Easy Target For Poor Customer Service

Post Reply New Topic

Ok its rant time....

It seems like every business i patronize lately has no sense of customer service. Let me start by saying i have worked nothing but retail jobs since i graduated high school since 2005. These jobs have drilled customer service so far into my brain that I have to stop myself from offering assistance to other shoppers in stores.

Im sure everyone is aware of the phrase "the customer is always right". I hope the guy who invented it died of cholera.

Here are a few examples of the service i have recieved that would have gotten me fired if I were the one giving service:

Walmart: Back when portable CD players were popular, I found one on a rack marked $9.99. The entire display was the same model, it scanned for $29.99 at the register. I pointed out that it was marked for $9.99. The cashier told me "well the sign is wrong you can either take it or leave it" I chose to leave it.

Walmart (Again): I was in search of an air conditioner. I went to the service desk on my way in, to ask if there were any units left. It had been a hot spell so I wasnt sure what their stock level would be. I also dislike shopping, my goal is to be in and out in as fast as is humanly possible. The desk clerk said only "check hardware". Off to the hardware department I went. I asked the clerk at the HW desk if they had any air conditioners left, he pointed in a general direction and said "over there or something". I walked that store for 20 minutes and found one in sporting goods of all places.

Wendy's: I was at the drive through placing an order for the "W" burger with no lettuce or tomato and a medium fry. I was interrupted halfway through my order asking me if i wanted to upsize. I said no and repeated my order. When I got to the window I was handed a frosty. I told the person i did not order that, she said "yeah you did" I told her that i had been interrupted when placing my order and that i had ordered only the sandwich and fries. she said "ok" and handed my my bag. I was in a hurry to get back to work so i did not check my order. When i got back to work i found that the burger was a different sandwich entirely and had the lettuce and tomato that i specificaly didnt want. When I called the manager he just made excuses like "we were busy".

I should add that regardless of fast food restaurant, my order is made incorrectly probably 60% of the time, that seems just a little excessive.

Best Buy: I was there to buy a new car stereo and the mounting kit. I asked how difficult and what special parts and tools i might need. I was told it was as simple as unplugging the old unit and plugging in the new one. The only tool i would need was a screwdriver. When I got to installing it I found that 24 separate wires would need to be stripped spliced and soldered. Since i did not have the know how to do that I boxed it all up and returned it. I explained it to the returns clerk who never offered any kind of apology.

Dunkin Donuts: On three separate occasions my order was "forgotten about". I only spoke up after four customers who were behind me recieved their orders first. This particular situation takes the cake: I ordered a Tropicana Coolatta (orange juice slush, to those unfamiliar with DD) and two donuts. I recieved the donuts and was told the coolatta would be up at the pickup counter. After several minutes, someone came and asked what i was waiting for since there were no orders on screen. I told her i was waiting on the coolatta, informed me that they were out. I asked for my money back and was told that they dont do refunds. I politely explained that this was in no way my fault and if they didnt have a product they should not be selling it. She told me again that they dont do refunds and i should call corporate. I wrote them a letter as i feel such business is better conducted in writing. I never got a response.

Car Repair Shop: I should start by saying I work at this shop, we pay for any and all work we have done to our personal vehicles. I need to have my fuel system looked at as i have been having hard starting issues. I make my appointment and have an estimate drawn up. Throughout the day we have people calling asking if we can fit them in for this service or that service, to which the service manager says "bring it in" each time. Around 3 oclock, a full two hours before the technicians leave, the service manager says to me "well, we wont be able to look at your car today"..... I kept my mouth shut but I really felt like saying "really? I had an appointment. You literally let a dozen people cut in front of me! What would you say if i went and cut in front of a dozen other customers?"

***
So does anyone else find that they are a magnet for poor customer service? I do not believe I am hard to please. I make it a point to be polite to retail employees no matter what, i understand being in their position. It just seems like i am easy to walk on, and even when i do complain, i get little more than a shrug and told "dunno waht to tell ya".

