Rudeness in Pittsburgh (York: job market, wage, living in)

[Chuckles1821]

but maybe people just have different definitions of what is acceptable and my standards are really low.
Have you spent much time outside of Pittsburgh? I'm sure people that have always lived in the area think its normal.


Quote:
I think when you're going to a restuarant or business and find rude people, that might be different than just a person on the street.
It has the same effect. Most the people you deal with on a daily basis are either your friends/family or strangers at places of business. The worst is the government related stuff, but the private business is bad too. You can't even ask the bus drivers in Pittsburgh a question....they can't be bother with such things it seems.

1. Yes I have lived in other cities and had extended visits in other cities.
2. My point with people in a restaurant/business being more rude is because of the fact that they're at work and not that many people like being at work, especially if their boss sucks or they have customers that are incredibly annoying.

It takes a lot to motivate someone to write/call Target etc corporate offices.

Not really. You would go to target.com, find an email address or phone number and then spend 2 minutes telling them what happened. It's not that hard.

I guess my main thing is that you simply can't say that a WHOLE city's customer service is bad. I just think that's kind of a ridiculous thing to do.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by suzeeq521

As someone who has worked in the service industry for a long, long time, I can read my customers. And if someone came in with the attitudes that LondonBarcelona & Humanoid are carrying, I wouldn't give two shakes about them either. I never wasted my time on customers who had already made up their mind that I was inferior.

I have worked in a field that requires a lot of customer service, too: health care. It is the responsibility of the employee to always provide good CS, even if the customer is being a butt-head. Even if you have to tell the customer (patient/family member) "Dr. X will not prescribe antibiotics/lab tests/X-rays, etc. over the phone, you have to come in/bring your child in", etc, you have to be nice about it. IMO, the customer should also be willing to be pleasant, etc, but we have our share, in our office, of nasty people, and it's part of the job to deal with them. We have "fired" a few patients for outright obnoxiousness, but they are few and far between.

[guylocke]

How does your "ex-boyfriends" experience mean anything then?

Ex boyfriend (singular)

Does target etc do reports that compare the regions?

YES. Very much so, and of course he was privvy to this information and it was made quite clear to him because he was management.

Regardless, the vast majority of customer complaints are made to the employees or manager of the particular store. It takes a lot to motivate someone to write/call Target etc corporate offices. Nobody is going to do that for general rudeness and that is what I'm talking about. I have had countless bad experiences in Pittsburgh and I didn't once write/call a corporate office.

You're probably right, the vast amount of complaining isn't called into corporate, however, the statistics are still accurate as it's still across the board. What I mean is that the vast amount of complaining isn't called into corporate across the country, so if one particular city DID complain a lot more than another it would still be accurate. The studies that target performs are on the people who DO complain, of which the Pittsburgh region is very low.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by Humanoid

How does your "ex-boyfriends" experience mean anything then? If the reporting is done on a national level then how does one know its one of the best regions? Does target etc do reports that compare the regions? Regardless, the vast majority of customer complaints are made to the employees or manager of the particular store. It takes a lot to motivate someone to write/call Target etc corporate offices. Nobody is going to do that for general rudeness and that is what I'm talking about. I have had countless bad experiences in Pittsburgh and I didn't once write/call a corporate office.

Okay -- how about this. I've spent my life in customer service. I learned my level of customer service at Kaufmanns Department Store in 1977-1980.... and through out my employment and self employment all my reviews are glowing when it comes to customer service...

And I learned it in Pittsburgh. Thirty one years ago.

[Humanoid]

Trust me - that attitude that you think you and other cities are better does come through in the way you carry yourself.

This is nonsense. I don't particularly care for where I'm living now and yet I get treated much much better. I'm very polite to people in public and rarely give anybody attitude even when they screw up.

D'oh. Yeah, I'm sure that such stores do compare regions, so that the underperforming regions can emulate the better ones and improve the entire company.

I'm sure they do too, but that wasn't the point. A mid-level manager's experience at some local store is only important if you are talking about the sort of complaints that aren't going to corporate (they don't hear those), but these sorts of complaints are only dealt with correctly in places with good customer service. With that said, I never recall having a problem with Target.

[Humanoid]

The studies that target performs are on the people who DO complain, of which the Pittsburgh region is very low.

If you have any actual data on this I would be interested to see it, but the whole "he-said she-said" is not particularly interesting. I mean you could after all be full of it = )

And I learned it in Pittsburgh. Thirty one years ago.

Needless to say a place can change a lot in thirty one years. Also, I'm not making the claim that every store offers bad customer service, just a lot more than what I'm use to. I'm also not making any claim about why the customer service appears bad, it could be simply that I'm use to interacting with people in different ways. I made this post to see if anybody had some insight. But instead I get the Pittsburgh-nazis claiming that I essentially must be treating people badly!

[fleetiebelle]

Can you give some examples of the bad service you've received, so we're all on the same page here?

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by Humanoid

But instead I get the Pittsburgh-nazis claiming that I essentially must be treating people badly!

There is a thread on the Nebraska forum about "the worst town in Nebraska". Many of the complaints are about customer service. A bad experience gives you a bad opinion of a whole city, whether it is deserved or not. I maintained over there, and I will maintain on this forum, bad service in a restaurant, store, etc, is inexcusable. These are business transactions, not social ones. Even if the customer is being a ****, the employee has an obligation to be polite. Of course, an abusive customer should be shown the door, but that's not what is being talked about in most cases. In my case in NE, it was a restaurant hostess who was downright rude when we asked for a table, in response to her asking how she could help us!

FWIW, I learned my "customer service" skills, (better known in my business as bedside manner) in Pittsburgh, at Pitt.

[Humanoid]

Can you give some examples of the bad service you've received, so we're all on the same page here?

Sure, here are some off the top of my head:

- Post office employees complain to your face when you bring in more than a couple of pieces of mail. There was a REALLY bad one named Dale at the Bloomfield office (Also worked in the Southside office too), it is amazing that he hasn't gotten shot or fired yet.

- Asking a bus driver anything can be a humbling experience! I've had them simply not answer me, answer "NO" and then close the door in my face etc.

- I've had bad service at many restaurants. Usually its being ignored by having to wait way too long to get your order taken or not being able to get something you want (More drink etc).

- When applying for something downtown the guy threw my application at me and told me to do it again.

- Not filling fast food orders correctly, this is so common in Pittsburgh I found it odd. Although chick-fli-a was always perfect.

I have enough bad experiences in Pittsburgh to fill a book, but what I'm really talking about is a sort of general rudeness. People don't say "thank you" much, instead of "Hello, can I take your order?" Its "What do you want"? If you ask for something "extra", people get pissy. Its almost as if people in the area aren't happy with what they do and have no motivation to move up in life. That is they appear very bitter and defeated.

[pghcleak]

I'm so sorry that people in or around Pittsburgh were rude to you.

So rude, in fact, that you had to write about it to get it off of your chest, on a City Data forum.

I hope that wherever you reside currently, you are treated with the respect that you do deserve, and your fast food, postal, and transportation needs are met with the kindest faces that area has to offer.

From, a not-so-rude Pittsburgher