Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think you're totally wrong - 65 year olds with "impressive careers and healthy bank accounts" by and large, do NOT go into fast food work in their retirement years. They might do something like, work part time at a library or work as a tour guide but fast food isn't something a person of this caliber would even consider doing in their golden years. The 65+ adults in fast food don't have healthy bank accounts.
I also think it's sad when older adults take jobs away from teenagers who need to get work experience doing something. Most adults over 25 should have at least, a slightly better skill set than fast food work.
Maybe one day you can come down from your pink cloud and drive around a poor area. You are seeing many poor areas there is nothing there outside of fast food. The older people who are working at fast food are working there because they have no choices.
Also many teenagers don’t want to/need to work anymore. I live in an area where thousands of seasonal workers are hired every year for amusement piers etc. they all used to be teenagers. Now they have to go through H1B program is to get students from Ukraine and eastern Europe and other places to come work because they can’t get enough teenagers. And half the teenagers they do get called out when they have a party to go to. So I don’t blame older workers who apparently in your view are flipping burgers for fun.
Why do so many people like that phrase? We use it a lot with our upset customers but to me it's just a way of saying 'we want your money' and it doesn't imply in any way that the business values or respects you as a person. It's a robotic stock phrase and I hate hearing it, hate using it. (We used it with a customer that we were trying to run off the property for pete's sake)
Some people respond well to certain types of behavior, others don't. The assumption seems to be that shoppers want 'friendly', you are supposed to use their names when possible and chat with them, get to know them. As a customer I really don't like that, I hate that some poor clerk or cashier who doesn't know me is obligated by company policy to use my first name like I'm a buddy of theirs. Just NO, please don't. I'm far happier with polite, courteous, and efficient than I am with forced friendliness.
Don't get me started on "Welcome to XYZ family" and "my pleasure". I am so sick of hearing about how good the service is at Nordstrom, Chik Fil-A, and some fish market where they throw the fish around. Everything is so micromanaged, what with secret shoppers and customer surveys and whatnot. And a corporation is not my family nor is it the customers'. When I sold cars for Saturn, we had to do this stupid cheer when the customer drove their new vehicle off the lot. I hated doing it and the customers always looked so embarrassed. Honestly, I don't know whose behind that these ideas are pulled from.
Don't get me started on "Welcome to XYZ family" and "my pleasure". I am so sick of hearing about how good the service is at Nordstrom, Chik Fil-A, and some fish market where they throw the fish around. Everything is so micromanaged, what with secret shoppers and customer surveys and whatnot. And a corporation is not my family nor is it the customers'. When I sold cars for Saturn, we had to do this stupid cheer when the customer drove their new vehicle off the lot. I hated doing it and the customers always looked so embarrassed. Honestly, I don't know whose behind that these ideas are pulled from.
The Seattle fishmarket thing is a show, it is not some corporate customer service plan. they’ve been doing that since forever. Tourists come for that, it’s famous.
look, the world is a different place than it was when i was younger..... but now much much older, i don't blame the world, i guess i'm just a pollyanna, but out in retail-land, everyone wears a name tag, so i always greet the cashier by name, i bag my own stuff and never expect the cashier to do it all, and when i leave i always thank them, tell them not to work too hard, smile...... over the few years i've lived here, i have never had one problem anywhere, not the grocery store, nor the pharmacy and auto repair, nor the restaurants, dry cleaners, nor the bank and hardware store, other stores like hair/nail salon ...... you take the time to mention when your cashier was especially friendly and you get a reputation as being a great customer, people do somersaults to help you out, find things. I have been known to buy the owner of my fave restaurant or my hair salon stylist lovely bouquets of flowers just because. I've even spoken up when some yahoo decides to rage at the cashier for calling for a price check, even for being muslim, wearing her hijab, or being an illegal, if he had a latino accent, I've seen the most outrageous behavior by customers, not by cashiers. I'll speak up and tell that customer their behavior is so uncalled for. I don't care. Wrong is wrong. Every year i even make up a nice holiday basket of goodies for the 18 places i frequent most. It matters that you care about other people, in this world where so many abusive customers ARE out there. I guess I feel it is necessary to make up for the ruder, insensitive types.
OP back! Wow, lots of good discussion over the weekend!
I got some more not too great service on Sat....wasn't the worst, but could have definitely been better. I went to a huge art supply store for the very 1st time. My fiance' & I were standing at this display counter because someone has to come over & get the items we want. This one employee's on the phone w/i literally 2 steps from us. He saw us, but doesn't say a word. The moment he got off the phone, he COULD HAVE so easily said, "Someone will be right w/ you!" But NO, he starts asking some other people who are FARTHER AWAY from him (than we were) if they need help. Another employee not so far away was behind the counter helping another couple & they were looking & still deciding on things, so he could have quickly said, "I'll be w/ you soon!", but NO again. A 3rd employee eventually comes over. I'm thinking WOW to myself....but nothing really surprises me anymore.
Then, at checkout at the SAME art store, a 4th different employee asks if we're a member of their rewards program. We say NO. He SHOULD HAVE then said, "Do you want me to sign you up?" But NO, he doesn't want to go through that "trouble" apparently & just finishes ringing us up.
It's things exactly like this that are the difference between good cust svc & not so great service.
On another note...I won't hesitate to take the time to give a compliment to those who really show good service &/or who go above & beyond. I've taken the time to type out a review on Yelp & I've written 735 reviews so far about all kinds of public establishments I've been to. Most people just want to complain about the bad stuff that happens, but not me.
