A little rant on customer service these days

[mrassbillygunn]

Is it just me or are people just lacking in basic manners? Last night I called into a shop and didnt have a credit card to pay at self check out so im waiting at the till to pay with cash and no one was about, so I waited patiently for 5 mins or slightly more, anyway a cashier finally comes and walks right past me, no apology for keeping me waiting and just says could you go to next till (not please, just can you go to the next till) so I go and im saying to myself just count to 10 count to 10 because Ive a short fuse when it comes to people lacking in manners anyway, my bag I bring along is in the basket, I say could you pack them please using the bag, he looks at me like ive 3 heads and says, sorry and I repeat myself and he goes ahead and packs them. I mean is it just me or is this happening more frequently?

Anyway onto today, I call into the local petrol station to post a parcel, its used as a drop off depot and anyway the guy serves and is friendly no bother but I ask him Id like a printed receipt (I dont give my email, he wanted my email for receipt) anyway he gets confused and cant work it out and calls for help, so another cashier comes over and she has a look, says something about a new system and cant print receipt and I said well I was here just last night and left a parcel and got a receipt, she says did you ask for one and I said yes, she then calls the store manager and he gets it sorted and low and behold I got the printed receipt and I politely said thank you and they didnt even say sorry about that or nothing ...nothing. I left the store thinking what is it with these people? and looking up into the heavens like where are the basic manners???

[Grumpyoldman]

Basic manners are almost extinct. Whether in customer service or life in general. When I was a kid, they taught us manners & etiquette in elementary school. I guess that's not a thing anymore. I'll never forget what my second grade teacher said: "You're never too old or important to say "Please" and "Thank you"."

I used to love the different film strips they would show us about different topics.

This one is by far my favorite:

[The Real Valbroski]

I usually have more empathy for the worker than the customer, to be honest. I’ve witnessed more customers being rude to cashiers or fast food workers than I have vice versa. I think everybody in general should practice more patience and respect.

[The Real Chillary]

YTA.

[HandsomeHollywood]

Seem like pretty minor issues to me. I always bag my own stuff because I'm fully capable of it.

As someone who's worked a lot of retail and cash, as well as having worked as an employment coach, new systems get rolled out without proper training or notice all the time. Very possible you were dealing with workers who were unfamiliar with it and were thrown to the wolves.

I was expecting some egregious story here lol. The old concept of "manners" matters a lot less to me now than tone and honesty do. I'm not the queen of England and basic decorum/respect and pleasantness without the old magic words is easy to achieve.

I have more issues with being lied to by management when I have questions. Living in Canada, retail standards are quite low. At my local Walmart I asked when they would be getting an item I was told they'd get, and the manager told me it's on the truck and would be there Monday. Monday came and the item didn't. I asked management again a day or two later, who seemed to not remember me and told me its on the truck and will be in on Monday again. The item would eventually never show. This just taught me to have lower expectations moving forward more than anything though.

[Angusdacat]

Most retail stores are understaffed on purpose and are more neglectful on training. Workers are being put into increasingly higher stress/low reward environments and are getting burnt out from the pointlessness of it all. If you haven't been on this end of the workforce for a long time it looks as if everyone is a chicken with their head cut off but you'd be surprised what kids these days have to go through just to be treated with basic dignity.

[TheSystem 1.5]

May 3, 2024 17:15:18 GMT -5 Angusdacat said:

Most retail stores are understaffed on purpose and are more neglectful on training. Workers are being put into increasingly higher stress/low reward environments and are getting burnt out from the pointlessness of it all. If you haven't been on this end of the workforce for a long time it looks as if everyone is a chicken with their head cut off but you'd be surprised what kids these days have to go through just to be treated with basic dignity.

I end up having to do three peoples jobs on-top of mine because my co-workers just refuse to read and put crap wherever it fits. 

[Jack Specific]

May 1, 2024 0:52:06 GMT -5 Grumpyoldman said:

Basic manners are almost extinct. Whether in customer service or life in general. When I was a kid, they taught us manners & etiquette in elementary school. I guess that's not a thing anymore. I'll never forget what my second grade teacher said: "You're never too old or important to say "Please" and "Thank you"."

I used to love the different film strips they would show us about different topics.

