Customer service in Calgary - thoughts?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

I think a big issue lies with TFW (temporary foreign workers). You can't go to any restaurant without there being at least a few and in a lot of places like Tim Hortons the entire staff is made up of TFW. My orders are always being screwed up, and when you complain nobody cares.
.

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Agreed that Wendy's in the best of the bunch. And they don't really hire TFW as far as I can tell or not as many as others do.

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Yeah one medium steeped tea with 1 sugar and 1 milk is very confusing. I literally got a coffee yesterday instead on my usual tea and the lid even had "ST" on it. Sometimes it's not mixed well other times they don't put the lid on right and it drips all over the place.

My orders aren't confusing at all and I disagree I think TFW are a major part of the reason customer service is going down the drain. They barely speak English and I think generally have low morale even though they are always smiling they lack the skills IMO.

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

I never blamed just TFW for the bad customer service in Calgary. I said it's a big issue and I believe it is.

Why do you think customer service is declining? Ordinary Canadians don't want to work these low paying jobs like you said so tell me why you think it has declined over the years?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Yeah one medium steeped tea with 1 sugar and 1 milk is very confusing. I literally got a coffee yesterday instead on my usual tea and the lid even had "ST" on it. Sometimes it's not mixed well other times they don't put the lid on right and it drips all over the place.

My orders aren't confusing at all and I disagree I think TFW are a major part of the reason customer service is going down the drain. They barely speak English and I think generally have low morale even though they are always smiling they lack the skills IMO.

Randomly everyone should get about the same number of screwed up orders if everything is equal.

Now there are groups of people who always claim to get terrible service and terrible products. This does not make sense. It can only mean they order improperly or their standards are too high. I agree you shouldn't be getting coffee instead of tea but unless large numbers of people have the identical problem then it is a communication issue. To blame the person who barely speaks English seems wrong. The better speaker is responsible for making sure they are understood.

[Table 5]

Personally I find the service in Calgary from people who were clearly hired for their looks above all else, to be much worse than any TWF/immigrant. You know the ones, those who take 20 minutes to even take your order, and then screw it up.

But yeah, service in Calgary in general is pretty awful. It's not Europe bad, but definitely North America bad. Although I actually think it's improved a bit since the economy went into the tank.

[calgaryblood]

^ UCB
Yes, and? What is your point. I wrote those things so why are you quoting them? They barely speak English? Is this not a major problem when dealing with english speaking customers?

[octothorp]

Occasionally there are things I get annoyed about, but in the end the impact on my day is negligible, and I know nothing about the personal circumstances of the person who causes me annoyance. I get that venting on the internet is a valid way of venting such frustrations (and I've done this too... see my posts on Tim Hortons employees making my drink in a disposable cup before pouring it into my travel mug).

It's honestly never occurred to me, in fast food restaurants or otherwise, that someone serving me may be a TFW, but more power to them; keeping that in mind I'll try to practice even more patience and kindness with fastfood workers, as I can't imagine what a difficult journey and circumstances that would be.

[snootchiebootchies]

I too find that I encounter errors in my orders much more often that in the past. Another part of daily life in which I often find errors is when I'm checking out from a store -- cashiers scan something more than once, or miss scanning something, or forget to make manual adjustments for marked down items, or there is an error between the price listed on the shelf and what I get charged for. I do believe limited English skills is a contributor but not a large one. I think the largest contributor is the age of the people working as a cashier or taking your order. Many times, the person I'm dealing with is just a kid, a kid who likely doesn't care that much as this is a temporary gig for him/her. Another large contributor I think is just how complex our food orders are these days. Fast food restaurants offer much more on the menu (and variations on the said menu) than they used to. And when I was a kid, one could not order, say, a Big Mac without the pickles. We had to remove the pickles ourselves, dadgummit. And the choices offered to a consumer in a produce aisle or in the cereal or cookie aisle in a supermarket is now mind boggling. I think these kids who work at these establishments can be careless but I'm sure there is also a much greater probability for human error to incur now than in the past.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

^ UCB
Yes, and? What is your point. I wrote those things so why are you quoting them? They barely speak English? Is this not a major problem when dealing with english speaking customers?

I rarely have order issues.


Maybe the problem is you.


nah.

[PepsiFree]

Things I learned:

1. Customer service is bad (?)

2. It is bad because of TFW, but not entirely because of TFW, but mostly TFW to the point where another plausible reason hasn't been presented by OP (??)

2a. This is because TFW don't speak English right, despite this not being a wide spread problem, the few people who can't seem to get their English understood or get good service believe they aren't the problem. Must be TFW. (hmmm...)

