Is the customer really always right? What they said/what you wish could say...

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by AtLast

When working in a family business, I certainly had this drilled into me. Unless a customer was abusive, they were right, period.

To be honest, I think the level of courtesy and helpfulness in customer service has declined- mainly due to big box stores that sell on volume. The "good name & faith" of a business does not mean what it used to.

Originally Posted by AtLast

True. And online this is often true as well. Sometimes, I really think that our positive face to face communication skills are going to be a thing of the past. Automation of things not only has affected employment, but how we speak to one another. Sometimes I am sickened by how rude and sarcastic people have become- it is different than in the past in social situations to me.

A whole lot of entitlement going on when I think we are all "entitled" to courtesy and a willingness to communicate with each other in a way that leads to mutual understanding no matter if it about a product I bought and want to return or hearing out a loved one or friend.

You are right. It used to be that the customer was always right and that's because, most of the time, they were. Or at least it was an honest mistake and not the customer trying to take advantage of a loop hole or trying to get something for free.

Nowadays, everyone feels entitlement. Kids feel entitled to expensive toys and clothes and getting their way, adults feel entitled to a better life and getting their way. Okay, so some of that bleeds on both sides, but it's the way things are now. Sadly so.

Originally Posted by weatherboi

I had to learn how to navigate my way around clients that think their warranty covers self inflicted damage. I think it is ok to tell a customer they are in the wrOng. I think it is important to find a way to do it so not to receive complaints about how it is handled. The goal is to make everybody think they won something.

A lot of the time, I know folks just want to be heard and to vent. I know this and can usually provide them with that. When that happens, a solution can usually be found.

It's those jerks that, like in the examples above who just want to fight and be ignorant, that ruin it for everyone. Some folks take the phrase 'the squeakiest wheel gets the oil' very literally.

For myself, I have to be honest and say that I have it much better than I did before, when I worked in open retail and hospitality. Now, I see new folks regularly, and some of them are absolutely jerks, but most of the folks I see are my current customer base and they have been here for a while. I know who to call and bug with delinquent calls and who will eventually creep in here at the eleventh hour, who is going through a hard time and who was just blessed with the keys to a new house, who doesn't mind paying the charges that they ring up and those who will give me grief.

One of them brought this thread to mind yesterday when she was going on and on about the benefits and yumminess of Arbor Mist wine and I have to say that I agree with her. Blackberry merlot is da bomb.

[Kobi]

Having spent the last week trying to resolve a payment issue, I am not at all pleased with supposed customer service people. In this case, I paid my bill but the money was digitally removed from my account and applied to someone else's account. So, I show as in arrears.

I have spent about 8 hours in 7 days talking with the financial folks who are supposed to help me resolve this. When I call I never get the same person nor will I be transfered to the same person. I am stuck having to deal with whomever answers the phone, have to go thru the story again, have to wait while they recite the history on the computer of all the other calls for the week, wait while they track stuff down that they requested be faxed to them but cant seen to find until the 12th computer screen, then listen as they tell me what they requested wasnt sufficient to resolve the problem. So, then I get this particular persons input as to how to solve the problem which has yet to solve the problem.

In utter frustration today, I found myself lambasting some poor manager who really could have cared less about resolving the issue or understanding my anger and frustration. I do not like to raise my voice but I was screeching at these idiots. It was like talking to a brick wall.

It is rare that I get a customer service person anywhere who seems to know what they are doing or how to resolve an issue. I find the same problem when I get a manager or supervisor on the phone.

I find they expect me to kiss their asses when they made the error not me. I find they expect me to jump thru hoops to resolve a problem they themselves created. I find they are more than happy to treat me like caca rather than admit their own internal problem solving issues.

Verizon is on my fecal roster today. And I really pity the next person I have to deal with.

[Soft*Silver]

I hate talking on the phone. Absolutely hate it. I wasnt always like this but its gotten to be this way over the past few years. Phone conversations, if necessary, are important to be fact based and short. (If its for social reasons, I can carry on a slightly longer conversation if I prepare for it ahead of time) Therefore I am lost when it comes to solving things over the phone that require me to deal with many steps and multiple people.

this Christmas I decided to indulge and signed up for the card exchange. I purchased some cards thru the mail.

