Frustrated: customer service!

[happygirl]

YOU took the submissive route. If bullies need to be stood up to, then you should have told the cashier right then and there that her language was rude and ask to speak to a manager. Even if you "think" no manager is around. Make a stink. You don't walk away and write a letter. That's just cowardly and, as you have found, does nothing.

Well said

 

[MIGrandma]

OP, I understand how you feel. I started a thread a few days ago about a rude Subway worker and most people felt I was making too much of it and that I should just let it go. I guess we're just supposed to accept rudeness in store employees nowdays.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

Good gravy! You wrote the letters, they told you it was taken care of. What more do you want? I am sorry you got a form letter, but so the heck what. You think the company did nothing because you didn't get a personalized letter on scented stationary. How about you just believe the form letter and move on.

 

[BELLE1109]

just don't shop there anymore. Let it go and enjoy Christmas

 

[RunningGirl]

To answer your original question, yes. You are spending too much time and energy on this. Take it as a lesson to handle something like this differently in the future: if you really want a discussion and personal response on this you're going to have to deal with it immediately and in person. That's why there are managers/supervisors on duty. Now, take a deep breath and enjoy your Legos!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

OP, I understand how you feel. I started a thread a few days ago about a rude Subway worker and most people felt I was making too much of it and that I should just let it go. I guess we're just supposed to accept rudeness in store employees nowdays.

No, you call them on it on the spot.

How hard it is to say, hey that was a very rude comment you just made to me.

 

[MIGrandma]

No, you call them on it on the spot.

How hard it is to say, hey that was a very rude comment you just made to me.

Maybe it would be easy for you, but for some people it is extremely difficult to be that confrontational with another person.

 

[Tuffcookie]

OP, Once I let management know about my experience, I would have dropped it. It is not worth getting worked up about.

TC

 

[ameraumi]

I know our Meijer has both a night time manager as well as Team Supervisors. I would have made sure to voice my concerns to one of them immediately or at least called the store the next day. I have found the emails to corporate or the store should only be used to make suggestions as you never get the results you may be looking for.

Even though you did not get the results you were looking for, you did get a reply and I would let it go with that.

 

[luvmy3]

A survey and three letters actually. I'll check the barn for the pitchforks. I'm sick and tired of people taking the submissive route. When did it become ok/standard to be insulted or ignored or treated poorly in a place of business? It's not OK.

What exactly do you want? Do you want the manager to call you personally and ask how you want her punished?

 

[tink1969]

YOU took the submissive route. If bullies need to be stood up to, then you should have told the cashier right then and there that her language was rude and ask to speak to a manager. Even if you "think" no manager is around. Make a stink. You don't walk away and write a letter. That's just cowardly and, as you have found, does nothing.

Well put!

 

[ajk912]

What exactly do you want? Do you want the manager to call you personally and ask how you want her punished?

I just laughed out loud.

 

[kwelch10377]

Well that's annoying... heaven forbid someone take responsibility for wrongdoings. I understand people needing to CYA but form letters are almost as bad as them not doing anything at all... they are so generic and impersonal.

Do you realize the time that would be required to write a personalized letter to every customer? Sure companies can hire more people, which of course would have to have experience in letter writing and then the additional cost of hiring these people could be passed on to the customer by raising prices.

Having a standardized letter allows companies to be consistant in how they respond. They acknowledged your concerns and will address it how they deem appropriate and from a confidentiality standpoint they will not share with you how they handle the situation with the associate.

If you wanted a personalized response then you should have addressed it personally in the store with a manager when you were there or with a phone call.

 

[ols386]

When I am in a store, if I feel that a cashier, or sales clerk, or whoever is being rude or behaving even just generally inappropriately, I will usually deal with it right then and there. I'll just come right out and say that I think they are being rude. Probably 9 times out of 10, I think they don't even realize that they are coming across rude, and will usually apologize right then. Not always, but usually.

 

[luvsJack]

I have dealt with this twice with WalMart and once with a fast food place (Bumper's< I think). All three times I very much let the person know I was unhappy but was too angry to continue the conversation at the time.

I went home and sent an email to corporate headquarters. All three times I heard from corporate within a few hours and then from the district manager within 24 hours. I got an apology from the district manager, a assurance that the problem was taken care of and I received a gift card. The fast food one I did not use, the ones from WalMart I did. I also received a letter of apology from the store managers. One of the three complaints resulted in a change of policy in the store pharmacy. I have no doubt that the issue was handled all three times.

