Am I the Only One to Notice that Customer Service A Thing of the Past?

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by OpinionInOcala

Competence, honesty, and respect are generally on the decline, and these issues exist on both sides in my experience. For every employee merely filling the vacuum of the staff roster or passing the proverbial buck along, there are one or more customers who are unable to be satisfied in perpetuity either due to individual ignorance or simply because an intrinsic character flaw doesn't allow them to be anything other than problematic.

You know, as a school principal (now retired) we had just as many customer service issues as a place of business. Maybe more. Every day practically every parent who stepped up to the counter in the main office had a "customer service" issue, and almost all were personnel related. It's a little harder dealing with personnel issues and beloved kids than a toaster that doesn't work right.

And guess what. Parents were wrong about half the time. But that meant that school staff was wrong about half the time, as well. What we needed to determine most times was the extent of a problem. How accurate was what the parent had heard? And then we needed to work through the issues.

But here's where we had an advantage that retail businesses don't have -- our parents really couldn't take their business elsewhere.

And that is what businesses need to realize. Not that the customer is always right...because they're not...but you need to make the customer feel like they're at least a little bit right.

In a sense it depends on individual location, but there are 2 main chains that serve the public in regard to home improvement related stuff -- Home Depot and Lowes. And here's what I've found...without telling you at which one I found these things.

When I go into one chain I find employees that don't know the store and don't know the products. When I had that company do an installation of an exterior door, they installed the wrong door, said a problem with the door I bought didn't even exist, and it took a while to get it made right. And, the "right person" to get it made right was always "he's not in today". I had to go back to the store repeatedly to get things made right.

On the other hand, when I go to the other chain, the employees know the store and know the products. I'm often asked if I need help. When I have work done in my home by their contractors, I'm kept informed beforehand with when people will be arriving, they check on installation both during and afterward, and when I had a dishwasher that was out of warranty, they took care of it anyway.

So what's my incentive to go to the first chain? I don't see any incentive EXCEPT when they carry a specific product I want that the other chain doesn't carry.

[blisterpeanuts]

My mother (age 90) told me when she was 18 or 19 and worked in a department store in NYC, the management would occasionally send in mystery shoppers to test the staff for manners. They would hire these insufferable, obnoxious older ladies for the job. It was awful, but you had to be super nice to them or else lose your job.

I think some companies still do this today, though probably not to such an extreme. Today they have more bureaucratic procedures in place for dealing with disgruntled customers. Most businesses actually do try to make the customer satisfied.

Some here are criticizing the big box stores, but I have to say, I've usually had excellent service at every big box store I've been in. Maybe it's because I've got a smile on my face and an inoffensive manner that disarms them -- I've gotten pretty good at that

Home Depot guys will spend 45 minutes with me, explaining how to hook up drip irrigation tubing, solenoids and timers. They'll walk me right over to the aisle and point to the item I'm looking for, and stand there to make sure I found what I need. I'm nothing but impressed with HD that way.

Walmart is a great store. I'm always amazed at how many workers are out on the floor stocking or helping customers, and they always seem very willing to at least point me in the right direction if not accompany me there. I often have people ask me if I need help. The check-out people do seem a bit harried, and they don't seem to hire enough of them so the lines can get long, but other than that it seems like a very well run business.

Back in the 80s I used to gripe a lot about customer service. The Baby Boomers were pretty bad at it. But things seem to have changed for the better. I read a lot of criticism about Millennials on these chatboards but I don't think a lot of it's justified. They just generally seem nicer and less messed up than the previous generation. Keep it up, kids!

[James420]

Originally Posted by Bandon

For many, many customers a trip any store isn't complete without a little ass kissing.

You don't mean the customers who act like the store was built for them personally do you?

Or the ones who get mad because they can't find a particular department or the restroom when all they have to do is look up?

Or the ones who can't leave home without their dog and say " Oh well" when it takes a dump or urinates on the floor?

Or the ones who get extremely upset that a store is understaffed and take it out on a worker who has absolutely nothing to do with the store being understaffed?

Or the ones who take an hour of your time just to buy nothing?

Or the ones who show up 10 minutes before closing?

Not the ones who get extremely upset that you as an employee get to take a lunch break?

Not the customer who proceeds to open 2-3 boxes, then buy the unopened box of the same product they opened earlier, because customers don't understand how hard it is to sell an open freaking box, yet complain about prices in a store even though they just paid the same price for a faucet that they paid 20 plus years ago?

Best one was when a customer wrote to the corporate office about how this particular store hates disabled people because 3 aisles were blocked with ladders, even though the store has 54 aisles, this customer was given 20% of his next purchase.

Or the ones who expect you to know not only where everything is in this giant store, but they expect you to to be able to fix or install their trimmer, snow blower, lamp, toilet, faucet, water heater, deck, shelf, picture frame, light switch, vacuum cleaner, dryer, dishwasher, lawn mower, mini blind, kitchen, design their kitchen, install their kitchen, exhaust fans, and my favorite toilet seat bumpers.

Not the ones who ask a question, tell you that you are wrong, buy the wrong item then return it ripped apart, and don't like to hear that they were wrong and should of bought what you told them to buy in the first place!

I'll never understand how most in the retail business don't lose their minds on a daily basis, dealing the public sucks and the fact that a person would rather be outside working in 20 degree cold, or 95 degree heat, than deal with the general public in a climate controlled arena so to speak, even though the money is relatively close, shows how much aggravation dealing with people actually causes.

I lasted only a few months part time because eventually I would have choked and likely seriously injured a customer in the store. For those that have made retail a career, much respect for you I have, as an old Jedi would say.

[mkpunk]

I know that there is a lot of problems with customers today, that is a given. The issue is I often find it is just as bad dealing with employees as it is with customers. In the end, it's people that are the problem whether they are on either side of the register.

[j7r6s]

There's a standard concept in business of the unattainable triangle. Simple put, it's "Price, quality, service. Choose two." That's the choice most businesses have to make in order to stay in business. As a consumer, which of the three is least important to you?