I posted this conversation on the "Texas and Ike" thread. To my mind, it's an example of customer service gone far, far wrong:
The property management company actually hung up on me when I tried to report the fire alarm in conjunction with the gas leak:
"Yes, I reported the gas leak yesterday. No, they did not send anyone. No, there is no management here. Yes, the fire department is on the way. Can you let someone know what is going on here?"
"I left a message on the office answering service."
"No, not a message, a person. Tell your supervisor what's going on."
"I TOLD you I left a message..."
"Can I speak to your supervisor?"
(Snort, followed by a click).
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I have to say that this post by the same author was equally as interesting, only from the other point of view.
BWHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Thats why I very rarely eat out and almost always cook at home.
Having worked over ten years serving the public, I have found that the rudest customers are often those who have never really worked serving customers (either in retail or restauraunts), or never worked at all.
I go to stores and restauraunts. I sometimes have complaints. THERE IS A CIVILIZED WAY TO COMMUNICATE YOUR INSATISFACTION WITH THE EMPLOYEE BEFORE YOU. The goal is to get the problem fixed, no? Folks who just start sceaming, and go in a tantrum should simply be expelled by the staff. Stores and restauraunts DON'T NEED these kind of customers in their establishments, as they usually end up costing more than they're paying.
Ultradan
First two, I agree with. Sorry you haven't enjoyed sushi (meaning raw fish).
I can't bring myself to actually try it. Animal bits should be cooked before eating. But a local sushi place (my friends order sushi, I get hibachi rice) serves tempura sushi as a side dish with some of their entrees (including the hibachi rice. :-)). That stuff is good.
Here's my policy:
Never be rude to people in the service industry, ever, no matter what - even if something goes wrong. They bring you the wrong order? I'll usually eat it, point it out to the server but not ask for a refund, and make a note of it. Food takes a long time to get there? They're probably understaffed. I never ever EVER ask for a refund, send stuff back, etc.
The flip side of this is: If the service people are outright rude to me, they get a strike in my book, and when you get three strikes - you are out. It doesn't matter what the establishment is. Three strikes and I'm not coming back, and if it is because of one particular staff member then I will take the time to tell the manager that I love their establishment, but that one particular member of the staff has driven me away, and there's nothing they can do to get my business back.
What is rude enough for me to get pissed? It is never bad service. It is usually a person going out of their way to be rude for no discernible reason.
Examples: When you go to a bar and a server ridicules you. I've had servers make fun of the fact that I was wearing a tie for a night on the town. Check mark. I've had servers respond to the statement: "It's a little quiet here tonight." with "Everyone probably knew you were coming here." Check mark. I've had people tell me I couldn't order something (on their menu!) because it would take too long to make, when there was no one else in the place, and it was the middle of the day.
Surprisingly, there are only three places in my hometown that I can't go to because of this rule - and only one of them is a chain restaurant.
I have also had my share of obviously-first-day waiters, then you just give a mental sigh and accept that things will take a bit longer.
About that Czech Republic thing, one thing to remember is that different cultures have also different styles. I haven't ever been in USA so cannot comment about service there, but some people have described that often the service is too pushy and aggressive for their, and probably my, taste (waiters on one hand wanting their tips by coming regularly to ask if there is something you want, while hoping you will eat soon and vacate the table).
I just read a discussion about Finnish waiters, which follows its own rules...you see, most Finns like to be self-reliant and do many things themselves, so we are not particularly good to be waited on so the service in Finland can appear as rude or almost non-existent to foreigners, while this is how it is supposed to be (ah, the joy of going to Finland to visit, you can pour your own coffee there...).
That said, service in former communist countries is rather notorious...
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Hmmmm... Rob do I still want to Visit Prague at the end of October?...;-)Living in the Czech Republic, one of the things I miss most about the US is the customer service. Meaning that generally speaking (in my experience) American customer is good. Wonderfully good. Here in Prague, we call it "Service with a snarl." And it's almost universal. Good customer service is so rare here, it might as well not exist.
But I worked retail for many years in the US, and am well aware of how crappy customers can be. But just remember - it could be worse...
Heh. There's lots of things to see and do in Prague besides going to a restaurant. And good beer is good beer, regardless of service. :)
First two, I agree with. Sorry you haven't enjoyed sushi (meaning raw fish).I can't bring myself to actually try it. Animal bits should be cooked before eating. But a local sushi place (my friends order sushi, I get hibachi rice) serves tempura sushi as a side dish with some of their entrees (including the hibachi rice. :-)). That stuff is good.
Naah. I am not big fan of fish, but I have it preferentially raw (prepared of course, it's not like I go to a river and start gobbling). Steaks medium-well done though.
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Contributor
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I think that one of the contributing factors to the increasing rudeness of customers and corresponding disengagement of customer service workers is that rude customers are rewarded.