That is the type of response the OP should be able to expect. Many times the manager in the store either is busy and doesn't want to deal with it or doesn't care (found that out at the fast food place). Emailing corporte allows you to calm down and tell your story rationally and is giving your story to a person in an office somewhere not someone dealing with rude customers.

 

[Disneyadore]

I'm at my wits end.

At the end of November, DH and I went out on a date night. He kept peppering me to allow him to go over to Meijer because he wanted to take advantage of their Santa Bucks promo they run every year.

We had a fun time shopping and towards the end of our browsing, he spilled and showed me what he was intending to get for me for Christmas. A Harry Potter Lego set. Yes. I know. We're grown and my husband is buying me Legos for Christmas... but you've got to know him to know that he thought really hard about this gift and was really excited about it. (FWIW - he bought me jewelry for my birthday and anniversary)

ANYWAY... we go up front to pay and were greeted by a less-than-friendly cashier. She felt it necessary to insult us ("I can't believe anyone would pay that much for a toy") and then say that, "Harry Potter is the gayest thing ever!"... I had to walk away from the counter because I find the latter term extremely derogatory and offensive.

She continued on being rude, and DH is trying to play it off. She turned off her light and started grabbing her personal affects before we had even finished paying - and started talking about how she was so glad that she was off because she really wanted some greasy McDonalds.

We grabbed our things and left - (this was around 11p) and the second we got home, I filled out the customer satisfaction survery, noting our dissatisfaction. Then I waited a couple of days.

Then I emailed the company. And waited.

A week later, I emailed them again. And waited. I received an email saying that corporate forwarded on my concern to the store and to please be patient. So I waited, again...

Finally, today, I received a handwritten envelope in the mail from our local store. Inside was the most generic form letter I have ever seen. (I sincerely apologize... please note that the matter has been resolved... customer satifaction is our number one concern...) Printed out on plain white paper. The logo to the store looks like it is a copy of the logo from a website and it has no contact information for the store. There is a signature for the store manager, but the writing on the envelope is by a different person (female).

Am I crazy to think something is up with this?

I emailed the company again today, to let them know that I felt like my issue was not resolved and that I was extremely dissatisfied that I received a form letter when I feel that our situation received a tad more attention. I feel like my issue was completely written off - if it was even received by the person who was supposed to see it.

Should I try contacting the BBB if the matter is not handled to my liking? I don't want anything from the company other than a proper apology. I want no compensation from them - just someone to own up to the issue and take responsibility for the foul language and insults (I know... I'm asking a lot here... but still, I can hope.)

Am I far off?

Maybe the manager is like my old boss. No matter what he stood behind us and his credo was :"customer is king but we are the emperors".
BTW now a days I just read all these complains here and just would like to know if it was your child that had to cope whit many many unreasonable customers would you also be so harsh on your child?

 

[princessmom29]

I have not read every post, so I don't know if this has been mentioned, but many people of all sexual oreientations do not consider the word "gay" a slur. While she certianly used poor judgment by using it as a discriptor, and providied you with horrible customer service, I don't think it was ment as a slur. I teach high school, and my teens say somethingi s "gay" all the time, and while I don't condone that and tell them so, they are non homophobic and certianly don't mean it as a slur.

I personally would have talked to the store manager, face to face, at the same time i wrote the first letter to the home office.

 

[mickeysgal]

Unfortunately, I've heard that term used mostly by high school kids and it is intended to mean dorky, geeky. It doesn't make it right, it just appears to be the current lingo.

Was she rude? Yes. Since it was so offensive, did you speak to a manager immediately if it was so offensive? No. Did you fill out the customer survey? Yes.

You've gotten a response from the company. That is obviously the way this store/chain handles this type of complaint from their surveys. It's none of your business what progressed from that point from the store's perspective...whether the cashier got reprimanded, demoted, perhaps she wasn't even spoken to. If it bothered you so much, you deal with it on the spot.

Now you're blowing this way out of proportion to the point of obsessiveness.

It's over.

The best thing you can do is take your business elsewhere. Don't shop there again.

Just curious...since you seem to think that you knew there wouldn't be a manger there so late at night, how would you know that? Just because a manager wasn't there that late at night years ago? That's a strange assumption to make.

 

[MsDisney23]

So I'm wondering if a $20.00 gift card from the store would make this better for you?

 

[mickeysgal]

So I'm wondering if a $20.00 gift card from the store would make this better for you?

Bingo!