I just feel like people demand my undivided attention and top notch service from me, but when I humbly ask for even mediocre service in return I am rebuffed.

I have plenty more bad experiences to list, but this is the general idea.

Yes it happens to me all of the time-I am forever getting food orders screwed up on me-Wendy's also I order the same thing every week and speak it in English and my order gets screwed up in some way-I went to a movie theater when I was away from home for my work and it was a Star Trek DVD release special event-I am 100 miles from home and nothing to do so I order my ticket online as suggested and the website frustrates me and I get there-no place to sit and I was told by an usher if I couldn't find a seat I would have to leave so I had to leave and went and sat alone in a mall parking lot-I have been forgotten about by people too and treated like I wasnnn't even there and when I question the customer service person they try and blame me for the poor service-I know what I said and what I asked and they did not hear it and then blame me.

ive worked in retail for over 10 years, and i am truely shocked by your experiences!! i actually felt a little embarrassed until i reminded myself that i am nothing like the people you have been let down by.
i seldom go shopping in the real world, so its hard to say whats going on. if i can get it on the internet, i get it on the internet.apart from normal food shopping. but my girlfriend drags me out the house for that
i hope your experiences get better.
my only advice is, contact the head office of all the companies that do it reguarly, and if they dont respond after 2 letters, rrport them to a relevent authority.
here in the uk, we have a TV program called watchdog. they actually research and if necessary, shame companies that have poor conduct. you should see if there is any on YouTube. some of it is quite funny.

I'm worked in retail before; 10months & at IHOP, 25months at WalMart & 3 months at regional sporting goods store. Some of the people I've known worked in other customer service places before I knew them. Based on my experiences with the areas I worked, from the people I've talked to about other places & from places I've been a customer at; my opinion is that major chains generally do not care much about customer service. The WalMart I worked at didn't care at all & customers the customers were surprised when I assisted them because I was one of the few employees who actually went out of my way to assist, the sporting goods store I worked at cared a lot about customer service & management liked that about me, I only washed dishes at IHOP but I got the impression that some mangers cared & some didn't/it was iffy. major chains have the famous name to attract customers & they are usually alot more focused on their profits than their customers. They'll have a skeleton crew working there so they have fewer employees on their payroll; for example WalMart has more self-checkouts than cashiers.

Where I live in SC USA, most of the customers that work in fast food restaurants and retail stores are unfortunately inner city people type. You know what kind of people im talking about. The service is constantly bad when ever I got fast food restaraunts, long lines, long waits, and messed up orders.. I've shown dis-appreciation many times. What makes me even more mad is that a lot of these places have plaques on the wall awarding excellent service. Makes me want to take one off the wall and throw at them.

I use amazon. their customer service is great. if i get something and it breaks within 30 days they replace it or refund it, i dont even need to call the manufacturer. since im a prime member that extension goes to whatever the mfr warranty is, so if its a lifetime warranty i call amazon, they deal with it all.

if i get something and i so much as dont like the way it works, like i got a toaster from there and i really didnt like the way the knob layout was on our countertop no matter which way it was positoned, the switches seemed too mushy. i like a toaster that has a nice click when you press the switches, so you know you triggered it. i called, explained, and bam a guy in the brown UPS uniform was here to pick it up the next day.

I got a shaver on amazon, a week later the battery stopped holding a charge, they gave me another shaver free. and let me keep the one that only works on the AC adapter... i since then took it to batteries+ and had them switch out the battery for 10 bucks. so now i have two 100 dollar shavers... and i paid 10 dollars for the second one... buy one get one 90% off?

if you gotta shop use Amazon.

Mind you i have had a few sub-standard service calls with them, like one time they botched up a shipping estimate and i called and the woman said oh it will arrive there on friday just as the computer says.. friday it didnt come. i called and they said not ther problem. i called again and i said escalate me to a supervisor, bam, they sent it out SDR-NDA (Saturday Residential Next Day Air) in the mid afternoon of friday, i had my packages on Saturday.

