Customer Service Sometimes Sucks!

[countryboy]

We Canadians generally feel that we're pretty nice people. We pride ourselves on being a great place to live, work, and raise our children. However, life in Canada not always perfect. At least, not all the time.

There is one area of our lives that could stand a bit of improvement, and that is in the area of CUSTOMER SERVICE. I'm talking about how we are treated on a daily basis when doing simple transactions at the gas station, grocery store, restaurant, hotel, the telephone company, or any place where we do business.

Have you ever had a particularly nasty or bad "customer service experience" that you would like to share?

 

[lone wolf]

Mine is in the dealing with government people variety. Is there really a course in being that block-headed?

 

[karrie]

Yeah, from what I hear the US has us beat hands down when it comes to customer service. I don't have any one story that stands out in my mind, but, I've lived the last 15 years of my life in boom towns, and the resulting attitude about work is pretty sad. Generally speaking, employers who have to beg for workers, get workers with some serious attitude problems.

 

[countryboy]

I sometimes forget my travel mug and end up pulling up to a Timmy's for a quick coffee. Unless I specifically request that they don't overfill it, I end up with a takeaway cup that is filled to the brim and leaking all over me on the way from the drive-thru window to the cup holder. Messy. And irritating.

 

[countryboy]

Yeah, from what I hear the US has us beat hands down when it comes to customer service. I don't have any one story that stands out in my mind, but, I've lived the last 15 years of my life in boom towns, and the resulting attitude about work is pretty sad. Generally speaking, employers who have to beg for workers, get workers with some serious attitude problems.

I used to hear about our wonderful "western hospitality" here in Canada, especially when I had lived only in Western Canada for the first 20-some years of my life. I was quite surprised when I was transferred from Edmonton to Toronto and discovered the incredible customer service down in Ontario...used to bomb around southern Ontario on the weekends in a little red Fiat Spyder convertible, visiting little towns and country stores, and I found "customer service" like I had never seen in the west. The folks who ran little coffee shops and restaurants out there in places like Elmira had a warm welcome for everyone, and that is pretty hard to beat.

 

[weaselwords]

Customer service is typically a young persons position, the attitudes shown are more than likely taught by the parents. We should taking a hard look at ourselves for the last couple of generations weaknesses in ediquette & people skills

 

[countryboy]

Oops, this is supposed to be about negative experiences. OK, here's one...in my younger salesman days, I used to drive from Edmonton to Winnipeg on a regular basis. The food "on the road" was pretty sad. I used to pull in to the truck stop just east of Regina on Hwy. 1 for a late night meal. (It had a name same as a famous dog of the north with weird blue eyes) The staff was always grumpy, and they looked unhealthy, unhappy, and very "un-customer service-oriented."

I think the standard greeting was something like, "Yeah. Whaddya want?"

Conversation with the serving staff was generally limited to a series of grunts and 3-letter words.

I used to entertain myself by sitting at the counter and trying to count the various shades of stains that had run down the side of the stainless (misnomer) steel pot of chili on the rear counter. It's kind of like counting the rings of a tree trunk to determine its age. I would always order a bowl of this "gourmet chili" as part of my meal. Why?

The resulting indigestion would be guaranteed to keep me awake all the way to Winnipeg!

This consistently bad customer service experience did contribute to a safer driving experience on that stretch of No. 1 Hwy.

 

[countryboy]

Customer service is typically a young persons position, the attitudes shown are more than likely taught by the parents. We should taking a hard look at ourselves for the last couple of generations weaknesses in ediquette & people skills

Yep, you're right about young 'uns learning it from their parents. But, I must have had some experiences with those parents (still working), as I have had some really bad experiences with people of all ages.

The owner of a plumbing supply place around here - a gray-haired lady of about 55 or 60 - once told me that she was "too busy" to go in the back room to see if they had any 2" PVC fittings in stock. She then turned away to go back to talking on the phone with her friend - they were setting up a date to go to bingo. And this was the owner!

I never went back there again.

 

[Nuggler]

I used to hear about our wonderful "western hospitality" here in Canada, especially when I had lived only in Western Canada for the first 20-some years of my life. I was quite surprised when I was transferred from Edmonton to Toronto and discovered the incredible customer service down in Ontario...used to bomb around southern Ontario on the weekends in a little red Fiat Spyder convertible, visiting little towns and country stores, and I found "customer service" like I had never seen in the west. The folks who ran little coffee shops and restaurants out there in places like Elmira had a warm welcome for everyone, and that is pretty hard to beat.