Rude customers tend to get what they want to shut them up. It is now seen as smart shopping to complain about something, anything, to see if you can get something free or cheap.
I have witnessed rude customers being bumped to the front of the line, and suddenly the people who have been waiting start yelling "I can be rude, too! Move me to the front of the line!"
Customer Service workers are by and large powerless to prevent this. If you see a sign or badge that says "I have been empowered to serve you better!" It actually means "I don't have the power to refuse your unreasonable demands, and my manager will only demean me further if I call them to back me up."
So why the hell should they care? They've been set up to take abuse in a steady stream.
Having worked in customer service A LOT, I know that one bad customer can ruin an otherwise perfect day. But one good customer can save a bad day, too. I always compliment good service and sympathize with good workers dealing with tough situations.
Back when I worked retail, I used to love when someone would call with a bunch of questions during the busy shopping season but then an in-store customer would come up to the cash register. I would tell the guy on the phone to hold for a moment and got the "Don't you want me as a customer?" BS. I was always tempted to say, "Not if you're going to be pissy, no."
No matter what you explain to people, they never seem to accept that customer in the store is more important than jerk on the phone. It's as if the very fact they went to the effort to open the phonebook and punch the numbers on the phone entitled them to have your undivided attention in a small mom-and-pop store.
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I've worked customer service in the past, and these days I think there's a little bit more rudeness on both sides. I do believe that there are definite times when the customer is not right, however, that doesn't mean he's always wrong either. Either way, I just try to be polite. If I get poor service, I usually let the tip reflect it, but I do like the suggestion of mentioning good service to a manager - I should do that more.
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What really gets me is where you call up big corporations to discuss something with them and get different answers depending on the service rep. For example, when I first got my cable installed I got a triple-play deal, and they told me that it lasted one year, but at the end I could just call and re-enroll. So at the one year mark, I did that, only to have a customer service rep tell me that it was impossible even if I cancelled and re-purchased the service, then hang up on me. So I called right back, got a different person, and that person immediately re-enrolled me.
Same sort of thing where you call up to try to get out of a late charge or an overdraft charge with a credit card. Depending on the time of day/sexiness of your voice/whatever, you might get your account credited or you might get snottily dismissed and disconnected. I don't want to have to essentially beg the rep to take action on the account -the company should have a policy that the rep applies, case closed.
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Heh. There's lots of things to see and do in Prague besides going to a restaurant. And good beer is good beer, regardless of service. :)Hmmmm... Rob do I still want to Visit Prague at the end of October?...;-)Living in the Czech Republic, one of the things I miss most about the US is the customer service. Meaning that generally speaking (in my experience) American customer is good. Wonderfully good. Here in Prague, we call it "Service with a snarl." And it's almost universal. Good customer service is so rare here, it might as well not exist.
But I worked retail for many years in the US, and am well aware of how crappy customers can be. But just remember - it could be worse...
One problem with that... My wife will most likely make me designated driver..:-(
I've worked in the service industry a lot since I left the military, so I totally get where people are coming from about dick customers.
Me, I get through the day better if I don't worry too much about them, and instead worry about me. I get paid to be nice, not to be nice to people who are nice to me. The madder someone gets, the bigger my smile. (More from the sick pleasure I take in their misplaced rage than the inner light of my soul shining through, to be sure)
If it gets too bad, I can get clumsy or slow. And oh so very apologetic for my worthlessness, but again, I'm getting paid to be there. They aren't. I'm going to come out better every time.
On the flip side, I'm always tipping at 20% + $1 if the servers are even reasonably nice and attentive. I know they get treated like crap from most of their customers and I sympathize.
Sometimes, when the service is bad, the management is to blame: case in point, Molina's restaurant, Westheimer Rd., Houston.
Wife and I are seated. We're hungry. We order politely. My wife is friendly to the waiter -- she's super-nice to everyone. I'm pleasant.
Wife's food comes; waiter expresses confusion regarding my missing food, apologizes, disappears.
Wife starts eating.
Wife finishes eating.
Waiter summoned; is still confused. Ask to see manager.
Manager says my food was accidentally delivered to a different table.
Me: "Go ahead and cancel it, then."
Manager: "You ordered it, you gotta pay for it. You may as well wait."
Me (checking watch, gauging hunger against time): "How long?"
Manager: "Look, how about I bring you something while you wait."
Now I'm thinking that's at least a gesture of reconciliation. I order a drink. He brings the wrong drink; when I point that out, he says, "that's how we make it."
The waiter arrives with my food, and the check. Looking at the latter, I see that I was charged full price for both meals, and was not only charged for the (wrong) drink, but actually overcharged for it.
I kept looking around for the video crew. I've never been so certain I was on Candid Camera... but this was for real.
PLEASE don't try to tell me it was the customer's fault!
