Bad Customer Service

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Squid

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Hi everyone!!

Have you ever gone into a shop for something simple and come out feeling really bad because the store staff treated you like crap??

This thread is pretty much for people to give examples of bad customer services!
I know customers are idiots sometimes but the Staff can also get out of line!!

My example is one from my friends mum!

She went into spotlight and they just had one staff member working there, this lady in front was being served and having some fabric cut up and when she had paid the shopkeeper said: "is there anything else?"
and the lady went on a whole new shopping spree, leaving everyone in line waiting for almost 20 mins.
Finally my friends mum says to the keeper "I'm sorry but we have been waiting here for a while now, can you please help us too?"
The Shopkeeper then told her to butt out (in a nastier way apparently)
Friends mum then got really upset and said that she was going to talk to the keepers manager about this which the keeper replied "Go a Head and do it!!" like a threat!

I thought this was really rude and disgusting, since when can a staff member talk to a customer like that??

She did report the girl to the manager who gave her the money back for the voucher she had and will talk to that girl.

anyway, share your stories? :D
 
I used to work in retail, and can understand why the girl would be at the end of her tether tbh, shes got one customer that wont fuck off, a line forming and other folk getting impatient wanting dealt with, its no wonder she flipped... it's unprofessional, but we are all human and I fucking hate retail

I can't really think of any instances off the top of my head personally mind, you get the folk that are just downright miserable cunts, it doesnt cost much to smile, but you have no idea what kind of day that person may have had

OH WAIT

I had a door to door salesman, and Im usually pretty polite and tell them no ta, but this one guy just wouldnt go away and I ended up just closing the door in his face, i felt really rude but he was badgering the shite out of me and I just lost my temper. I do feel sorry for them though, i ts the folk up top and their unreasonable working conditions, expecting X amount of sales. Piss take. And expecting 2 members of staff can effectively keep a store ticking over (fucking been there before, some right cunt customers as well grr)

Admitedly, some people are just twats, and have no excuse
 
Yeah I agree, I can understand why people get mad when working in retail but I think the girl in my example could have said something like this first "I'm sorry you've been waiting, I'll just help this customer out as fast as I can and be with you in a second" or something a little politer than what she said.
 
I think the entirety of retail ends up being a big mess in a lot of ways, because it's reliant upon cooperation between the consumer and the worker, and the only person who gets to just sit back and enjoy things is the CEO for the company :jtc: It's a nasty cycle of customers forgetting that they're interacting with other live humans in the store, and the clerks getting frustrated by that and not wanting to provide good customer service, which then leads the next person in line to just think that the clerk is cranky, and so on and so forth.

I've spent nine years now in customer service though, and there are enough precautions in place by the company that if you're not polite, you will get screwed, so it's really just in your best interest to be unconditionally nice if you're a cashier. Customers who plow over everything in their path with grievances will eventually get theirs, because one day there will be something significant they want (bank loan etc.) and won't be able to get it if they are unpleasant/have unreasonable demands. You can't be an unpleasant repeat customer either because the store employees will band together to make your life miserable :wacky:
 
Ugh I've had my fair share of bad customer service.

I often give the staff and such a break if they are in a bit of a mood or whatever because I've always worked in retail (not so much anymore because I'm always out in the back office) and know how shit it is.

To the OP, I can understand that the cashier might have been a bit edgy considering her position but I agree, she should have at least put on a smile and assured your friends mum that she would be with her as soon as she could and not be such a bitch about it all.

Really though, the cashier should have continued serving other customers while that other one was off doing more shopping. Why didn't she continue serving other customers may I ask?

Did the customer keep going off and bringing back more stuff for her to scan so it was impossible to put through any of the other customers sales, or was she just waiting for the other customer to get back to the register?

She should have told the customer that she would continue to serve other customers until she was finished shopping to save everyone waiting.

Anyway, it was just today that I got really annoyed. I was at the Sushi stand waiting to buy some lunch and the two girls were making Sushi in the back of the stand and not once did they turn around to check that they may have a potential customer waiting to be served. I had to go all the way around the other side to ask for service and they looked at me like I was interrupting them and how dare I do such a thing.

Um, hello, the whole reason you're making that sushi right now is so people like me can eat it! :rage:

I do hate the way customers treat staff though. They treat you like you're not a person at all. =/

And I can't stand it when the big boss only puts on minimal staff to cut costs. Such wankers. They don't have to work in that atmosphere so of course they don't understand what it's like. They really should be doubling the staff members wage, as they end up doing the work of two people in the end due to all the pressure to complete all tasks that really can only be accomplished with the help of another staff member. :rage:
 
the woman who kept asking for more stuff kept saying "Oh I want <insert item> can you show me where it is?" then she'd get it and say "actually while I am here I would also like <insert item> and it apprently just went on for ages and she was asking Questions and stuff, its great that the cashie wanted to help her but omg... she could have done it after serving the others.

my other friend who works in a restaurant told me about a customer who had a tantrum because they hated their meal, when everyone else who ordered the same meal liked it, and when the other people they were with left, the tantrum woman was eating all their left overs... lol so the food was that bad was it??
 
