Your Worst Customer Service Experience

[dawnball]

Just my feelings, when someone puts something, anything in my hand, I always say thank you - just me, just my habbit. Truthfully, if I am polite enough to HAND someone something, they should be polite enough the say thanks, I mean, its not like its much effort.

And my automatic response when someone hands me cash to pay for something is to say "out of $x". I just told them the total, they hand me money, I verify the amount with them, count change and then say "thank you." If I say thank you when I'm handed the cash then it delays the whole transaction, or slurs together with the confirmation "out of $20, thank you..." doesn't really give them time to respond/correct before I have the change in my hands.

Not that efficiency is the most important thing in a transaction, but I learned my money handling habits in a busy ice cream store. Moving the line and cheerful smiles/conversation made everyone a lot happier than many automatic "thank you"s. Someplace where transactions were more leisurely and personal, things might be different.

 

[mamaLori05]

This has to be one of my biggest complaints working retail. At least 2 or 3 times a shift I have a customer get huffy because I ask them to see ID, when they use their cc. Amazingly enough, most of the cards say "see Id, Ask for ID or CID please". If you don't want a cashier to make you show your ID no matter what the price of the purchase is, then don't write it on the back of your card....!!!!

Also, as a mom, something that bothers me is the parents who come into our store and either don't watch their kids at all, or look at me and ask me if I can keep an eye on them. Are you kidding me?!?! These are the same parents who complain when their little angels pull down posters hanging in the front windows onto themselves!! Retail workers are not babysitters!!

I personally think that everyone should have to spend one Christmas season on the other side of the desk, working retail, and in food service. Then and only then can you truly understand what it is like to be in customer service. This is not an excuse for bad behavior, just a recommendation so that everyone can see it from both sides.

That reminded me of a time when I was back in college working at a daycare. I had been recently hired and was taught that if I didn't know the parents picking up the child then I needed to see an ID. Well, most parents totally understood and were greatful that I was checking, except this one mom. I told her who I was and politely asked her if I could check her ID since I hadn't met her yet. She just started yelling at me that I was being rediculous, that her son had been going to this daycare for years and she shouldn't have to show me any ID, and that her ID was in her car. I again explained that I was doing this for the safety of her child and that any ID would be fine. Anything that had her name on it. Well, she stormed off and went and got the director of the center. The director came in to the room with her and told the mom that I was doing the right thing and was just following through with the daycare procedures. She also told her that they were written in the daycare handbook that she had to sign at the beginning of every school year. The director knew who she was and let her child go with her, but definatly reemed her out!
Let's just say whenever she asked for favors I definatly didn't go above and beyond to help her. Expecially when she was having potty training issues with her 6 YEAR OLD!!! Yes, he was still in diapers!!!!!!!

 

[polineedyan]

I wish I had specifics here, which the lack of will probably provide for a boring post, but nonetheless.
I had a account with a major bank. I was getting ready to close the account, so I let the balance run down. Well, apparently, too far, because for whatever reason, it was less than the allowed amount. So, I went to the bank and decided I didnt like that rule (minimum balance) and told them I wanted to close the account. They couldnt. They had to have the minimum balance to close the account. And they informed me that there was a service fee (or penalty) for being below the minimum amount. So, I took out my wallet and said, well, lets deposit this so we can bring up the amount. They took the deposit. I then told them, lets close the account. They said they couldnt. I asked why, and they told me that the amount hadnt cleared the system yet.
I just stood there looking perplexed at the banker. You..just..physically..handled the money I deposited. You know its in the account, YOU deposited it. It was CASH. They made me wait 48 hours to close the account.
I think thats how it went. The bottom line, was (even though it WAS within their right) I had an account (with MY money) that I wanted to close, and they wouldnt let me close the account until I put MORE of MY money into an account, in order to CLOSE my account. It was the first bank I had to PAY money to GET money.
I thought it was a real pain.
Theres a little more (but its not really cs related..) I changed from this bank, to a bank down my street. LOVED the service. LOVED the tellers. Well, after about six months, they put up a sign, "As of (JUNE 1) we will be changing to (XYZ) bank in a merger." AND XYZ bank was the bank I had CLOSED THE ACCOUNT. Before I knew it, the new bank was the OLD bank, with the OLD tellers, just now it was up my street..
So I guess, Ill just never be able to close that account, since they seem to be FOLLOWING ME!

 

[powellrj]

This isn't my worst, just the most current.

We had just gotten back from a long weekend over the 4th so I needed everything. I had a huge order. The cashier was doing the whole big sigh, eye roll totally letting me know she would rather be anywhere but there.

