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I was in the garden center of a chain store and asked the salesman for a price on a water barrel. He left to get it for me, while I waited. and waited, and waited. I asked another salesperson what happened to the guy. He went to lunch. I did complain to the manager and was asked, if I still wanted the rain barrel...uh, no.
I didn't buy a vehicle from a particular dealership, because the salesman kept looking down at his cell phone every time someone sent him a text message and answered it a couple of times. That's not okay.
Making minimum wage doesn't make it okay to slack off and not work hard. Where is the pride in doing a good job?
If you want the ultimate in poor customer service, try getting Verizon to come to your house to do repairs on your phone line or your DSL line!
On more than one occasion, I have scheduled an appointment for a repairman to visit, and then experienced a no-show.
Upon calling Verizon to inquire about the no-show, I was told (on two separate occasions) that I had cancelled the repair appointment.
Really?
Ummmm....NO.
And, in case you think that I am the only one experiencing Verizon's supremely crappy customer service, a close friend of mine has experienced the same thing--only worse. Last year, he was without landline phone service for approximately two weeks, due to a succession of ridiculous excuses such as..."you cancelled the appointment"..."we can't find your house"..."our tests show that there is no problem"...and a few other bizarre excuses that I can't recall.
Unfortunately, my friend gives up more readily than I do.
When I was in a virtual standoff (with no phone service for 6 days) a few years ago, I persisted until I was finally able to get a supervisor on the phone (my cell phone, obviously!). In addition to getting a firm appointment for repair service, I actually got her to readily agree to the Triple Damages that I demanded, and sure enough, my next phone bill was substantially lower as a result of not being charged for 18 days of service.
Don't accept poor customer service.
When appropriate, if local supervisors don't come to your assistance, keep kicking it up a notch until you reach the corporate offices.
If you want the ultimate in poor customer service, try getting Verizon to come to your house to do repairs on your phone line or your DSL line!
On more than one occasion, I have scheduled an appointment for a repairman to visit, and then experienced a no-show.
Upon calling Verizon to inquire about the no-show, I was told (on two separate occasions) that I had cancelled the repair appointment.
Really?
Ummmm....NO.
And, in case you think that I am the only one experiencing Verizon's supremely crappy customer service, a close friend of mine has experienced the same thing--only worse. Last year, he was without landline phone service for approximately two weeks, due to a succession of ridiculous excuses such as..."you cancelled the appointment"..."we can't find your house"..."our tests show that there is no problem"...and a few other bizarre excuses that I can't recall.
Unfortunately, my friend gives up more readily than I do.
When I was in a virtual standoff (with no phone service for 6 days) a few years ago, I persisted until I was finally able to get a supervisor on the phone (my cell phone, obviously!). In addition to getting a firm appointment for repair service, I actually got her to readily agree to the Triple Damages that I demanded, and sure enough, my next phone bill was substantially lower as a result of not being charged for 18 days of service.
Don't accept poor customer service.
When appropriate, if local supervisors don't come to your assistance, keep kicking it up a notch until you reach the corporate offices.
Verizon is absolutely the worst when it comes to customer service!!!!!!!!!!! Their goal is to not send a truck out to save money, hoping you just give up and deal with your issues. It doesn't make any sense, I know.
I only really have a problem with the cashiers who have a chip on their shoulder--they hate their job, they hate their circumstances, they resent you for creating work for them...and they want you to know this in no uncertain terms. If it's a teenager, I'll cut them some slack...chalk it up to a child being childish. However, if it's an adult, I silently shake my head at their pathetic lack of character, maturity and work ethic.
The ones that are merely stone faced and don't know how to say Hello, Thank you or You're Welcome, I just ignore. I have bigger things to worry about.
Having said that, I've been on both sides of the cash register myself. I've worked for minimum wage at various chains and small businesses and I've worked as child slave labor for my parents' small business. I've worked in some frou frou places serving supposedly high class people, I've worked in the ghetto serving straight up hoodlums, and I've worked everywhere in between.
One thing is universal, regardless of socioeconomic status and/or education: customers can be real JERK OFFS. And this is not a once in a while kinduva thing. It's an everyday thing. During the busy seasons, it's an HOURLY thing.
Here is a list of things I've had to deal with as a cashier/customer service employee:
Customers arguing with you and blaming you for things that (a) are beyond your control and (b) you did not institute, e.g.:
the "outrageous" prices that Big Box Corp. has the nerve to charge
the "outrageous" sales tax--my favorite customer complaint: "How can you have the nerve to charge full sales tax when over in [name of city in Urban Enterprise Zone] they only charge 3.5%?"
the "fact" that sales tax should not be charged on a Whitman's sampler because technically it is food, or the "fact" that sales tax should not be charged on ________ because XYZ.
discontinued items
reformulated, revamped items
what credit cards are, and are not, accepted
the fact that the cash register is actually a computer and there are certain protocols...you can't "just" MAKE it do anything
Customers trying to scam you.
Customers trying to pass off counterfeit bills.
Customers trying to return/exchange things with no receipt and/or after an absurd period of time, or customers trying to return/exchange clearly used items. I once had an idiot try to argue his way into exchanging a greeting card that he had already written in!
Customers who claim that you short changed them (this time, not because they are trying to scam you but because they are morons).
Customers that call you names, insult you, scream at you and even threaten your life.
Customers that talk trash about you in a foreign language that they ASSume you can't understand, but you do.
Customers that break things, put things back in the wrong place, make a damn mess everywhere and let their screaming kids break things, put things back in the wrong place and make a damn mess everywhere.
