I am tired of Poor Service by EVERYONE

[Phaneuf3]

I agree, service sometimes sucks. On the other hand, it can often suck even more working on the other side of the counter/phone line. About little things - especially things that the person you're talking to at the moment has no control over - you have to cut them a little slack.

You get jerks on both side of the counter.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Some times I can go into a store, order my food, pay for it, say thank you and the clerk doesn't say a single word.

when they pull that crap on me I look them in the eye and say "The proper response to that is You're Welcome. My 2 year old even knows that."

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by fotze

I went to a few Flames games with the guys who started OJ's, the service and good food value was always their schtick. The beer started getting pretty outlandish but I guess it did everywhere.

I love the variety of beer they have - I always have trouble picking one (kid in a candy store syndrome)

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Yesterday I bought gas and coffee at the Esso on Mcleod & 69th. The girl working behind the counter was yapping on the phone the entire time. I don't really want to hear the ######ed gossip of a complete stranger, but I understand if she does it while I'm making my coffee.
Please, though. When I come to the counter, is it asking too much to tell your friend to hold on and acknowledge my presence?
Not a single break in the conversation, didn't even say a single word to me. She pointed to the pump I was on, then pointed to the coffee, punched the buttons and handed me a receipt.

The worst part about it was that she was doing all the talking. That meant that I saw plenty of her gnarly Klingon teeth. Ew.

Man, I work in the office tower just south of there. I fill up at that station all the time, and I completely agree with you.

It drives me absolutely up the wall whenever I walk into that store.

[CMPunk]

As long as the service doesn't suffer, I have no issue if people talk to me or not. The less mindless chatter I have to put up with, the better

[Muta]

On the other side, the service you get in small towns are AWESOME. Whenever I go to Kimberley with friends for the weekend, I always get such vastly superior service at retail places all over; although, this shouldn't come as a surprise.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Man, I work in the office tower just south of there. I fill up at that station all the time, and I completely agree with you.

It drives me absolutely up the wall whenever I walk into that store.

She has definitely mastered the art of multi-tasking. She should try talking on the phone while running on a treadmill.

[looooob]

I was at Zellers (don't ask) the other day looking for bikes with my son. after about 30 minutes of looking for help, my 6 year old actually finds two Zellers guys who apparently work in that general area and drags them over. I ask them if we can talk about bikes for a few minutes, and then say "well actually we both want to go on break now, so why don't you look at the bikes, we have a lot , and see if there is anything you want"

[macker]

I have had very similar experiences with Telus and Rogers as described....no accountability and I have gotten into the habit of getting the persons name and using it often when dealing with these call center types. If you don't do this I have found that they like to throw you on hold and encourage you to give up and hang up. I will say that Shaw seems to have excellent service in my experience as they are always open and hand held me quite a few times with my pvr and other things where I needed them to come out. I just hope Telus or Rogers don't take a run at Shaw as we can all guess where that would take the Shaw service experience!

[4X4]

Another thing that gets me is when someone working a till slaps my change down on the counter instead of dropping it in my cupped hand. WTF?

I suppose it bugs me because my first job was at a full serve gas station and the management was fairly militant about service. When on cash, personal calls were forbidden. Greetings were mandatory as were exit greetings. Eye contact, hand the person their change if they extended their arm, "will that be everything?"...

Sure there was the odd customer that was just having a bad day, but sometimes even people like that walked out in a better mood just because we'd dodge their pissy mood and still talk civilly.

I actually enjoyed that job because we were forced to give top notch customer service. Talking to customers beats the hell out of silently punching buttons. Often they'll crack a joke, or give you a compliment or a tip...

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Muta

On the other side, the service you get in small towns are AWESOME. Whenever I go to Kimberley with friends for the weekend, I always get such vastly superior service at retail places all over; although, this shouldn't come as a surprise.

I went to Idaho last summer for a few weeks and the service at the grocery store was spectacular. I essentially got a personal shopper, this one girl working there would take stuff off the shelves and put it into the cart for me.

Its the difference between wanting to keep your job knowing another one is hard to find and not caring because you could be hired again in an hour.

[BBQorMILDEW]

For me it's a two way street. I work in the service industry and let me tell you what people are fricken rude! They come into my store and look me in the eyes and lie to me. Then when i bust them lying they have the nerve to get all upset and throw a tantrum in front of other customers.

