Customer Service Sucks
And why wouldn't it? Have you seen what people have to endure from their customers these days?
Case in point: I'm in line at a popular craft store, and a young girl is frantically trying to check out the woman ahead of me as people stack up behind me. The woman is arguing about every item, swearing that the items are on sale. The girl assures her that the UPC codes are determined by the computer; if the item is on sale, it will automatically apply the discount.
Now, here's where it gets interesting. Instead of listening to the poor cashier, the loudmouth chooses to hold up the line and argue in an even louder tone. "I'm in here all the time! How dare you talk to me like that?" (I can bear witness, the girl was extreme cordial in her explanation, without a hint of condescension. I'm not sure I could have done the same...) When this refused to get a rise from the cashier, the customer took to doling out personal insults. "How does an idiot like you get a job as a cashier? Do you even know how to count?"
Meanwhile, the large line behind me is starting to get restless. But to my utter surprise, they are also angry at the cashier. "Why doesn't she just ring up the discount?" Why doesn't she, indeed? Perhaps because they have STUPID-PROOFED these point-of-sale cash registers. A monkey could run them. Just scan & put it in the bag. Until you encounter an individual such as the angry, self-righteous, I-am-entitled-to-a-discount-because-I yell lady. Or perhaps because we all pay inflated prices because of women like this, because they drive up the cost of inventory to compensate for the money the store isn't making by giving things away. Or maybe it's just the PRINCIPLE. I, too, and starting to get highly annoyed, but not quite for the same reason.
In the end, a manager comes. The cashier is nearly in tears. The manager backs down, keys in his magic manager code, and the lady gets her discount. Ever ungrateful, she has to mumble under her breath as she is stuffing her reciept into her bag. I step up to the cashier with a smile, but she doesn't make eye contact, choosing instead to focus all of her attention on my products. I lean forward with a non-confidential whisper; "Don't you just HATE bitchy people? She's probably got a miserable home life." I look directly into the eyes of the bitch, whose jaw is dropped in disbelief, then stand to my full 6'1" height (with heels on). Funny, she didn't have anything else to say after that. The cashier cracked the tiniest smile that she could get away with, but her eyes said volumes.
Having been in the service industry for 8 years, I can totally understand why people stop caring about their jobs. Everyone doesn't start out as a dull-eyed, slumped-over, monotone servant to the masses. They're driven to it by micro-managing, beligerent customers, and general lack of niceness in the world today.
My favorite customer service story takes me back to my table-waiting days at a very popular country restaurant. It was a crowded Sunday afternoon, and a good friend of mine, Kevin, was waiting on seven of the dumbest, back-woods, mullet-sporting rednecks I've ever encountered. Kevin was a six foot tall albino that also happened to be a flaming homosexual. He endured the taunts and barbs thrown at him with the true grace that only a homosexual man can possess, but was eventually driven to his breaking point when one of the rednecks proclaimed loud enough for the entire dining room to hear:
"I ain't eatin no food brought to me by a s@#$-packing faggot."
Kevin stood in front of the redneck with a tray full of nine tall glasses of iced tea. "You're right," he answered with dignity. "You won't have anything brought to you by this faggot because I JUST QUIT." And he dumped the entire tray of iced tea in the rednecks lap and walked calmly out the front door past all of our stunned faces.
Ha Ha! You go, girl!
Case in point: I'm in line at a popular craft store, and a young girl is frantically trying to check out the woman ahead of me as people stack up behind me. The woman is arguing about every item, swearing that the items are on sale. The girl assures her that the UPC codes are determined by the computer; if the item is on sale, it will automatically apply the discount.
Now, here's where it gets interesting. Instead of listening to the poor cashier, the loudmouth chooses to hold up the line and argue in an even louder tone. "I'm in here all the time! How dare you talk to me like that?" (I can bear witness, the girl was extreme cordial in her explanation, without a hint of condescension. I'm not sure I could have done the same...) When this refused to get a rise from the cashier, the customer took to doling out personal insults. "How does an idiot like you get a job as a cashier? Do you even know how to count?"
Meanwhile, the large line behind me is starting to get restless. But to my utter surprise, they are also angry at the cashier. "Why doesn't she just ring up the discount?" Why doesn't she, indeed? Perhaps because they have STUPID-PROOFED these point-of-sale cash registers. A monkey could run them. Just scan & put it in the bag. Until you encounter an individual such as the angry, self-righteous, I-am-entitled-to-a-discount-because-I yell lady. Or perhaps because we all pay inflated prices because of women like this, because they drive up the cost of inventory to compensate for the money the store isn't making by giving things away. Or maybe it's just the PRINCIPLE. I, too, and starting to get highly annoyed, but not quite for the same reason.
In the end, a manager comes. The cashier is nearly in tears. The manager backs down, keys in his magic manager code, and the lady gets her discount. Ever ungrateful, she has to mumble under her breath as she is stuffing her reciept into her bag. I step up to the cashier with a smile, but she doesn't make eye contact, choosing instead to focus all of her attention on my products. I lean forward with a non-confidential whisper; "Don't you just HATE bitchy people? She's probably got a miserable home life." I look directly into the eyes of the bitch, whose jaw is dropped in disbelief, then stand to my full 6'1" height (with heels on). Funny, she didn't have anything else to say after that. The cashier cracked the tiniest smile that she could get away with, but her eyes said volumes.
Having been in the service industry for 8 years, I can totally understand why people stop caring about their jobs. Everyone doesn't start out as a dull-eyed, slumped-over, monotone servant to the masses. They're driven to it by micro-managing, beligerent customers, and general lack of niceness in the world today.
My favorite customer service story takes me back to my table-waiting days at a very popular country restaurant. It was a crowded Sunday afternoon, and a good friend of mine, Kevin, was waiting on seven of the dumbest, back-woods, mullet-sporting rednecks I've ever encountered. Kevin was a six foot tall albino that also happened to be a flaming homosexual. He endured the taunts and barbs thrown at him with the true grace that only a homosexual man can possess, but was eventually driven to his breaking point when one of the rednecks proclaimed loud enough for the entire dining room to hear:
"I ain't eatin no food brought to me by a s@#$-packing faggot."
Kevin stood in front of the redneck with a tray full of nine tall glasses of iced tea. "You're right," he answered with dignity. "You won't have anything brought to you by this faggot because I JUST QUIT." And he dumped the entire tray of iced tea in the rednecks lap and walked calmly out the front door past all of our stunned faces.
Ha Ha! You go, girl!
posted by Kristie at 10:41 AM
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