Wanted: Good customer service

Yeah, you'd think with unemployment at the level it is at, incompetence wouldn't be tolerated. Then again, times being what they are, managers probably shy away from firing people unless it's absolutely necessary.

 

When I was young, we walked to school,
Up hill,
Both ways.

 

UPDATE

Got another phone call, some babbling about a new computer system, and they were having a hard time with it, yadda, yadda, yadda. They told me if the money isn't back in my account by Monday to call again.

At least the lady was very apologetic, but being apologetic doesn't get me the $230 back in my account.

 

Ok, so if you didn't authorize the charge, why didn't you IMMEDIATELY call the bank to dispute the charge? That's why you use credit cards. You can do that.

None of this call the property to get it fixed.

As far as customer service goes, let me tell you this: Most of the time, it's an incorrect assumption to think the customer is always right. They aren't. And shouldn't be. You should take care of them, yes, but there still is a business to run and rules to follow. Giving in all the time is a stupid business practice, especially if the request is unreasonable.

Also, most of the time, you are a douchebag, yelling at me because I don't know how long it takes to replace the navigation computer on an airplane. I'm not a fucking mechanic, I don't fucking know. And, why, yes, it could very well be fucking 80 degrees and sunny in fucking Miami, but there are weather problems between here in there, causing a delay. I don't give a fuck if your best friend's cousin's boyfriend's sister says, "It's beautiful" there, I'm not putting you on another airline to save you 30 minutes.

 

I'm with Bydesign on this.

Where did this notion come from that "the customer is always right?"

Uh, guess what, you're not. You're quite often wrong and misinformed. not to mention rude.

To make matters worse you think yelling and bullying will get you what you want want or you treat people in the service industry as the hired help.

 

The customer stopped being right once they got wind of the idea that "the customer is always right." That's when they stopped being polite and started making unreasonable demands every time something went wrong.

 

Talk about your blanket assumption. I ALWAYS treat people in the service industry with the utmost respect. I worked in the service industry all throughout college and I treated people on the other side of the counter the way I would want to be treated. It's not too much to ask, in my personal opinion. Personally, I think people working at fast food restaurants now are pampered fucking tools who think they "deserve" a better life without having to work for it.

That being said, I think it's bullshit to have people like the person I encountered. I was very polite when I went inside the establishment to get my order fixed. I didn't make any demands, I didn't pound my fist yelling "The Customer Is Always Right!" The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi, I think I got the wrong order.
Cashier with attitude: What did you order?
Me: I ordered a two-piece white and I got a two-piece dark.
Cashier with attitude: Well, it wasn't me, I didn't take your order.

/exit Cashier stage left

Now, I also don't buy the customer is always right bullshit, because like RickStain said that whole phrase got overplayed and people started demanding more shit just for the sake of getting free shit.

But I don't think it's too much to ask to do your fucking job for the 4-8 hours you're there getting paid to do your job. I don't need your service with a smile, I just need your service.

 

"you?"

Are you in the service industry?

 

The first thing the credit card company is going to tell you is to contact the merchant. They won't do anything until you've made a reasonable attempt to have the merchant solve the problem.

 

Well, I was co-owner of a bookstore for fourteen years so I know a little bit about how customer service works.

 

Not as bad as the above story, but it was the first time I have ever threatened to turn someone in to the better business bureau and /or write letters to the editor to major newspapers over. . .

We bought a minivan about five years ago and bought the warranty from the guy off the lot. Seemed reasonable enough. Anyway, we ran into some trouble with the transmission a couple of weeks before we were to go on a trip. I needed the van by then, and luckily we were told by the shop that the warranty was fine and they would be able to get a rebuilt tranny in from the warranty company by the end of that week. I asked why it had to be from the warranty place and couldn't I get it sooner, but they said those were the terms of the contract, so I was fine with that. Also, in the terms, I wasn't allowed to get a minivan rental, only a subcompact. It was a bit of a pain, but I was OK with it. As long as I got my van back bin time for the trip. Plus, the shop I took the car too was great about the whole thing, and assured me they would rush the job when it came in so I could get it back in time. Well, the first tranny that came in was "bad", the shop told me. Couldn't use it because it was damaged. So I called the warranty, and they told me they would send another one out and would get it there within two weeks. PROBLEM!

I explained to them that this was THEIR fault that they sent a bad transmission and that I needed the car for a trip. They told me there was nothing they could do about it. Before getting really pissed, I took a breath and I explained about the trip again, and asked if I could at least get an upgrade to a minivan or something bigger so I could take that on the trip. I even said, then you can take as long as you need on the tranny for the van. I was trying to be sympathetic, even though I thought it should have been the other way around, since, you know, THEY WERE THE ONES WHO SCREWED UP! No dice, they wouldn't budge. They said nowhere in my contract does it ay they should do that. A little more irritated, I explained that they were right, but alo nowhere in the contract does it say they would send a faulty transmission and th eproces would take twice as long as quoted. Still, no budge on their end.

Maybe I was too close to the situation, but I really felt that this was a case of making the customre happy, right?

 

I never said "the customer is always right." As a matter of fact, having worked in customer service before, I had to tell people they were wrong before. Like the time I worked at Blockbuster, and we would give free bags of popcorn for returning new releases early. Some dicknose thought the free bonus was a free rental. He chewed me out something awful, and I all I told him - repeatedly - was that nowhere does it say the bonus was a free rental.

In the cases I stated above, I (or my wife) was right.