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Customer service sucks but there is no reason to be rude unless the patron is an ass.
I agree some people are nasty. I went to the Dollar Store yesterday to buy a card. There was an empty register and I asked the lady if it was open. She barely nodded. Didn't say anything else. Rang up the sale handed me the change. I said thank you. She said nothing else.
Misery guts, at least you have a job...
Today my husband called our bank/credit card company and he said the guy could hardly speak...he was speaking "B.E" (Ebonics). Yes, these are the people who get jobs.
I saw something interesting at a local grocery store. There were about 4 cashiers standing around and talking (I know for a fact they were cashiers). Not a single register was open. I walked over and asked to be checked out and they directed me to go to "self-checkout". I walked right out of the store. Since when did people in these jobs start getting paid just for showing up?
It makes me sick when I see people taking these jobs for granted. I started as a dishwasher and had to work my way up to a cashier position. I ended up getting more positive customer feedback than anybody else in the store. I appreciated that position. There is much harder work being done for the same pay a cashier would get and all they have to do is talk. Many can't even do that. It's truly shocking.
Ok, sliding OT, but.....tonight I had a call from a PO'd customer, but she kept up a steady conversation with someone else in the background. She kept saying Yes to everything I said, and I repeated so, you agree? Yes, I said Yes, b**ch. Usually, the first cuss word, I simply hang up, I haven't sunk so low I take crap for pay. I kept on talking, she wasn't listening, saying Yes to everything, she placed a $750 order---and I get a big, fat commission. Oh, I'm sure she will call back and say she never placed such an order, then, pull the recording, she will hear herself say YES--YES-YES!
So, it was NOT my responsibility to inform her she wasn't listening to what she agreed to. Karma strikes!
So, what does this have to do with the topic? Who cares.........I'm going to bed!
Well, CS does seem to have gotten more rude in the last several years. But, have any of you tried working CS? With the advent of the computer, employees are now micromanaged to the breaking point. Used to be a 10 min break was 10 min, more-or-less. so what if you took a few extra minutes? Now, the break is monitored by when you log in and out. The break becomes more stress than the job!
I do phone sales and customer service. it can be a b**ch! We are so regulated, one word out of place and we could lose our jobs. We can chit chat, small talk, etc, for a few seconds, but we can't let the customer get control of the call. If we don't say everything we're required to, in the exact right order, we could be fired. Some customers are nice, some are nightmares! We're instructed NEVER to hang up on customers, but also to process orders accurately. so WTD with a customer who overtalks, interrupts, can't hear, doesn't speak English, etc, etc? Try to be "nice" to some people is inviting disaster!
Those cashiers are more regulated than you realize. Depending on the job, even a simple grunt, uh huh, could be out of line and grounds for dismissal.
Look, next time a cashier pi$$es you off, stop and realize---
-whatever, it will soon be history
-its not worth the drama to call them out, save on your BP meds
-Be glad you are ABLE to buy whatever, means you have money for something, which is more than many do!
I've been in very similar situations to you, but it's very important that the service worker does not give the customer a negative experience. You have to remember who you're there for. Words are words. If you cannot keep yourself calm (at least until you no longer have a customer in front of you), then you should probably get another job. Everybody makes mistakes but being flat-out rude is a different story.
I saw something interesting at a local grocery store. There were about 4 cashiers standing around and talking (I know for a fact they were cashiers). Not a single register was open. I walked over and asked to be checked out and they directed me to go to "self-checkout". I walked right out of the store. Since when did people in these jobs start getting paid just for showing up?
It makes me sick when I see people taking these jobs for granted. I started as a dishwasher and had to work my way up to a cashier position. I ended up getting more positive customer feedback than anybody else in the store. I appreciated that position. There is much harder work being done for the same pay a cashier would get and all they have to do is talk. Many can't even do that. It's truly shocking.
I saw something interesting at a local grocery store. There were about 4 cashiers standing around and talking (I know for a fact they were cashiers). Not a single register was open. I walked over and asked to be checked out and they directed me to go to "self-checkout". I walked right out of the store. Since when did people in these jobs start getting paid just for showing up?
Are you sure they were on the clock? Since they all directed you to the self checkout my guess would be that they weren't, or that there was some other valid reason they couldn't check you out. Maybe they were there for an employee meeting, maybe they were getting ready for start of shift, or just finished one. People are so quick to make assumptions.