3. Brown people can't be racist (...??)

4. It's racist to even think someone might be a racist!! (???)

5. Racism is bad either way, but xenophobia and prejudice? Acceptable.

Would read again.

[JiriHrdina]

My advice would be don't let small stuff work you up so much. Not worth it.

[Jbo]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

My advice would be don't let small stuff work you up so much. Not worth it.

This. Not to de-rail the thread, but you do seem to get worked up pretty easy. Usually if someone makes a playful jab or does not agree with you, you are all over them.

If you want real bad customer service, hit the Okanogan between June - August. Calgary will seem like a dream after that.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Ok I'm going to actually try to contribute, not just attack the OP.


I do think customer service levels have declined over a long enough timeline, although there perhaps have been periods, as already mentioned, where they were worse during the extreme boom times in AB.

I think a large part of it has to do with corporate philosophies that have reduced training, reduced incentives for workers to succeed (smaller pay increases, less promotions etc) and generally reduced workforces.

Every single major company focuses on increasing efficiency. They know customers would rather have low prices and long lines (due to staff shortages) than higher prices and short lines. And if we look at the actual product/food/service quality, again, companies know that consumers would rather have quicker, cheaper service for their fast food than slower, more expensive service with only a marginal increase in food prep quality or service quality.

TFWs are a bit of a controversial topic. Lots of critics basically equate it to legal slave labor in Canada. However as has been mentioned, why would they actually be any worse or even distinguishable from a lazy, underpaid recent immigrant or a lazy, underpaid teenager? (when we are talking fast food places)

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Jbo

This. Not to de-rail the thread, but you do seem to get worked up pretty easy. Usually if someone makes a playful jab or does not agree with you, you are all over them.

If you want real bad customer service, hit the Okanogan between June - August. Calgary will seem like a dream after that.

Fair enough but there is a difference between a playful jab and calling me racist. But will take the advice either way.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Fair enough but there is a difference between a playful jab and calling me racist. But will take the advice either way.

Whatever you say Mr. Duke.

[jammies]

I almost always get decent service because I don't go back somewhere when it sucks. Those of you that continually keep going back to places like Tim Horton's despite the crap service are the ones causing the problem, your actions belie your words, and money speaks loudest.

[psicodude]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Every single major company focuses on increasing efficiency. They know customers would rather have low prices and long lines (due to staff shortages) than higher prices and short lines. And if we look at the actual product/food/service quality, again, companies know that consumers would rather have quicker, cheaper service for their fast food than slower, more expensive service with only a marginal increase in food prep quality or service quality.

Bingo.

Walmart and their recent changes are a perfect example of this. They now charge for bags, you have to put a dollar to get a cart, and they don't allow overnight RV parking anymore. Basically, Walmart has realized that low prices are the primary reason anybody shops there and will do anything to increase efficiency and reduce prices. TFW's could also fall into this thinking.

You can't really blame these companies though. It is the public's insatiable need for the lowest price that is driving things.

[Dion]

The vast majority of McDonalds workers here in High River are TFW's. In fact you won't find better workers as the service is quick with little to no mistakes. Ranks as one of the best run franchises in southern Alberta.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Hey everyone, racist overtones aside, I think we should tread carefully here.
We are getting a little too close to summoning
*****SHE who SHALL NOT*****be NAMED!!!!!!

[nik-]

springs1 was banned

edit: or maybe not? I was sure that he/she was lifetime suspended after the last tirade.

It's clear that this conspiracy runs all the way to the top.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Dion

The vast majority of McDonalds workers here in High River are TFW's. In fact you won't find better workers as the service is quick with little to no mistakes. Ranks as one of the best run franchises in southern Alberta.

By you or some objective measure somewhere?

[HarryH93]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

I never blamed just TFW for the bad customer service in Calgary. I said it's a big issue and I believe it is.

Maybe I missed it, but where else did you blame something other than TFW for your bad experiences at Tims? And what do you suggest for business owners who can't find employees without turning to TFW agencies?

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

When there are 20 Philipinos that all of a sudden start working at the same restaurant you've been going to for 20 years it doesn't take a scientist to know they are TFW.

It doesn't take a scientist, but I highly doubt you can tell the difference between a TFW and a new Canadian citizen at Tim Hortons.

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

My orders aren't confusing at all and I disagree I think TFW are a major part of the reason customer service is going down the drain. They barely speak English and I think generally have low morale even though they are always smiling they lack the skills IMO.

Do you actually believe that TFW have low morale and lack skill just because they're from another country? Just because you're brown that doesn't mean you can't be a racist. That's a pretty stupid and racist comment to make regardless of your skin colour.