Why has customer service gone to pot lately ?

Where To

msg11 wrote: »

No see the thing is regardless I have to help them, if there attitude changes while dealing with them mine will too.

Do you work in retail can I ask? I think not, if you did you would understand. We deal with some of the most rudest people in our society.

And if your thinking I am only a prick , well on the way home from my shift off the clock, me and my friend noticed one guy pushing a car, flat battery, we offered to help push and got him going. So going on that I take pride in my job and company, but I cannot stand people looking down on me because ' I pack shelves in a shop ' and you can tell these people from lack of manners. The demanding I want it now, trying to tell me I am wrong when I say we don't stock a product.

Rise above it man. My job revolves around dealing with people when they are at their worst, but no matter how awkward, hateful or downright evil they are treating them as such does you no favours whatsoever.

sfwcork

often have battles with Three mobile. Theyre robots though so end up with me losing my cool and them hanging up

msg11

Where To wrote: »

Rise above it man. My job revolves around dealing with people when they are at their worst, but no matter how awkward, hateful or downright evil they are treating them as such does you no favours whatsoever.

I do rise above it, you said do two wrongs make a right. I don't change my attitude, I will help you out even if you have no manners. But if your been a little polite you'll have my full attention about what you want.

Rabidlamb

sfwcork wrote: »

often have battles with Three mobile. Theyre robots though so end up with me losing my cool and them hanging up

What I really hate is being kept on hold for 15 minutes & then the line goes dead.
Or explaining your problem to one company rep & ringing up the next day to repeat the same conversation to someone different.

maximoose

I'm sick of seeing people moaning about f*cking customer service on company pages on facebook.

sfwcork

I completely agree.My issue with Three is the attitude of the reps. Theyre like robots.

I did work in a job like that years ago when out of college so I understand it from the other side but on the flip side I also understand how sometimes they go out of theyre way to be awkward

My pet hate is constantly repetion and thenif you ask for a manager they promise a call back which never comes

sfwcork

I worked a customer service job before for a UK education company and I hada teacher thretening to burn kids exams until he got the response he wanted. Sad thing I actually couldnt help him but he wouldnt listen.He was going crazy. He called me a " Paddy A$4hole". My reply was "Oh how professional" and hey ho off he went..Thatw as 6 yrs ago

bluecode

I'm never rude or obnoxious to shop staff. I'm rather diffident in real life. That doesn't stop them being rude to me at times. Now I understand bad experiences with customers are a reason and having a bad day might be a reason. But I didn't cause it. So don't take it out on me!

One thing I do hate is when I ask for something and the reaction is almost surprise and dismay that I've disturbed them somehow. Now if I was more of a b****x I might react badly. But usually I make a note of it and don't go back.

Yeah you hate your job, so do we all. Get over it and do what you're paid to do.

Customer has dis-improved even as it has had more emphasis than ever in the modern world.

One of the worst I ever experienced was with Smart Telecom. We set up a direct debit but something went wrong and they never took the money. Just kept sending bill after bill. We tried everything to get them to take the money. But it took months and month of us begging them to take the money before we finally got someone who knew what they were doing.

Another time we ordered a kitchen from a well known DIY chain. The rep came out and it was all arranged......we thought. We heard no more. My wife rang and rang. No one was available. We got onto Supervisor, he didn't know anything about it he said and was completely unhelpful. We kept ringing back. Now my wife is an exceptionally pleasant person but even she began to lose it. Eventually we went elsewhere. It was unbelievable.

I think everyone has similar experiences.

krudler

Where To wrote: »

They've always been that way. Hazard of the job. If you can't handle it you can't do your job. The customers haven't gotten any worse, the way they are dealt with has.

I can do my job just fine cheers, I'm never rude to people back, all I'm saying is people who are nice get way, way more done for them than the screaming assholes on the phone. It seems people think shouting abuse (often personal abuse) down the phone or across a counter at someone is going to get their issue sorted faster, it won't the majority of the time.

mashedbanana

krudler wrote: »

Nobody working in retail or customer care starts out hating the public, you become that way from the abuse and stupidity you put up with on a daily basis, make no bones about it 90% of people you deal with are complete fcuking morons, the minority are the polite, sane and rational people who make it bearable. You could equally ask the question when did customers be one rude, self entitled assholes?