I've walked in with my purse over my shoulder and my lunch bag in one hand, car keys in the other, and still have customers expect me to help them right then and there, because obviously if I'm in uniform I MUST be on the clock. I have joked that cashiers need little signs like taxis have, so customers know when they are "off duty".
Are you sure they were on the clock? Since they all directed you to the self checkout my guess would be that they weren't, or that there was some other valid reason they couldn't check you out. Maybe they were there for an employee meeting, maybe they were getting ready for start of shift, or just finished one. People are so quick to make assumptions.
IMHO there is no excuse whatsoever for a store to not have at least ONE check-out open over and above the self-checkouts. There are people who hate the self checkouts and refuse to use them.....my hubby, for example. The few times he has tried they screwed up and he ended up standing there waiting for a human to come over and fix it. You have to do things EXACTLY how the computer wants you to or else it gets screwed up. Heaven forbid you should actually put something in a bag before it tells you to or have a pricing problem! He has no patience to hassle with them. One time he was in a Lowe's home improvement store with a rather large order in the cart. There was not one regular checkout open. He walked over to the "customer service" desk and told them that if they didn't open a regular cash register he would leave the cart sit there and go down the street to the Home Depot. Needless to say they managed to open one very quickly!
Really doesn't matter whether they were on duty or not, the fact that there wasn't a regular checkout open with someone who was on duty is unacceptable. People shouldn't have to beg retailers to take their money or expect people to deal with faulty computers to do it.
Are you sure they were on the clock? Since they all directed you to the self checkout my guess would be that they weren't, or that there was some other valid reason they couldn't check you out. Maybe they were there for an employee meeting, maybe they were getting ready for start of shift, or just finished one. People are so quick to make assumptions.
I've walked in with my purse over my shoulder and my lunch bag in one hand, car keys in the other, and still have customers expect me to help them right then and there, because obviously if I'm in uniform I MUST be on the clock. I have joked that cashiers need little signs like taxis have, so customers know when they are "off duty".
I'm speaking of one time specifically, but this wasn't a one-time event. I used to come in and those same people would be ringing people up. I've been in a few times since that event and it is always the same thing. They are doing this on the clock.
I HATE those self-checkout things. I always screw it up, then a little light goes off, a bell rings, everyone is looking at me like I'm trying to run off with something. Then, a CS person comes over. They never say anything like sorry you're having trouble, etc. They always have some sort of key or card, use that, then look at your stuff,run it through again, then swipe your card, then huff off. Hey,. if a CS person is available to monitor self-checkouts for potential thefts, etc, why can't they have same CS person just run another register?
I'm tired of looking like a wanna be thief when all I want is some cat food, TP, milk,
Wish I had a job where my main purpose was to make others feel like public fools!
Not sure I am putting this in the right section, if not I apologize.
Has anyone else noticed that over the past 10 years the cashiers have got really rude? I mean overall, not just one specific area, but in general. Used to be you would get a smile and a thank you, now it seems they are looking around and talking to their co-workers about what they are going to do after work.
Now I want to clear up that I do NOT expect to small talk, I like to get in and get out. But I do expect a simple Thank You and maybe a glimpse of eye contact.
I think these people need to be in back stocking shelves, not being up front representing the store. The biggest department store in the US is very guilty of this.
Are they really that miserable that they can't crack a quick smile and say thank you????
In my experience this started at about the same time those employment assessments started becoming real popular. I think the people who got these jobs probably just checked off stuff on the assessment just to make the manager happy and the manager and HR and everyone else involved thought that the assessment ment more than whether Bevus actually can do the job. Assessments to me seem to attract the dingbat employees but I guess that's what management's looking for.
You probably are referring to Walmart. All I can say about Walmart employees is that when I'm in the store and talking to them I look for any power cords hanging off their uniform since I think they plug them into the wall when they're done with their shift - typical Walmart-droids.
i do believe customer service has decreased and people in general have become ruder and meaner so i feel for those that have to deal with the public daily----rudeness in forum posting has increased too lately(OT)
I think society, in general, has become more brash and crude and low. There is a lack of professionalism n the media. Music, in some cases, is actually hostile. Actors, announcers, etc, mispronounce words, do not speak distinctly. Human acts that used to be private are so out there that we don't shock anymore, just taking such things for granted.
Things have deteriorated so badly that there are numerous national and local campaigns to try to get our children to learn more and better. We really are being left in the dust by foriegn competitors.
But, things may be turning around. Crime rates have dropped and failing children are no longer automatically promoted to the next grade.
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Who cares.........I'm going to bed!