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I think most Americans are and have traditionally been polite, decent people. I do think, though, that the share of people who are not polite or act unethically is more than it has been at some other times in the past. And man, are some of them loud about it, which multiplies their tendency to overshadow all the nice people.
This is exactly what I was thinking and I'm glad someone else said it. I worked in the restaurant biz as well. I could have 150 great customers and one total @$$hole and unfortunately the one that I would remember is that one jerk. It seems to take a great deal of effort to ignore the one and focus on the fact that most people are generally good people.
Unfortunately this really goes back to learned behavior -- if someone is a jerk about something but they still get what they want, then it should work again the next time and the next time and so on.
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The goal is to get the problem fixed, no?
No. I'm not entirely sure what the goal is, but if it were to get the problem fixed, then (in theory) the ranting would be done when the problem was fixed. Often times it isn't. As near as I can tell the "goal" is to be "right" even if they're wrong. Maybe a better way to put it is to "win".
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One problem with that... My wife will most likely make me designated driver..:-(Heh. There's lots of things to see and do in Prague besides going to a restaurant. And good beer is good beer, regardless of service. :)Hmmmm... Rob do I still want to Visit Prague at the end of October?...;-)Living in the Czech Republic, one of the things I miss most about the US is the customer service. Meaning that generally speaking (in my experience) American customer is good. Wonderfully good. Here in Prague, we call it "Service with a snarl." And it's almost universal. Good customer service is so rare here, it might as well not exist.
But I worked retail for many years in the US, and am well aware of how crappy customers can be. But just remember - it could be worse...
Two words: public transportation.
You can drive to the city, but you don't need to drive in the city...
Whenever I worked in a place that customer service was a big deal I always tried my best to do whatever I could to keep calm polite customers happy.
Once you cross that threshold.. you're out.
Example;
Movie store, had a customer irritated about some late charges. This was a customer who typically had late charges. I don't remember all the specifics, but I remember it was an employee (a thirty something mom that worked part time to get adult interaction) that was very nice to everyone she spoke to.
So, I'm thinking I can deal with the rest of the customers. Being it was a busy night and we had a line.
It was about five minutes later and when the customer was throwing a fit and being rude that I took over. Put him in his place. He didn't get anything free. Actually, he didn't get anything. He was instructed to leave.
There are two other movie stores in town. Go to one of them.
He came back and rented again. But, he was much more polite.
Point is.. people are jackasses because people allow them to be. I've "went off" or whatever on jackasses whining in places that I'm eating/shopping in as well. People need to realize that they DONT have to serve you.
Now, rude employees.. they're even lower. You have your service job because you ASKED for it. Chilis did not come to your house and beg you to work for them. You went to them, asked for a job, and probably got excited when they gave you the chance. If you are doing it poorly I'll let you know.
If it's the manager, I'll let the District manager know. There is always someone higher.
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Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
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Somewhere along the line, the phrase "The Customer is always right" became viewed as a law by the general public. What has happened is that people view their ability to complain as a right, and rarely take into account that the customer service people, whether in a store or on the phone, are also human beings.
People have become self-centered and selfish. I have a friend that complains about everything he gets. Not because there's anything wrong with it, but because he feels that if he complains about something, he'll end up getting something for free or at a discount. His logic runs along the lines of "well, the customer is always right, so if I complain long enough, they'll cave in to my demands."
For example, we went to Mr. Chicken for lunch a couple weeks ago. He ordered the 2 piece meal, but wanted 2 breasts. The menu board indicates there is a 50 cent upcharge if you want 2 breasts in the meal. When his order is rung up, the clerk gives him his total. You would have thought the poor kid behind the counter was robbing him! He exploded at the kid, then exploded at the kid's manager. The manager ended up giving him the extra breast at no charge just to get my buddy to go away. As someone who worked a lot of years in the restaurant industry, I felt so bad for the kid and his manager. There was no reason for my friend to treat them like that, all for a measly 50 cents. Needless to say, I haven't gone to lunch with him since.
Sadly, I observe this attitude more and more as I get older and it makes me sad. I firmly believe that if everyone had to work for a year in a restaurant, this attitude may change. If everyone knew what restaurant workers had to deal with on a daily basis, maybe the nonsense would stop (or at least slow down).
This sense of entitlement that people have these days makes me ill.
I can't speak for anyone else out there of course, but whenever I have gone into restaurants I have never had ONE rude waiter, one screwed up order and I've always done my damnedest to be polite to the waiter. Never complained to get a freebie either since there was an effort put in to make the meal as it is and the ingredients and effort are worth a particular amount, and if you want more you need to pay for it. Also in stores I have never had a complaint about customer service because the people are doing their jobs and things have almost always worked well (I should note here that I do not go to restaurants all that often, and shopping always tends to be straightforward: go in, find what I'm looking for, buy it and leave-rarely a NEED for customer service to begin with)
On the other side I work part time at a local library and patrons will sometimes have a question about where particular items are and, depending on the circumstances, I will politely either direct them to the information desk or show them where the item is. The patrons have never been rude about their requests and so I do not see a reason to be rude myself. Maybe where I live people are just more polite or don't feel like getting so ticked off about things, but even when I have been travelling (to various parts of Canada and the US, as well as London, England) people have always been courteous around me so maybe it's just good luck.