Customers that think you are being racist or discriminatory because you do or don't sell too much or too little of whatever item.
I've worked at multiple grocery stores...it gets annoying when some customers ask the same stupid questions, people ask us things that they could only get solved at customer service, ask us where things are(when we're on the register for 90% of our shift, and in the break room the other 10%), ***** and moan about the lack or registers open and the self checkouts(which I did not put into the store), and so on....and after union dues, we're making $6-7 an hour.
And the cell phone issue...the stores can't fire every single cashier, the only thing I ever saw people get fired for was stealing $. Would it be that hard to just ignore it, or use a self-checkout(if available).
at wal-mart, they aren't allowed to have cell phones with them at the cashier checkout. honestly...i'm not anti-union, but it boggles my mind why grocery stores are union-shops. cashiers at wal-mart make more than $7/hr.
Verizon is absolutely the worst when it comes to customer service!!!!!!!!!!! Their goal is to not send a truck out to save money, hoping you just give up and deal with your issues. It doesn't make any sense, I know.
they do have low-rated CS, but they have been working to improve it. for instance, I have FIOS, and i've noticed the customer service has improved dramatically since I started with it. never experienced the DSL stuff, but have heard horrible things.
Customers that break things, put things back in the wrong place, make a damn mess everywhere and let their screaming kids break things, put things back in the wrong place and make a damn mess everywhere.
i make a point of putting things back properly because of some of my high school/college jobs.
at retail clothing stores, we had to have all the hangers facing the same direction. at the end of the night, we had to go through the store and fix everything. so now, i hang things up the proper way. i also try my best to fold clothes when i pick them up and look at them. at blockbuster, we had to go through the entire wall of dvds/vhs and make sure they all ligned up properly. putting a product back where it belongs is something i do. even when it's out of my way to do it. i don't know why, it's like something is controlling me. it bugs me to just take something out of the cart and toss it on a shelf.
I was at Michael's today, and the cashier as singing the song on the store radio (not an appropriate song by any means, and I had my baby with me) in my face as she was checking out. Ugh...
I was at another store to remain nameless. I asked a salesperson if he could get me a supply of something bulky from the back and bring it to the front (they have a policy to help carry things to the front, to your car, especially with a baby, etc.). Well, the person never got my stuff, and somebody else had to go get it. When I saw him at the front, I asked him about the product, and he just looked at me and was like "oh." Ugh Ugh Ugh!!!!
I went to 3 stores today, and it was painful at 2 of them.
One thing is universal, regardless of socioeconomic status and/or education: customers can be real JERK OFFS. And this is not a once in a while kinduva thing. It's an everyday thing.
Absolutely!
In my younger days, I did experience quite a few irrational/hostile customers in various jobs (cashier, security guard, gas station attendant, produce clerk), but I think that the biggest jerks of all were some of the folks whom I encountered when I drove a limo, back in the '80s. My customers ranged from regular middle-class folks right up to the super-wealthy--including a few VPs from AT&T/Bell Labs (whatever they called the company based in Murray Hill in those days), and also the CEO of Household Finance Corp.
The regular middle-class folks were actually the nicest (and good tippers in most cases), and the super-wealthy were decent overall. However, the Nouveau Riche Upper Middle Class were almost always totally self-absorbed, self-important, pompous jerks. The worst were the wives of a couple of AT&T upper management guys.
I had to pick up these unpleasant folks at JFK Airport, upon their return from the Summer Olympics in LA. Naturally, I grabbed the closest possible parking space to the terminal where they were arriving. As soon as they arrived, I asked them if they wanted to wait in front of the terminal while I brought the limo around, or if they wanted to walk to the car, which was parked--perhaps--the equivalent of 1 block from the front of the terminal. The husbands decided that, after sitting for several hours on a plane, the walk would do them all a lot of good. I proceeded to pick up three pieces of luggage (the most that I could carry), and immediately one of the wives started griping because she had to carry a small carry-on bag. I knew that this would not be pleasant!
After walking about 10 feet from the front of the terminal, one of these bitchwives loudly asked, "Just how much further do you expect me to walk?" I responded that it was just a bit further, and described just how many rows of cars lay between us and the limo. Her response was, "I still don't understand why you couldn't have parked the car in front of the terminal for us". I explained that the limo would--at the very least--be ticketed, and possibly it might be towed if it was there for more than 10 minutes or so without a driver. Her response? "That's not my problem, sonny".
Upon arrival at her home in Chatham, I pulled up in their semicircular driveway in order to let them out of the car and to offload the luggage. Ms Bitchwife informed me that the luggage needed to be taken to the back door, and that I could not leave it in their front hallway. When I walked to the back, I learned that the house was built on an extreme grade, and in order to get to the back door, I had to climb a VERY long flight of stairs to their deck and their back door. It took me three long round trips from the car to the back door and the rear stairs in 95 degree heat, in order to offload all of the luggage.
And, what was my tip for all of this aggravation and exertion?
Zero, zip, nada!
Yup!
Customers can indeed be HUGE jerks.
Luckily, most of my clients were much nicer than these self-important Nouveau Riche residents of Chatham.
I was raised to believe that you should treat others in the same way that you would like to be treated.
However, it appears that many people were not raised with this belief, or that they managed to forget the principles imbued by their parents.
Last edited by Retriever; 08-04-2011 at 02:34 PM..
I generally expect very little from people these days so it is pretty hard to disappoint me.
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