Another bad customer service rant (sorry)

So I'm at the Godiva boutique yesterday, preparing to shell out $100 (or whatever) on chocolates as gifts for people; I walk in, 5 or 6 young men and women, all pretty and under 25, in this small, one-room boutique. One other customer. So they're all chit-chatting with each other, totally ignoring me. Someone has prepared hors d'ouevres/samples which are sitting on a silver tray in the window, right? Does anyone offer me a sample? No. Does anyone chat me up, ask me what I'm looking for? No. Does anyone even make eye contact? No.

Okay, fine. No big deal. I look around, pick up a box of this, box of that, some mini-chocolates for having with espressos, whatever, I'm set. Go to counter, pull out my credit card and a certificate for a substantial discount. The girl doesn't know how to process it, so it takes a minute, she still doesn't get it, she apologizes, goes in back to get her boss and find out what's wrong. That's fine. So I stand there patiently, and one of these guys comes behind the counter, and blurts, "So can I help you with anything?"

:eyes: "No. She's got it." :eyes:

I mean, I realize they don't probably make much, but give me a break - chat me up after I've pulled out my wallet, I'm at the counter with my purchases? Please, don't let me interrupt your banter with your friends over there, and don't offer me any samples - save them for later for you and your friends. :eyes:

(I know, I know - I really need to get laid - LOL)

I find the same thing going on several places I go to. They can't find good help, and they are not willing to pay what it would take to get good help (someone responsible with a decent IQ and educational background).

For the money you were going to shell out, you deserved better.

they'd have better service people, and I'd be back in there at some point, buying more chocolate. Frankly, if that's how impersonal service is, why not just buy online - Harry & David or wherever? Even Godiva has an online boutique.

It's the holidays that are getting to me also. I am just so over this season this year, for some reason. Getting old, maybe. :hi:

And buying online more!

:hi:

You can bet dollars to donuts that I would have taken good care of you.

thanks - :hi:

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

to buy something.

The shit they have sitting in a window is most likely for sale too.
Even if it is on a silver plate.

I guess if they aren't soliciting sales of their boxed chocolates, they aren't going to solicit sales of the samples. :D

:crazy:

an afternoon in the window on a silver plate? Wouldn't they need to be sold or else wasted? As in a restaurant, the strawberries headed for the waste bin probably get eaten by the staff, and they know that's the drill. Ergo, don't call attention to it, and you get an afternoon snack - yum-yum. :D

and the girl behind the counter was typing on a computer. She looked up and said "May I help you?" So I told her what I wanted. She said "Just a minute" and went right back to typing on her computer for another 5 whole minutes! I timed her. Couldn't believe it!!

:mad:

Ok I don't dress like I have big bucks to spend. I'm an old school punk and though I have a decent job now and not a lot of bills I still dress like I did 20 years ago. More or less. Tshirt, cargo pants, camo jacket, etc. Anyway there have been times I've walked into a store ready to drop a grand or more on what I'm after and have been totally blown off by the sales people. Even after talking to them and saying what I'm after they will wander off and ignore me. There's one used book store in town that I won't go into anymore even though they have the best selection because the owner has treated me like a criminal for walking in the door. And that's even though I spent over 100 bucks in there the week before. The shop is next door to the laundrymat I go to so I would go in there every week but she never bothered to make a connection with me and one time she just totally copped an attitude with me. I walked in and was looking at the photography books and she said in a very hateful voice, "What are you doing in here?" I said,"I'm doing my laundry and looking to see if you have anything new." And she said, "Well, OK." At that I said ,"Fuck this." and left and haven't been back. Obviosly she didn't want my money. So Amazon or Barnes and Noble gets it now. Just waiting for the day there's another story in the paper about local merchants whining about people going to the big box stores.

of the time I went to a store in the mall years ago at Christmas time to get my Mom a crystal ice bucket. She fancies herself quite the hostess.

