Rude Customer service (real estate, renting, purchasing)

[Sly25:17]

Ok I know there is a similar thread but that one is about food so I decided to start this one. I have been to many stores like Moderator cut: store names and have been addressed by the salespeople(mostly male) pretty rudely. I know I look pretty young but I find it unprofessional for them to address a customer with slang terms like dawg,bro, ese, vato, dude,boss, homie or any other slang. What ever happened to common courtesy? Anyone ever experience this type of treatment?

[dvlpr]

"Common courtesy" vanished when we expected people to work for $7.50/hour with few (if any) benefits.

Most of the people who work at the stores you mentioned are compensated quite poorly, which is one reason that the prices for goods in these stores are so cheap. Do you really expect someone serving you a .$99 cheeseburger to be well-versed in the art of customer service? What do you expect from the average person working at Moderator cut: store name (who makes less than $18,000 annually)?

On the other hand, try shopping at Moderator cut: store names, or eating at any number of independant, locally owned restaurants. Your customer-service will generally be much, much better. Of course, it's more expensive...

I understand many people won't choose or cannot afford to shop at independent or higher-end stores. But the old addage that "you get what you pay for" is right on with regards to customer service.

[jules07]

Good points dvlpr! This has been one of my "rants" lately.

People do NOT want to pay for service!

And it really irritates me! My folks owned a "mom & pop" jewelry store for over 20 years. Mom is a Graduate Gemologist and Dad is an amazing goldsmith. They had customers who understood that part of the price of the custom designed and handmade jewelry piece they were purchasing paid for the LABOR (read ~ my Dad's TIME). Then there were others who just couldn't understand why they should pay for the "labor" on something.

Now I see it in many different service related professions ~ "where can I find someone who will cut my hair, mow my grass, sew some curtain panels, install a sprinkler system, pour a concrete patio, be my Real Estate agent, tutor my kid in Physics, teach me to swing dance, give me a massage, give me legal advice, etc, etc, etc. for CHEAP???"

I always wanna ask them, "And what do you do for a living? OH! Are you willing to work for your boss/company for FREE for a day???" yeesh.

<steps off soapbox, yet again! >

And Sly ~ I don't mean this as pointed at you. You do bring up a good point. Yet I tend to think that our society's whole "disposable" mentality has contributed to the lack of good customer service ~ both in SA and nation wide.

[TexandCajun]

I've had nothing but great customer service here so far. That's from fast food, to shoe stores, to HEB.

[mpd33]

Originally Posted by dvlpr

"Common courtesy" vanished when we expected people to work for $7.50/hour with few (if any) benefits.

Most of the people who work at the stores you mentioned are compensated quite poorly, which is one reason that the prices for goods in these stores are so cheap. Do you really expect someone serving you a .$99 cheeseburger to be well-versed in the art of customer service? What do you expect from the average person working at Moderator cut: store name (who makes less than $18,000 annually)?

On the other hand, try shopping at Moderator cut: store names, or eating at any number of independant, locally owned restaurants. Your customer-service will generally be much, much better. Of course, it's more expensive...

I understand many people won't choose or cannot afford to shop at independent or higher-end stores. But the old addage that "you get what you pay for" is right on with regards to customer service.

I don't think pay has much (if anything) to do with it. Throwing money at most things doesn't fix them. Rudeness is usually a personal response to many personal problems. You see it in the classroom, the highways, and lots of other places that don't have anything to do with what people are being paid to be there. If I was going to blame someone, I'd blame the business' lack of customer service training; and if they do have customer service training, then poor management keeps those employees employed. I mean, aren't we being told that we're in a recession? Wouldn't that mean that jobs should be coveted?
I expect to be treated with respect by personnel when I am in someone's business if I am also treating them with respect. You can't blame bad attitudes on pay scales.

[perticusrex]

You can train people all day long but you gotta pay them to put up with customer's crap. And believe me there is a lot of crap to put up with. The quality of the person is probably going to be better if they are happy with what they are doing, and usually getting paid well has something to do with that. I cleaned fish tanks when I was a kid and what I got paid was about $2.00 more than minimum wage at the time, and I thought I was making big bucks, so even though I was up to my armpits in algae, I gave some damn good service to customers.

[mpd33]

Originally Posted by perticusrex

You can train people all day long but you gotta pay them to put up with customer's crap. And believe me there is a lot of crap to put up with. The quality of the person is probably going to be better if they are happy with what they are doing, and usually getting paid well has something to do with that. I cleaned fish tanks when I was a kid and what I got paid was about $2.00 more than minimum wage at the time, and I thought I was making big bucks, so even though I was up to my armpits in algae, I gave some damn good service to customers.

