Customers Who Cry "This Is Customer Service!" Thinking It Automatically Makes Them Right? (fund, jobs)

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by PriscillaVanilla

Also, if customers are angry all the time, I'd stop to consider what kind of business I'm working for. It's a shady one, if they have that many disgruntled customers...


...It doesn't (or shouldn't) take half a brain to realize that if customers are lining up with complaints, there is something wrong with your company.

Except one of the main functions of a customer service rep is to handle problems and complaints, so it shouldn't be surprising that they get to deal with a lot of frustrated or angry customers for most of their day.

We have 'fired' customers for asking us to break the law, for getting physical and/or cursing employees or other customers, or for being a chronic complainer, costing the business money. 'So sorry Mr X, we haven't been successful in meeting your needs, we feel you would be happier with another company' (don't let the door hit you on the way out)

[cyphorx]

Old customers are the worst with this, but I understand why, businesses used to kinda kiss the a$$ of customers, they grew up in a time when most stores and shops were privately owned and you could haggle(because every thing was marked up) today alot of our goods are direct from manufacturer so there is little markup so no haggling. I remember when I worked at compUSA the store manager showed me what they paid for stuff in the store and how the store actually made more of a profit selling cables, ink cartridges, printer paper and other stuff that went with a computer than the computer it's self. and this was back when a new computer was close to 2 grand.

older people grew up in a time when getting gas some guy ran out and cleaned your windows, checked your oil, filled your tires all for about 15 cents a gallon. now almost every station charges you to air your tires.

[Kophi]

Originally Posted by PriscillaVanilla

My suggestion would be to get a different job. Listening to complaints is part of a customer service rep's job.

Originally Posted by elhelmete

Find a different line of work?

This advice about getting a different job simply because
someone shines light on a problem therein is a bit
shallow, imo.

Do these folks jump from job to job the minute they
encounter something that they don't like?

What's wrong with staying put and addressing the issue
head-on, as well as raising the general public's awareness
of it?

Originally Posted by tnff

Agree. One of the big problems I think today is business has grown so large that they don't care about your complaint or future business. You're just too small to worry about.

I've been seeing the opposite. It seems like more and
more places send me surveys asking how they're doing, or
encourage me to write a review on their site or a place
like Yelp.

Originally Posted by aquietpath

If a customer has a legitimate gripe, a company will usually be able to "fix" it, or offer some type of compensation if they can't if they are a reputable company. It's a sad fact that some people love to complain in the hope they can get a "freebie" or reduced price, or just to vent because they are miserable.
Some complaints are simply unreasonable.

Exactly.

Originally Posted by MongooseHugger

Maybe so, but that was, again, the company. Me, as the customer service rep, could do zilch about it. And they didn't seem to get it and kept asking and complaining, usually making snide remarks about how much they didn't like the US postal service, till finally I snapped and said "I'm sorry, but I cannot make the US postal service go any faster."

I think your response was perfectly relatable, given the
situation. Especially if the customer has gone cluelessly
on and on and on after things have already been
explained as best they could.

Originally Posted by PriscillaVanilla

When people write reviews online, they aren't trying to get a "freebie" or reduced price.

Not all of them (and it was never stated that it was), but
the whole racket of complaining in order to get freebies
*is*, unfortunately, a thing.

Originally Posted by Tek_Freek

Senior discounts. We are retired living in Las Vegas. It's pretty much mandatory to ask. So many places give them you are expected to check. The silly thing is we are transplants and can't remember to ask, ever.

Though it's hard to remember to ask, it's much
appreciated when the customer does, because sometimes
if it's left to us to assume one is 55+ and therefore
qualified for the discount, some customers get really bent
out of shape if such assumptions are made. I had one
customer, who clearly looked old enough to qualify for the
discount, take exception to the fact that I thought they
looked what they termed "that old". I wanted to ask
them, "Just how old do you think 55 is, anyway?" 55 isn't
technically "that old". One would think I'd mistaken
them for being 95 rather than 55.