Anyway, the "shop girl", a woman of about 45 to 50, looked me up and down and said, "We don't have plastci ice buckets." Needless to say, Mom still doesn't have one. ;)

:mad: Such experiences make shopping unpleasant, just in general. So when people say "let's go shopping! :) ", I'm like, absolutely not. Why do I want to spoil my day.

:hi:

your clothes freaked her out.

Also, if you still dress "old school punk", do you spike and color your hair rainbow colors? Maybe it was your overall aura that freaked her out.

By the way, what ARE "cargo pants" and a "camo jacket"???

I had the hair to spike and color.

Cargo pants are the generic pants you buy at Kmart or Sears with lots of pockets. Modern version of chinos I guess, I hate blue jeans so I never wear them. And a camo jacket is just a jacket with a camo print on it. I got it for free from a woman that I used to work with. She bought it for husband who didn't like it but I did and it's damn warm so she gave it to me. I hardly look like a badass walking down the street. I look like a 40 year old that refuses to shop at the Men's Warehouse.

In all my badassness. Look at me wrong and I'll fuck you up. :rofl: Hope it shows up.

lady in that bookstore I might ask you what you were doing in my store too... you have that look of some brainwashed/braindead ex-GI in a battle fatigued haze just returning from Iraq and for all she knows that's a mini-bazooka in your right hand and you're suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and just might to bezerk if allowed to look at books that force you to think.

:rofl:

(ducking machine gun fire)

:hide:

:spank:

I swear I don't look like that all the time. Come to think of it I think it was spring the last time I was in her store so I most likely just had a tshirt on (and pants duh). And like I said just a week earlier I had spent around a 100 bucks there. And surely being a couple doors away from the laundrymat she's used to seeing people looking less than their fashionable selves.

My son was all dressed up in clothes that I had bought for his birthday the month before (he’s 18) and I was still wearing work clothes (home health nurse) very casual, but not scrubs. It was my birthday that day and I was footing the bill at a new restaurant with my son as my sweet date. I’m 40 and they kept ignoring me and handed my son back my credit card and the waitress refused to hear my order and kept going through my son like I was a bag lady. Yes he was dressed nice. I know, I bought the clothes he was wearing and they were nicer than mine. Oh my Gawd was I pissed.


edit ooops

like this. I think not.

That lady had no business treating him the way she did.

From your description of your clothes, maybe that bookstore lady thought you were penniless?

Excuse me for my being a bit "out-of-it", but I never was familiar with "punk" fashion or language.

I've had to tell almost a half dozen people that "no I'm not in the military" while wearing that coat.

I'd go to this small retail shop, and the clerk would harrass me, every time. Over and over. Bi. Zarre. I could never figure it out. I finally made a decision that I was going to stop going to that particular place if this clerk was nasty with me one more time, and yep, at check out, she was nasty one last time, so I asked her why she was such a c____ and she kicked me out! :D I HAVE since been back (since it's the only place closeby - sort of a local monopoly) and she doesn't harrass me anymore. :)

He was a rancher, and a fairly well-off one. He went into the dealership in his ranch clothes, overalls, dirty t-shirt, the works. They treated him like crap because of appearances. He went two lots down to the Lincoln dealership, bought him and his wife both new cars (and paid cash), then drove back down to the Cadillac dealership, asked to speak to the manager, told him the story and showed him the new Lincolns.

He'd been a Cadillac person for decades, and he never bought another one after that. Drove Lincolns 'til the day he died :P

They took his keys in what they thought was a "friendly gesture". Ha Ha.

Long story short, the aggressive sales pitch turned him off. He finally had to threaten to call the cops to get his keys back.