On the threadjack: Sushi is excellent raw, and putting it in tempura just ruins it. I tend to order chicken, turkey or seafood in restaurants-steak is just not overly appealing to me. Personal taste I guess. end threadjack
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Here's my take on customer service and customers:
Caveat-- Over the last 17 years I have waited tables, washed dishes, answered phones (to include a summer stint on an IT Help Desk), stocked grocery shelves, loaded and unloaded trucks, been a Pharm Tech, been a cashier, and was even a maitre d' and a public school teacher before beginning my journey in the Army officer corps.
The customer is always right. Period.
The vendor must always make all reasonable accommodations to service the customer within the range of services provided.
No matter how ignorant, crass, rude, inhospitable, smelly, dirty, young, old, wretched or simple the customer, they are always right.
Example:
If you don't like being in the service of others, get out of the service industry. (This is not personally directed at you, Cuchulainn, et al.)
Having lived in many different foreign countries over the years, no-one comes close to meeting US or UK ideals of customer service--trust me, you don't want to join the rest of the world where CS is nonexistent.
If you're a service provider, suck it up, vent when able, and continue to smile at all the simple-minded clients you will encounter, cherishing the positive experiences, but no matter how angry or frustrated you get, don't deny the Hilton service ideal--'You are there to serve, and every patron is a Royal.'
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Here's my take on customer service and customers:
Caveat-- Over the last 17 years I have waited tables, washed dishes, answered phones (to include a summer stint on an IT Help Desk), stocked grocery shelves, loaded and unloaded trucks, been a Pharm Tech, been a cashier, and was even a maitre d' and a public school teacher before beginning my journey in the Army officer corps.
The customer is always right. Period.
The vendor must always make all reasonable accommodations to service the customer within the range of services provided.
No matter how ignorant, crass, rude, inhospitable, smelly, dirty, young, old, wretched or simple the customer, they are always right.
If you don't like being in the service of others, get out of the service industry. (This is not personally directed at you, Cuchulainn, et al.)
Having lived in many different foreign countries over the years, no-one comes close to meeting US or UK ideals of customer service--trust me, you don't want to join the rest of the world where CS is nonexistent.
If your a service provider, suck it up, vent when able, and continue to smile at all the simple-minded clients you will encounter, cherishing the positive experiences, but no matter how angry or frustrated you get, don't deny the Hilton service ideal--'You are there to serve, and every patron is a Royal.'
This reminds me of a book, which was later made a movie. One saying in the book was "There's no higher purpose than service to others".
Anyone know what book/movie i'm referring to?
Movie: Peaceful Warrior
Read the book, watch the movie, either way, it's great
I've done my fair share of service too. The worst thing, IMHO, is when you're trying to help a difficult customer but your boss undermines your authority.
This happened to me all the time in my last place and it really pi$$ed me off. Some guy is being a total ass and you can't help him. Goodwill gestures, i.e. free stuff for the customers, is there for goodwill. If I've made a mistake or the company has let you down in some way, then you deserve a little something in the name of good service.
But it really upset me each time I was undermined by my boss, they'd see I was having trouble with the customer and would waltz in and give them free stuff to shut them up. Not only does that make me look like I can't do my job, but reinforces the attitude of 'moan + bad language = free stuff'. It got so bad that a couple of customers refused to deal with me and asked to speak straight to my manager - realizing that that was the path to freebies.
Despite several complaints about this, nothing was ever done about it. Until he got in the sh!t when the higher-ups wanted to know why a) he was spending all of his time talking to my customers and b) why he was giving away so much stuff. After I explained things from my point of view, there was a little change, but ultimately it was the largest factor in my decision to leave.
I mean, who wants to work in a place where your job is to get shouted at and make the managers look like nice guys?
On the steak front, I gotta go with well-done. My wife always likes it rare, and for some reason, we often get given each others meal. It's like chicks aren't allowed to enjoy blood dribbling down their chin or something....