Originally Posted by ContraPagan

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.

Ah, no. The company pays the paycheck, in return for the
employees keeping their business going. A store can't
have a business—and customers can't have a store—
without employees.

In any case, it's not an excuse to be abusive. Ever.

If someone needs to bend over that much to take it in
the posterior for customer satisfaction, they could just
work in a brothel.

Originally Posted by jimmy12345678

I'll do my best to please a reasonable customer, but some are not worth fighting for, let them become someone else's problem.

Exactly. It's fairly easy to distinguish a genuinely
concerned customer from one who is in it just to make
people miserable (and it would be naive to think those
types don't exist).

For those types, I just ring the manager to deal with it
(that's why they get the big money, after all ).

Originally Posted by ackmondual

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.

I never got the whole refusal to show ID during the
course of a transaction that required it. It's not as
though the thing is classified information.

Originally Posted by oceangaia

Does it say you have to keep replying with different answers? Just keep repeating the script. Vary a few words and phrases if you wish but stay on the script.

This is not a bad idea. Just go into what's been termed
"computer mode" and calmly repeat the same thing,
however many times it takes. Kind of like the self-
checkout machines do. Everything's supposedly going to
be automated at some point anyway, so being robotically
repetititive when engaging a customer will probably help
prepare them for if-and-when humans are removed from
customer-service's end of the equation entirely.

Originally Posted by ss20ts

The whole the customer is always right nonsense was crafted by some nutjob who was dead wrong. Customers are frequently wrong. Just because a person acts like a loon, doesn't make them right.

Precisely.

It's also something of a backhanded compliment to the
customer, as it implies that we, as customers, are all
spoiled brats who can't take being told "no" on occasion.

-

[PriscillaVanilla]

What I can't stand about some service people is the ones who think the customer should go out of his way to make their job much easier. Like cashiers who think customers are being mean if they don't use self check out. If everyone used self checkout, cashier's jobs would vanish overnight. They should be grateful to have some work to do. They aren't entitled pick up a paycheck for doing nothing all day.

[pittsflyer]

Originally Posted by tnff

I'm curious, how will you handle things when you finally get the garage you want and have six or seven people who work for you depending on the job being there, and you have monthly bills that have to be paid, and at least one of those employees refused to do anything you tell him because you're an "authority figure" and decides he doesn't need to put up with the customer and sends a couple thousand dollar job out the door and forget that repeat business.


You need that income or you're out of business. You need employees working on what you need them working on, not what they want to do. That employee affects not just himself, but costs you and every other employee working for you potential income.


You're the boss. You have responsibility for more than yourself. How would you answer your own question?

It depends on how much money the job is, how regular the customer is AND how much of a cut is that employee getting for having to deal with a particular customer. IF we are talking big stakes here, 7 figure job and the employee is making north of 200k then everyone better smile.

If this over a couple hundred bucks or even $1000 and the employee is making $20/hr the employee is not going to care and most likely not going to take it. IF you fire them .... meh its a $20/hr job, it might suck a little but its not the end of the world.

So long as the buisness community continues to let wages stagnate people will care less and less and will modify their life styles accordingly. You might be able to abuse someone who made some gambles thinking things would get better and now has kids to support or a house they cant REALLY afford but as time goes on those people will be in the minority and as more and more people dont NEED the job thats when you will see what the economy really looks like, alot of people telling rude customers to get bent, dont like it as the owner, fire them and get another person, rinse and repeat.

If you as a buisness owner are so leveraged you cant tell a couple of potential customers here and there to take a hike then your set up your buisness wrong. You should own your shop outright as well as all your equipment, you should be able to have 0 customers for YEARS before having to fold up shop. Otherwise your buisness plan is not that good.