Mom drives a Lincoln.

grandfather told them he paid CASH for the two Lincolns. :P

it seems like your grandfather was showing his ass just as much as the salespeople were

i don't think if people go around deliberately being unclean and sloppy that they can reasonably expect to be treated the same as the person who takes the trouble to wear a clean t-shirt

most of the time if people are too weired to change out of a dirty t-shirt before they go out in public they are not prosperous, there's something wrong w. that person, you really can't blame the salesperson for using common sense

since most of the profit in selling cars is actually in selling the financing, i bet the cadillac dealership was just as glad not to have this particular sale, the profit on a new car itself is tiny, you need the loan, the insurance, etc. sales that go along to make any $$$

and being nasty with people who seem "weak". I would have stopped going there, too.

come on that is just rude and disrespectful for grandpa to dress like a dirty old slob and then play "gotcha" with people who are trying to sell expensive cars & presumably give test drives in those cars

there's a big difference between the poster in the chocolate shop, who we can presume was actually clean and decently dressed, and some power-mad old coot who thinks he can disrespectful others by going around in old, dirty clothes because he's rich and they just have to put up with it

Lots of farmers around here and the farmers are usually the ones w/ the most money in my area. Most of our farmers go in and purchase vehicles, equipment, groceries, etc in their work clothes. They don't think about it. They just go to town when they have the chance and don't always change beforehand since they know they have to go back to work when they get home.
It's not necessarily a case of "gotcha". It's running in when they have the time and figuring that all customers will be treated the same, regardless of appearance. All the dealerships in my area know this and no one would think anything different of someone coming in to test drive a vehicle in old work clothes. Most of the local dealerships cater to the old farmers in my area. They know that they tend to stick to the same brands for years on end and are excellent customers.
If someone had treated me like that I'd have gone to another dealership too.

on customer service today. There are people in this world that make an effort to help others whether they are making a decent living or not. There are people that just don't 'get' what it means to work in customer service and the level of 'service' they need to provide.

There was a time you could go to stores, just about any store and people would come out of the woodwork, trying to help--commission or not, high wages or not. For some, it is just instilled in them. For others they are trained well and taught HOW TO SERVICE CUSTOMERS.

I've worked retail sales, telephone customer service, in restaurants as a hostess, server and bartender. I can personally attest to the fact that customer service is lacking these days. It's not just found in stores employing teens and very young adults--I've seen it in many forms from all ages--though it can predominate the age group you spoke of.

With corporations the way they are these days--wanting the most they can get with the least amount of money spent, many have scaled down or done away with 'training programs.' Training used to feature a great deal more emphasis on customer service and how to sell to customers. It seems now, many just teach them how to run the register, stock the shelves, etc. They don't take the time or make any effort to 'teach' people how to service their customers and the customers are the ones suffering for it.

When I last worked retail, the store I worked for wanted floor moves and stock changes made during store hours, yet also wanted everyone to focus on sales, sorry but it's not feasible to have both. The stores that valued customers, usually did major floor moves and stock adjustments AFTER hours or before the store opened so their sales people could focus on customers. To this day, if I walk in a store and everyone is busy with stock and moving things, and no one greets me I don't bother returning to that store. Minor stocking and cleaning is expected, I mean major stuff where it's obvious they are doing a lot of work and are too focused on that to help anyone entering the store.

On the flip side, corporate restaurants want their servers to be so solicitous that it tends to bug the guests. There should be a happy medium, and I believe there is. Few are putting it into practice though. When I see it, those are the stores (and restaurants) that I tend to stick with and offer my business to.

Sorry so long. I get kind of passionate about this, as I used to work in these areas a long time...

:hi:

And I also surmise from experiences like this that places like Godiva must not really care about "street-level" customer service, as they have huge corporate accounts which are their bread and butter, and training "hurts" the bottom line, because, omigosh, it costs money (which used to be known as investing in your human resources).

it's just too much money to actually work on maintaining the customers they have and making new ones.

A few holiday seasons ago, a friend had a story for me everytime I saw him, about the poor service he received from a local store. He complained to management to no avail. Sadly, even the managers within the store are powerless to solve the problem. It's too large scale now. Too many companies are replicating what they see the other companies doing, instead of trying to stand out and be different.

