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Theorist
#26 Old 29th Jul 2007 at 6:01 PM
Quote: Originally posted by chelleypie

I went to WalMart just after I got my WIC, and they literally put me in tears because the girl literally looked at me and said 'White trash always gets our money!' and was outright rude.


That's just wrong. You should have told her manager--it's not the cashier's business how you pay, as long as you do. :naughty:

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." Will Rogers
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Alchemist
#27 Old 29th Jul 2007 at 7:16 PM
Customer service depends where you are. Like, I live in Halifax Nova Scotia. It's a bit of a smaller city, so customer service is quite good. Generally folks in stores are nice, helpful, and wouldn't dear be rude. Of course every once in a while you'll run into someone who isn't friendly or clearly doesn't want to help, but I grew up knowing fairly wonderful customer service. When I went to New York City a few years ago I was stunned at how rude people were at stores. They'd give us dirty looks, shrug their shoulders with a scowl, and two men outright made fun of my dad who was trying to look for a cheap digital video camera: "We'll give it to you for 2 dollars, ha ha ha!"... Another time my dad asked someone about a chip for his digital camera and the guy snapped back in a way like, "how could you NOT know that"... It was very unusual.
So I think it depends on where you are geographically, a lot. Bigger cities will likely have worse customer service, and in NYC good customer service probably IS a thing of the past.
Instructor
#28 Old 30th Jul 2007 at 12:11 AM
Quote: Originally posted by HCAC
That's just wrong. You should have told her manager--it's not the cashier's business how you pay, as long as you do. :naughty:


Shared with the manager and my WIC staff at the office.

You can keep your knight in shining armor. I'll take my country boy in turn-out gear!
Proud single mom, firefighter's girl, and beautifully imperfect person.
Avatar is me (tall girl), my Abbi (short girl in hat), and my boyfriend James (lone man) at Abbi's Kindergarten Graduation last May.
#29 Old 30th Jul 2007 at 11:03 AM
Hahaha! (yes, laughing helps, or I would probably cry instead). This is one of many reasons me and my husband wants to move from the city to the country. Everyone is rude in here! The clerks, the busdrivers, people representing the goverment, your neighbour, the bartender, you name it! Ive been working in retail, and my husbands doing it right now. Were both nice people with a high level of service-mindedness, but that doesnt help a lot when customers are rude as well. It eats you away, so to speak. Its chaos, its a mess, its nerv-wrecking!
Same time there is a lot of statistics pointing at peoples lack of psychological health in the city. Far more depressions and sleepingdisorders due to stress. Is that the reason everyone is so mean?
I cant wait to get out of here! After spending some days in our summerhouse I feel like a normal person, but I only have to be here in Stockholm a couple of days to feel irritated, snappy, even paranoid. :yech:

(theyre coming to take me away, hihi, haha...)
#30 Old 30th Jul 2007 at 12:24 PM
As a teenager in the fast food service business I try my best to give my customers quick, friendly service (I even have a few favourite customers that I recognize and even know their orders by heart now) I've been lucky enough to have some very nice and tolerable customers but I've also had some I'd rather not deal with.

I hope I never have to do proper drivethrough because I see the stress those people go through during peak, it's enough to make anyone frustrated. Think the next time you go through the drivethrough, you may not be able to hear us but half of the times we can't hear you (there is usually two of us on drivethough) And we annoy you with our "would you like a fries with that?" It's not because we want to it's because we Have to, our managers constantly drill it into our heads we even get evaluated on things like that and get scored on it.

I think I am pretty friendly with my customers and always give the "Hi, how are you today?" "Have a nice day" type thing. But next time you complain about not getting your friendly greetings think of what it feels like to be serving people all day long (try 5-7 hours through peak without a break) on top of school and trying your best to be plesant for these people, some of them barely even look at you as a person or even acknoledge us.

All we ask is a "You have a nice day too!" and a "I'm good, how are you?" We are people too you know. We may get your orders wrong but we really don't mean to and we are more than happy to fix it for you but please don't abuse us for it. Once I saw a friend of mine at work get abused by a customer who came through drivethrough and had something missing, we are only kids! It's just not fair for what we get paid and deal with.
#31 Old 30th Jul 2007 at 1:15 PM
Default tl;dr, i know... (srrry!)
I absolutely love how this thread became about customer-bashing. :D

Quote: Originally posted by sammie99
work in retail yourself for a few days. then you'll understand why we hate you.

My store (which I won't name) is largely perused by cranky old people. They know that if they just keep yelling, eventually we will give them that price they thought it was (yesterday I had to discount an item by forty dollars to get these people to shut up). I feel that some of them will be nasty to you because they know they can get away with it, and they've got something up their ass which gives them some kind of 'misery loves company' complex.

I say, screw the customer. The key to customer satisfaction is happy employees. If I was making more than 7 dollars an hour, not working overtime every week and was able to be like "this is what the price is, deal with it," I would be soo much nicer to customers.


totally agree with you. my place of business is exactly the same way with our guests. if they whine enough, we'll just give in.



i work in merchandise at an amusement park, it gets pretty horrible sometimes but I am ALWAYS nice to EVERYONE. The store is on the way to the main gate of the park, so guests are always walking through on their ways in and out. You'd think I was working an information booth some of the questions people ask. Some of the most random crap you'd ever heard. I can't think of any real good ones now, because I'm pretty exhausted from bending over backwards for 7 dollars an hour and little-to-no recognition at all (actually, i shouldn't say that because today i went to a special recognition bbq for guest service all-stars -- the food was gross and made of cardboard, its the thought that counts though, i guess.. oh well, that's the retail life for you...

The other day someone asked me how to get to Las Vegas. Yes, I know how to get to Vegas from here, but why are you asking me? I am just a very young looking little sales clerk!

I've also been asked how to get to Rancho Cucamonga, Big Bear and "LA".

Another favorite is "The Beach." This is Southern California, there isn't "The Beach" there are a bajillion different beaches. Does anyone ever know which one they want go to? No, of course not. So I tell them the easiest way, which leads them to the ugly ghetto beach.

Someone asked me where a Condom Revolution store was around here...

I've been asked, "What did -that building three blocks from here- used to be?" a bunch of times, I still don't really know what building everyone's talking about... nothing stands out to me.

I also get really annoying questions like:
Where's the nearest bathroom? (there are doors clearly marked RESTROOMS right in front of your face!)
Where are all your jams and jellies? (oh, maybe they're on that HUGE WALL stocked with jams and jellies that is RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU)
*after staring blankly at the menu for 2 minutes* Do you have caramel apples/coffee/espresso/fudge? (CAN YOU NOT SEE ALL OF THOSE THINGS? AM I MISSING SOMETHING?)

I get pretty angry, but i feel that working in retail has made me a better human being. Now that I know we are all inherently stupid and do weird things, I can change that and be totally smart and normal. :D
Instructor
#32 Old 30th Jul 2007 at 2:21 PM
I call those Stupid People Tricks, emcake. My favorite was really recent.

We have both a drive thru and a lobby for people to sit down and eat in. We do not, however, have a speaker in our drive thru. So we have to go out and take orders sometimes. I went out a week ago to take an order, and the following occured:
Me: Hi! What can I get you today, ma'am?
Woman: I want a hamburger. To go! And onion rings!
Me: Yes ma'am, I'll go in and get that started for you right away.
Mind you, this woman was IN HER CAR. IN THE DRIVE THRU. I think I realized it was to go.

I had a guy earlier that day ask me why his hamburger with cheese (that annoys me to no end) was $1.41 instead of $0.99 - I pointed out on our menu board that
A) Cheeseburgers are $1.29
B) Sales tax is not added on our menu board.
He flew off the handle! He started yelling at me about how we need to put prices with sales tax on the board! I was like 'Uhm... nowhere I know does that."

I also hate it when people assume because I work in fast food that I must be an idiot. I'm going to make a copy of my diploma and shrink it, laminate it, and wear it around my neck after I graduate for a week. Along with a sign that says 'I graduated college this week. What'd YOU do?'

You can keep your knight in shining armor. I'll take my country boy in turn-out gear!
Proud single mom, firefighter's girl, and beautifully imperfect person.
Avatar is me (tall girl), my Abbi (short girl in hat), and my boyfriend James (lone man) at Abbi's Kindergarten Graduation last May.
#33 Old 30th Jul 2007 at 3:38 PM
I think it's a combinaton of the customers and some employees. My mother works at Wal-Mart, so I guess I know a lot about this stuff.

The customers can get pretty rude, and some are just downright mean! My mom has been cursed countless number of times by ignorant customers. They also do completely illogical things, like hitting themselves in the head with a can and saying it fell, just so they can sue.

Employees can get pretty bad too. Not all employees are lazy slackers who are wasting jobs. My mom will help you out, joke around and just be friendly because it's her job to help you. Other employees will just sit there and talk to each other. I do thing customer service is getting worse, just because people are more lazy.
Field Researcher
#34 Old 30th Jul 2007 at 3:51 PM
Yeah I agree with the tone of this thread. There is a lot of horrid customer service. But there are a lot of horrid customers. I hate going somewhere and not being acknowledged. I've worked at Walmart, Wendy's, Target and now Starbucks and I do my best to be kind to people. But it's come to a point now where I have to coach myself to stand up for myself at work. I mean yeah I know some people will just say to ignore it and all but I really don't get paid enough to be called a b**** just because I politely told you that your coffee was down at the register and not at the bar where I'm making espresso drinks. Is it my fault you stood and waited oblivious to the cashier who was calling out your grande coffee for the last five minutes? No.
Target was the worst I think though. They have a decent return policy, they can look up reciepts on checks, gift cards, credit/debit within 90 days. Is it my fault that you bought a PSP with cash then lost your reciept and then decided you didnt want it and now find out you can't return it?
I agree with what was said earlier about being an object to people 8 and a half hours. I'm kind of wondering now if I just call someone out on harrassing me for things out of my control maybe they will realize how mean they were being.
Alchemist
#35 Old 30th Jul 2007 at 6:45 PM
Quote: Originally posted by ChihoSan
Yeah I agree with the tone of this thread. There is a lot of horrid customer service. But there are a lot of horrid customers.


I worked at a coffee shop all winter, VERY busy as it was located in a collage. Some students were complete tools - both idiotic AND rude. I don't like dealing with people at all, so I was very rarely "friendly", more just like, "Hi, what can I get you?" Right to the point to get the customer on his or her way. But if someone was a jerk to me? I had no problem snapping at them. It's unbelievable how much people will treat you like nothing if you're serving them coffee or anything else. And - no lie - I used to spend entire days talking in gibberish (Simlish?? hehe) to customers. And you know something? They had NO idea I wasn't speaking English. I don't know how they can't tell but if you utter some gibberish in the right tone, they'll just start ordering from you, or agreeing. I did this for my own entertainment, and since no one noticed I thought it was a pretty strong indication about how most customers feel about someone who's just there to serve them.
When I'm at a coffee shop or some such thing, I am always, ALWAYS careful to order promptly, know what I want, and be polite. And I ALWAYS say "Thank you", which I thought was just, ya know, some common courtesy thing you learn when you're three years old, but evidently it eludes a lot of people who would just take their drink after you made it, and leave without so much as looking you in the eye.
Test Subject
#36 Old 31st Jul 2007 at 1:28 AM
First of all the problem is both customers and employees.

Employees: I recently went to Wal-Mart for a few school things and the girl at the register was a little snobby. She did say hi, the total and thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart but she said it like she's counting down the seconds until she goes home. When you're on the job you don't have to go by the "customer is always right rule" but you should at least act like you like your job especially when the customer is being nothing but nice to you. They deserve some niceness as well.

Customers: When I went to the U.S in March we were waiting in line at price chopper and there was a movie on the 9.99 sale rack that wasn't suppossed to even be on a shelf until Tuesday. The woman picked it up and when it scanned 24.99 at the register she strted going on and on about how it was on the 9.99 rack and so on but the cashier was very polite and said that it was a mistake and they were sorry but the lady kept going on and on about how "the custoer is always right" and she was creating a huge scene. I was very impressed with the cashier though because she kept her cool the whole time.

On the other hand not everywhere has lost the joy in working where they work. Most of the stores in my area have very pleasant people. The smile and they are polite and they get along with each other as well. So not everywhere has lost good customer service.
Scholar
#38 Old 22nd Feb 2015 at 12:10 AM
This thread is 8 years old. Why would you...?



Seriously, how do you people even find these threads?

Just call me Blake! :)
Hola, hablo español también - Hi, I speak Spanish too.
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#39 Old 23rd Feb 2015 at 12:24 AM
I think this dude must have decided to post on every thread in the forum, starting with the last page.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Test Subject
#40 Old 7th Jun 2015 at 3:39 AM
For a question like this it's easy to inadvertently project, to assume that every customer is as nice as ourselves; and because of our assumption, when we notice a "rude" (or more likely) a tired and over-worked salesperson, we tend to assume that their attitude arose in a vacuum and is due solely to their own personality flaws. But honestly, half the customers today are just arsebuckets. Demanding, entitled whiny manchildren. For twenty years I worked peripherally with the public and geeze has the petty domineering "I have no personal power over my own life so I'll kick the clerk" has grown exponentially.
Test Subject
#41 Old 7th Jun 2015 at 3:41 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Nysha
I think this dude must have decided to post on every thread in the forum, starting with the last page.


kinda like what i'm doing? I am sorry, really, if this is a problem. I'm actually just looking at the front page...
 
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