Peace,
tfad
I work in the most embattled industry I can conceive of....automotive tires and maintenance.... People have attempted to rob me, beat me with stray parts, spit on me, threaten my life by driving their truck through the front doors of my business. I've had people threaten to run me down as I left work. I've had people wait in the parking lot for me to close armed with bats and weapons. Granted I work in perhaps one of the worst neighborhoods in Tampa but after four years of this I have lost all hope in humanity. The customer is often wrong, knows they're wrong, put plays the customer service game in order to win things they do not deserve. I've had people tell me that by accident they left hundreds of dollars in their car which I then stole. I've had people accuse me of making copies of their car keys and stealing their cars years after their vehicle passed through my shop. I've had people agree to fix their cars, fail to come up with the money to pay for the repairs, and then show up to my job with a pack of friends in an attempt to intimidate me into releasing the vehicle. I started lifting weights to better clobber angry customers. I grew a beard, shaved my head, and got tattoos to appear more fearsome. Customer service is a miserable industry. I started in that industry with the belief that the customer is always right. Now I firmly believe in "firing a customer." There are many people that are not worth doing business with,
Customers are always the biggest tools around. Whoever invented the phrase, "the customer is always right," should be shot.
Oh Thank you soooooooo very much.
I started in that industry with the belief that the customer is always right. Now I firmly believe in "firing a customer."
Oh that's original. If I could only get away with it.
Customers are always the biggest tools around. Whoever invented the phrase, "the customer is always right," should be shot.
I teach my people that the customer is seldom right, but that the customer is always in charge. (barring rudeness, of course)
I own a service business, and so I'm a big critic of poor service.
I don't know if it's a chicken and the egg thing. Some of the customers I see in stores these days were never properly socialized, and a few of them really stand out and make you think the entire word's gone crude. However, I also think that the cashier ringing me up, shouting the worth b!tch over her shoulder to another cashier as they quip about her sexual escapades the night before deserves a bit of 'reorienteering'.
I once had a cashier whose fingernails read FU (long form). I called the owner of the chain. He was blown away. That's who he had on his frontline between customer and product.
I also had a 17 year old cashier tell me, out of nowhere, based on no previous conversation, to cut my hair. The way in which I said, "Excuse me? What did you just say to me?" quashed it, but who trained these people?
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Customers are always the biggest tools around. Whoever invented the phrase, "the customer is always right," should be shot.I teach my people that the customer is seldom right, but that the customer is always in charge. (barring rudeness, of course)
I own a service business, and so I'm a big critic of poor service.
I don't know if it's a chicken and the egg thing. Some of the customers I see in stores these days were never properly socialized, and a few of them really stand out and make you think the entire word's gone crude. However, I also think that the cashier ringing me up, shouting the worth b!tch over her shoulder to another cashier as they quip about her sexual escapades the night before deserves a bit of 'reorienteering'.
I once had a cashier whose fingernails read FU (long form). I called the owner of the chain. He was blown away. That's who he had on his frontline between customer and product.
I also had a 17 year old cashier tell me, out of nowhere, based on no previous conversation, to cut my hair. The way in which I said, "Excuse me? What did you just say to me?" quashed it, but who trained these people?
Coming from customer service myself I'd say the problem was about half-and-half. I've had one manager get into shouting fights with co-workers about whose Blistex was which and another who was in his sixties pitch a temper tantrum like a two-year-old in front of customers. Had this been a 17-year-old with not as much experience I'd have been able to give him the benefit of the doubt.
On the other hand I've also had customers stand in line talking on their cell phones and ignoring both the cashier and the customers behind them, customers who expect associates to read their minds, and customers who berated colleagues for things over which they had no control, and so on.
I'm not sure which side of the coin is worse at this point, but I do believe in giving courtesy and respect whether you're getting that back or not. It's just not worth my time or my well-being to allow someone else's bad day rub off on me. I figure if I'm courteous to begin with then my customers will at least have one less reason to be annoyed.
Yep. Some people just don't have what it takes to make a customer/service person relationship work out. In as much as some people just shouldn't work with the public, other's shouldn't be let out of the house to shop.
Most bizarre customer service experience:
Girlfriend always wanted to go to this historic Inn. We went.
A guy on staff with Downes Syndrome accosted her as we were headed up to our room.
"You're so and so aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Adam's so and so?"
All he could talk about was her ex boyfriend from years past and how the guy went certifiably nuts, and he wasn't giving us an out to politely escape the conversation. So there I was, standing there silent, footing the bill for the Inn and therefore paying for the privelege. I wasn't rattled by it, but she was. I actually thought it was kind of funny in an 'at my expense' sort of way. For her, it ruined the experience and when I suggested we go back there a year later she looked nauseous.
Personally I think it speaks to American culture. We all tend to have a sense of entitlement. Customer service workers are entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. The Customer is entitled get what they want when they want it. We all expect to receive what's most convenient for us at the moment we want it. Instant gratification.
I'm not saying everyone is like this. I work in a retail store and I've dealt with some very polite and respectful customers. Then there are others who ring the bell for a fitting room and keep pushing the freakin' button because I'm not right there the instant they pushed it. Or others who come up to me while I'm helping another customer and very rudely demand my attention and get huffy when I ask them to wait a moment while I wait on the customer I am currently working with. Sadly these customers leave more of an impression than the good ones.