Halfway through the order she throws her body across the sack coral and LAYS HER HEAD DOWN and says she CAN'T DO THIS ANY MORE!!! Another lady comes over, I am guessing her supervisor and asks her what her problem is and she repeats she can't do this anymore.

She is about halfway through the order. At this point I am wondering what to do. If I didn't have almost $300 worth of groceries and really didn't want to go to another store I would have left, but I was tired and really didn't want to shop again so I just stood there. The cashier then leaves and the new person then starts to ring my order. No hello, sorry, nothing. She just starts talking about the other cashiers to the cashier next to me. She finishes my order of $289, hands me the receipt and says she has to go deal with this. No thank-you, sorry about that, nothing. Just "I have to go deal with that" OK, maybe this is why Wal-Mart gets such a bad rap from people.

 

[rt2dz]

And my automatic response when someone hands me cash to pay for something is to say "out of $x". I just told them the total, they hand me money, I verify the amount with them, count change and then say "thank you." If I say thank you when I'm handed the cash then it delays the whole transaction, or slurs together with the confirmation "out of $20, thank you..." doesn't really give them time to respond/correct before I have the change in my hands.

Not that efficiency is the most important thing in a transaction, but I learned my money handling habits in a busy ice cream store. Moving the line and cheerful smiles/conversation made everyone a lot happier than many automatic "thank you"s. Someplace where transactions were more leisurely and personal, things might be different.

That is exactly how you are supposed to handle money. Maybe it is one of those exceptions to manner rules. After all, paying for something isn't the same thing as handing someone a Kleenex. It's a business transaction. Thank you should wait until the entire transaction is complete.

Just like there is NO WAY to "politely" correct someone else's bad manners. You are expected to do it to a child, as their teacher, but when you do it to another adult or a customer, it is ruder (very condescending) than whatever rudeness they treated you to.

Unfortunately, when you are in any type of customer service, it is your job to suck up any rudeness you are treated to. Doesn't make it right, but that is part of the job. The customer is always right, even when they're wrong. That is one of the reasons there is such high turnover in customer service positions.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

From the side of an employee...

I worked a summer camps this year. One evening, a girl (maybe in her 20s) came to pick up her cousin from camp. She came up to the 2nd floor, we asked for ID (I wasn't there at the time), and she had to go back down to her car to get it. When she came back I was in the office, and helped her check her cousin out, she said "Oh, don't worry about the alcohol, I already have it back at my apartment." Whaaat??? Her cousin was maybe 14-15. I very nicely let her know that we would have to call the police if her cousin was checked back in and had been drinking. She said "I was joking! Geez!", snarled, and was gone. We all just looked at each other. The other parents in the office at that time were shocked! I can understand some parents joking about that since we're at a college and all, but we were not having any type of pleasant conversation. It was so weird....

 

[we're all mad here]

I personally think that everyone should have to spend one Christmas season on the other side of the desk, working retail, and in food service. Then and only then can you truly understand what it is like to be in customer service. This is not an excuse for bad behavior, just a recommendation so that everyone can see it from both sides.

Amen to that! I've said the same thing for years. I really don't enjoy Christmas anymore.

 

[jj1403]

Mine was at home depot and still ticks me off to this day!!!

We had gone to the Depot to get a fuse for our airconditioner. We were in the electrical aisle looking at them and didn't know which kind we needed. There is seriously a wall of like a bajillion little boxes with fuses in them... There was a worker in the aisle and we were waiting our turn to ask for help. And I should have known better than to ask this employee because his interaction with the previous customer was horrible.

Me- "Can you help me find this fuse (show him broken one as a sample)? I'm not sure what kind I need ..

Evil Employee- In a snotty and condecending tone.."Here's what you do...you take your fuse and hold it up to each box until you find one that matches.. Then you take it up to the cashier and buy it.."

I know it probably doesn't sound as bad as it was at the time...but he was really snotty.

I seriously just about Tae Bo'd his butt! He was very rude and obvioulsy having a bad day..(And I worked in retail I get it). But if you are seriously going to be such a jerk find a new job! On a side note -once evil guy walked away another employee came to our aid, and bended over backwards trying to help us.

Needless to say after this little exchange, I was swearing up a storm, I went to find a manager to complain, my husband could see that look in my eye and he opted to wait in the car..

Can you believe a manager never came!!!... I stood a customer service for approx 15 min and of course I'm getting even madder by the second.

My husband finally came in looking for me, ( I think the longer I took the more he feared for someone's life!) and we left. Luckily my uncle is a district manager there and I told him my story. He wasn't too impressed to say the least.