Ugh I hate customer service bullshit sometimes!

At the end of the day the woman is being paid to do her job, and you're paying money to get stuff from the company she works for etc, bad day or no, she has no excuse to talk to people like that, I hope they fired her ass :mokken:

I mean, customers can be arseholes yeah, I work in McDonald's and get it all the time, I just get it all out of the way, be polite, and have a whinge about it afterwards. We all have bad days in the end when it comes to work.
 
What annoys me most is that customers have no consideration of any other customer in the store.

They think that it's all just about them and fucking take FOREVER holding up staff while other customers need help.

Telling you their life story etc and it's hard for staff to tell them that they have to go and serve other customers without being rude.

Customers need to get a fucking brain and realise that they aren't special, and that no staff member actually cares about what they did on the weekend. They just need to go in get what they want and get out.

The customer in question should have realised the hold up she was creating and let the staff member get them out of the way first. :rage:
 
I've been working part-time retail jobs for the last six years. I no longer blame those who deliver poor customer service experiences. After all, I'm the kind of guy who probably gets bitched about a lot due to my lack of caring for the customer. Though, in my defense, I'm only an ass to customers who deserve it. I won't treat a pleasant, well-mannered customer like garbage.

Anywho! Here's a quick example of a time when I was on the receiving end of poor customer service.

Location: McDonalds
Time: 7:00 PM
Scenario: My girlfriend and I enter the restaurant to order something quick to eat. I approach the gentlemen at the counter.

Me: "Hi there."

Employee: "..."

Me: "..."

Employee: "..."

Me: "Oookay, could I have a large number one value meal, a large number eight value meal, and a six piece order of nuggets, please?"

Employee: *taps on buttons*

Me: "Uh...thanks."

Employee: *hands over bags of food*

Me: "Thank you! Have yourself a nice day."

So yeah...not a very personable guy. What a dick.
 
Well I have been in the retail buisness for.... i wanna say 5-6 years... and i've been slowly moving up the ladder by being nice to customers.... But I have had some rude customers and some rude employees to deal with...

Heres one story of a rude Employee since this is what the topic is really about...

It was around Christmas time (perfect time huh?) a couple years ago. Well this customer who was a cripple could barely walk asked a employee for asistance at getting a product off the very top shelf.

Now the employee not only said no... but told this lady to stop being so lazy and grab it herself... Now I understand retail is busy around Christmas time...but that had to be by far the worst thing I ever saw.... I went over there helped the lady appologized for the rude customer service, gave her a $5 off her next visit card... and had reported the employee who yells at me calling me a liar.... after we looked up the camera.... What an Idiot....
 
You know, we're not all robots. There's a difference between someone having an attitude problem (ie turning to someone in a shop and going "yeah???" and inadvertedly sighing before turning to someone in a shop and going "how can I help you?")
To the above poster- yes that employee was rude.

There is something I really object to, and this has happened numerous times.

I am walking through the supermarket I work in, someone approaches me
"Could you get something from the top shelf for me please?" *pointing to item*
Personally I can't reach said item being only 5'2"
"I'm sorry, I can't reach that right this minute, would you mind if I found a kickstep or a taller member of staff?"
Dirty looks etc
"Just climb the bloody shelves, you work here" or words to that effect

Yeah? Can't make myself taller, and can't climb those shelves without being disciplined...

Although I have seen colleagues saying things I'd have never dreamed of saying ie "get it yourself"; "it's behind you, don't you have eyes???"; and one in particular when a customer was buying large tampons..."I see you have a heavy flow...I hope these do the job"
 
Oh God, that really sounds rude. :hmph:

I've had situations like that where I work and I've had to wait for a customer to get a few more things while holding the other people up. Now normally, I can't do anything. But I go out of my way to apologise to the others waiting. Luckily, they usually don't have a problem with it and I'm lucky to have good customers.

I know how it is on both sides. Having been in retail myself for the past four and a half years now, you can have really rude customers and really rude employees. A woman got sacked at our workplace for being rude. We take customer service really seriously because we want people to come back after all.

But then I've had to endure some really pathetic people as a customer. It's usually in the cheaper shops and I'm fed up of it. I usually just ignore it, but my patience has run thin recently and I even complained about someone in McDonald's recently because they were being rude and giving me dirty looks. I don't usually go to that length, but they reeeally annoyed me.
 
haha yeah, I agree, customers are much, much, much ruder than the employees. But I think if you get paid to serve people then you should at least do it with a smile and at least look like you want to help? And not all customers are bad...just most :)

I can only do my grocery shopping after work on friday nights, so my BF and I are usually the last ones out of the store with a full trolley (I can't help it, I have no time ;3; I feel bad about it) anyway, the checkout girl, she was all cheerful and stuff which was nice, but then started rambling about how she HATED People who came in the shop late, I didn't know what to say... I was in the shop late... was she trying to hint something to me??
I felt really awkward and I thought if you're going to say something like that... say it to other employees.. not the customers who are there late!
 
