No Experience Required
October 11, 2008 · Print This Article
CUSTOMER SERVICE REP. WANTED:
Must exhibit great people and communication skills; personal drive, ambition and willingness to learn. Ability to take ownership of tasks and handle multiple priorities required. Opportunities for advancement available for self-starters with…You know what? Forget all that. Just show up on time, don’t eat other people’s food in the break room and try not to pee in the sink.
Despite my attempts at being a respectful and loyal customer, I haven’t had the same mannered reception as an American consumer. Customer Service is failing me across the board and appears to be on a steady decline with every trip I take out of the house. Considering it is a source of constant human interaction with the world around us, I think some employees need a serious refresher course.
When exactly did we lower the bar on Customer Service? Could somebody please let me know when ‘The Customer is Always RIGHT‘ became ‘RIGHT NOW, Lady, I’m just trying to get through my shift! Stop making eye contact!’
Are we as consumers to blame? We have all witnessed hoards of incredibly rude and aggressive customers in the past. The shaking of fists and veins popping out of foreheads over the most mundane purchases. Finger pointing and swearing like a dockworker is no way to experience customer satisfaction.
All the Employee Manuals point to the same basic principles of service etiquette:
*Smile and demonstrate good manners. Teach employees to smile, leading by example. Establish a culture of high quality customer service and commit to deliver superior service whether over the phone or face-to-face.
*Treat customers with respect, empathy, and efficiency.
*Listen actively to be responsive and exceed customer expectations.
*Say “Thank you” and “Please” graciously.
When was the last time you had THAT customer service experience? Oh I have had those moments, and when I do I run right out and spread the word! Free advertising and all you have to do is say Hello when you greet me! No, of the late I have been victim of the following service related mishaps…
12 Items or Less Girl:
I know this isn’t your dream job. Perhaps you’re saving up for college. Or maybe you’re just earning extra cash to blow on more eyeliner. Whatever your story, can you please refrain from carrying on a conversation with the bagger about who you’re currently blowing? I don’t need a BJ story from a barely legal teen who’s handling my produce. I’m not offended that I greeted you with a ‘Hello’ and all I got back was ‘OMG what time is it!?’, but let’s keep the sex talk to a minimum.
The Troubleshooter
I’m talking to you Dell. I have spent countless hours on your line trying to resolve a PC issue. I’m greeted by a heavy accent and a woman who claims her name is ‘Jessica Smith’. I can barely understand her, and she can barely understand me because of the continuing echo on the line. I don’t begrudge anyone viable employment…but should I really have to call back three separate times, bang my keys through your endless Voice Activated System just to break a language barrier?
No Bars…Mo’ Frustration
Cell phone companies…I know you reps aren’t responsible for whether or not I am getting service in my home. Still, a little compassion and sense of logic would be helpful. I’m not trying to get out of my contract because I want a new hot pink phone from your competitor. I’m trying to get out of my contract because I can’t go to my mailbox to retrieve your grossly padded bill, stand there, and call you from my cell phone to pay it. Can you hear me now? *Sorry, call did not go through*.
What’s the 411?
I have had close to zero success with an informational service that is supposed to connect me to my city. How.Is.That.Possible? I openly offer the City, State, Name, Title and location…yet you still send me to the wrong number. Then text it to me. As if I don’t get enough worthless text messages. I guess I could use the GPS System in my phone…Wait phone doesn’t work here. Dammit!
I really am described as a people person…REALLY.
There is currently no waiting period on the line…so please take the time to fill out our friendly survey.
Thank you for choosing EVE-101.
Anyone like to tear their hair out over a service call or 10? How do you define good customer service? Do we expect too much for our dollar, or are we justified in not letting these behaviors slide by? Any of you ladies and gents work in Customer Service and care to flip the coin? Nightmares/Victories to share…
On 10/11/08 at 4:07 am
Meghan said:
Good Saturday! We are open for weekends so feel free to call on us for all your customer service needs!