Yes, by god, countryboy, we are good...........

In the little mom and pop country stores, speciality shops, and places like small town Timmies, service is usually good, and the folks will go out of their way to show you where the "depends" are, etc. Even if you don't want to know.:confused4:

Just about the only gripe I have with customer service is cashiers who chat with each other while they do your check-out. And cashiers who call you "dear"........Jesus, that's condescending. Hey, can't have everything.

Really nasty customer service types get dealt with at a corporate level. Just make note of the name and write an e.mail.

Hey we're customer lovin bunch a folks in the rurals.

 

[DurkaDurka]

Customer service is typically a young persons position, the attitudes shown are more than likely taught by the parents. We should taking a hard look at ourselves for the last couple of generations weaknesses in ediquette & people skills

Or perhaps they are underpaid & overworked which results in them not giving 2 cents for customers problems?

Etiquette is the least of my worries when it comes to dealing with customer service, it's usually the attitude bothers me.

 

[countryboy]

Yes, by god, countryboy, we are good...........

In the little mom and pop country stores, speciality shops, and places like small town Timmies, service is usually good, and the folks will go out of their way to show you where the "depends" are, etc. Even if you don't want to know.:confused4:

Just about the only gripe I have with customer service is cashiers who chat with each other while they do your check-out. And cashiers who call you "dear"........Jesus, that's condescending. Hey, can't have everything.

Really nasty customer service types get dealt with at a corporate level. Just make note of the name and write an e.mail.

Hey we're customer lovin bunch a folks in the rurals.

Yeah, doesn't it make you wonder about some of the corporate customer service training programs? You don't gotta' be a genius to figure out that the paycheque comes from the customers. I think there is a tendency to lose that connection when you're talking bigger companies.

The mom and pop store can figure it pretty quickly, as chances are the person taking care of the customer is the same one doing the books at night! They can clearly see that the more money they take in during the day, the better that number called "Revenue" looks on the top line of the Profit and Loss Statement. Simple, really.

 

[countryboy]

Or perhaps they are underpaid & overworked which results in them not giving 2 cents for customers problems?

Etiquette is the least of my worries when it comes to dealing with customer service, it's usually the attitude bothers me.

"Underpaid and overworked" is a matter of opinion. I see people "earning" minimum wage that could be paid half that rate and still be overpaid, as far as value for the job goes. Thinking that you are underpaid is a poor excuse to deliberately do a bad job (eg - not give a crap about customers). When a person is down at that low level of thinking ("the world owes me a living and I'm not being paid enough to take all this abuse"), do you think another 2 or 3 bucks an hour will magically improve their performance? Not bloody likely. Or at least not for long.

At the risk of sounding very "un-Canadian", I wonder what would happen if the whole country went on a "pay for performance" scheme and lost the flat pay rate entirely? If a person selling burgers and fries at the local fast food joint was paid a percentage of their sales, you'd soon figure out which ones are pulling their share of the load. They would be the ones jumping to the counter to take care of the customer, and making sure they didn't forget to order that side of fries or a shake. As for the other ones? Who cares? If they decide they don't want to work to a productive level, it would then their own decision to earn less money.

From the company's point of view, they'd be spending less on the employees that don't put money on the bottom line.

From the employees' point of view, the good ones would no longer have to pull more than their share of the load to keep the ship afloat. And they could earn more money.

From the customers' point of view, they'd no longer have to endure being ignored and putting up with slow, I-don't-give-a-crap attitudes.

It would be a win-win-win situation! :smile:

 

[lone wolf]

Minimum wage means SBA where my tips are concerned. I get a smile with that service ... there'll be a tip under the coffee cup....

 

[DurkaDurka]

"Underpaid and overworked" is a matter of opinion. I see people "earning" minimum wage that could be paid half that rate and still be overpaid, as far as value for the job goes. Thinking that you are underpaid is a poor excuse to deliberately do a bad job (eg - not give a crap about customers). When a person is down at that low level of thinking ("the world owes me a living and I'm not being paid enough to take all this abuse"), do you think another 2 or 3 bucks an hour will magically improve their performance? Not bloody likely. Or at least not for long.

