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IF you are a front line employee the most important words you need to learn are "Let me get my manager"
If you are self employed and the customer isn't worth the headache go ahead and fire them. Now if they represent a huge part of your business that is a very difficult decision, but in that case a financial analysis may make sense and in the end that analysis may very well prove the customer is "too expensive"
A lot of times in customer service the reps aren't allowed to say that. They have to wait until the customer asks to speak to a supervisor. This is music to a customer service reps ears when the customer is irate.
My friend works for a large hotel chain's customer service. Most of the customers are nice, just upset. If someone swears, they are allowed to hang up on them and there have been a few customers who made it on the persona non grata list which is done by management. I make it a rule, no matter how mad I am I will be polite because (1) it is not the person answering the phones fault, and (2) the person you are speaking with will do more for you if you are polite. Speak harshly and they won't go out of their way to give you any compensation.
True. If I worked for a business that didn't provide tracking numbers to their customers, I'd wonder "wow, they aren't giving out tracking numbers? Why?" And I'd probably understand why customers would be angry.
I just sell stuff online out of my home and always provide tracking numbers. It's come to be expected part of doing business, since so many things are purchased online these days.
Lots of online used book stores selling through Amazon don't, they just pack them up to be shipped via USPS and someone comes and picks them up. It is called book rate and there is no tracking. Besides, USPS tracking is useless. Often it doesn't even appear in the tracking system until it is at my local post office.
Lots of online used book stores selling through Amazon don't, they just pack them up to be shipped via USPS and someone comes and picks them up. It is called book rate and there is no tracking. Besides, USPS tracking is useless. Often it doesn't even appear in the tracking system until it is at my local post office.
No it's not. I made a purchase, some years ago, from a company I've been doing business with since 2010. They ship all of their products Priority Mail, and they provide the tracking number when they email you to let you know your order has shipped. I'm on that tracking system stalking my shipments like a hawk on its prey (I also buy stuff off of Amazon from time to time) - well, the tracking showed for this one shipment that it had been delivered. I headed home from work on my lunch hour to make sure, and there was no package there.
Turns out the carrier was a substitute floater who left it on the stoop, which was fully accessible and visible to anyone who happened to be passing, and someone stole it. I raised Holy Hell at the supervisor at the PO, and they kept insisting there was nothing they could do "unless it was insured."
So, I contacted the company, and they sent me another shipment, which I had shipped to my parents' address. It was insured, and the company handled that issue on their end; since they had sent me the 2nd shipment, it was them that the PO owed money to, not me.
I also dealt with a situation last year where I ordered a book from Amazon (a rare out of print book), and the UPS tracking showed that a shipping label had been generated, but nothing after that. I actually contacted UPS, and they showed no record of the shipment actually having been made. Contacted Amazon to cancel the order and get my credit card charge reversed, and I also noticed this particular vendor has a lot of complaints against them, mostly of orders not being received. I did get my book, from another seller who, ironically, had sold me another volume of the series this book was from (The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery - the book I had trouble getting was the fifth and final volume).
If I don't receive tracking information, I contact the seller and ask for it outright. I also track it through both the USPS website, and Amazon (if that is where I ordered the shipment from).
I've both seen in person and watched videos online of irate customers who were in the wrong thinking that crying "This is customer service?" or some other sentiment with the idea of "the customer is always right" behind it automatically makes them right, and I have no qualms about telling them that they aren't!
Some customers think that a business owes them the world and must give into their way simply because they give them some of their money. While I'll agree that you should do your best to serve the customer and make them happy, some people are unable to be pleased and need to be told to GTFO and that they aren't getting their way no matter how much they whine and cry.
How would you deal with a customer like this? What is the appropriate response? And any self-employed people, have you ever had to "fire" a customer because they were unreasonable or unbearable?
Unless you're the owner or manager of a company, you'd better not be talking to a customer like that.
If I was the owner, and I found out one of MY employees just cussed out a customer, that employee would be gone.
If you have a problem with a customer, get the manager.
Well I have a coworker that used to be a higher up person that told me when customers get impatient with her she will end up actually going slower. I mean obviously you don't want to go ridiculously slow but if they start acting terrible at you you can deliberately slow your pace up. There's really no reason to stress yourself out over it. If your boss complains then I guess you have to worry but you can only do your best.
You should be nicer to a customer than you would with random people off the clock so a customer is top priority because after all that is what they are paying you for but there is a line they should not cross.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sandsthetime
Being a customer service rep sucks in today's entitlement culture (and that includes people of ALL age groups). You've got people wanting discounts for ALL kinds of stupid reasons. "It's my birthday, why can't I get $10 off?" And then you've got people trying to use expired coupons and use excuses like senior citizen discounts, military discounts, etc. Even if your company doesn't offer a military discount, you've got a customer berating you because "everyone else gives me a military discount but you can't? Do you not respect our military?"
Customer service will teach you a lot about how crappy people are in this day and age.
To be fair, there really isn't that much birthday deals anymore and the ones you are you still have to pay a good amount for it. Personally I hate my birthday so getting a free lunch or whatever would make me feel a bit better about it. I tried to get one for Starbucks because I like their breakfast sandwiches and online there was a website that listed Starbucks as one of the places you could get something free. I signed up and found out that was not the case at all...nothing about birthdays.
It's not the job of a phone rep to use that "firm voice." Customer service reps have very little power to enforce company policy, and it is NOT their job to get into arguments with customers who are being belligerent.