On 10/11/08 at 4:09 am
~Lori~ said:
Oh this is one of my major pet peeves. Hate punching buttons just to end up on the line for over an hour for help, I just a human voice on the line, preferably within the US. If I go to a restaurant or club, I expect my waitperson to smile, respond properly to please, thank you, correctly. PLEASE if you are suppose to be my server, pay attention, don’t hover, but sure as hell don’t ignore me, makes a big difference in your tip! I worked on the other side of customer service as waitress, clerk, cashier, and so many other forms, manners go so far. Even if the customer is rude, I usually could diffuse the situation, not always but a good percentage of the time. After living in TX for so long, I have a habit of using sir and ma’m quite often. A lot of people get offended now over that, makes them feel old or something, but after living there so long, it gets drilled into your head as a show of respect, and I prefer to act that way, any day.
On 10/11/08 at 4:32 am
Meghan said:
Voice activated systems drive me mental! I almost always just press zero from the get go hoping it will bring me to a human faster!
I’m a good customer…but I have had so many rude waiters/waitresses, clerks, phone line reps lately…do people just not have to be helpful any more?
On 10/11/08 at 4:40 am
~Lori~ said:
I really don’t know, everyone down South says that we up North are rude. I never agreed, till I moved back, not everyone but huge percentage. Especially in customer service. Yet, when I went to TX this summer, I saw a decline in service down there that I was NOT expecting. I think that maybe in this day and age we are all too much in a hurry, to stop, slow down, and take a good look around, appreciate what is right in front of us…always the white rabbit syndrome, *Alice in wonderland*, makes everyone all stressed out they lose the simplest basics of the golden rule in all aspects of life.
On 10/11/08 at 5:00 am
Meghan said:
Boston has struck a rude chord with some of my midwest pals…it was their first impression that it is just plain hostile out here.
It could very well be the White rabbit syndrome.
It seems so many things are being stripped down to their base. It is a cashiers job to scan your groceries and take your money. It is a call centers job to get your information and forward you on. But can’t there be a few more pleasantries there? Isn’t attitude a weensy bit contagious?
On 10/11/08 at 7:06 am
Karri said:
Lack of cordial customer service is a HUGE pet peeve of mine! I’ve been known to stand at the 7-11 counter and say “you’re welcome” when they hand over my change. No response? I’ll say it again and again until they finally acknowledge me. Ya, I’m that kinda girl. What?
On 10/11/08 at 8:00 am
Meghan said:
Or when they just blank stare you when you walk is bad enough. I said hello, do have to act so disgusted I feel like a red bull?
On 10/11/08 at 7:13 am
pecosa said:
I hated having to call Dell for customer service. I mean, I should at least be able to understand the troubleshooting steps…if they had outsourced that to Mexico I can almost guarantee you that it would be more of a talked about issue, but anyway…
I worked in customer service for a couple of years and I tried to be nice. Most companies let you give a lot when a customer complains, but some people are just trying to take advanatage of the company. Because of those people, the rest of us suffer.
On 10/11/08 at 8:03 am
Meghan said:
I see the flip side…I actually quit my one little college telemarketing job because we had to call lapsed PBS donors to try and get them to donate again.
I called a very old woman who said she loved PBS, but it had been her husband that always donated and he had passed away and money was tight. So I thanked her for her past donations and said goodbye.
My boss yelled at me for not talking her into getting her to donate in her husbands memory. I walked out. Jerk!
On 10/15/08 at 6:42 am
paul said:
meybe you just should have not bught a dell
On 10/11/08 at 8:28 am
Carol said:
LOL…I spent several hours on hold last week working out various issues. I turned it into a game…how nice could I be after being derailed in my efforts a bajillion times.
No doubt, it’s a hard job. I am just grateful for my favorite little expression, “You’ve been great, but I would still like to ask your supervisor!”.
On 10/11/08 at 9:52 am
Meghan said:
I actually was tuck in the bad phone contract and it took me 2 weeks to get out of it without paying a fine…I used that line above to finally get me out. But my last phone call with them I insisted 5 times they transfer me up and Up and UP till I got the right person.
