Customer Service - Venting

Most of the time they start off nice people and end up the way they are from being yelled at for things beyond their control.

When I was working with the public my favorite manager complaint was a man who had just cussed me up one side and down the other. Why did this man think I should be fired, I didn't lose my temper. Yes that is right, he was pissed because I didn't yell back, I kept calmly asking him what we can, as a company, do to make this better.

That is what those employees have to deal with every day.

I have never had a problem with anyone at any store because that same smile that I kept planted on my face while that man was cussing me out can be brought out any time I need it. :)

I absolutely hate when this happens! I feel ya! In cases where it was just ridiculously rude, I always call the store and talk to the manager, or even speak to them right then and there. Most times they will fix the problem right there, and make things right, and sometimes they dont, which is when you can call the corporate office and speak to someone there. They hate to hear that the people they hire for their stores arent treating their customers and business right, so they do whatever they can to make you happy.

I suggest calling them and telling them exactly how they have been treating people and so they can give the job to someone who will actually appreciate having a job at all!

@Hannah - Thank you for making the comment about the damn attornies! Mine is a JERK! He actually made me cry one time because my son's father hadn't hired an attorney for my custody case. I mean seriously??? I'm not him. UGH!

As far as your question . . . I went to Best Buy the other day looking for a cord that ATT swore I could get there. It turns out I couldn't, BUT the employees there were very nice and helpful and throughly investigated the matter before ultimately concluding that I couldn't. ATT though has HORRIBLE customer service. Spent and hour and a half on the phone with them, got re-routed to three different individuals, then they sent me to Best Buy because they couldn't "send me the chord" I needed, only to find out I have to call them back and get it from them anyone because it's made specifically from their services. Okay that was a major run-on sentence lol

Just a few weeks ago I had a great customer service experience at Taco Bell, no less. We had been waiting for our food and it was taking a little bit longer than usual due to it being crowded. The guy helping us looked like he was about 16. He offered my son and I free drinks for our wait (insisting we picked a large size) and threw in free cinnamon sticks when we got our order. I found that so refreshing that a young person was able to provide great customer service. Hopefully he doesn't get too jaded as he continues working!

Two places here come to mind: Whole Foods and Market Street.
Last week I went to Sprouts. Granted it was rush hour and I was tired. I picked out some dried cherries from the bulk container. I had to wait to get into the aisle, then I had to ask another customer where the bags were. Since I did not see a pencil or tag, I forgot to get the item number. The cashier never greeted me then proceeded to reprehend me. I told her I was not sorry I forgot to get the number but told her the type of cherries they were. She said they did not carry those!! Then she finally saw it on her cheat sheet when she looked in the right place. No apology from her. I will stick with those other two stores.

I have been on both sides of this issue. When I worked retail, they paid me badly, and the managers treated us badly, we were often short staffed, and then a lot of the customers were really mean. they would take out the store rules and prices and staffing on me. So I understand how employees can just be rude. But I don't excuse it and have encountered it many times lately. they are there to do a job and should try to be pleasant and remember the customer is always right. But, like I said before, a lot of it starts with the management and how they treat and train the employees.

I experience things like this all the time. I have lived all over the world, yet in this country (west coast to east coast) I have found a pattern, people becoming more hostile. I don't know what has happened to common courtesy, politeness, manners. This hostility has almost become 'the norm' and is accepted as 'how it is.' I don't buy it. I think more people need to call it out - when you see a person being rude (whether its your child or the customer service girl behind the counter) let them know it ! Don't just stand there and be abused - do not only let that employee know that you are not going to hear that kind of talk (call their manager later and let them know about it, so hopefully others won't have to put up with that treatment). I have had to do just that on many occasions.

Whoopi Goldberg even wrote a book about this - I see others out there feel the same. Until people take a stand and call rudeness out, things are only going to get worse. What will our kids learn (with such awful examples all around them) if we don't teach them to be the generation to change things and get back to the state of simple kindness, following the golden rule - Do unto others as you would have done unto you.

http://www.amazon.com/Just-Me-nuts-out-there/dp/140131065...

Maybe the worker was just having a bad day? I'm not saying that them having a bad day gives them the right to be rude to you, but I'm just saying that maybe their mind was not all there and they were running on auto mode.

Last week, I had to take my son to the ER because I thought that he was having seizures. I had to go straight to work from the ER because I don't have any more sick days left and if I hadn't gone in to work I would have lost my job. I'm a cashier at Wal-mart. I was working on auto pilot, barely able to hold a conversation with a customer because I was so worried for my son. One of the customers complained that I was being rude to her because I wasn't smiling and I wasn't very talkative.

My point is, even though it sucks when a person in customer service is rude to you, maybe they are dealing with something that isn't work related at that moment and are just kind of working on auto pilot.

Have you worked retail lately It SUCKS. Why waste time and effort making everyone happy when you are not yourself. I mean seriously retail stores pay so low it is not even funny!

Now the lawyer office that is giving me a hard time right now...they are hearing from me big time...they get paid to much to piss me off!

You sound so much like me. I completely agree. It doesn't seem to matter what type of store I'm in.

