This is not The Haters Club You're Looking For discussion
Is this what they're teaching in Sub School?
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I'm starving. I think I'm going to go eat the other half of my sandwich from Panera Bread. Do you have those in Toronto, too?
I'll fill in where Alfonso usually chimes in.I think I've seen some German porn like this:
one guy comes in, and she can't spend another two minutes finishing up with me? There's this big urgency all of a sudden to start one other ... Part of mine, part of his, part of mine, part of his, a little more on his, back to me, then me at the cash (money) area waiting to "pay"
that's when a third "customer" comes in and (another) Staff Member decides hey, I better spring into action, not by "ringing up" the first guy, but by starting in with custy number three.
@Harry: You're funny today!
No plagiarism Seth, just a coincidence that your lunch break reads like a bad porn. I think it was the use of a "Sub" place. Had it been a salad, the thought probably would have never crossed my mind.@Gretchen: Today?!
Had it been a salad, the thought probably would have never crossed my mind.suuuure.
Your avatar is boring the hell out of me, Seth.
I love that the exclamation point adds excitement to your post.
Seth, I think it would be extremely good if you just asked people to treat you properly. I'm not sure why customer service stinks these days, but I seriously suspect part of the reason is that these people really don't know what constitutes common courtesy. BTW, when asking for my due, I find it's useful to apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. "I'm sorry, but could you finish my sandwich first? I'm in a bit of a hurry." People don't get the feeling you're denouncing them. Interestingly enough, they often look at you like your common sense suggestion was quite novel and creative. (Which is what brings me to the conclusion above, that they really don't know certain basic behavioral rules. Why they don't know is an interesting question, of course....)
I'm sorry, but i'm with Seth (see what i did there?). If a business wants my money, they should train their people. I went into a Sears yesterday, looking for a new lawn mower blade. I walk past three sales guys talking, none of them says anything to me. I stop in front of the mower blades, and i can overhear their conversation. As i'm figuring out which blades are for walk behind mowers, one of the guys is telling the other two about how a $3000 sale just walked out the door-- he was ready to ring the guy up, when his wife walked up and said "don't you think we should at least talk about this?" and the guy left (there was a lot more detail than that in the story). Evidently these guys are on comission. I had written down my mower model number and the part number for the blade i wanted, but forgot to bring it with me, so i called my fiance to see if she could find the scrap of paper i wrote them down on, and loudly, with much repetition, started calling out those numbers. One of the three guys starts telling another (a manager? had a different shirt on than the other two) that he's going to get a call from a customer who wants to rave about him....because of his good customer service. I didn't laugh out loud.
Look, i don't expect to be waited on hand and foot by sales people, but can i at least get a "anything i can help you find?" No, it wasn't a $3000 sale. No, i didn't walk up and interrupt your conversaton to ask for a little help when i didn't see what i was looking for on the shelf. That's ok, i'll order online. Thanks anyway.
Seth wrote: "If common sense suggestions are novel and creative these days, no wonder I have trouble getting lunch."Yeah, but the fact is that they are. Which creates a logistical problem: There are now numerous companies I've stopped doing business with (and I usually tell the management why, since I'd love my clients to do that with me, you know, give me a chance to correct things), and I still run into crap service everywhere. I have to figure something out besides walking out the door because I'm running out of doors. I can't think of anything else besides asking for proper service on the spot.
Well, that may happen. But, as I say, bad service is a burgeoning phenomenon -- these days I'm actually surprised when I get good service. So as I see it, there's less and less opportunity to vote with my feet, to go "somewhere else." The only kind of pain it seems I can inflict as a consumer is the threat that the company will lose my business because of the bad service I just received.BTW, I recently had a manager at our local Shoprite beg me to insist on a service they've tried to train their people to provide as a matter of course. I see more and more businesses trying unsuccessfully to get employees to take their jobs seriously. (Like, for example, oh let's see... NOT TEXTING WHILE OPERATING A COMMUTER TRAIN?)
I recently returned something to Pottery Barn WITH A RECEIPT. Apparently the policy is to ignore the receipt and give you whatever the item got marked down to in the form of a gift card.total bullshit but what is worse is that when I wasn't happy about it I got a lecture from the sales person on how I should be nice to her and told no less than 3 times that I could "at least smile".
you hear that?! I just gave them 30 dollars for air (the price difference), have to go back and spend 50 more dollars there (amount I got back on the gift card) and I don't so much as get an "I'm sorry" but rather a fucking lecture on how to be a better customer!!!!!!!!!!!
I was so so so so so so so pissed I could barely walk out on my shaking legs from wanting to punch her in the face.
Exactly. I communicate with corporate management on the same principle by which I communicate with my reps in government, send letters to the editor, etc.: If you don't at least speak up, don't complain when the problem doesn't get recognized and fixed. You're right, of course, Seth. When you're a customer you're off the clock. I guess I'm not sure we're ever off the JOB in life. Which can admittedly be an exhausting thought. (I think I just realized why I never had kids -- I need those eight full hours every night. Ho ho ho!)
I'm not blaming her for the stupid policy at all. I am blaming her for having the nerve to tell me I need to smile when I've just found out I'm losing money.AND I don't think she much cared about the policy. She never said, "I'm sorry" or "I know it's frustrating" or "yes, it is taking people a while to get used to it" or anything. Instead she pointed at the receipt and said, "It says it right here. It's all legal".
I agree with Seth. I've been on both sides of customer service and I always think that if I can pull off being respectful and considerate then anybody should be able to.
I didn't expect her to grovel or even change things. It would have been a nice human gesture to acknowledge that the process of losing money was an uncomfortable one for me and mostly again....
I DID NOT EXPECT A LECTURE ON HOW TO BE A CHEERFUL CUSTOMER IN THE FACE OF GETTING RIPPED OFF
I believe that Marie's story is something she should write up and submit to consumerist.com, both to illustrate the crappy return policy and crappy employee attitude of a crappy overpriced store.
Seriously, write this up and submit it. If they run the story-- and they run stories like this all the time on Consumerist-- the worst that happens is that you generate bad publicity about the company and their awful return policy. Best case, get you suggestions on how to resolve this in your favor or even someone from the company contacts you to try to make you smile.The thing that gets me about all of these stories, is that i was in retail for a lot of years. I know what is and what is not reasonable to expect from customers, and what is and is not good customer service. When you're close enough to a sales person to overhear their conversation, you shouldn't have to ask for help. When you're out thirty bucks on a return with receipt, you shouldn't be told to be cheerful about it or get a smug "our return policy is in writing on the receipt, you lose." You shouldn't have to explain that it's rude to stop assisting one customer so you can assist another. I do think contacting corporate to explain why you will never be shopping at one of their stores again is a good idea, though.
I'm noticing a steady decline in customer service across all fronts. It's annoying.