This one is by far my favorite:

As you said, in general... I am always saying that common courtesy is extinct. So unfortunate. And kids are being taught not to be courteous or mindful of others. It's all about them and only them. They are special and no one else matters. I'll give you an example. We went to out local Pizza place for dinner the other day (wife and I). Sitting directly behind me was a child who must have been maybe 7 or 8 years old if I had to guess and she was with her mother. We of course out comes the ipad and it's loud as hell. Practically right in my ear. I was hoping for it to eventually get put away when their food came but of course not. I was getting very annoyed and my wife is practically begging me not to say anything. Now if I did say something it would be to the Mother not the child. This is not the kids fault, she's just a kid and only the Parent knows better. I cannot blame an 8 year old kid. I should have just moved but our food was there and I didn't really feel like moving everything. I didn't say anything but I probably should have. I have before in similar cases. But the Mother let her do it as if we didn't exist or no one else that was eating there existed. Not one did she tell the kid to shut it off or make it lower or put in some earphones.

[The Real Valbroski]

May 3, 2024 22:17:49 GMT -5 Jack Specific said:

May 1, 2024 0:52:06 GMT -5 Grumpyoldman said:

Basic manners are almost extinct. Whether in customer service or life in general. When I was a kid, they taught us manners & etiquette in elementary school. I guess that's not a thing anymore. I'll never forget what my second grade teacher said: "You're never too old or important to say "Please" and "Thank you"."

I used to love the different film strips they would show us about different topics.

This one is by far my favorite:

As you said, in general... I am always saying that common courtesy is extinct. So unfortunate. And kids are being taught not to be courteous or mindful of others. It's all about them and only them. They are special and no one else matters. I'll give you an example. We went to out local Pizza place for dinner the other day (wife and I). Sitting directly behind me was a child who must have been maybe 7 or 8 years old if I had to guess and she was with her mother. We of course out comes the ipad and it's loud as hell. Practically right in my ear. I was hoping for it to eventually get put away when their food came but of course not. I was getting very annoyed and my wife is practically begging me not to say anything. Now if I did say something it would be to the Mother not the child. This is not the kids fault, she's just a kid and only the Parent knows better. I cannot blame an 8 year old kid. I should have just moved but our food was there and I didn't really feel like moving everything. I didn't say anything but I probably should have. I have before in similar cases. But the Mother let her do it as if we didn't exist or no one else that was eating there existed. Not one did she tell the kid to shut it off or make it lower or put in some earphones.

25% warning bars for the both of them, bucko.

[theman]

May 3, 2024 22:17:49 GMT -5 Jack Specific said:

May 1, 2024 0:52:06 GMT -5 Grumpyoldman said:

Basic manners are almost extinct. Whether in customer service or life in general. When I was a kid, they taught us manners & etiquette in elementary school. I guess that's not a thing anymore. I'll never forget what my second grade teacher said: "You're never too old or important to say "Please" and "Thank you"."

I used to love the different film strips they would show us about different topics.

This one is by far my favorite:

As you said, in general... I am always saying that common courtesy is extinct. So unfortunate. And kids are being taught not to be courteous or mindful of others. It's all about them and only them. They are special and no one else matters. I'll give you an example. We went to out local Pizza place for dinner the other day (wife and I). Sitting directly behind me was a child who must have been maybe 7 or 8 years old if I had to guess and she was with her mother. We of course out comes the ipad and it's loud as hell. Practically right in my ear. I was hoping for it to eventually get put away when their food came but of course not. I was getting very annoyed and my wife is practically begging me not to say anything. Now if I did say something it would be to the Mother not the child. This is not the kids fault, she's just a kid and only the Parent knows better. I cannot blame an 8 year old kid. I should have just moved but our food was there and I didn't really feel like moving everything. I didn't say anything but I probably should have. I have before in similar cases. But the Mother let her do it as if we didn't exist or no one else that was eating there existed. Not one did she tell the kid to shut it off or make it lower or put in some earphones.

I've said stuff to parents with loud kids before at resturants before and my gf actually admires my "tell it like it is" attitude. Either me or my girlfriend has paid for the food and we deseve to enjoy our meal. We shouldn't have endure horrible kids just because the parents don't know how to do their job but I agree with the OP, manners is a thing of the past. Just the other day my local KFC tried to charge me extra for KFC sauce so I called the 1800 number and got the manager in trouble.