Oh hang on I think I can answer this one! :-)

It's simple 'some' members of the public like my mother (who is a complete and utter B****) get a sick & twisted enjoyable feeling out of making staff bend over backwards for her.
She knows very well, know that these people (some who are highly qualified, and now working in mundane jobs just to pay for the car petrol) are hanging onto their jobs by the skin of their teeth, trying to make ends meet. In a rotten depression (not recession). She makes them dance for her, cos she can. Customer is always right and that sh*t.

i once sat and watched her tell a woman (inside the counter of a café) that she could get her sacked, cos my mother knows the owner of the café very well! What an absolutely rotten disgusting thing to threaten anyone with.(I refuse to be seen in public with her in case some one says 'wow is that your mother'. Its easy to to, I now live miles away from her)

But there are also 'some' staff members out there, that are very sweet & nice. Others shouldn't be left near a customer. They just don't have the people skills, or have not been trained in properly, or resent the fact that 2 years ago they owned their own business, and today they are making breakfast rolls... Either way...it takes all sorts to make the world go around.
Everyone is alot more sensitive, moody, piggish again, cos of the money problems. Well...thats my penneys worth. :-)

Plazaman

WileyCoyote wrote: »

So what you mean is you stole one! Well done big man.:mad:

Duggy747 wrote: »

So some Joe / Jane Soap working there is in trouble because you effectively stole from the shop.

Better the belt clip be hot
Than the ground with a tot

Better to have a stolen belt clip than an injured child.

Please and Thanks are standard in my vocabulary when buying something, can't understand the reluctance of people to use them. Even when the service is ****ty I have the misfortune of saying Thanks.

okiss

I have noticed that customer service has gone to pot lately.
I have gone into shops and wondered how the staff got the job and then how have the kept there job. Some places you go to you feel that you should not be there as your keeping them from the chat about the social life ect.
I would agree with the previous post that a lot of people are doing customer service work which they would have not done during the boom.
Recently someone I know thanked a woman in a shop for being so helpful and she replied if we don't have customers I don't have a job.
I have worked with the public and I know that some people are demanding/hard to please but if you sorted out things the 1st attempt it would be better.

Dodge

maximoose wrote: »

I'm sick of seeing people moaning about f*cking customer service on company pages on facebook.

Sweet suffering jesus these people are the pits. Possibly only below people who call radio stations to complain.

Do they think that getting a thousand other saps to 'like' their post will help sway anything?

Dear Ryanair,

I didn't read the T&Cs and was embarressed in the airport when the plane left without me. I demand an apology....

krudler

Dodge wrote: »

Sweet suffering jesus these people are the pits. Possibly only below people who call radio stations to complain.

Do they think that getting a thousand other saps to 'like' their post will help sway anything?

Dear Ryanair,

I didn't read the T&Cs and was embarressed in the airport when the plane left without me. I demand an apology....

I'd love if companies could post the full history of the issue just to embarass them enough into never posting there again.

Where To

krudler wrote: »

I can do my job just fine cheers, I'm never rude to people back, all I'm saying is people who are nice get way, way more done for them than the screaming assholes on the phone. It seems people think shouting abuse (often personal abuse) down the phone or across a counter at someone is going to get their issue sorted faster, it won't the majority of the time.

Well, I am one of the most mannerly people anyone will ever have the pleasure of dealing with I can honestly say that being nice as a customer rarely helps getting anything done.

Bottom line, dress it up any way you want.

People don't give a sh1t about customers.

Anyone

Customer service hasnt changed much, peoples expectations has. Everyone is an expert now and "knows their rights".

dan1895

krudler wrote: »

I'd love if companies could post the full history of the issue just to embarass them enough into never posting there again.

That happened before with some hotel in Waterford with hilarious consequences

Davyhal

I must say there are only a few incidences when I have found staff extremely rude or unhelpful (and they have all been girls in their late teens/early twenties aka. same age as myself). In all incidences, they were working in newsagents/petrol stations and were too occupied with their mobile phones or their friends in the shop to care about the customer, and they made it quiet clear that you were interupting their social lives by daring to purchase milk, bread and cigarettes!!!!

But in the vast majority of my encounters, I have found them the standard of customer service not to be as dire as described here... This is possibly because I have worked in customer service before, and 3 years in the complaints department of a health insurance company (those are people with real complaints!)., so I know what they are going through... Therefore, I generally am as polite and cheery to staff as I know the difference it makes when you are working, and I always find that the response is very positive... and dealing with call centres, just have all your information with you before you call and it'll be fine. You cant call up with nothing to hand and expect the worker to perform miracles... the volume of customers is immense!

bodhrandude

Well with Colorado and Washington customer services, this is self explanatory.

saralou2011

msg11 wrote: »

Well almost 90% of people I deal with start sentences like so,

Where are the eggs(or product).

Not sure about you but I was brought up with manners. So if they had any respect for staff they would use. Excuse me , Where are the eggs please? Customers who approach me get 120% this way.

Usually they don't even bother with "where is...." they just bark out "eggs"

ScumLord

Where To wrote: »

Well, I am one of the most mannerly people anyone will ever have the pleasure of dealing with I can honestly say that being nice as a customer rarely helps getting anything done.