Tolerating such behavior is a sign of desperation and a life mismanaged. Even in the fed govt after the probationary period they cant fire you if you stand your ground on a valid basis. You can even turn your boss in and be protected by the whistle blower act. Never compromise your your professional integrity and cave to a client if its not the right thing to do, you can just set the phone down or hang up.

[pittsflyer]

Originally Posted by ContraPagan

Again, if the shipment was sent using a method of shipping that provides tracking numbers, you were OBLIGATED to provide that information to the intended recipient of the shipment because they are paying for that service from the USPS through your employer. If I had been that customer BOTH you and your supervisor would have gotten one hell of a verbal dressing down had the shipping means been one that provided tracking, and then I would take all my future business elsewhere.

I would have hung up on you and if what our buisness provides is so common that you can just easily go else where its a bad buisness model in the first place. If I dont have you over a barrel then I wouldnt even start a buisenss like that.

If I started a buisenss it would have to be something that would be VERY hard for you to just "go elsewhere", I would know it you would know it and that creates an honest relationship.

If you can just order something from bengladesh or china because you had an adult temper tantrum then you would see american buisness owners quickly divest those sorts of buisness because americans are not going to put up with it.

then when you came back I would make you say sorry like a child and charge you more.

What the hell is up with people these days that they cant just wait for their package, yes if multiple months have passed then its probably lost and any buisness will give you a refund start the insurance process etc. I buy and sell on amazon (the selling part is only if its something I would otherwise throw away because the margins are so low but better than trashing it if I can recover a few bucks) and i have only ever had 2 issues in over a decade.

One was someone trying to pass off some poorly copied indian edition text book as the real thing and it was a text I was going to write engineering software on that would have real life implications, sorry dont want a cheap knock off for that.

The other just got lost in the mail and I got a refund, just clicked a button and that was that. But its extrodinarily rare.

The only one I was mad about was trying to pass off a knock off, they knew what they were doing and it was a deliberate act to defraud, I even sent an email asking if this was the genuine title as the price was so low and they said oh yea (genuine ISBN etc), not so when I got it lol. The amazon person was trying to make me eat the cost so then I did get upset over the phone, once in 12 years.

But some insolent child who is impatient about a package because 2 whole days had passed, I would lay right back into you and hang up.

[Delahanty]

Originally Posted by jimmy12345678

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?

If you work with customers in any capacity, you should find another job.

It's how one deals with difficult customers that determines how good a customer service rep is, and how far s/he'll go in the organization.

Believe it.

[snugglegirl05]

Speaking of complaints...

A co-worker of mine told me today that she had a customer who 1) asked her to call a manager who is over the beer and wine department at the Kroger location we both work at, and 2) when she told the customer she would help the customer as soon as she was finished helping her current customer, the customer said "no, you will call a manager who is over the beer and wine department right now."

So my co-worker asked her what the problem was so when the manager came, she could let him know. Apparently the customer was mad that a bottle of wine that she bought at the Kroger location we both work at was a $1.00 less at another Kroger location she went to. But, she did not have her receipt. What she had was a picture on her cell phone of her holding up the bottle of wine, which was a $1.00 less, at the other Kroger location.

The beer and wine manager came over, but he did not give her a $1.00 discount since she did not have her receipt.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by Delahanty

If you work with customers in any capacity, you should find another job.

It's how one deals with difficult customers that determines how good a customer service rep is, and how far s/he'll go in the organization.

Believe it.

There's difficult, then there's unreasonable, lastly there's certifiable. Have seen my share of all.

[aquietpath]

Originally Posted by ContraPagan

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).

Priority Mail and USPS first class mail packages do provide tracking numbers. Book rate shipments do not - you have to pay extra for delivery confirmation. If OP's company used BorderFree when shipping internationally, they would have had the tracking number that delivered it to the BorderFree agent in that company and then be able to access the Borderfree tracking number that would provide that info to the final destination. Not all companies do that, and OP cannot provide something that isn't available.