RANT: What happened to "customer service"?

[Thornir Alekeg]

Nope, they are on the other side - Camillus, but we were often in DeWitt when my wife and I lived there - we baby-sat the kids of a former DeWitt judge.

 

[Mycanid]

Well Thornir - I think you are the only other person in enworld that lived in DeWitt.

I take my hood off to you. Mycanid at your service!

But back to the topic at hand, eh? ....

 

[Chimera]

I'm pretty much sure that Customer Service died about the same time as Corporate Loyalty To Their Employees.

Assuming that such things ever really did exist.

 

[Wycen]

Sorry you and your mom had to go through all that.

It isn't the first time I've heard bad things about Home Depot employees. I think it is much easier for those who do customer service "virtually" than those who have to do it face to face.

I am a customer service rep, which means I answer phones and questions, take order, plus random stuff the manager needs as well as invoice customers each day. 90 or 95% of our interaction with customers is over the phone, and it is soOOoo much easier to feign a good day or attitude over the phone.

And of course, we, the customer, never know the whole deal with what's going on with the employees. Thursday is a great example. We were down one employee all day, she is on vacation. Another employee had to wait at home for the cable guy. For FIVE DAMN HOURS! :grumble:

So that's two people answering the phones, unless you count the manager and sales reps who are on the phone all day themselves. Then add those customers who have decided they only want to talk to one person. I can't tell the guy, "this is really a bad time to call, your order is NOT as important as the rest of our customers and it is really inconvenient that you only want to talk to me. Especially because I told you already that we don't have what you want in stock. And it is a time consuming process to find out if our other warehouses have it. And not to mention we are having a price increase effective in July, AND because we don't have stock I can't give you an accurate price quote. Oh, I'd really like to enjoy this burnt piece of meat that used to be a steak, but you and our other customers wont let me." Yeah, I need to forget Thursday happened

On the other hand, there are those rare customers who suddenly make your day when they call. I have a pretty select cadre of customers who fall into this category, but there is always the chance someone can slide from "normal customer" to elite.

 

[Teflon Billy]

My friend Doug work's at home depot, and given what they pay and the way they treat their employees, I think it's a miracle that the staff even exerts the minimum effort to do their job.

Forget being "purse detectives".

But to answer the original post's title "what ever happened to cutomer service?"...

Corporate Interests decided to stop paying for it.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Nope, they are on the other side - Camillus, but we were often in DeWitt when my wife and I lived there - we baby-sat the kids of a former DeWitt judge.

Just wanted to throw out props for the Camu... er, Camillus.

Grew up there myself, and I love the Wegmans there, it's better than the Dewitt store.

 

[AuroraGyps]

I miss Wegmans. I wish we had them downstate and in NYC.

Same here. I wish I knew someone that lived near to one and could ship me non-/semi-perishables. Their bakery Choc. Chip PB Cookies, their Triple Fruit Spread, their Cinn. Swirl Bread. My parents are sick of me talking about how much better the stuff at Wegman's is.

 

[Blood Jester]

...But to answer the original post's title "what ever happened to cutomer service?"...

Corporate Interests decided to stop paying for it.

This bears repeating.

Next time you read about how the average CEO's salary is over 500 times the average salary of the employees in their company, think about what that difference means for customer service.

 

[Jdvn1]

My friend Doug work's at home depot, and given what they pay and the way they treat their employees, I think it's a miracle that the staff even exerts the minimum effort to do their job.

Not to mention given how customers treat employees. Just because we're in retail doesn't mean we don't care.

My store happens to have better customer service than most. The majority of the employees care about the job, even if it's just because it means they have a better chance of keeping it.

Recently, a 19-year-old co-worker of mine suffered a minor heart attack. She's okay for now, but she shouldn't be getting heart attacks at her age.

The cause? Stress. From what? All the employees are nice to her. What's been bothering her? She recently had a run-in with a particularly unkind customer, who decided to yell at her for doing her job.

Sometimes, people don't like customer service. Fact is, much of it is somewhat regulated. What employees are expected to do is laid out pretty clearly in catch-all employee handbooks that do a poor job themselves of portraying good customer service. If we don't follow corporate's customer service instructions, we get yelled at and written up--resulting in a lost job if the habit persists.

Here are a couple of examples. I was hired by a large retail chain about a year ago. They hired me for being creative and quick on my feet, being able to present myself well and competently as an individual, and being good with people. The managers liked me a lot and I was praised for doing a good job. I had few if any problems with customers.

After some months, some other place I had applied to called me up--they wanted to hire me. Another large retail chain, but not quite as large. They, however, have what they call a 'Service Journal.' Essentially, they have pamphlets that break down how every customer should be treated--very cookie-cutter. What you should be thinking, how long it should take until a customer is acknowledged, how to approach a customer, what to say, how to say it, how to recommend something (and, of course, to always recommend and comment on something), how to read a customer, how to respond to a customer...

It takes the life out of customer service. The general manager of this second place loved me--I was really nice. The other managers and all of the supervisors couldn't stand me--I didn't follow the customer service procedures. The customers liked me, but that didn't matter.

I still work at the first place. I don't at the second. They eventually stopped putting me on the schedule (it was a lower manager that worked the schedules) or asked me to leave early after working for one hour.

The first place, now, is considering using these Service Journals--it's a growing trend with large retail chains. It's a shame, but I have little to no control over this. The point is that a) customer service varies by company and by location and that 2) sometimes we have no choice about how we approach customer service. We may want to give good service, but company policy restricts us. Stupid, but true.

Working retail isn't always an easy job either. I may be good at what I do, but I've had times when customers weren't happy. I work in a relatively large store, and a large number of people need my help. All too often, I'll be helping a customer find an item in one part of the store--when I get back to the information desk, I'll be encountered by another customer, "Well, I've been looking for someone to help me for fifteen minutes!" As if I was playing games in the back of the store. Why do I have to get the complaints? it's not my fault.

 

[Arnwyn]

All too often, I'll be helping a customer find an item in one part of the store--when I get back to the information desk, I'll be encountered by another customer, "Well, I've been looking for someone to help me for fifteen minutes!" As if I was playing games in the back of the store. Why do I have to get the complaints? it's not my fault.

Just as an aside, those people aren't really complaining at you, they're just complaining to you. It's not you they're frustrated at - it's the store who may (or may not) be inadequately staffing their establishment.

At least, that's what I've seen.