I can understand why you felt that way but that hasn't been my experience. My first job was at Wendy's where I encountered rude customers plenty of times but never felt that my minimal paycheck was an excuse (or reason) to retort in kind. I was then a life guard (much better pay for a kid) and had the same customer service skills. Neither place actually trained me in customer service though. I'll attribute it to good parenting. An interesting article that speaks to both of our points: Being Rich Doesn't Guarantee Your Happiness : You Don't Have to Be Rich

[perticusrex]

Originally Posted by mpd33

I can understand why you felt that way but that hasn't been my experience. My first job was at Wendy's where I encountered rude customers plenty of times but never felt that my minimal paycheck was an excuse (or reason) to retort in kind. I was then a life guard (much better pay for a kid) and had the same customer service skills. Neither place actually trained me in customer service though. I'll attribute it to good parenting. An interesting article that speaks to both of our points: Being Rich Doesn't Guarantee Your Happiness : You Don't Have to Be Rich

Good Parenting and just being a person with good and ethical behaviour certainly helps. I will admit to that. I cant imagine treating a perfect stranger like crap because im making minimum wage. But there were plenty of jobs and instances where I just felt like I wasnt getting paid enough to put up with some of the stuff I was dealing with and I think at times it affected how well I performed.

[mpd33]

Originally Posted by Sly25:17

Ok I know there is a similar thread but that one is about food so I decided to start this one. I have been to many stores like Moderator cut: store names and have been addressed by the salespeople(mostly male) pretty rudely. I know I look pretty young but I find it unprofessional for them to address a customer with slang terms like dawg,bro, ese, vato, dude,boss, homie or any other slang. What ever happened to common courtesy? Anyone ever experience this type of treatment?

To respond to the original post
My husband, a semi-young tattoo'd guy, gets called these slang types of names frequently (well, not ese or vato since he is very obviously white).. I've heard them and found it strange many times (bro, man, brother, dude, etc.).. I think it's mostly men that experience this (as I have never been called dude, bro, or man )... and I personally think he gets it because he looks less "formal" if that's even a good description of it.. he has tattoos all over so I guess he looks like their buddies... Therefore, he gets addressed like he's their buddy. Doesn't make me or him mad though. I'm entertained by the new and exciting names I get to call him for the next week after he is given one of these friendly names.
It also extends beyond just the friendly addresses.. we hear it in the rest of the speech too. Words like psyched, stoked, lame, naaah (instead of no), etc. pop up in conversation. Good stuff. Maybe the next generation(s) will all speak to each other like that no matter where they are (work, home, school). Getting old is fun!

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by perticusrex

Good Parenting and just being a person with good and ethical behaviour certainly helps. I will admit to that. I cant imagine treating a perfect stranger like crap because im making minimum wage. But there were plenty of jobs and instances where I just felt like I wasnt getting paid enough to put up with some of the stuff I was dealing with and I think at times it affected how well I performed.

I think it's a combination of having a good work ethic, good upbringing, good TRAINING at work, and good management.

Personally I haven't ever had rude service at Starbuck's, and I've frequented a LOT of different stores over the years. They don't pay that great though (I interviewed with them before)... not more than, say, McDonald's or Valero really. It HAS to be that they're trained with a customer service focus. What else could it be?

When I was in high school and working service jobs, we knew we'd get canned if we were not doing our best to treat the customer right, and "The customer is always right" was the mantra. It was the rule regardless of what you were paid.

Now, on the other hand, I don't think that employees should have to tolerate extreme rudeness or abusive treatment from customers, either, and when you have management that backs up their employees in this regard, you'll have better service overall because employees know that if they do their best, it's not going to be turned around on them if someone is being insanely unreasonable.

I had THE GREATEST boss when I was 18, 19. He expected us to be friendly and helpful and provide excellent customer service at all times, and never tolerated anything less, but I watched one day as he told a repeat customer, who was known for being nasty to employees, that he didn't want her business anymore and basically, get out and don't come back, after she made an employee cry with her antics. She had been a customer for years and spent a lot of money with the business but he had enough of her abusive nonsense.

He put his values above the almighty dollar. This guy was able to keep employees for years in a service job that should have had high turnover and didn't pay that great or offer benefits, because he was fair and employees knew that he "had their back".

But yes, there are a few places in town where I can pretty much count on decent service (HEB, Bill Miller, Sun Harvest, to name a few off the top of my head)... others are definitely hit or miss and many times I wonder HOW some of these people are able to remain employed!