First, they did not get my purchase request. It took a month for me to realize this and talk to someone.

then they processed the second request, which magically found the first request and I was billed twice.

I caught it online. I called them and alerted them so they stopped the shipment of the second (or first) order.

but they did not stop payment.

I called, emailed them, barraged their web page on a sometimes daily basis and yet, no change.

After christmas they contacted me and said they were sorry and yes, finally did correct the money situation. But that little bit of money meant that I did not buy groceries that week nor did I have gas in my car. During Christmas. they cant resolve THAT.

They sent me an email saying for my trouble they were giving me a $5 credit.

Very ladylike I told them that they have told me they feel their customer service and reputation is worth $5 to them....

I promptly got offered $10.

I will never deal with this company again. Never. I love their products and loved these cards but what they put me thru and how they chose to resolve it will never happen to me again with them.

I hope that was the best $10 they ever spent....

[Hollylane]

Me: Thank you for calling ____, this is Hollylane. May I have the address or account number that I can help you with today?
Customer: Hollylane? Is that your first name?
Me: Yes, Hollylane is my full first name.
Customer: That is so pretty, hmmm...Never heard of that name before...it is truly original.Hollylane, I like that a lot.
Me: Thank you for the compliment. How can I help you today?
Customer: Okay Holly, my address is........

[betenoire]

I no longer work in customer service. The 7 months that I supplemented my income by working a job at a call center were possibly the most unhappy months of my life.

The customer is often an asshole. And a liar.

I was a reservations agent for a big hotel chain. And you would not BELIEVE the number of people who make their reservations online and then call into the call center to yell at the agents because the customer made a mistake in their own reservation.

Book a room in Portland Maine when you wanted to stay in Oregon? Just call up the reservations agent and swear at her!

Fail to note that the hotel you booked for yourself has free-WIRED-in-room-high-speed-internet-access? Just call up the reservations agent and yell at her because you need wireless instead!

Book a one bedroom suite when what you really wanted was a two bedroom? Call the reservations agent and shout "WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO MAKE THIS RIGHT?!??" (haha, the two bedrooms were all sold out anyway.)

And always ALWAYS lie and insist that it was a reservations agent that screwed up your vacation/business plans. Claim you did not book it online. Escalate to threats when the agent mentions that she went into the reservation history and sees that the reservation was made on the website.

[adorable]

On Sunday morning a guest checked out, but there was a maintenance issue with the room so it was held. It wasn't cleaned until this morning. The guest who checked out Sunday called this morning to say that he had lost money in the room and was on his way here. He told my assistant that the money was on the dresser. She went into the room and saw nothing. He then went into the room and couldn't find anything either. He left.
That means my maintenance guy was in the room Sunday, the guest was in the room Sunday, my assistant & the guest were in the room this morning - none of them found any money.
The housekeeper went into the room after all of this (& not knowing any of this had transpired) and pulled the sheets off the bed. Lo and behold, money goes flying. She picks up $400 and brings it immediately to the desk. My assistant calls the guest and tells him that $400 was found. He claims it was significantly more than that and he is on his way back to the hotel. In the meantime, the housekeeper comes down with another $1000 that was folded which she found on the floor.
The guest comes in and is handed an envelope with all his money, which clearly he didn't even realize was missing until this morning. He then spends 10 minutes in the lobby ranting about how the housekeeper should be fired because she was trying to keep $1000 since the last time he talked to my assistant there was only $400 .
I finally stop him by giving him the universal "talk to the hand." I remind him he did get all his money back and to "Have an excellent day, sir."
#Unfuckingbelievable

[Hollylane]

Me: Thank you for calling ___, may I please have the address or account number that I can help you with?

Caller: Um...I am calling from ________Church of God, I want to help one of your customers with managing his account.

Me: May I have the customer's address or account number please?

Caller: I don't have either of those, can you look him up another way?

Me: Do you have his social security number, telephone number or name?

Caller: I don't have his social or his telephone number. Can you look it up by his name?

Me: What is the customer's last name?

Caller: I don't have his last name.

Me: Do you have any information about him.........at all?

Caller: I have his first name.

Me: We're here until 7pm tonight if you are able to call back with any information about the customer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm not sure it is the customer that needs help managing his account. Wow. Just wow.