Sad really. Their loss--I did a large amount of my shopping through qvc and on-line this year. The rest was at stores where I received good service.

to make long term customers. Making a sale is easy and I've had numerous jobs teach me how to do that but more emphasis needs to be put on making repeat customers. Some jobs are so focused on making their daily numbers they fail to realize that although you may be able to talk someone into a big purchase today if you aren't sincere with them chances are excellent that they will either return it later and/or resent you and never shop there again. I've gotten lectures from bosses for not trying to move certain items and being too honest but I was always able to shut them up by reminding them how good my numbers were. Most customers will respond and stay loyal to consistently good service but it only takes one bad experience to ruin things. Last week a coworker was raving about a restaurant and suggested I go there but the last time I did I had some bad service. First the waitress brought out everyone's food except for mine. After she disappeared for ten minutes I was able to flag her down on the other side of the restaurant. When I asked about my food she pointed to another customer and said she gave it to him. I then asked for a caesar salad and she came back 15 minutes later with a bowl full of iceberg lettuce and mandarin oranges insisting it was the house caesar. The food may be great there but I'll have a stale donut for diner from the 24 hr place near me with a friendly staff before I go back there again.

a friend of hers who was a shoe salesman of long-time standing at Barney's (back when they were IT as to men's stores); he focused on selling and cultivating relationships with customers who came in looking for shoes; he even had a private list of customers and their phone numbers, and when Barney's was getting a new shipment of hot items, he'd call them to let them know before it became available to the general public.

In the mid-90's, he made over a hundred thousand dollars every year, she told me. I'm sure a lot of that was end-of-year gratuities.

When these clowns from yesterday get passed over for promotion, I hope they are honest enough with themselves to recognize that they need to improve their performance or else they move on.

It's easier to blame things on situations and people outside of themselves, than to do the hard work of actually looking at themselves. Those that were careless with their service of you yesterday sound like the same kind of people I've heard complain that their jobs don't 'pay them enough to do'... fill in the blank.

There's a lot more going on than meets the eye, with the person that cites lack of payment as their motivation for doing a lackluster job. Some people smile and say hello to others, because they want to, not because they are 'getting anything out of it.' Some people hold doors open to others and wish them good day--just because.I could state other examples, but I'm sure you get my point.

The world would be a better place, if more people just tried to be decent human beings and offered others courtesy and kindness when they could on their path. But that's another issue for another day--lol.

Back to the issue at hand, your story doesn't surprise me at all. In this day and age of e-mail, electronic communication and such, it's easy to see how someone actually offering a 'personal touch' would excel at his job. I know I would notice if someone made that sort of effort to remember me. I think many people in this world are starved for such personal attention--and will reward those that provide it. Well, those with the heart to recognize it of course. :hi:

"How to Win Friends and Influence People" - one of the best books I ever read. Short, easy read.

I'm sorry you had to deal with it. I've been in retail for 100,000 years (it sometimes seems) and I've NEVER treated anyone like that. There is, however, a flip side to this coin. Bad customers. I could tell you so many horror stories about people who came into my store and were abusive to me that it would curl your hair. As a customer, if you get treated badly, you can leave the store and never come back. As a retail worker, if someone comes in and is abusive verbally, is demanding or rude, you have no choice but to just take it. If we want to keep our jobs, that is. We're stuck. There is NEVER an excuse to ignore a customer and if you were to come into MY store you'd be very pleased with anyone who helped you.

Obviously, while bad service is more pervasive today, some places do have good customer service - Barnes & Noble is one, IMHO.

sometimes I wonder if these clerks/low-level employees just get accustomed to nasty customers and then expect to be treated like crap, and if a customer isn't nasty, they interpret that as doormatness and take out suppressed hostility on them? (sort of like the abused-wife syndrome - or maybe kicked-dog is a better analogy)

I think in some cases, your theory is probably accurate. Very much like abused wife or kicked dog syndrome, so to speak.