Bottom line, dress it up any way you want.

People don't give a sh1t about customers.

It's not as simple as that for your average phone support guy, he just can't help you. He works from a script and if your question isn't on that script he can only say sorry and send you off on the phone system merry go round for another spin. As a whole big corporations are only interested in the money and there's a report somewhere telling them the most cost effective way of dismissing customer complaint without annoying too many people.

The only way around this is to vote with your wallet but no bodies prepared to do that in Ireland, as we're so placid companies take advantage.

Furious_George

msg11 wrote: »

No see the thing is regardless I have to help them, if there attitude changes while dealing with them mine will too.

Do you work in retail can I ask? I think not, if you did you would understand. We deal with some of the most rudest people in our society.

And if your thinking I am only a prick , well on the way home from my shift off the clock, me and my friend noticed one guy pushing a car, flat battery, we offered to help push and got him going. So going on that I take pride in my job and company, but I cannot stand people looking down on me because ' I pack shelves in a shop ' and you can tell these people from lack of manners. The demanding I want it now, trying to tell me I am wrong when I say we don't stock a product.

You are clearly not a prick and I can see your point in some respects but when working in retail you generally have to be professional and polite, regardless of whether the customer is polite or not. It's part of what you are paid to do.
Customer: "Hey you, where are the egg?"
Me: Smiling,"Just over here sir, follow me" all the while imagining what the inside of their head look like.

That only stands if they are rude, if abusive then all bets are off because no one is paid to be insulted, well apart from bouncers (not meant as an insult more a comment on the **** they are paid and expected to put up with). I worked in retail for years, and a brief stint waiting tables, and a longer stint in pubs so I know the frustration dealing with pricks. Unfortunately that's the name of the game.

shopaholic01

The only customer service problem I've had was with Eircom. Whenever I called I was told I had the wrong department, was given another number and the process was repeated. Took 3 weeks to sort out a minor issue.


I moved to another company and was bombarded with calls trying to get me to change back. Cue repeatedly asking to be removed from their marketing list. I had to threaten to contact ComReg if it persisted.

Now I have sales people calling to my door assuring me that was 'old Eircom' and that 'new Eircom' are marvellous. One of them even lied to me about a broadband upgrade, which he claimed I could only get with Eircom. Quick call to my own provider, and lo and behold, they could upgrade my service using the 'next generation lines only available to Eircom':rolleyes:.

Now I just close the door when I see them - ignorant I know, but it's the only thing that works.

Logical_Bear

Rabidlamb wrote: »

The router slowly died, nobody broke it.
They were continuing to charge us for broadband that we couldn't receive due to their faulty hardware.

Its actually your hardware and again why should they replace it when its out of warranty??

ScumLord

Logical_Bear wrote: »

Its actually your hardware and again why should they replace it when its out of warranty??

It should make sense for them to replace it as you can't access their service without one but as you're tied into a 12 month contract they can just tell you to go fup yourself.

Although when that contract is up they'll beg and plead and offer you as many routers as you want to stay with them.

Madam_X

Poor money, poor training, not caring about the job (a lot of the time it's just a stopgap) and on the other side of the coin: a lack of personal responsibility, shocking sense of entitlement, and terrible stupidity among many customers; a view a lot of the time of "bad customer service" when it isn't actually, it's just stuff they don't want to hear. There are customers who literally think it's bad form for a company to tell them they owe money for a product they knowingly use - no word of a lie. Or that data protection compliance is poor service.

Personally, when I was on the phones, I cared a hell of a lot about good customer service, so I did my very best - and more, but if someone was being a rotten bullying pig, I'd simply go through the motions.

Gummy Panda

I didn't under the bad customer service complaints in Irish companies till I dealt with UPC. Eircom aren't much better.

Teyla Emmagan

One word (well, two) - Greyhound Recycling. Nice as pie to your face, rubbish (no pun intended) actual service. And one of their customer promises is some guff about being polite to you on the phone - never mind being polite! PICK UP MY FRICKIN RUBBISH I have called you 13 times already!!!!

I hates them.

Corruptedmorals

I am always polite and being nice definitely helps, people who bark at customers get abuse back. But for every 5 nice customers, there is someone rude or someone who doesn't believe you, someone who acts like the sales assistant made the store policies out of spite, someone who is so special they don't have to queue or abide by fitting room limits, plenty of who are so ignorant they walk through you and of course, people who roar abuse because they can't get a refund without a receipt. Not only do a sizeable proportion of the population look down on and treat staff like ****, they also treat the stock and store like **** too.

Snowie

Ive come to enjoy invoicing compnays for wasting my time they soon start treating you with the correct amount of respect!