Customer Service Sometimes Sucks!

[countryboy]

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

Is that what they mean by "land of the free?" We don't have that same freedom here..our Employment Standards Acts (provincially) have a way of getting in the way of creativity (piecework) when it comes to things like this. Not saying they're all bad, just typical government overkill sometimes.

I know of cases where the employee and the employer both wanted to do a piecework arrangement, but couldn't because of the labour laws. Of course, the really creative people can figure out some ways around it, but it takes time and effort...

 

[countryboy]

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.

Yeah, when I was a salesman I used to travel all over the place. The saying in those days among us regular cross-country travellers was, "The further north you go, the worse it gets", in terms of customer service. Or maybe we should have said "customer survival." 8O

I think it's the old monopoly thing - if it's the only act in town, you're gonna' have to like it! (Some government departments take their monopoly position to heart)

 

[EagleSmack]

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

True true TenPenny. I was watching "Rehab at the Hard Rock" (yes a corny actuality show with hot waitresses) and one bemoaned when she was assigned a cabana with a bunch of British guys. The waitresses basically work for tips and it is madatory to give a certain percentage of that bill (not tip) to the bartenders and barbacks. Of course the Brits had a whopping 3K bill and gave her $200 so she basically worked for free that day. She chased after the British guy and complained about his tip to him...the manager fired her.

 

[EagleSmack]

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.

.

LOL... I'd pay to see that!

 

[Kakato]

Yeah, when I was a salesman I used to travel all over the place. The saying in those days among us regular cross-country travellers was, "The further north you go, the worse it gets", in terms of customer service. Or maybe we should have said "customer survival." 8O

I think it's the old monopoly thing - if it's the only act in town, you're gonna' have to like it! (Some government departments take their monopoly position to heart)

Thats exactly it,no competition.
Calm air flys from Winnipeg north and they are the only airline I know that will drop you off 60 miles from the arctic circle in january and then tell you your bags might be a couple 3 or 4 days,usually it was 2 or 3 weeks so you wore as much clothing as you could.

we had a pool at camp for any new guys coming in on how many bags they would lose. I had my own list of phone numbers for customer service by then and you allways got patched through to someone in New Brunswick:roll:
Meanwhile my bag full of clothes is in Yellowknife and has gone around the carousel so many times it had a hole worn through it.:lol:
Some bags had so many tags on them by the time I got them that they should have got airmiles.
Air Canada was pretty bad too,westjets the best.

 

[countryboy]

...Air Canada was pretty bad too,westjets the best.

And as I understand it, every employee at Westjet is a shareholder. Might be a message in there somewhere.

You have some "good" (?) horror stories from the north! If you ever get a chance to fly to Asia, try Singapore Airlines. They are (or least, used to be) pretty much the opposite of Air Canada in every respect, except safety. A/C is still pretty good at that, I think.

 

[AnnaG]

"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:

Nope. I'd have some hamburger jockey goading me to buy one of those tasteless things. People working in clothing stores and the rest would never leave you alone and constantly be pressuring you to make a decision. I'll pass. I hate advertising and being pushed by some obnoxious twerp out to get my money.

 

[lone wolf]

And as I understand it, every employee at Westjet is a shareholder. Might be a message in there somewhere.

You have some "good" (?) horror stories from the north! If you ever get a chance to fly to Asia, try Singapore Airlines. They are (or least, used to be) pretty much the opposite of Air Canada in every respect, except safety. A/C is still pretty good at that, I think.

I think when it comes right down to safety issues ... I can do without the Jockeys.....

 

[JLM]

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?

Yep, some terrible experiences and some on the other hand very good. Department stores are probably the worst and often the problem is some of the staff simply doesn't know their product. Others don't even know their way around the store. Canadian Tire is possibly one of the worst offenders. Restaurant service is generally not too bad, I would give a C+, BUT I think our people in the hospitality industry could gain a lot by visiting Washington or Oregon for a week or two. Service down there is generally much friendlier. They take the extra step to oblige, and worry a bit less about immediate profits.

 

[VanIsle]

Customer service should come first. If your employer treats you poorly or doesn't bother to tell you when a customer puts in a good report on you, (or a bad one which I'm sure any employee would hear about fast). A new employee transfered into the store I work in. When I finally got around to meeting him he said "I read a fantastic report on you from a customer". I said "what did it say". He told me that the manager should tell me rather than him. I know of great reports on other workers as well. To date - none of us have ever been told anything by the manager. Everyone loves their little pat on the back for a job well done and tends to pick up the pace when they receive the pat. Morale is really down where I work and that tends to be passed on to the customer even though it shouldn't be. Happy employees boost business.
My worst experience is with Bell who actually hung up on us during our last conversation with them.

