Do retailers know anything about customer service

Resi12

Reading some of these replies have annoyed me, it seems most people have such high expectations of workers in cs but let me say it is a 2 way street. Working on tills you get the brunt of every complaint. Stuff you shouldn't have to even hear, like prices being too high. That one particulary annoys me so i'm sorry if there are times when people aren't cheery but sorry were not given happy pills with our wages to take. You don't know what day people have had etc and maybe they just want a bit of banter? Complaints like this are so childish in my opinion, it wasn't like they went out of there way to ignore you or single you out op.

If anythin customers are worse in my experience, most come in like they have some higher priviledge and expect everything to be perfect yet forget to realise they are hardly perfect themselves, we are all human its not like people in customer services are robots devoid of wanting to chat or have a laugh occasionaly! And yes i'm sorry but it's the truth sometimes people talk when working!

OP i do understand the frustration in a way but try to think of it from another side, they're clearly friends who simply want to chat bout there nights out, there just having a chat.. Its not like they were both silent and just giving you filthy looks. Maybe they didn't acknowledge you but come on for all you know they have been saying hi to people all week. Its nothing personal don't take so don't bother taking it personally.

mickydoomsux

I deal with the public every day in my job and i personally think that quite a lot of the general public come into retail situations with a bad approach.

The slightest thing will set some people off. 90% of the people i deal with day to day are just plain ignorant, i routinely have money thrown down on the counter in front of me when people are paying for stuff, same goes for credit/debit cards (even though the card reader is right in front of them so they can put in their own cards). I'm also expected to read peoples minds to find out what it is they want and then went i ask them i get the 'how ****ing dare you ask, you ****ing idiot' look. I get people ranting and raving at me over high prices and when i explain politely that i don't set the prices and that i kind of agree with them that they are a bit high and suggest alternatives i usually get a grunt as a reply because i didn't rise to the bait and have an argument with them over it.

People just generally have a snippy attitude and look to find something wrong constantly. I know i'm paid to take a certain amount of **** but people just have no concept that someone can have a bad day or that mistakes can be made.

Also i agree with all the people who say it's just a job to pay the bills. The day it becomes more than just a job/necessary evil for me is the day i quit.

Metacortex

I've worked in cs about 4/5 years now. It really is the one job I've ever done that really instills manners into you. I say please/thank you to everyone, whether I'm working or a customer.

Nothing brightens my day more than having a customer that actually treats me like a human and I'm sad to say, they are few and far between.

Unfortunately, alot of customers do have an attitude that they are above anyone working in frontline CS and they will treat you as such.

In the last 4/5 years I have been reduced to tears on more than one occasion, called every name under the sun and on a few occasions in retail, actually had items literally thrown at me when a customer was throwing a tantrum.

When I worked in a call centre previously, at least once or twice a month, customers would call my manager after a call and make up all sorts of stories about how I abused them, told them to f off, whatever. Thankfully all the calls were recorded and the bosses could see this never happened.

At first I did find it a bit horrifying someone would actually try to get me fired from my job that pays the rent/bills because they couldn't get their own way over something even if I was perfectly polite the entire time.

Anyhoo, my point is that respect is a two way street and in my current job I get a thank you, or treated with some semblance of respect about 20% of the time.
No doubt there is some crummy people who shouldn't be working with any customers out there but I have found alot of the time, it is just the job taking its toll.

Jeanious

hanner wrote: »

ive worked in retail for the past 5 years and i have to say that the rudeness of some customers is absolutely unbelievable.

After working in retail for a good while at this stage, i have to agree, and i think i know why.

Its all due to a slight modification of keyboard warrior syndrome. The ignorant fcukers who give you a ton of sh1t in retail are generally the insecure ones who wouldnt say boo to a goose, and couldnt kick snow off a rope. They seem to take advantage of the fact that:

a) they know you cant touch them, and
b) they know you cant argue back, cos they have the precious "manager" to report you to.

A lot of the time its just bullyin really, cos youre trapped and they keep getting on ya and hassling ya knowin full well that you can't give it back. Pathetic really.

I also despise the fact that some dickhead customers have deluded themselves into thinkin that theyre god's gift, for example some oul biddy topping up her phone by a tenner a decade and when she has a problem with it, coming in to the shop and making out like she's the last of the big spenders, and wanting the red carpet treatment.

We seem to have seen the way stereotypical American staff act (whether through telly, films or whatever) and skewed the idea so that the customer is god and the staff are pieces of sh1t, and should grovel at their very feet. I say fcuk that, retail is a pain enough at the best of times, and is downright miserable when ya have some twat flyin off the handle with ya for fcuk all reason.

Novella

P.C. wrote: »

If you don't want to do the work required - quit!

I am sure that your boss would be happy to hire someone who is willing to do the job.

I hate it when people are not willing to do the work that they are supposed to do (and paid to do).
I see it so often, and not just in retail.

Oh, and people are paid to give good customer service, and not just in retail.

Why would I quit when I need the money? I'm not paid to give good customer service, I'm paid to make sure clothes get hung on hangers and make sure people get the correct change or whatever. I never said I was rude to anyone and I'm sure my boss would easily hire someone to replace me but she has no need to because I've never done anything to warrant being fired. If you have a problem with the service wherever you go, maybe you should complain about it there and then and not come on here b*tching about it.