[Jack Specific]

May 4, 2024 9:40:39 GMT -5 The Real Valbroski said:

May 3, 2024 22:17:49 GMT -5 Jack Specific said:

As you said, in general... I am always saying that common courtesy is extinct. So unfortunate. And kids are being taught not to be courteous or mindful of others. It's all about them and only them. They are special and no one else matters. I'll give you an example. We went to out local Pizza place for dinner the other day (wife and I). Sitting directly behind me was a child who must have been maybe 7 or 8 years old if I had to guess and she was with her mother. We of course out comes the ipad and it's loud as hell. Practically right in my ear. I was hoping for it to eventually get put away when their food came but of course not. I was getting very annoyed and my wife is practically begging me not to say anything. Now if I did say something it would be to the Mother not the child. This is not the kids fault, she's just a kid and only the Parent knows better. I cannot blame an 8 year old kid. I should have just moved but our food was there and I didn't really feel like moving everything. I didn't say anything but I probably should have. I have before in similar cases. But the Mother let her do it as if we didn't exist or no one else that was eating there existed. Not one did she tell the kid to shut it off or make it lower or put in some earphones.

25% warning bars for the both of them, bucko.

You guys think I go around being forum admin outside of the forums. It's hilarious. I would actually ban the Mom and just a 25% warning bar to the kid. And lets not forget the waitress who also gets a 25% warning for not telling them to turn it down. I am going to write an announcement for that restaurant stating to mute any phones and ipads and post it there as a sticky post on the door. Oh wait I don't admin that restaurant, dang it!

[williscreg]

That is the hell of a job. Last time I witnessed my friend talking to pipeline crm customer service and honestly have no idea how a person on the other side could manage it so smooth and simple. I would lose my patience long time before and definitely wouldn't be able to explain obvious things 10 times in a row. 

[cage]

As someone who works in customer service, the answer to this could be found in the response's of other customers. It could be that they said all of that stuff in the past, but never got a reaction or felt as though it didn't matter if they said it or not. For example, when I board the bus to work sometimes I say "good morning" to the bus driver, but sometimes I don't because they don't always respond back. That probably says something about me, but, the point is this, after so long of people not acknowledging it, why not just drop it altogether to save time? It's important to some people, but not everybody.

[AxelSmackdown]

Yes, customer service is lacking these days.

One of the reasons I changed my State Farm Insurance Agent was because of the customer service I would receive at my old agent’s office.

I’m not asking you to kiss my ass, I’m asking you to not act and sound like it’s an inconvenience for you to do your job that you get paid for.

[K5]

can't really blame them with the state of the world currently. a lot of discontent people.

[Ohtimate Wahriah]

Retail is the way of old sadly. If you have ever seen the dying days of any retail store, that’s what EVERY retail location reminds me of these days.

I also think people use to think if they work hard and do right by their employer, they would be rewarded. Instead, they’ve been punished. So I think the majority of people these days just put minimal effort into everything, assuming, either way it doesn’t matter. These companies will fire you whenever they feel like it.

[Darkhawk]

I work at a shoe store. Today I had an old lady complain about sandals having an arch fit to them. She then proceeds to grab like 6 pairs of sandals try them on and leave it all on the floor, I had to clean it up. This lady waited outside in the morning for us to open just to try shoes on and make a complete mess.

[The Real Valbroski]

Jul 13, 2024 1:10:47 GMT -5 Darkhawk said:

I work at a shoe store. Today I had an old lady complain about sandals having an arch fit to them. She then proceeds to grab like 6 pairs of sandals try them on and leave it all on the floor, I had to clean it up. This lady waited outside in the morning for us to open just to try shoes on and make a complete mess.

I'll never understand why people wait outside before stores open for normal occasion shopping.

[CM Tusk]

Jul 13, 2024 1:10:47 GMT -5 Darkhawk said:

I work at a shoe store. Today I had an old lady complain about sandals having an arch fit to them. She then proceeds to grab like 6 pairs of sandals try them on and leave it all on the floor, I had to clean it up. This lady waited outside in the morning for us to open just to try shoes on and make a complete mess.

Decades of “the customer is always right” mentality has given people the impression that they should be able to do whatever they want, treat workers however they want, and still be treated like they are special just to make a sale.

[cage]

I think there is an interesting study to be had into why people become what they do. How they become so detached from their childhoods. I will forever be fascinated at how, during my adolescent days, anyone and everyone was a potential friend without hearing them even say one word. Now, I would never say that whether I heard them speak or not, everyone just seems like an enemy.