There are employees that do this as a sort of backlash, not necessarily to kind customers, but anyone that makes what they think is an 'unreasonable' request. They suffer so much at the hands of assholes that so much gets clouded and they don't really know what's reasonable or not anymore--it ALL seems excessive.

But there are those that are miserable in their lives, and having this job, this position makes them feel powerful in a strange way. They assert power by attempting to control their customers. You know, like the DMV, state or county employee that seems everything other than helpful. They make you jump through excessive hoops, don't take the time to explain anything to you, just shuffle you along through the chain of command. Not all are like this of course...but some do seem to take some pleasure in treating people the way they've probably felt their entire lives.

Some of the nastiest customers seem to be the people that seem to feel the most powerless in their lives. It's easiest for them to attempt to assert control over the anonymous it seems...

:hi: You survived Christmas! The day after Christmas we had a customer say we were selfish because we were closed Christmas Day & he couldn't get his New York Times.

I wish more floor-salesmen would chat among themselves and leave me the hell alone - UNTIL I initiate contact with them.

I'm always amused at stories like this, LOL. Maybe because I'm a black person and I feel uncomfortable when a salesperson is up my butt because I feel like they're watching me, sometimes.

I also hate the feeling of walking into a place and all the salespeople swooping down... like lizzy says above, it places pressure on me to buy in return for the "good service". I don't mind a "hello, how are you?" but anything more than that and I start to get irritated.

The "greeters" at the Walmart (and now Kmart too) really annoy me. I'm not such an attention hog that I need to be told "Hello" when I'm going to pick up some friggin paper plates, okay?!

Um, I'm in a bad mood this week. :hide:

With a lot of loud, "Look at this!" or tails me aound the store, it's no sale.

and I've been on both sides of this.

Having worked retail, I know how much pressure some stores place on employess to 'sell.' So I tend to cut them some slack if they are a bit 'over zealous.' But that is rare these days, at least from what I've seen in my area. More often than not, no one says ANYTHING when people enter a store--THAT bothers me.

In a weird way, coming from a retail background if NO ONE even says hello and I'm in the store longer than ten minutes, they lost a potential sale from me. Seriously. That bothers me. People being indifferent to my presence in their store annoys me. I don't look at it as one being an 'attention hog' I think of it as courtesy--but again, that's years of working retail and old school retail training talking. I don't care if people don't tell me the day's specials and ask me if I need help...but at least act like you know I'm there.

Also, as one that was raised with the ideal of 'speaking to folks' in your immediate space as a sign of respect and courtesy--it bugs me on that level too.

As a person of color, I feel better that people say hi, can I help you than if they ignore me. For me, ignoring me says you don't think I have any money to spend and am unworthy of your assistance. As support of this perspective, I saw a hidden camera feature on a news magazine show. They wanted to see if in this day and age, if blacks are treated differently from whites in stores. They were, unfortunatly.

I was so pissed to see how many times a black man was ignored and not even offered any help in stores. Sometimes he was in the stores for 30 mins. and no one said a word to him, he had to find them and ask for help. Yet moments later, they sent a white man in who was immediately greeted, welcomed and offered help. When they went back and showed them these tapes, sadly only one store was embarrassed, apologized and made an effort to address the problem.

I understand that feeling, of everyone swooping down as meaning they think you may steal--just offering another way to look at it.

:hi: I can tell you've worked in retail - you're probably quite good at it, too. :)

Sometimes, when I'm feeling particularly nasty, I want to say something like, "You know, it's not like I'm asking anyone to give me a kiss on the ass; I just want some fricking chocolate. What about that don't you people understand?" Of course, I'm the one who stews in the corner, keeps his mouth shut, and takes it. But I'm not a fool, and I won't go back to such places.