If you read all the posts about the matter in question, it was in regards to a customer complaining about not knowing when their package was going to arrive, and also asking for a USPS tracking number, which the phone rep (C-D poster) was unable to provide. The poster claims that they couldn't provide tracking because it was international shipping, which is incorrect. When pressed, the poster got snappy and said they couldn't make the USPS move any faster.
That kind of attitude would get them fired where I work.
I've worked in customer service in one form or another for over 25 years. One thing that has been DRILLED into me is that when a customer is getting belligerent, you step aside and let a MANAGER sort it out. This is especially true when you are dealing with customer accounts that provide a good deal of business to your employer. We deal with a number of customers like that where I work, and yes, they have a right to be demanding when things don't go right.
And you ALWAYS bend over backwards, because it is the CUSTOMERS who actually pay your paycheck, not the CEO/shareholders/ company president, or whoever's name is stamped on the signature line.
I was said poster. I said that the company itself didn't store the tracking across international lines. It wasn't in the system. I may perhaps be able to know shipping date and estimated arrival date, but I could not, based on the information available to me, track it with the tracking number they gave me. I even learned in the training that it doesn't provide the tracking (It says it in the template I was told to send them, too).
I don't have a problem with having a "boss" per se, I have a problem with people who bark orders and the only reason they can give to follow them is "because I said so". I'll GLADLY explain my reasoning and though process behind every policy and rule I make and follow. Granted, they might not AGREE with my reasoning, but at least I can articulate the reasons I feel it is the best course of action. If they still don't want to follow them, it's time for us to part ways. Bosses who are unwilling to discuss anything and just issue edicts are not ones I care to deal with.
Again, you misinterpret my inherent fear and distrust of authority as absolute hatred of it. Quite the contrary, my REAL problem lies with people who have unabashed respect and admiration for authority, seeing it as above reproach and unable to be questioned. People who see authority figures as perfect gods, not flawed human beings, who must follow their orders unquestioningly are the reason why the people in power can get away with so much, because no one will take a stand against it. The way I see it, the law is constantly changing, therefore it is not perfect and not inherently worthy of respect just by virtue of being a law, and neither are those who enforce it. Authoritarian people cannot make that differentiation.
IMO, the ones that are the worst are the ones who say they're "just following orders". That tells me they have a fundamental incapability to think for themselves or make decisions on their own, and they are only able to listen to what the person "above" them tells them to do. Simply being a sheep and doing what you're told is not an attitude worthy of respect.
And to the point of the thread, I do my best to keep my customers happy, that's what keeps them coming back and brings new business in. Some customers are not worth that effort do to being unreasonable, so I won't waste my time trying to please an unpleaseable person. I'll focus my efforts on customers who appreciate my time. That's the point of this thread, it's not "F the customer/boss/etc.", it's more of "not all business is good business/worth your time".
So you would have no problem with your employees doing whatever they want and treating your customers however they wanted? You would have no policies on how to interact with customer? You wouldn't be giving orders to them? It is one thing to understand the difference between "just following orders" and everyday authority in the functioning of a business or society. Your posts seem to have confused the difference between taking a stand for what is right vs telling anyone you see in a position of "authority" (to include paying customers) to "GTFO" to use your words.
Lots of online used book stores selling through Amazon don't, they just pack them up to be shipped via USPS and someone comes and picks them up. It is called book rate and there is no tracking. Besides, USPS tracking is useless. Often it doesn't even appear in the tracking system until it is at my local post office.
I used to sell books on Amazon. It's called Media Mail. And while it is not true tracking, Delivery Confirmation has been available for it at least as far back as 2001 when it cost 13 cents. Even though it was intended only to show delivery, often it would show progress through the system.
I was said poster. I said that the company itself didn't store the tracking across international lines. It wasn't in the system. I may perhaps be able to know shipping date and estimated arrival date, but I could not, based on the information available to me, track it with the tracking number they gave me. I even learned in the training that it doesn't provide the tracking (It says it in the template I was told to send them, too).
Well that is a lousy system on the part of your company but that's what you have to work with so your job is to remain calm and repeat that as necessary. In fact, if you have templates to use then best bet is to not stray from the template.
I've both seen in person and watched videos online of irate customers who were in the wrong thinking that crying "This is customer service?" or some other sentiment with the idea of "the customer is always right" behind it automatically makes them right, and I have no qualms about telling them that they aren't!
Some customers think that a business owes them the world and must give into their way simply because they give them some of their money. While I'll agree that you should do your best to serve the customer and make them happy, some people are unable to be pleased and need to be told to GTFO and that they aren't getting their way no matter how much they whine and cry.
On a related note, this is why the employer-employee relationship can't just be broken down to "they're the ones cutting your paycheck. They get to decide". There are lines being lazy, entitled, blah blah blah, but that's still not an excuse to pile on things that are against regulations (e.g. sexual harassment, unpaid overtime), or show lack of respect.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmy12345678
How would you deal with a customer like this? What is the appropriate response? And any self-employed people, have you ever had to "fire" a customer because they were unreasonable or unbearable?
While working as a cashier, a man refused to provide ID when I took his check. I told him it's store policy, and when he still wouldn't produce ID, called the manager over. manager confirmed ID is required. The customer still refused, wouldn't do any other method of payment (cash or cc), and just left without the products in his cart.
.
Other cases I've heard/read of:
--A person who frequented a department store was told to never show up again. She asked so many questions, but spent so little money, that such a ratio was evidently off the charts
--A Verizon customer was dropped as a customer since she called them up so many times, that it was incurring more costs than they were able to handle.
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