decline in customer service?

[Alicnwondrln]

Do you feel there is a decline in customer service?
or shall I say a decline in the "magic"

 

[slo]

Are you speaking about WDW or in general???

 

[C.Ann]

In my "general" dealings - definitely..

Haven't been to WDW in awhile though so I can't speak to that part of the issue..

 

[faithinkarma]

I only moved here recently. From an area that gave up on customer service decades ago. The norm was rude abrasive unhelpful staff. The horror stories I could share ! Let me tell you, years of living with that wears you right into the ground. It really does. When every purchase involves dealing with the attitude of "dont like me? tough! There really was no use in "going elsewhere", it was all the same.

A few years ago, someone got the idea to start offereing customer service. Like it was a brand new concept. From what I saw when I was about to leave, things were improving.

Now that I live here, I am constantly blown away by the service you get. The politeness, the helpfulness, the common every day courtesies displayed towards customers.

Now, I am not saying they are not deteriorating, but man, you have to live without them for a while to realize how good it is here.

 

[Randi]

Absolutely! One example is the closing at lunch time. My doctor's office called me today to tell me that a letter he had prepared for me was ready to pick up. I said I would drop by during my lunch time. she said that they closed for lunch from 12 to 2. Huh? 6 ladies on the desks and they all go to lunch at the same time? I mentioned this to a co-worker and she said that her pharmacy prescription was doing the same thing now, closing from 12 to 1. And there are 2 pharmacists on duty.
Whatever happened to staggered lunch & break times so someone is always available to help paying customers?

 

[mommytotwo]

I agree. I have been trying to make reservations and finding out information so have called many different companies. Out of all my calls, there has been only two people that were really helpful and who didn't seem like they were in a rush to help another customer.

 

[bubbleprincessmom]

Oh man! Have you hit a sore spot. As I was reading this I was on hold waiting for the bank manager to rip into him about a converstation that I had just had with a worker. The conversation went like this...yes I need to transfer some money from my personal account into my new biz account....do you have a transfer agreement? Whats that? You know.....a transfer agreement?

HELLO!!! If I KNEW what that was I WOULDN'T have asked the question!!!!!!!! I was so ticked at being spoken to like that (and you all know the tone she used I'm sure) by someone who sounds like their 12!!!!! I may very well be looking for a new bank come Monday.

VENT OVER!!!!

 

[Nancy]

I am having some serious issues with customer service lately. One deals with a 3 month old computer that no longer works and the fact that the company doesn't seem to think this is a big problem. Send it back and we'll look at it...this could take 9-10 business days. The cd rom drive hasn't worked right since day 1 and now the whole system is corrupt. They sent a recovery disc...but for a different brand of computer...called again they sent the correct one...that doesn't work. No one can do anything for us. I now told them I want my money refunded and I'll go buy a different manufacturer. They will call be back within 48 hours to talk to me some more.
Second issue...bought a new cell phone yesterday, a Nokia Tracfone. I already have one that I like so bought a second one for DH. Try to activate and I'm told the phone is defective and return it and get a new one. The guy on the phone actually said to me "It's no big deal, just take it back"

I'm amazed that companies don't think it's a problem that they sell defective products...I have to spend my time (which is valuable to me) to take care of problems that shouldn't be happening.

Now if you would all shop at my store we pride ourselves on our Customer Service. Our policy is this "At Wegmans, customer service is our #1 priority. Every action we take should be made with our customers in mind. (few more paragraphs) We pledge to our people and our customers continuous improvements and make the commitment that Everyday You Get Our Best"

This is what we do every day 24/7.

 

[minniecarousel]

How about, when you call customer service, and you get some guy in India! We have lost tons of jobs in the San Francisco/San Jose Bay Area to companies "out-sourcing" their customer service jobs overseas. Not only are the accents difficult to understand, it irritates me that the jobs have been taken away from here.

 

[TinkBoo&ElliesMum]

Originally posted by Randi
Absolutely! One example is the closing at lunch time. My doctor's office called me today to tell me that a letter he had prepared for me was ready to pick up. I said I would drop by during my lunch time. she said that they closed for lunch from 12 to 2. Huh? 6 ladies on the desks and they all go to lunch at the same time? I mentioned this to a co-worker and she said that her pharmacy prescription was doing the same thing now, closing from 12 to 1. And there are 2 pharmacists on duty.
Whatever happened to staggered lunch & break times so someone is always available to help paying customers?

This is really common. I worked medical front desk/billing for years and we would close at 12 and re-open at 1:30. The phones were off, the doors however were unlocked and there was always someone in the office if someone needed to stop by.

In our case it was difficult to stagger lunches because everyone came in at the same time and everyone left at the same time and how can you tell one employee that they have to wait an extra hour to eat because it's someone elses turn to go. Not to mention the fact that if they're really busy it's easier to have everyone on hand.