On the flip side, this is also a time of suspicion where fitting rooms are often locked and all teenagers are treated like potential shoplifters because the majority of shoplifters are said to be teenagers. Retail workers are told that every shopper is a potential shoplifter. This isn't supposed to make the workers more suspicious. The point is to make them more attentive to the shoppers because if people are content they are less likely to steal from the company, however this could also have the opposite affect.
And dealing with people day in and day out tends to be very tiring.
I blame the franchise model of running a business. Its amazingly successful and you can use this model even if your business is not a franchise. In fact I'd go so far as to say that for almost all businesses you should use this model.
But...
the whole system depends on creating a work environment in which employees are machines. They perform few tasks and all those tasks are designed and automated to be so simple that a monkey could do them. You then designate what your employees do pretty much every minute of the day, you tell them what they are going to wear and even what they are going to say.
You hire employees that are not very skilled and pay them as little as possible. They have little hope of ever advancing 'up the ranks, because you did not hire them to be smart or to show initiative - you hired them because payroll is by far the biggest expense a business has so you have to keep payroll down. Good employees are not the goal, cheap ones are, if you design your business right they won't need to be competent and they especially don't need to think.
You end up with incompetent employees in dead end jobs - but if you try and buck the trend you'll get clobbered by the competition.
Of course customers, who every day, face incompetent service workers (and are often forced to be robots in their day job) are quick to take out their anger on the staff so we have something of a spiralling circle of rudeness.
That said I suspect that most of the time most people, both customer and staff are in fact relatively polite. Its rare that I have to put up with actually rude staff at local fast food outlets or other retailers, though incompetence is not that uncommon.
Nor can I really remember the last time I had a rude customer at my little bookstore.
At Soylent Green Burger, it really pays for the customer to be polite...
I blame the franchise model of running a business.
That was an enlightening read, Jeremy.
At Soylent Green Burger, it really pays for the customer to be polite...
I hate when I get dined upon at a new restaurant. It's like one of my top twenty peeves.
RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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Our society is getting bigger. I live in a city where one rude person will never cross my path again, or if he does I won't know who he is.
I don't know many of my neighbors. It's this big gob of anonymous humanity. It makes people defensive. Rude.
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It's not like small town America any more, if indeed it still exists anywhere. I've seen it before, though.
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Heathansson, you're going to think I'm crazy, but I place the blame squarely on the ATM. It's the work of Satan.
I remember, 20 years ago, if I wanted money, I went to talk to a teller. If I wanted to pay my water bill, I went to talk to a receptionist. If I wanted to buy a hamburger, I went to talk, face-to-face, with a person behind the cash register.
Now, talking to a teller incurs an actual fee at some banks, local branches of utilities are closed up, and the person I speak to through the speaker at McDonald's doesn't even live in my city. I can go entire days and never actually see a living person.
And those are the lives that Satan loves.
Because the other thing that tellers and receptionists and counter help do, is see someone who's having a stinky day, and lend a sympathetic ear and maybe some quick advice. And, if they're having a terrible day, we can do the same. And, if somebody's having a great day, they can share it.
It's human contact. It builds sympathy, compassion, and a sense of community.
We are becoming loners. We are becoming misanthropes, who don't know how to deal with people. We are becoming strangers in our own communities, where our neighbors are "customers" "employees" and "pedestrians" first, and people a distant second.
And now there are suggestions that high school studetns might be able to take all their classes from home. With class discussions on-line, and testing in large testing centers.
20 years from now, I wonder what dating will be like.
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I think if people just simply complimented good service as often as they complain about bad service, it would be a different story entirely.
I try to do that on every occasion I feel I got good service.
EDIT: Leaving a good tip for good service is not enough. Would you as a waiter rather have a 20% tip or a 15% tip and a kind word to your boss about your performance.
as a food service lifer (i manage a gelato/coffee shop now, but have almost 15 years waiter/bartender experience), i'd rather have the 20%, frankly. your 15% and a compliment tells me either the tip or the compliment are a lie. 15% is for expected service, not compliment to the manager worthy service.
people used to compliment my service all the time, then leave crappy tips like they think i can go to my landlord, cable company, grocery store, etc, with a box full of compliments to pay my bills with. and in the bar/restaurant industry, you don't get raises pretty much ever, you make $2.13/hr as a waiter, and maybe $5 to $6/hr as a bartender, with the tips being a majority of your income.
so, if you REALLY felt like you received good service, why not leave the 20% (which actually means more to the server and validates his good service) AND the compliment?
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I think that my biggest pet peeve with customer service is that people often go out of their way to make nice with the customer that they are dealing with at the time but do not even consider that the problem may have inconvenienced other people as well. My wife and I were shopping for groceries last week and the cashier was have trouble getting an item to scan for the person in front of us. It took the cashier and her supervisor nearly 15 minutes to get the situation worked out. We could not get out of line because there were other people behind us and the store we were at has the old style check lines that are barely wide enough for the carts, plus we had time constrants and could not afford the time to go through the whole line waiting process again. The cashier and her supervisor apologized up, down, and sideways to the man they were waiting on, but never once said anything to any of the other people in line about any inconvenience that the rest of us might have experience. In my mind that is about the most inconsiderate thing that a person can do. It sends off the impression, at least to me, that you are just going through the motions of being polite and apologetic, and you don't actually mean it.