So as far as CS nightmares with Amazon, nope. none. CS headaches, yeah a few small ones but quickly fixed by a supervisor.

now lets get off the puter and go into brick and mortar.

Walgreens here: Wonderful pharmacists and manager... stupid staff. I asked a staff member, specifically a shelf stocker, of all people someone who should know the layout of the store as it changes over time where the magazines were moved i got a 'i unno' I said I've only seen you working here for the last 3 years what do you mean i dont know! then suddenly they say follow me and take me to the front cashier, cashier gestures to aisle 8 which has only one listing 'newspapers and print publications' well that guy sure didnt take good english in his high school classes

Target here: ok as far as service, dumb cashiers dont look on the box for Manufacturer coupons... save 3 bucks off this toaster, "CASHIER: Remove coupon and scan then deposit into check drawer" When it says CASHIER in big print you think the CASHIER would actually see CASHIER and read it... instead of IGNORING IT and then i go outside and look at the receipt turn around walk back in to the service desk and plop the toaster on the counter, and say notice something wrong with this box? namely a CASHIER coupon that wasn't applied. the store service personnel are great, quickly adjusted my credit card and end of that... lesson here, do the cashiers job, just cause it says CASHIER, even if you put it on the conveyor with the big lettering facing them right in the eyes FAIL!

Walmart, and this is why i dont shop there EVER: Customer Service people are bad like Walgreens and Cashiers are even worse, some are so bad at operating the register in credit card mode because so many people run cash or checks through walmart that you might even see a DOUBLE CHARGE on your card, you know what that means. CC Company Dispute & Charge Back especially with the fact the store manager is a dips--t

Not all brick and mortar is bad, lets go to the local dollar tree, its owned by a family.

great customer service, shelf stockers know everything in the store and if not can step right behind the register and type in the name of the item and it tells them exactly what shelf and bin number its in. i like to 'binshop' the dollar store. that is i write the aisle and bin number of what i want on my list that way i just run through the store in less than 2 minutes to get maybe 20 dollars of stuff! the same thing is done at target using the DPCI codes.

_________________
check out my website at {redacted by admin - domain taken over and points to a porn site}

When in doubt, ask an autistic. Chances are, they're obsessed with what you need to know.

Autism Speaks will NEVER speak for me

CLASSIC AUTISM

Ive got two more instances of bad customer service that happened just today:

Ive been on the fence about trading in my car, its got 218,000 miles and has a few issues, in fact this afternoon my water pump gave out and left me stranded at a Wendy's next to a shady Greyhound station.

-Car Lot: I arrived a little after 9, when they opened. There were no other customers there. Every other lot ive been to, the salesmen were on me like white on rice in a glass of milk on a paper plate in a snowstorm. I walked around this lot for 20 minutes, saw a couple cars i was interested in, but no salesman to be found. I cant help but wonder... on the other days i was looking, i was dressed up because i was on my way to work, today is my day off so i was dressed in cutoffs and a ratty t-shirt. Were they pre-judging me? If they were, they lost a good sale without even realizing it.

-Insurance Company: I have full roadside coverage on my policy. Is actually my mother's policy but my car is covered and I am the second named insured. I called up to request service and was told that the roadside service had expired in April and if i wanted to pay out of pocket i was more than welcome to. I told the rep i would call back. I called my mother to ask her, she said we are both indeed covered. She called, got the same rep and lo and behold, 15 minutes later the tow truck showed up, not a dime out of my or my mothers pocket.

I have told by the Missus that I can no longer complain in her presence.
But I'm on the phone 8 hours a day troubleshooting the computer network of retail stores. I have to be courteous, and polite even if the person on the phone doesn't know how to move a computer mouse!!
Bad customer service makes me angry. I don't feel like I'm a target for it, though. In some ways it makes me sad that so many people just don't give a damn about doing their job correctly.