 

[FiveParadox]

Just to play devil’s advocate, the behaviour of some customers is just as [if not more] appalling.

I’ve never understood how people can treat a complete stranger like garbage — swear, insult, verbally assault.

 

[AnnaG]

The customer is always right. lol
I see a big difference between someone being paid to provide a service or a product and someone paying for a service or item.
But I agree, some customers go a bit overboard.

 

[TenPenny]

The customer is always right. lol

There's a great site, notalwaysright.com, with a daily update of bizarre customer requests / behaviour.

 

[countryboy]

Nope. I'd have some hamburger jockey goading me to buy one of those tasteless things. People working in clothing stores and the rest would never leave you alone and constantly be pressuring you to make a decision. I'll pass. I hate advertising and being pushed by some obnoxious twerp out to get my money.

Well, like anything else, there's good selling and then there's the other kind. Selling should be like a bowel movement - if you have to push to get results, there's something wrong.

In the scenario I was describing (pay for performance), the "obnoxious twerps" would soon have to either learn how to sell correctly or seek alternative employment. Failure to choose one of those would mean they would starve to death.

 

[countryboy]

Just to play devil’s advocate, the behaviour of some customers is just as [if not more] appalling.

I’ve never understood how people can treat a complete stranger like garbage — swear, insult, verbally assault.

True enough. But, a well-trained pro would handle that kind of thing quite easily. I think we need more well-trained pros in the field. It's not possible to control everyone's behaviour...just have to respond to it in an effective way.

 

[EagleSmack]

Just to play devil’s advocate, the behaviour of some customers is just as [if not more] appalling.

That is true. Some customers can be pretty darn rude. I'd never give a waiter or waitress a hard time and send my meal back to the kitchen!

If I NEED to send something back I IMPLORE the waitress to tell the cook it was MY FAULT and I ordered or said the wrong thing.

I’ve never understood how people can treat a complete stranger like garbage — swear, insult, verbally assault.

That is exactly what I thought during my first 30 minutes of Marine Basic Training on Parris Island!

 

[TenPenny]

That is true. Some customers can be pretty darn rude. I'd never give a waiter or waitress a hard time and send my meal back to the kitchen!

If I NEED to send something back I IMPLORE the waitress to tell the cook it was MY FAULT and I ordered or said the wrong thing.



That is exactly what I thought during my first 30 minutes of Marine Basic Training on Parris Island!

Why would you pretend it was your fault, if the food was bad? That only encourages bad cooking.

 

[countryboy]

Voice mail can tick me off when it is used to simply cut costs. There are times when it is quite handy, but I get a little hot under the collar when I phone a company (especially the phone company!) and get a recording with a loooong menu of choices.

One time, after listening patiently to all the options and trying to drill down through the various layers of choices, I realized that they didn't have an option for the problem I had. And punching "0" didn't work. Had to start all over again so I could pick any option to get a real live person on the phone who could direct me to the right department. Must have taken 15 minutes to finally get to the right person/department...and they call this progress?

 

[VanIsle]

Why would you pretend it was your fault, if the food was bad? That only encourages bad cooking.

I totally agree with you. When your service/food isn't good - send the food back. It delivers two messages. Never assume it's not the server's fault. It is as much their fault as it is the chef's. A good server knows the meal and should not bring it out if it's wrong. If I get a "wrong" meal or improperly cooked meal I send it back instantly. If the server is gracious about it and attempts to make up for it, they'll get a tip but they might not get as much as they normally woud have. If the server acts like I am just being fussy, there is no tip. If the second time the food comes out and it's still wrong, there is no tip. But - if I choose something different off the menu and it turns out to be something I really don't like, I make a mental note to never make the same choice again and stack it up as poor judgment on my part. People seem to feel if they order a dish that doesn't suit their taste, they have the right to send it back. They don't. (I had a customer who was buying 144 bags of no name tea. They wanted to know if they could bring it back if they didn't like the flavour because it was a lot of bags to use if they didn't like it! Not restaurant talk but still .....)

 

[lone wolf]

What is it with drive-throughs and straws (or lacks thereof)