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I think if people just simply complimented good service as often as they complain about bad service, it would be a different story entirely.
I try to do that on every occasion I feel I got good service.
EDIT: Leaving a good tip for good service is not enough. Would you as a waiter rather have a 20% tip or a 15% tip and a kind word to your boss about your performance.
as a food service lifer (i manage a gelato/coffee shop now, but have almost 15 years waiter/bartender experience), i'd rather have the 20%, frankly. your 15% and a compliment tells me either the tip or the compliment are a lie. 15% is for expected service, not compliment to the manager worthy service.
people used to compliment my service all the time, then leave crappy tips like they think i can go to my landlord, cable company, grocery store, etc, with a box full of compliments to pay my bills with. and in the bar/restaurant industry, you don't get raises pretty much ever, you make $2.13/hr as a waiter, and maybe $5 to $6/hr as a bartender, with the tips being a majority of your income.
so, if you REALLY felt like you received good service, why not leave the 20% (which actually means more to the server and validates his good service) AND the compliment?
Boy, do I hear you on that one. In my hometown the charter fishing industry is a big trade. To become a captain you have to log so many hours as the Mate or crew on someone else's boat. Now Mates work ONLY for tips. Most of those trips are simply 6-pack trips - 6 people in the party. The trips cost anywhere from $600-$1000 and all my dad would get would be $20 tips. He was lucky at the time that he was getting retirement pension from the Navy.
I tend to tip on the high side for that reason. I recently visited a sub shop for lunch and the place was inundated. There was only one guy on staff. He dealt with everyone as quickly and effeciently as he could and smiled the whole time. I gave him a $5 tip. The sandwich was $4.95. A smile can go a long way.
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Owner - Johnny Scott Comics and Games
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The vendor must always make all reasonable accommodations to service the customer within the range of services provided.No matter how ignorant, crass, rude, inhospitable, smelly, dirty, young, old, wretched or simple the customer, they are always right.
The key word here is reasonable. Some customers are completely unreasonable and/or abusive, and no one, regardless of their position in the service industry or otherwise, deserves to be dressed down and treated like garbage at the whim of someone who doesn't want to pay 50 cents for a breast upcharge, or feels he did not get enough gravy on his mashed potatoes.
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I'm usually a good tipper, I have often tipped way more than the service or even the food was worth, I've left $20 for a 8 dollar meal, and I've tipped the delivery guy $5 when I can literally casually walk to the pizza place in 5 minutes. I treat good food and good service as something that needs to be rewarded.
But I also have had my tip taken off of bills where they are automatically added because the waiter must have been in the back smoking crack. Horrible service should not be rewarded.
I try to be polite and kind to customer service people whenever I speak with them. I know that they aren't responsible for their companies actions. In fact if I start to get pissed I usually clarify to that person I'm speaking with that my ire is directed at their company not them personally.
But I have had a cable company charge me $600 for equipment I returned myself to the store, and I have had a bundle service provider sign me up for service and then send me a bill 40$ higher than the one I signed up for. And that $40 wasn't the taxes. It was programing I didn't request, didn't know wasn't part of my sign up package, and then the company tells me they won't reduce my bill because they provided the service when I was specific in what package I signed up for. So sometimes, when I'm in automated teller hell, or hold on you need to talk to this person, "I just talked to that person they told me to speak to you" pergatory, I can get to the point where I just have no patience left and actually start becoming a jerk because it's the only way to get the customer service I need.
On the other hand I have dealt with people who I call with a problem, and they correct it and I have even wound up paying a little extra for a new service that I add on their recomandation or take the extra time to fill in one of those surveys.
It can't be traced to one side or the other, the fact is both are getting worse.
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I worked layaway/hardlines at a smaller department store for two years, and from there I went on to work at the front desk of a hotel for 5 years. Generally you can tell who will be a hard-@$$ before they they are in front of you. In either of these situations you can be backed up (I once did 24 check ins in 30 minutes at the hotel), and 50% of the people get frustrated about sitting in line. This is understandable, and I would always do my best to appraise them of the situation as soon as possible... usually offering for them to sit and drink coffee in the breakfast area while they wait, you'll be really surprized how much that little perk will help the irritated businessman lighten up and joke with you.
The only thing worse than unreasonable customers is that "gem" of a service rep who knows the customers are at his or her mercy, and derives sadistic pleasure from inconveniencing and/or screwing them over at every turn. Airports seem to be full of these.