I'm going to come back to this topic tomorrow. :)

Quote:
"You know, it's not like I'm asking anyone to give me a kiss on the ass; I just want some fricking chocolate.

:rofl:

You're very sweet--I did ok. When I was an assistant store manager, my manager always called me to handle the customers that got on her nerves. LOL! She said I knew how to talk to people better than she did. I didn't like doing it either, but it kind of cracked me up that she thought I was good at it. I have very little patience for ignorance, but I can understand when anyone just wants to be treated like someone gives a shit.

When I was hostessing and waitressing in Chicago (not a fun place to do so...lol) people would say that to me, that I was good with people which I always thought was funny, as I didn't see myself this way.

I see SO many complaints and concerns from people about customer service in general. There's got to be a change, as a lot of people are feeling slighted and frustrated by what's out there now.

What good does it do to employ 'secret shoppers' if people don't care about the basic tenets of service? Yes, let's spy on our employees and write them up for not doing what we tell them to, then not train them or help them to do their job better...

:wtf: That's just dumb.

I wasn't implying anyone was an attention hog. :)

I definitely see your point, and I'm sure I'm in the minority on it (LOL, in a lot of ways!).

I see what you're saying as far as acknowledging someone and inviting someone to be a customer, and I can see where that is important from the perspective of the retailer. I do imagine many people, if not most, like to be smiled at, asked if they can be helped...I would concede it's a courtesy, as you said. I do see what you're saying all around.

But maybe I'm jaded for whatever reason? I don't expect respect or courtesy from sales staff, I'm just in there to get my stuff, and they're there to take the money. Maybe I need to go to better stores. :shrug:

Thanks for another perspective!

I'm working for a customer who wants me to FedEx things back and forth, but it's on their account, so I'm fine with that--except for having to deal with the Kinko's employees at the outlet that's handiest for me.

Okay, there are maybe five people behind the counter when I come in. One is waiting on customers in the "order and pick up copies" line. No problem. Another is running a machine. No problem. Three others are in a huddle in the middle of the workspace, and it looks as if they're having a meeting. Okay...maybe they just don't see me. The meeting breaks up. Maybe now I'll get to send my package. Nope. One employee goes into the back office and does, as far as I can see, nothing but stare into space. Another starts copying at a machine. Another walks right past me to take reams of paper off a stock shelf and install them on various machines. I stand there LITERALLY for ten minutes. I can't call on the guy in the copy line, because he's dealing with ten people who want their Christmas letters. The woman in the office is too far away to hear my voice, as are the two employees at the machines, although they occasionally glance in my direction.

Finally, I say "EXCUSE ME" real loudly to the guy who's stocking paper. He looks at me as if he's just woken up. As he processes my package (which takes all of thirty seconds), I mention how long I've been standing at the counter. He just shrugs. I add that if the customer hadn't specified FedEx, I would have taken the package to the post office. He just give me this annoyed glance that says, "Chill, Lady. Can't you see we're busy here?" No apology.

AAAARRRRGGGGH! I hate going to Kinko's.

Maybe I love going to Japan so much because they still know about customer service over there.

so much so that Dave Chappelle spoofed them on his show, calling them Pop Copy. I laughed my ass off when I saw that sketch, as I've seen exactly the kinds of things he spoke of in it. Sometimes exactly what he said, sometimes to a lesser degree but still enough to recognize EXACTLY who he was referring to. They suck!

I'm very grateful that the one near me has improved considerably. I had stopped going there altogether it was so bad. There were too many other places I could go that treated me with respect and actually HELPED me when I went in, novel concept, huh? LOL! Anyway, when I returned to Kinko's on a day I couldn't go to one of the other places it was SO different.

Maybe enough people complained, or their business was hurt by competitors offering what they do, witout the shitty attitude. LOL!

hard! :D I guess because I can totally see it happening, it's happened to me so many times! :)

They're not planning on using this particular job assignment on their resume :rofl: