poor customer service, I do not think the thing about the girl asking if you want a drink was something to pick over. You don't know what was going on behind the fry line. You don't know how experienced that girl is at her job. You don't know what is going on with her life. What you do seem to know is that you made her day harder by picking an argument over whether or not a combo comes with a drink.

[This message edited by Dark Inertia at 9:10 PM, June 11th (Tuesday)]

Unagie posted 6/11/2013 22:48 PM

I worked CS for 5 years. 3 years as a teller and 2 years as a customer service rep for the bank. After I started working customer service I was super nice to anyone in service jobs. I can't tell you how many times I got yelled at, cursed out, I had a woman tell me she'd be waiting for me to get out to beat me up, and I had a man threaten to shoot both me and my manager. We called the cops on that last one. I got all this by following the rules and the script that we were given. Good customer service is not difficult to give but it is difficult to be customer service because normally you are the front line face of the company you are working for. That being the case you are the representative of everything they love and hate about the company and they will take it all out on you. I snapped once and only once telling a customer to step away from my window and reversing his transaction while walking away. It was either that or enter a screaming match.

JRC the guy for the gas was an ass who gave had customer service. The Dunkin Donuts girl meh, I've been asked redundant questions before.

ETA: I also worked over a year in retail where I had a woman throw change at me and 2 years in academic peer counseling for my college where I had a guy flip my desk because I told him he flunked out. Oh and don't forget my lovely stint as a cafe cashier....

[This message edited by Unagie at 10:58 PM, June 11th (Tuesday)]

StrongerOne posted 6/11/2013 22:58 PM

I worked as a waitress for several years, and did food service while I was in college. Very hard jobs, many customers will treat you badly.

No excuse for crappy service. It was my JOB to be pleasant. It was my JOB to be helpful. It was my JOB to treat people respectfully, even if they were disrespectful idiots.

Don't like it? Get a different job. Can't get a different job? Suck it up and do your job.

BTW, bad service deserves a letter to the owner of the shop or the regional manager of the chain. With names, dates, specifics...

[This message edited by StrongerOne at 10:59 PM, June 11th (Tuesday)]