 

[JayCT]

First of all, this doctor office thing is really annoying. What do you mean "how can you tell one employee that they have to wait an extra hour to eat"? It is easy. YOU ASK FOR VOLUNTEERS. IF nobody volunteers, you alternate or select someone. Doctors offices forget that they offer a service and most of their customers are working people who have little time to diddle around waiting for the office to open and close at the staffs will. Our peditricians's office does the same thing. They do not open until 8:30. They close from 12 to 2. Reopen til 5. They accept no walk-ins (which is a pain when you pick up your child from school or daycare and they are sick, but you have to go home and call first). Their phone-in system, where you leave messages and they call you back is aweful (I now just press the button for emergencies because I refuse to leave a message and wait hours for a return call). I never recommend our doctor to other people because of this. I mentioned my concerns to the doctor but she doesn't care. She has plenty of patients. They call it "Health Care", but where is the "care"?

I also must say that I was surprised at the service I received at several stores I went to in New York City recently. Here in the suburbs, you have to look long and hard for any knowledgeable and/or attentive staff in the department and clothing stores. I was NYC on business last summer (the day of the great blackout, but that is another looong adventure-story) and stopped by Macy's. The large staff was unbelieveably helpful and knowledgeable in picking out ties that would go with my blue shirt. I was impressed. Too bad the suburban stores don't do that. You have to go on a hunt to find someone just to run the cash register to pay for an item you already picked out. A few months later we were in NYC for the weekend to see a show and again found the service and knowledge at a mens shop to be wonderful. They even offered to ship our items home for us. I must say I spent a lot more money that day than I expected to because of the service. Too bad there aren't more stores like that around here. Jay

 

[goofy4tink]

How appropriate is this thread for me. I went to Sears one week ago today to get a decent patio set. My dd and chose one, for $600! Okay, I knew I wouldn't be able to get it home myself and was prepared to pay for and wait for home delivery. Well, they deliver in my area on Friday. Okay, I can wait. After all, I do have to clean and restain the deck. Friday comes. I wait the 2 hrs. they say they will be coming. No one comes. A quality control guy calls about 10 minutes past the delivery window time to see how 'his guys' did. Told him I hadn't seen them yet. He says he'll make some calls. Calls me back, telling me they got held up in traffic! I don't live in a high traffic area Anyway...he says they are on their way to my house now..should be about 10 minutes. Fine. They finally show up about 35 mins. later. You should have seen the box my chairs came in. It looked like it had been in a war. And when they took the box off the truck that held the table....one guy says.."Oh, that's not a good sound!" Yep, the glass top was shattered. So, they ask to use my phone (what about the one on his hip?) to call the store. They will deliver me a new set. Huh?? Can't I just get a new piece of glass? No, new set.

Well, dh calls Sears to find out when this new delivery will happen. Next Friday they tell him. No, not acceptable he says. We need it much sooner. Well, nothing they can do. Now, this stuff is taking up my dh's half of the garage. So, he calls Sears directly. He talks to the salesperson we used. He told us to go ahead and put the chairs together. We asked if we could just return the table ourselves and get it replaced. He was going to check and call us back. He said maybe they could even get someone from the store to make the return for us. (we only live about 6 miles from the store!). Well, no call. Dh will call again today.

Now it all comes back to me as to why I avoid using Sears. They make me pay a delivery charge, make me wait a week for my purchase and then they break it and the whole cycle starts again. Never again Sears!!!

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

First of all, this doctor office thing is really annoying. What do you mean "how can you tell one employee that they have to wait an extra hour to eat"? It is easy. YOU ASK FOR VOLUNTEERS. IF nobody volunteers, you alternate or select someone.

That was my first thought as well. Not only that, but different people have different appetite habits. I'm usually ready for lunch around 11:30, my wife can go until 1 or 2 (drives her crazy when I call her and ask if she wants to have lunch that early). Some people might not mind waiting later for lunch, some might not mind going earlier. If not, then people can alternate and maybe pick one day a week where the office closes so everyone can go to lunch together.

Since I'm talking about lunch, I guess I'll talk about a pet peeve of mine and that's fast food employees. Maybe it's because I worked at a McDonalds for many years and even trained a lot of people, but this bored half-mumbled "may I take your order" attitude I see at fast food places gets on my nerves. How about a "hi" or a "hello"? How about even trying to fake a smile? How about listening when I say "all I want is ..." or "... and that's all" and not worrying about suggesting something else? Yes, I know they're trained to do that, but when a customer says something that indicates they don't want anything else, then it's a waste of time. At least, that's how it was when I trained them.

One more thing that happened a few months ago that has me wondering "what are they teaching kids in schools these days?" I went to pay for something at a store, the total was $5.75 or something like that, and I gave the cashier $11.00 (a $10 and a $1). She rang it up as $6.00 (must have thought the $10 was a $5), and instead of adding $5 to the change total showing on the register she had to get a calculator!! Where's that pounding your head into a wall smilie?