Thank god for my bluetooth…my hands were cramping!
On 10/11/08 at 8:54 am
Vic said:
Click here for a video blog I did some time ago on the same exact subject. It will serve as my comment, so you have to watch it.
Now.
On 10/11/08 at 9:59 am
Meghan said:
Yay! A Vic video! He’s mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore.
I’ve been fisted by Bank of America a couple of times. (Wait a second Firefox…fisted IS a word I spelled correctly.)
My car payment is scheduled to be released directly out of my account once a month and one month they did it every week! That’s $1300! It took me another month to hassle with them to put it back.
On 10/11/08 at 10:52 am
Karl Rove said:
I’ve been a bagger and a cashier. We were taught to greet the customer and ask “How are you today?” Then when the order was over we had to say “Have a good day/night.” But I gotta tell you, saying that hundreds of times a day is tiring. I won’t defend people having sexual conversations while on the job, but talking to the bagger or cashier is something that ends up happening after a few hours of standing in one place doing a repetitive task.
…and I never got a BJ from a cashier…
On 10/11/08 at 11:37 am
Meghan said:
No break room head from an ‘OMG’ girl for Rove? A shame. I can tell you what supermarket it happened in if you like them fresh out of high school. Eww.
I can see something like that being totally repetitive and mind numbing. I have had cashiers yelling at other cashiers across 4 lanes and completely ignoring me. As if they just see through the customers. There have been times I really wanted to complain to a manager…but don’t because I don’t the poor little foul mouthed bastard getting fired.
On 10/11/08 at 10:06 pm
Karl Rove said:
The only cashiers that were at the place I worked were either much older than me or around my age.
And believe me, there were times when cashiers would talk to each other where I wanted to scream “YOU’VE GOT A CUSTOMER! PAY ATTENTION TO HIM/HER!”
On 10/12/08 at 10:43 am
Meghan said:
So why don’t we say that to them. Do we just want to avoid a scene? I don’t often go toe to toe with a teenager, but don’t we have the right to say, ‘Excuse me? Can you wrap this up first?’
I swear sometimes they look at me and I think they are trying to get me to bag my own shit. Which I’ve done just because it’s faster and I know that Liquid Plumber should stay away from my Apples.
On 10/12/08 at 10:27 pm
Karl Rove said:
Yeah, I think it is because we don’t want to make a scene. I guess I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want my co-workers to completely hate me.
Some places apparently don’t even have baggers. I remember customers coming in and being surprised that someone else bagged their groceries.
On 10/11/08 at 12:20 pm
Kiki said:
Just for comparative purposes, your customer service here is leaps and bounds ahead of our pathetic excuse for customer service in the UK. I remember (not so fondly) most shopping trips being tainted by the over riding feeling that I, the Customer, was actually inconveniencing the shop staff by my mere presence. The cashier would literally roll her eyes as she threw my items over the barcode reader. And, to add insult to injury, we have to pack our own bags in the UK.
My experience here, thus far, has been way more pleasant!
On 10/11/08 at 12:23 pm
Meghan said:
Damned Rude Brits…way to live up to a stereotype!
Even small shops here make me feel uncomfortable. I’m giving you business and possibly advertising…do you have to stare at me the entire time hoping I will leave so you can sit down and read your magazine.
One woman had a little TV and when I came up to the counter she moved towards me slowly, eyes glued until the commercial break. WTF is that? Sorry I’m interuptin’ your stories!
On 10/11/08 at 1:50 pm
Rex said:
All I gotta do is flirt with a female OR talk about sports or movies with a dude. Customer Service is easy peasy for me…
On 10/11/08 at 1:58 pm
Meghan said:
That really breaks some gender roles…is it all that easy?
I think I would be offended if I was flirted with under those circumstances. Ha-rumpf.
So the next time I get a cocky man on the line I should just talk point spreads with him?