Agent J

Novella wrote: »

Why would I quit when I need the money? I'm not paid to give good customer service, I'm paid to make sure clothes get hung on hangers and make sure people get the correct change or whatever. I never said I was rude to anyone and I'm sure my boss would easily hire someone to replace me but she has no need to because I've never done anything to warrant being fired. If you have a problem with the service wherever you go, maybe you should complain about it there and then and not come on here b*tching about it.

Nice way to deflect the point away from yourself.

Unless you work in a stock room and never have to deal with the customers ever then i am pretty sure your contract has something in it about customer service as part of your job role. I'm not going to ask you where you work but unless its a family owned business with poor contracts its pretty much a given that there is something about customer service.

Actually screw that. You are paid to deal with the public? Then you are paid to do it well. Ergo Good customer service is required.

I've worked in customer service before for... oh gods longer then i would care to admit. Any job in which you deal with people requires good customer service. Although i do hate to see the public deride people working on tills etc and have often taken the memeber of the public up on it so at the very least it gets the poor till jockey out of the way.

Champ

Have to agree with the general sentiment of the unfortunate people working in jobs dealing with the general public. Having worked in various customer service roles It's utterly soul destroying. It's no wonder the turnover rate tends to be high especially in call centres. Any ideas of providing good service tend to be crushed within a few weeks or less due to constant terrible treatment at the hands of customers. The outright abuse, threats etc... really need to have a thick skin...

Its not just the customers but also the management as well. You may want to help all you want but your hands are pretty much tied up. Management for their part just use you as shields. They do their best to avoid any responsibility, have you tell lies to cover for them, or make up any number of excuses as to why they can't see the customer that wants to see them...'Tell them i'm ina meeting', 'I don't want to take the call'.

So morale tends to be very low for people on the front lines of customer service.

In one particular place a nice customer called and wanted me to talk him through a technical procedure. Since he was one of the nice ones I was happy to oblige him. Note since it wasn't a simple procedure and with some severe consequences if it was messed up..and he wasn't very technically minded.. the call took a while. When it ended I got dressed down from a supervisor for taking so long... despite explaining and having the call recorded to back me up.

In the same place I was dealing with a customer who had a big and I mean big problem, and a supervisor told me to put him on hold and to handle another call saying 'This new caller has a simple problem and won't take five minutes'... I was going 'But but'.. he goes 'It'll take only a few minutes'... You can guess:rolleyes:. Yep the problem wasn't so simple and by the time I got back to the other customer he was raging for been put on hold so long... even took a crack on the hold music. BTW supervisors are technically trained up to relief front line staff if under pressure and this guy was just tossing around a ball at the time.

After one particularly intense week of these kinds of incidents I handed in my notice. They tried all sorts of things to get me to stay... contract (which I discreetly countered with my own copy of said contract), promises to address my grievances (which were never kept before)... They made it clear they appreciated my technical ability and really wanted to retain me but nope I had more than enough.

P.C.

Novella wrote: »

Why would I quit when I need the money? I'm not paid to give good customer service, I'm paid to make sure clothes get hung on hangers and make sure people get the correct change or whatever. I never said I was rude to anyone and I'm sure my boss would easily hire someone to replace me but she has no need to because I've never done anything to warrant being fired. If you have a problem with the service wherever you go, maybe you should complain about it there and then and not come on here b*tching about it.

Is your job 'costomer facing' in any way?

Do you have to deal with customers?

If the answer is yes, then you are paid to give good customer service. And sometimes even if you do not deal directly with customers, you are still responsible for customer service.

Customer service is more than just making sure that the customer gets the correct change, or smiling and saying 'hallo'.

I think the problem is with the understanding of what customer service is.

If I am paying for something, wether it is food, clothing or a new car, I want to be happy with my purchasing experience, and I want to be happy with what I purchased.
Remember, I also pay for services - I pay my dentist to fix my teeth.

If I buy a new car, and it breaks down after two days because the person on the assembly line had a hangover and did not do their job - they did not provide good customer service.

If I go to a shop to buy food, I expect it to be clean and tidy - this might be the responsibility of the night time shelf packers, who never see the customers.

If I am sick, and I go to see the Doctor, I expect to be told what is wrong with me, and how I can get better - not just - take these tablets three times a day.

I could go on giving you examples of what customer service is, but I think the ones above are enough.

In every situation where money changes hands for goods or services, somone is the customer and someone is providing the goods or services.
It is the responsibilty of the person providing the goods or services to give good customer service.

If I don't get good customer service, I vote with my feet, and will not use that business again.

AudreyHepburn

Sorry to rake up an old thread but I recently discovered a few more things that really annoy me about customers.

I won't say where I work but it is a Supermarket and the clientele is predominantly South Dubliners who think they're the bees knees and have the right to look down their noses at me or just pretend I am not even there.

For some reason many of them seem to think that if they don't say 'I think that such-and-such a product is on special isn't it?' while paying that I won't give them the discount.

It's really quite simple; The till takes all discounts of automatically so if there is an offer on something it will take that money, if not it won't simple as.

I will not and have no intention of trying to screw you over so please don't act like I'm thick and need to be told what's what or like I won't give you what ever offer is on.

Number two; Please don't go off at me about prices or offers ending or products being sold off. I have no control over that.

A third thing; Do not huff and puff and role your eyes at me because the till belt won't work. I didn't break it, no-one mentioned to me before I sat down or I'd be at a different till, and I can't move tills because there's a queue.

By the way just because it seems you are waiting for ages do not assume I am deliberatly trying to delay you. I can only work as fast as the till allows me and as fast the customer I am serving moves.

Politeness and respect work both ways folks.