On yet another note...many older people you see working menial jobs definitely doesn't mean they never did anything else in their younger yrs. My now 80 yr-old aunt is a great example of this. She worked for 40+ yrs in a good county job. When she retired, she didn't want to just stay at home alone w/o talking to hardly anyone. She's still in good health, so she got herself a job at a sports arena & was one of the very originally hirees when the place 1st opened in1999. She's still there because she likes getting out of the house where she gets to talk to all kinds of people & her fellow employees.
She sure didn't need that job because she needed the money, that's for sure!
Last edited by Forever Blue; 08-13-2018 at 07:42 AM..
Then, at checkout at the SAME art store, a 4th different employee asks if we're a member of their rewards program. We say NO. He SHOULD HAVE then said, "Do you want me to sign you up?" But NO, he doesn't want to go through that "trouble" apparently & just finishes ringing us up.
You could have said "No, this is my first time here. How do I sign up?" if you were actually interested. By giving such a short answer when asked about the rewards card, the employee figured you weren't interested.
Other customers complain about the rewards card spiel, they've probably found this way to be a happy medium. They mention it for those who are interested to ask more questions, but those who aren't can just say no and move on with their purchase.
Here's all I ask that I think is the VERY LEAST they could do & I don't think this is too much whatsoever:
I enter the store...
They acknowledge me by greeting me in some way & saying let me know if you need any help.
If they notice I'm in there for a while...
Check on me & ask if I'm still doing alright.
At register at the end...
Have a pleasant demeanor, smile as they ring me up, & say good-bye or thanks for shopping or have a nice day.
Yeah & forget those fast food employees that want that higher pay. They can't do simple stuff right at all & I've been to enough various fast food places to know! In my very immediate area, the closest place to being CONSISTENTLY good & pretty quick is McDonald's, I guess. That still doesn't mean they deserve $15. It's still just fast food & if people want to stay in that line of work into their late 20s & beyond, that's their business.
I've worked fast food too when I was 18 & in college.
Maybe they just can't satisfy everybody, because I actually prefer to be left alone until I come to them. I don't want to be acknowledged, I don't want them to ask me if I need anything upon entering, I don't want them to check on me to make sure I'm all right (I'm an adult)---I just want to come in and look around sometimes without being bothered. When I need something, all I ask is that they are readily available so that I can come to them. Often, I walk into stores, and I can see they are stretched thin and sometimes covering multiple areas.
At the register, I am usually asked how I am doing today, if I found everything I needed, etc. I'm usually told thank you and to have a nice day. That's all I need. As long as people aren't nasty to me, I'm good. And honestly, the way people behave, I could understand why they wouldn't. I've seen people act like animals to employees and it makes me sick. I couldn't work with general population on a daily basis, which is probably why I'm in the career that I am in right now.
There are a lot of times that we encounter a problem with a cashier or other customer service person. I have to tell you about a time when I was less than a good cashier. :--(
I was working as a cashier at a grocery store about 15 years ago. During a very busy time someone came through my line and told me they had an exempt order. I needed to put the code in my computer before the sale. It was noisy and didn't hear what she said and usually conversation is a greeting, so I just nodded my head. I didn't do it. (Note to self, if you don't understand what they say, ask!) A manager had to came over and helped me fix it, taking more of her time.
She came in my line another day. This time I heard her, yes. But I... I forgot. Groan. I suppose my routine took over. Of course, I apologize but I inconvenienced her again.
It the story should end there. I was and am a dedicated worker. The third time she came in my line, I can't explain why but I forgot again. Double groan! I'm pretty sure she never use my line again and I don't blame her.
I was so relieved at my new cashier job at a different grocery store that with the exempt orders the paperwork/ code was completed at the end of the sale, not before.
Unless you know a cashier or customer service person and you have gotten repeated negative customer service from them, you don't really know what happened and why they acted the way they did.
Sometimes it's a mistake that they never wanted to make in the first place. It might be an attitude that they were unaware of in the moment because something in their life was influencing them. And yes, cashers shouldn't let the outside problems interfere with ther job but sometimes it happens.
Sure, sometimes you know they weren't dedicated to helping you or were rude to you. While there's no excuse for that, you may not know why (or care to know). Somehow we have to shake them off, so that the negativity stops influencing us. (Of course reporting to management as we need.)
That's said... Here is a little funny story from the comic strip called "One Big Happy." It is about the frustrations that mother, Ellen is dealing when a cashier calls for a price check and they are at the 99 cent store!
Maybe one day you can come down from your pink cloud and drive around a poor area. You are seeing many poor areas there is nothing there outside of fast food. The older people who are working at fast food are working there because they have no choices.
.
That's contrary to what the previous poster claimed. He said 65 year olds worked in these places, had fat bank accounts and comfortable retirements.
I know plenty of teens who can't get hired at fast food restaurants but would love the opportunity. Everyone knows that H1-B visas are cheaper to hire than American citizens. That is why employers prefer them. It's not that Americans don't want these jobs. (This is claimed about all jobs, from the lower level fast food places to high tech jobs - the claim is that Americans "can't" or "don't "want" to do these jobs.) That's why I'm glad a lot of these fast food jobs are becoming automated and using self-serve kiosks. Fewer jobs for lazy adults to fall back on.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