At the risk of sounding very "un-Canadian", I wonder what would happen if the whole country went on a "pay for performance" scheme and lost the flat pay rate entirely? If a person selling burgers and fries at the local fast food joint was paid a percentage of their sales, you'd soon figure out which ones are pulling their share of the load. They would be the ones jumping to the counter to take care of the customer, and making sure they didn't forget to order that side of fries or a shake. As for the other ones? Who cares? If they decide they don't want to work to a productive level, it would then their own decision to earn less money.

From the company's point of view, they'd be spending less on the employees that don't put money on the bottom line.

From the employees' point of view, the good ones would no longer have to pull more than their share of the load to keep the ship afloat. And they could earn more money.

From the customers' point of view, they'd no longer have to endure being ignored and putting up with slow, I-don't-give-a-crap attitudes.

It would be a win-win-win situation! :smile:

That's the way it works when people are paid minimum wage or close to it, they don't give a crap about the job. You get what you pay for, customers demand cheap products & services, what departments do you think are the first to get outsources or contracted out? Customer Service.

Your 'pay for performance' would work for some jobs, but other jobs you might have a hard time defining performance scale. Then, if we are talking customer service, how do you apply this to outsourced service in India for example?

 

[countryboy]

Minimum wage means SBA where my tips are concerned. I get a smile with that service ... there'll be a tip under the coffee cup....

I'm with you there. One of my daughters worked as a part time server when going to school. Her tips on a shift were often higher than her base pay (min. wage) and I think there was a reason for that - giving the customer good service. I recall she once got a $100 bill from a celebrity customer because he was so impressed with her attention to detail. And that was on a breakfast for two tab! Unusual yes, but shows that good service can pay off! She's never forgotten that one.

 

[countryboy]

Mine is in the dealing with government people variety. Is there really a course in being that block-headed?

I don't think so - just a result of having no competition. :smile:

 

[countryboy]

That's the way it works when people are paid minimum wage or close to it, they don't give a crap about the job. You get what you pay for, customers demand cheap products & services, what departments do you think are the first to get outsources or contracted out? Customer Service.

Your 'pay for performance' would work for some jobs, but other jobs you might have a hard time defining performance scale. Then, if we are talking customer service, how do you apply this to outsourced service in India for example?

I think you captured it when you said "...customers demand cheap products & services." The problem might originate with "us", the customers.

I'm not sure if Customer Service jobs are the first to get contracted out, but they're up there. It's a bad trend but I think some companies are already seeing that as being a bit of mistake...time will tell.

If a company has a hard time defining performance scale (measurable outputs) of any job, I'd suggest that perhaps the job isn't important to exist in the first place. That would certainly apply the outsourced ones in India, and perhaps more so than some of the "domestic" jobs. A company isn't going to pay out all that money without knowing specifically how it's going to have an impact on the bottom line. At least, that's the theory. Not sure if it's all being implemented effectively, and I think some companies are going to begin to pull back on that stuff, if they can see a negative impact on their bottom line. Take time though...

In spite of all the nice customer service surveys and input gathering that goes on, the decision to outsource will always be based on bottom line results. It has to be, because that's how top management gets paid, and they make the big decisions. If we - the customers - bitch about it but continue to buy, ain't much gonna' happen there.

 

[DurkaDurka]

I know Dell closed their India outsourcing a couple years back due to customer backlash, I'm unsure if any Canadian companies have followed suit though. Most times I prefer to deal with the automated IVR's opposed to live customer service, no BS upsells or human incompetence that way.

 

[TenPenny]

I'm with you there. One of my daughters worked as a part time server when going to school. Her tips on a shift were often higher than her base pay (min. wage) and I think there was a reason for that - giving the customer good service. I recall she once got a $100 bill from a celebrity customer because he was so impressed with her attention to detail. And that was on a breakfast for two tab! Unusual yes, but shows that good service can pay off! She's never forgotten that one.

In some parts of the US, servers are exempt from the normal minimum wage laws, because the idea is they'll get tips.

 

[Kakato]

In some parts of the US, servers are exempt from the normal minimum wage laws, because the idea is they'll get tips.

Arizona,my stepsister worked in scottsdale and made pretty good coin for tips.

Try Nunavut,no such thing as customer service in any restaraunts or airports.
You order onion rings and get poutine you just eat it,ive had them literally grab a handfull of rings off my plate as the waitress came screaming from the kitchen that she mixed up my order.She then plopped them down on a guys plate at the next table.

Your luggage will go everywhere but where you go.