Me: (Presents bording pass)
Airline check-in person, with a giant smile: "You don't actually have a seat on this flight."
Me: "What about this one that the ticket says is confirmed?"
Check-in person: "That's been assigned to another passenger."
Me: "Huh? I was confirmed, and the flight doesn't leave for another hour and a half. What happened?"
Check-in person: "It was assigned to another passenger. Too bad, you'll just have to buy another ticket. But not on this flight. This flight is full."
Me: "Wait, there must be some mistake -- I spent $400 on this one, and my seat was confirmed. It even says so here."
Check-in person: "OBVIOUSLY you didn't bother to read the fine print here. It says ALL conditions are subject to change. Your conditions have changed. NEXT PASSENGER!"
Me: "Wait, you lost my seat, and won't help me recover it?"
Check-in person: "We don't lose seats; they're bolted to the aircraft. Good bye. NEXT!"
Me: "Can't I speak to a manager or supervisor or someone?"
Check-in person: "Good luck. See if you can find a number to call on our web site."
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The only thing worse than unreasonable customers is that "gem" of a service rep who knows the customers are at his or her mercy, and derives sadistic pleasure from inconveniencing and/or screwing them over at every turn. Airports seem to be full of these.
Me: (Presents bording pass)
Airline check-in person, with a giant smile: "You don't actually have a seat on this flight."
Me: "What about this one that the ticket says is confirmed?"
Check-in person: "That's been assigned to another passenger."
Me: "Huh? I was confirmed, and the flight doesn't leave for another hour and a half. What happened?"
Check-in person: "It was assigned to another passenger. Too bad, you'll just have to buy another ticket. But not on this flight. This flight is full."
Me: "Wait, there must be some mistake -- I spent $400 on this one, and my seat was confirmed. It even says so here."
Check-in person: "OBVIOUSLY you didn't bother to read the fine print here. It says ALL conditions are subject to change. Your conditions have changed. NEXT PASSENGER!"
Me: "Wait, you lost my seat, and won't help me recover it?"
Check-in person: "We don't lose seats; they're bolted to the aircraft. Good bye. NEXT!"
Me: "Can't I speak to a manager or supervisor or someone?"
Check-in person: "Good luck. See if you can find a number to call on our web site."
there is a good chance i would wind up back in prison had this exchange happened with me as the customer. wow.
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The only thing worse than unreasonable customers is that "gem" of a service rep who knows the customers are at his or her mercy, and derives sadistic pleasure from inconveniencing and/or screwing them over at every turn. Airports seem to be full of these.
Me: (Presents bording pass)
Airline check-in person, with a giant smile: "You don't actually have a seat on this flight."
Me: "What about this one that the ticket says is confirmed?"
Check-in person: "That's been assigned to another passenger."
Me: "Huh? I was confirmed, and the flight doesn't leave for another hour and a half. What happened?"
Check-in person: "It was assigned to another passenger. Too bad, you'll just have to buy another ticket. But not on this flight. This flight is full."
Me: "Wait, there must be some mistake -- I spent $400 on this one, and my seat was confirmed. It even says so here."
Check-in person: "OBVIOUSLY you didn't bother to read the fine print here. It says ALL conditions are subject to change. Your conditions have changed. NEXT PASSENGER!"
Me: "Wait, you lost my seat, and won't help me recover it?"
Check-in person: "We don't lose seats; they're bolted to the aircraft. Good bye. NEXT!"
Me: "Can't I speak to a manager or supervisor or someone?"
Check-in person: "Good luck. See if you can find a number to call on our web site."
My favorite was when I called customer service for my phone company. The guy I was talking to was being a jerk so I asked him where he was so I could mail a complant. He told me he was in Santa Fe, NM. I then asked to speak to his supervisor, and after getting nowhere with her, I asked her where she was located and she told me Atlanta, GA. When I asked how she could supervise someone on the other side of the country she told me that she didn't have to be where he is to supervise him. I asked her if she thought maybe things would run more smoothly if she was in the same place as the people she was supervising and she hung up on me.
there is a good chance i would wind up back in prison had this exchange happened with me as the customer. wow.
Luckily, my wife was with me (amazingly, no problems with her confirmation...), and restrained me from anything too rash. Instead, I waited for the check-in person to walk away, then walked up to the other woman standing at the counter, smiled, and explained my situation and asked if anything at all could be done. I ended up with a seat on the plane after all (not my original one, but at least my wife and I didn't get stuck on different flights).
Is service getting worse or are customers getting ruder?
Yes.
But seriously, I think many of the reasons offered here are valid. I've also found that the worst service in restaurants is in establishments that automatically add a 15% gratuity to your bill. Since the staff don't have to work for their tips, they don't have to be cheerful or attentive, and they know it. I make a point of asking up front when I to to new places. If they have an "automatic gratuity" policy (an oxymoron) I turn around and go someplace else.