On 10/11/08 at 6:02 pm
Trista said:
I was a 411 operator for over five years.
“Hi this is Riley, what city?”
Yep…that was me. And I will tell you why our service wasn’t that great, even back then, and why it continues to worsen each day. The phone companies don’t care about customer service. They care about dollars. Which means they care about speed. 1100 calls a shift was our goal. That isn’t a whole lot of time for accuracy…just sayin’
I don’t miss that job much.
On 10/11/08 at 6:15 pm
Meghan said:
Cricket…cricket…
I hated my phone job. I can’t imagine you stuck behind a phone for so long! I see you in a meeting leading troops!!!
But how do they mistake Elliot Pearson School for Emils House of Pizza? Thats just bad.
On 10/11/08 at 6:25 pm
Trista said:
Yeah…I just don’t think they (directory assistance workers) care. They mishear you and don’t take the time to re-ask, or they rush and hit the wrong key. The environment is just rush, rush, rush. Not that they should give such crappy service…but to me the ultimate responsibility lies in the hands of the companies who have turned the focus away from customer service and towards the bottom line.
I was 18 when I got that job…and the money was really good. But yeah…it blew.
On 10/11/08 at 6:36 pm
Meghan said:
I was 19 at my telemarketing job on campus…the environment was awful. And If I remember right, my immediate boss that scolded me sold liquid Acid…nice role model.
It’s true…many companies operate under keeping us over a barrel. We need them and not the other way around.
On 10/13/08 at 11:27 am
JayFrom1800FREE411 said:
Trista: “I was a 411 operator for over five years . . . And I will tell you why our service wasn’t that great, even back then, and why it continues to worsen each day. The phone companies don’t care about customer service. They care about dollars. Which means they care about speed. 1100 calls a shift was our goal.”
This is one of the reasons why people are flocking to automated systems like ours at 1-800-FREE411. No offense to Trista, but we don’t have any hurried, frenzied operators to give you bad information. Just an automated system that actually works.
But hey, it could also be that we offer the same information for free.
On 10/13/08 at 12:03 pm
Trista said:
ooo! Personalized spam, rad!
I am not offended, I’m stoked!
On 10/11/08 at 6:10 pm
Serenity said:
I waited online once for 3 hours with Sprint customer service. I finally drove to the local Sprint store, handed the phone to the customer service rep there and told him “I’m going to take a look around. Would you let me know when they come on the line?”
I got a free phone that time, but what a joke!
On 10/11/08 at 6:16 pm
Meghan said:
I love that!
My ordeal changing from cell company to another was torture! They were impossible to deal with and guess what there excuse was …’Phone companies don’t guarantee their phones inside of buildings, Ma’am. Structural Problems.’
On 10/11/08 at 7:27 pm
Kim said:
Here’s my biggest pet peeve:
When the asshole cashier is too damn busy chatting with another co-worker to bother looking up at me and say hello. Or when they don’t bother to look at you even when alone. Look up, smile, say hello, and BE COURTEOUS. If you’re having a shitty day, not my problem. I did not cause it so don’t take it out on me. Ugh.
HOWEVER…(yup, I’m going after the consumer)
We as consumers can be very rude, demanding, condescending, and arrogant.
How many assholes step into the 15 items or less aisle with 25 items? Or the asshole who wastes time piddling through coupons or arguing over a whopping 15 cent difference on an item. Or the asshole who is just plain rude and needlessly snaps at the poor cashier for just trying to do their job.
Yea, I’ve been guilty, I admit it. But I generally never get rude unless I have been treated like shit to begin with. My bad day/bad mood/PMS is not their fault. I shouldn’t be mean enough to screw up their day because of my issues.
We all just need to learn to be more polite. Open a door, say hello, please, thank you, and extend a little more courtesy. We’d all be a little happier and nicer if we did.
On 10/11/08 at 7:35 pm
Meghan said:
Very well put, Kim…Thanks! We do have a lot to learn from ourselves.
