Customer service in the UK sucks (car insurance, houses, tax)

[peapod86]

[quote=jenn02674;4913266]This doesn't make any sense. EVERYONE is there to do a job - to make money. Noone is working these jobs for fun. ....

Little chef, arghhhh havent been to one of those in years, on the motorway or something? childhood memories of long drives to a camp site (not long in compared to america long)

yes but what I mean is that in America they need to give good customer service in restaurants otherwise they dont get tipped....and I heard (not sure) waiters and waitresses earn most of their money through tips in the US. In England the wages aren't so bad (compared to the supermarkets they are about the same) and often ppl dont expect tips...unless they work for an american company like TGI's. Sometimes ppl leave a couple of pounds of something on the table but not everytime, and usually only if it was good service.

I like cusomter service, but i think its of a different standard in different countries.

But Germany is worse than the UK for service.. and the UK is worse than the US...

[What!]

peapod86, I think you're seriously mislead about how business works. As jenn pointed out, these people in the U.K. or the U.S. are there to get for the job. It doesn't matter how "genuine" they are. It matters if they give you a pleasant experience. You shouldn't walk into a store and worry about whether or not the customer service person really likes you or not. If they saw you on the street they most likely give a crap about you. It shouldn't be a big deal because you went in there to purchase something, not join a best friends forever club.

[backtotx]

At a pizza place in the UK I was asked if I'd enjoyed my meal. I answered that no, the pizza was too salty. The waiter shrugged his shoulders and said 'it is awful when that happens' And that was that, no real apology and no money off. I was too young to do anything about it.

At the checkout at Boots a few years ago, the assistant asked me how I was and had I found everything ok. I was so astounded that she bothered to ask these questions. She had obviously just come back from a training course or was new to the job. I'm used to sales people like that in the US but when I'm in the UK I'm used to sales people who just look like they would rather be somplace else. Unless of course, you are in a local town and then you usually get very good service.

[bjh]

Originally Posted by geeoro

Whenever i phoned my British bank from the UK i was put through to a handling office in Asia. British Service sucks big time.

Originally Posted by blackrabbit

Their service is the worst I have ever experienced and most of the time I speak to someone who cannot even speak English properly. I wish there was a list of banks that outsource to India etc so I can not let them have my business.

Originally Posted by LINCOLNSHIRE

Lloyds TSB now only use UK call centres..I`ve had no problems recently...Or should I say yet...
Listen in on our bank call centre ring around | Bank customer service | This is Money

Unfortunately, phone service in far off, less developed countries has been a factor in the US too the past few years. It is terrible. I wish there was a list here too!

[bjh]

Is it possible that British service suffers from a "who do you think you are to expect service" attitude?

[LINCOLNSHIRE]

Originally Posted by bjh

Is it possible that British service suffers from a "who do you think you are to expect service" attitude?

You have something there..
Customers who confuse "service" with "servitude" combined with a UK economy based on the service industry, where jobs are poorly paid and ten a penny, and many of the problems arise which complaints are based on...

[geeoro]

Unfortunately there seems to be a "them" and "us" attitude in the service industry in the UK. The customer is treated as "them" and the salestaff are "us". It also seems to be more prevalent with younger sales staff. I recently flew from the UK to America with BA. I have always found BA give good service. On this occassion, the cabin crew on my part of the plane were all young. They seemed to be more concerned with having jokes amongst themselves than the service. I was at the back of the plane and just before we took of, one of the stewards opened the locker above me and asked if the bag in there was mine. I said yes, because the locker was over my seat and for my bag. He asked if i could put my bag under the seat in front of me as he needed to put his bag up there and he might have to access it during the flight. I asked why he couldn't put his bag under my seat as the cabin crew were using the seats behind me. he put his bag in the locker with my bag as there was room and never touched it again throughout the flight. A screen was put up behind my seat and blocked off the cabin crew seats, which they used during the flight. They acted like kids in their seats, constantly pushing our seats in front of them. I'm sure if a more senior crew member had been supervising them, it wouldn't have happened.

[bjh]

Originally Posted by geeoro

Unfortunately there seems to be a "them" and "us" attitude in the service industry in the UK. The customer is treated as "them" and the salestaff are "us". It also seems to be more prevalent with younger sales staff.

Yes, I hate sound like an old fuddy duddy, especially since I am only a young fuddy duddy, but it seems that younger people are taught no respect or civility. And this is a problem in both our countries. Oh for the old days of the strop, or does that translate?

[geeoro]

I agree bjh. I hate how i'm beggining to sound like my Father but i think that the young get too much too quick and, you are right, there is no respect for anyone but themselves.

[peapod86]

Originally Posted by What!

peapod86, I think you're seriously mislead about how business works. As jenn pointed out, these people in the U.K. or the U.S. are there to get for the job. It doesn't matter how "genuine" they are. It matters if they give you a pleasant experience. You shouldn't walk into a store and worry about whether or not the customer service person really likes you or not. If they saw you on the street they most likely give a crap about you. It shouldn't be a big deal because you went in there to purchase something, not join a best friends forever club.

Maybe the word genuine was not what i was looking for, i dont expect cusomer service ppl to like me, or to join a best friends forever club. What i was thinking is that the places in the UK where u get good customer service are usually in companies where the staff actually care about their company/jobs/policies and therefore are genuinely interested in whether the customers have got the stuff they were looking for and had good service..so that they will come back...places like John Lewis... for example.

I dont think UK can compete with the US in CS because in the US u get good CS nearly everywhere....

I was in Anthropolgie in America and I wanted to buy a top but the last one had a mark on it...the sales woman gave us 40% off and said if the mark didnt come out, I could take it back That was brilliant!

I think if u come from America... u are gonna have a tough time with customer service in any country you go to.... The US have got it spot on with Customer Service....