Well I do work in costomer service and in some defence people are just ignorant and rude and expect you to treat them like kings and queens...i was once asking someone in a store where an item was located and some lady started whistling,like the person I was talking to was a dog or something....That literaly amazed me for the indignity of how people treat others..

Yet on the flip side ...
My mother and I where shoping yeasterday for an opal ring the two employees at the shop where to bussy talking to each other to notice us so my mother proceded to call out to them....4 times
After the fifth try in my own anoyence of them ignoring us I go behind the counter where they where gabbing and say "Excuse me my mother would like to buy a ring over there."
Employee " Oh realy?"
ugh I couldnt believe it not thet it was horrible but realy...Dont you want to make a sale?

I also had a stupid encounter at a store wich was almost funny
I was trying to find a scale to weigh myself so I go in a local Walfart since I figured one would be there and cheap to buy.
Cant find one. So I see an employee and ask "Where would the scales be?"
Employee "What type of scale? we dont have ones thet you can use''
Me " Just an average scale to weigh myself that type"
Emploee " You cant use any of them. They cant be taken out of the box for you to stand on."
Me "okay...Where are they?"
Employee " You cant just stand on them, you know you cant just use them."
Me "Yes I know I want to BUY one where are they located?'
Employee "Oh down that isle."


I also could rant how people seem to think going somewhere five minuts befor they close is fine. Do we not realize your five minuts sets back people from going home by a half hour?
I work at places where people seem to think going in last minut is fine....Yes im in costomer servise but your obliviousness to a closing time inflics me going home later ,thank you for not looking at a clock just because your watch is slow dosent mean the company clock is to.
A closing time is closing time not an honerable mention , after 6 you might want to consider going home 6o'clock is the time you should be out befor not after thank you~
 
o0PinkSquid0o said:
I can only do my grocery shopping after work on friday nights, so my BF and I are usually the last ones out of the store with a full trolley (I can't help it, I have no time ;3; I feel bad about it) anyway, the checkout girl, she was all cheerful and stuff which was nice, but then started rambling about how she HATED People who came in the shop late, I didn't know what to say... I was in the shop late... was she trying to hint something to me??
I felt really awkward and I thought if you're going to say something like that... say it to other employees.. not the customers who are there late!
Click to expand...

Yah Steve and I go out late night shopping too because we both get off work late.

We usually get to the store half an hour before it closes and I'm always rushing Steve because he takes too long thinking we have all the time in the world.

I hate it when people come to our store as we are pulling down the doors to close though.

They're like, 'I only want one thing.'

'Sorry we're closed. All the tills have been taken out.'

'But I only want to grab something quickly.'

'We are closed. We can not process anymore sales.'

Like wtf? Customers do not think about anything that goes on after we close the store. There is a lot involved. The system has been shut down ready to start up for the next day. The tills need to be counted back to the $300 float that is in there every day to start off a new day.

AND PEOPLE WANT TO GO HOME!!! We have been here all day as it is and we would like to go home, have a shower eat dinner and relax! :rage:
 
Kandy-Sugar said:
I hate it when people come to our store as we are pulling down the doors to close though.

They're like, 'I only want one thing.'

'Sorry we're closed. All the tills have been taken out.'

'But I only want to grab something quickly.'

'We are closed. We can not process anymore sales.'

Like wtf? Customers do not think about anything that goes on after we close the store. There is a lot involved. The system has been shut down ready to start up for the next day. The tills need to be counted back to the $300 float that is in there every day to start off a new day.

AND PEOPLE WANT TO GO HOME!!! We have been here all day as it is and we would like to go home, have a shower eat dinner and relax! :rage:
Click to expand...

yeah I agree, if the roller shutters are down or halfway down then no, no you cannot come in and get one more thing!! They don't understand and feel that they get special treatment or something?

My sister works in the national pharmacy and they put the roller shutters halfway down before leaving to show they're closing and customers still crouch under it and browse for things :S
 
I worked in retail myself in the past for two years, and it really wasn't my cup of tea. I was always polite, but even that isn't enough when it comes to the more vocal customers who just want to cause trouble for the sake of it.

Thankfully, I've never really had much trouble with employees when out shopping - at worst, I've been stared at by a cashier who was seemingly in a foul mood and ready to snap at whoever pushed her over the edge. To be fair though, this did happen during the Xmas period and the store was insanely busy at the time.
 
Bad Customer Service, eh?

Well i'm not sure if i've already said this before, but How about when you have to call up your phone company (Telstra, Optus ect.) and you get put on hold for 2 hours, only to be transfered to another department, then put on hold for another hour, only to be transfered again.

THAT is bad service.
 
Omggg I HATE phone companies!!! I used to be with vodafone and they'd put me on hold for ages and there was no way of getting through to the big guys without going through the shitty helpdesk first!!
 
telstra's like that. they also spin you around till you end up getting too pissec off to care anymore and hang up. They also overcharge you without notice.
 
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