Courtesy seems to have taken a back step these days on both ends. It’s not that hard to be polite. To say hello, or thank you, or have a nice day…those things matter and they are so well received.
Can ya just look me in the eye? I’m about to spend $100 on organic vegetables…I know I am a number, and you have been doing this all day. A little reciprocity would be welcome.
On 10/11/08 at 9:00 pm
The Striped Avenger said:
Please listen to all of the following options before making a selection as our options changed on December 12th of 2004.
Press one if you have a touch tone phone.
If you have a rotary phone, touch tone phones are available at Wal-Mart for $8.76.
[[ “1” ]]
Please…
[[ “0” ]]
I’m sorry your selection was invalid. Please try again.
[[ “Fuck!” ]]
I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that.
Press or say one for English
Prensa dos para el espanol
Presse drei fur Deutschen
Presse quatre pour le Francais
Pressa cinque per Italiano
日本語のための出版物6
[[ “0” ]]
I’m sorry your selection was invalid. Please try again.
[[ “1” ]]
Press one to be transferred to the incorrect department
Press two to be wrongfully disconnected
Press three to hear the sound of a monkey
[[ “3” ]]
Ooooo, oooo, oooo ahhh ahhh ahhh.
[[ “0” ]]
I’m sorry your selection was invalid. Please try again.
[[ “0” ]]
I’m sorry your selection was invalid. Please try again.
[[ “0” ]]
I’m sorry your selection was invalid. Please try again.
[[ “0” ]]
I’m sorry your selection was invalid. Please try again.
[[ “Shoots self in head” ]]
Please make a selection soon or be disconnected.
[[ “ “ ]]
Sorry you are having trouble. Goodbye.
On 10/11/08 at 9:02 pm
Meghan said:
Youre a dick.
On 10/11/08 at 9:07 pm
The Striped Avenger said:
Thanks!
On 10/11/08 at 9:11 pm
Meghan said:
Many welcomes.
On 10/11/08 at 9:09 pm
The Striped Avenger said:
and furthermore… you’re just jealous that I am more creative than you are. Just admit it. You wish you were me.
On 10/11/08 at 9:11 pm
Meghan said:
I’m not afraid of you …
On 10/11/08 at 9:13 pm
The Striped Avenger said:
Oh yeah? Listen bitch…
On 10/11/08 at 9:03 pm
Meghan said:
I love you..but you are a dick.
On 10/11/08 at 9:07 pm
The Striped Avenger said:
Even better!
On 10/11/08 at 9:12 pm
Meghan said:
Any input to add at the info at hand?
On 10/11/08 at 9:06 pm
The Striped Avenger said:
In all seriousness I agree with you that customer service has gone in the toilet. I hate it when they are cantankerous, irascible, coy, or so stupid that I have to ask for their supervisor… only to hear “I’m sorry, they’re busy right now.” To which I reply, well I’d like to leave them a message… “I’m sorry, they don’t have voicemail.”… ARGH!
On 10/11/08 at 9:08 pm
Meghan said:
I hate that so much. Can we start a movement?
On 10/11/08 at 9:10 pm
The Striped Avenger said:
The only movement calls like that bring on are of a Bowel nature.
On 10/11/08 at 9:13 pm
Meghan said:
No shit jokes. Think of the next generation!!
On 10/11/08 at 9:18 pm
The Striped Avenger said:
Who said anything about shit? I was talking about something that is packed and lit on fire.
On 10/11/08 at 9:20 pm
The Striped Avenger said:
And I’m a bad speller.
On 10/11/08 at 9:22 pm
Meghan said:
I am getting disturbed.
On 10/11/08 at 9:27 pm
The Striped Avenger said:
No… now (you) just got served.
On 10/11/08 at 11:55 pm
Meghan said:
Pffft.
On 10/11/08 at 9:20 pm
The Striped Avenger said:
Please respond to this comment soon or you will be disconnected.
On 10/11/08 at 10:21 pm
Meghan said:
We have a time limit?