Is this bad customer service?

[sparks19]

Reading the OP's post, the question was why the manager kept assisting other customers and the OP asked this after the manager helped a 3rd customer. That is what is written, not too much logic needed.

Well you lost me because i cant figure out what you are trying to say here. The way you wrote it just there i still get the same idea as i did from the OP.

So you think the OP was upset because she didnt want him to serve others at all until she was done?

Apparently it takes more logic than i thought because i just cannot wrap my head around what you are describing. He helped two people and then went on to a third. After seeing him help three people and still not finished hers she asked why. Why would she ask why if he had already told her why?

 

[declansdad]

Well you lost me because i cant figure out what you are trying to say here. The way you wrote it just there i still get the same idea as i did from the OP.

So you think the OP was upset because she didnt want him to serve others at all until she was done?

Apparently it takes more logic than i thought because i just cannot wrap my head around what you are describing. He helped two people and then went on to a third. After seeing him help three people and still not finished hers she asked why. Why would she ask why if he had already told her why?

 

[undertheradar]

Well you lost me because i cant figure out what you are trying to say here. The way you wrote it just there i still get the same idea as i did from the OP.

So you think the OP was upset because she didnt want him to serve others at all until she was done?

Apparently it takes more logic than i thought because i just cannot wrap my head around what you are describing. He helped two people and then went on to a third. After seeing him help three people and still not finished hers she asked why. Why would she ask why if he had already told her why?

It would appear that we are going in circles here. You view it one way and I view it another. Since we aren't going to change the other's view, let's just leave it where it's at.

 

[undertheradar]

Nobody has said a clerk can't help more than one customer at a time but the regardless of the situation, you don't walk away from a customer that you are serving without an explanation.

Where does it say that the manager just walked away without telling the OP? Again, it isn't what is in the OP's post. You are assuming that the manager walked away without saying anything, but the OP didn't write those words. As I stated before, we are reading things different ways. We aren't going to change each other's opinion of what took place or what is written, so let's just drop it.

 

[bicker]

Conversely, where one customer's transaction was taking an extraordinary length of time to complete, does it really make sense to allow two hours' worth of customers to build up in - or worse, walk out of - the store? .... Critics should try operating a retail store single-handedly.

Yes, good points. Who among us is willing to wait even 15 minutes (much less an hour and a half) to buy batteries? I doubt anyone is. And who among us wants to pay 40% for everything to ensure that there is always a salesperson waiting to serve them when they go into a store? Again, I doubt anyone is. It is easy to support one side when you can conveniently ignore the realities of the situation.

 

[bicker]

And we have only the OP's version of how it all actually played out.

Yes very true. We all gain a measure of understanding over time regarding how each side in a conflict sees things from their own perspective. Assuming that everything is the way it seems from a single source of information is always the wrong thing to do. As you say later...

You know how there are three sides to every story? Each participant's side, and the facts? Well, really there are five sides: each participant's side, the version each participant chooses to share, and the facts .

I've very rarely seen anyone post on the DIS presenting themselves in a situation like this in anything other that a positive light. Yet, we do hear from folks who serve customers who relay such experiences very differently. So either some folks aren't being completely accurate in their descriptions of these situations, or we remarkably always seem to get the perfect customers and the perfect customer service personnel posting here.

 

[bicker]

Back to perception. That's not what I read.

Yes I agree. It seems that people can choose to read into the OP that which best supports the side of the conflict that they prefer to cast in a positive light, and best undercuts the side of the conflict that they prefer to cast in a negative light - and that's still assuming that you take the OP as an impartial description of what happened, which is never a good assumption. Generally, in cases like this, an alternative application our society's basic principle of "innocent until proven guilty" would be useful: If all we have is one side of the story, then benefit of the doubt should always go to the person being accused of wrong-doing.

 

[kaytieeldr]

or we remarkably always seem to get the perfect customers and the perfect customer service personnel posting here.

Well, because I fall into both categories I believe I'm extremely well-qualified to speak...and of course that my opinion should be respected. No, I'm not perfect by any means - but it's how I know there are five 'sides', or versions, of any encounter. More if there are more people involved.

 

[sparks19]

Or as they say in customer service "the customer is always right... Even when they're not"

 

[htmom]

I work in a rent to own store. There are many days I am alone and dealing with new applications and payments at the same time. If I am processing someone appication even if they are in front of me I will take a payment while I'm working on an application. I only have two hands and sometimes we all have to wait the 65 seconds it takes for me to enter a payment for another customer. An application takes about 10-15 minutes. I will not have a payment customer wait 15 minutes.

I have never had anyone upset that I know of (and I get the comments in my inbox so I hope they would let me know if they are upset) I think most people realize that when there is only one sales person sometimes it will take a bit longer.

 

[bicker]

Or as they say in customer service "the customer is always right... Even when they're not"

The adage has always actually been, operationally, "Make the customer feel like they're always right."

Well, because I fall into both categories I believe I'm extremely well-qualified to speak...and of course that my opinion should be respected.

Respected, yes. Just about every opinion, about just about everything, should be respected.

Complied with or otherwise obeyed, no.

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

The others probably had a Fastpass.

 

[sbell111]

It's often a good idea to just let threads stay dead after nine days of inactivity.

 

[bicker]

It is best to let each person make that decision for themselves.

 

[cm8]

I don't think he should have abandoned your transaction in order to help other customers. You assist the customer in front of you first until you are finished. You can greet with a "Hello, I'll be with you as soon as I can." (and you should), but you should never walk away from a customer.

I would have left too.

That said, I do sorta feel for the guy. It appears from the OP that he was alone in the store. While it is so easy to say "he should have scheduled someone else to be there to", it's not always as easy as it sounds. His associate could have called in sick and he had no one that could come in at the last minute or corporate cut his payroll hours and he simply couldn't schedule anyone else. There just is simply no way to know, so I would be willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

Oh, and from what I have heard from a friend, Radio Shack is bad for having promotions like this and not giving them adequate information on how to do it.

. That is my biggest issue as well. How well do you think that would go over if I had to see my patients in that order. I had one tell me that she needed me to come see her right away because she was leaving for a trip and wanted to get home in time to relax. Needless to say she had to WAIT her turn