I will say that I have received good (not exceptional) service in Macy's and Kohl's recently.

I just don't think stores care any more. Here's 2 stories to share...

Sears - In June I went shopping for shorts. In the entire woman's dept. there were only one pair of shorts. I said something to a manager who was close by and got a stupid reply.

Walmart (rarely shop there) - There was a handicapped person in a motorized wheelchair in the checkout line in front of me. The cashier put her items on top of that spin type bagging unit, which might have been in reach of the handicapped woman if she stretched (that's if she was capable of stretching). So I walked around her and put her bags into the basket of the wheelchair. The cashier was then getting annoyed with me because I was taking too long to pay. I finally said something to her like "I can't beleive how lazy you are that you couldn't take 5 steps to help that lady". She came back with some rude comment. I went and complained to the manager, but hear's the thing. The manager didn't care and seemed more annoyed that I was wasting her time.

I don't know, but it seems to me that if ALL of your customer service experiences are so bad there's only one common denominator in all of them and that's not the service people. You might want to be more aware of the words you use and how you use them, as well as your tone. You might not be coming across to people the way you intend to.

I love shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond and Kohls. I have never been treated better in a store; they're always willing to help! Other than those places, it's a gamble.

customer service has gone way downhill recently. i notice the trend as well and my husband and i frequently talk about it. the places where we get great customer service are places that emphasize this trait when hiring. you can tell which companies these are because everytime we go, no matter who is serving us, they're all extremely polite and helpful. mcdonalds these days is the WORST.

I recently had a great experience with a person at the Apple store. My daughter's ipod Touch was broken and I brought it in to the store (made an appointment first and arrived a little early). They had someone help me earlier than my appointment time and he was very nice. Even though he could not fix or replace it for free as they use to in the past (a friend had a recent issue and hers was replaced for free), he went above and beyond when he noticed I paid for the replacement with my American Express and pointed out to me that if I bought the original ipod Touch with the American Express that American Express extends warranties for an additional year. I was out of the regular warranty period by about a month or so, but I did purchase it with my American Express card. Sure enough, I was reimbursed by American Express!!!! Had he not reminded me of that policy of my own credit card company, I wouldn't have even thought of it.

Nordstrom gives very good service. They have shoe sales ever so often - I'd try there next time.

That woman who lied to you about the boots probably didn't want to lose her commission. You should write her bosses a letter at corporate. If you are getting static, ask for the person's name - look at the paperwork to see where the name is.

I would buy online from Toys R Us rather than go to your local store. Tell the management why. They need to know they are losing business.

I'll tell you, Barnes and Noble worked SO hard this Christmas to help their customers. So does Best Buy. Best Buy is in trouble financially because people are shopping there and buying online instead, so they are really explaining good service and ways to convince people to buy from them and not buy online to their sales people.

If you don't complain to the management, they can't fix the problems. All they see is a lower sales figure and they are left to imagine what the heck the problem is. Enlighten them!

We went to Red Lobster years ago when my SIL and her family came to visit. It was lunch time and when we walked in there, the gal was chatting with a coworker and ignoring us. There were 7 of us. The place was quiet and not crowded at all. We waited for 10 minutes,and they STILL had not seated us. My SIL said "This is enough". We walked out with her and she called someone on the phone. The next thing I knew, she had a phone number and she was calling Red Lobster corporate and giving them the restaurant location, telling them the problem, all of that. I will promise you that the gal got a talking to by the restaurant manager later in the day.

Stores have to do some real training. Look at the difference in Coldwater Creek and Belks. (A larger department store.) The Coldwater Creek ladies know everything on the floor. (So do the Ann Taylor ladies.) They don't stand behind the counter all the time. They walk around. They write your name on the little board beside the changing room. They come in and ask you if you need another size. When I go to a department store to look at clothes, I'm lucky to find anyone to help, including someone to ring up my sale. Sigh...

Do the management a favor. Tell 'em, and tell 'em again! There are people out there who WANT jobs. They WANT to work. Give them a chance to get the jobs and get rid of the dead wood.

Dawn

I honestly think this is due to the bad economy. I suspect a lot of people are taking customer service jobs because that is all that's out there. They probably don't really want to be there, and worse, don't care about the company or store they represent and probably wouldn't even be there if they were able to find work somewhere else.

Many of these people are probably overly qualified for these jobs and are carrying a chip on their shoulder, or may even be overwhelmed and stressed out because this is job #2 out of 3 that they will be working that day. And even though they have all of these jobs, they will not provide enough money make their ends meet.

There are so many reasons people in service work are so rude today. It is understandable in many cases, but definitely unacceptible. Chilvary, kindness, humility, and charity seem to be dying traits these days, as everyone is more consumed with their own problems, than in trying to make the world a better, more caring place to be, despite anything bad that may be looming such as global financial crisis, war, illness, and so on.

I'm sorry you had such bad experiences. It really can darken your outlook. Don't get sucked into the bad ju-ju. If you can rise above it and STILL smile at these people, you might just successfully turn things around for everyone. :)