I have worked at the TELUS call center in the past and i will tell you first hand that it is the most depressing place to work in the world. Every second of every day you are constantly berated by uncooth people on the phone. I have seen nervous breakdowns, (<<<quite funny to see) Not everyone at TELUS gives bad customer service, just the ones who have seen their spirit broken after 3 months of service.

My second last day on the job i received an email to call a customer who had been complaining for the past month. I handled manager escalations for TELUS, He wanted to stop paying the 57 cents for 911 access! I told him that it is a CRTC regulation to have access to 911, he proceded to yell and act like a simpleton all over 57 cents. He told me that he has never called 911 and will never have to.
I asked him who he would call if he got burglarized?
His response: I have a bat!
I asked: what happens if you see a fire across the street?
No response..
No response..

He hung up on me. I called him back and he never picked up the phone.

If i saw him in public i probably would be typing this from a packed jail computer room.

[Mickey76]

When I lived in lethbridge (early to late 90's) I didn't go to Calgary all that often (maybe 4-5 times a year) so when I did go I'd try to hit a bunch of stuff that they didn't have in Lethbridge. At that time Lethbridge did not have a Chapters so when I was leaving I would always stop at the Chapters on Macleod and 90th. After leaving I would go to the Arby's next door for a quick bite before heading home. Anyways it became THE running joke in our family because I ALWAYS got the same old lady and she ALWAYS gave me curly fries (which I hate). It didn't matter what I tried to tell her, how many times, or how clear. The conversaton always would go EXACTLY the same, "Straight or Curly fries?" "Straight please don't care for..." "do you want a turnover with that?" She always tried to sell me one of those stupid turnovers. Anyways I'd get my bag and it would have curly fries so I'd go back to the counter, now remember there is no one else in the place and not more than 2minutes has passed ," Yeah I got curly fries and I ordered straight" she would look back at the till or at my receipt and would say ,"it says here you ordered curly fries." Yes, that is becuase you can't find the straight fries button and are too busy trying to sell me a turnover to listen! I'd eventually get my fries but never without a struggle.

[bradster57]

Originally Posted by BBQorMILDEW

For me it's a two way street. I work in the service industry and let me tell you what people are fricken rude! They come into my store and look me in the eyes and lie to me. Then when i bust them lying they have the nerve to get all upset and throw a tantrum in front of other customers.

I have worked at the TELUS call center in the past and i will tell you first hand that it is the most depressing place to work in the world. Every second of every day you are constantly berated by uncooth people on the phone. I have seen nervous breakdowns, (<<<quite funny to see) Not everyone at TELUS gives bad customer service, just the ones who have seen their spirit broken after 3 months of service.

Seconded. Absolutely the worst job I have ever had in my life. And I've had some terrible jobs. People would call in yelling at you about their billing issues (and yeah, 57 cents was a normal complaint) and management would pressure you to sell them call display. Horrible place, horrible company.

[JiriHrdina]

Well obviously poor service is a result of retail not being able to recruit quality people. But my advice is not to let it ruin one's day. I also think its a horrible job - I can't stand it when i see a customer abuse a retail person for no reason.

That's worse for me than actually getting bad service.

[J pold]

You know what is worse than poor service?…people who whine and complain

[Ayrahb]

As much as the poor customer service among "minimum" wage people bothers me, I am even more pissed off at people who are in "professional" positions. My job duties often take me to various career fairs to observe our clients' interactions with recruiters. I remember a couple manning the Total E&P booth at a career fair last year who were giving each other shoulder rubs while there was a lineup of candidates waiting to talk to someone.

Sometimes, however, there are benefits to unprofessional behaviour of sales staff. I was at the Guess store in Market Mall a couple of months ago and one of the sales girls was walking around wearing this as a top:

[Rhettzky]

Originally Posted by J pold

You know what is worse than poor service?…people who whine and complain

x2

Buncha whiners!!

[mykalberta]

Where do you expect good service?

Do you pay more to go to stores that have it?

I dont expect commodity (any thing that can easily be replaced by another) services to have good service -

Examples are bookstores, gas stations, telephone comapny, fast food, supermarkets etc. Those and tonnes more are services based on the lowest cost and that is it. If you dont like the service just go some place else. If enough people do that the buisness will go under and another one will pop up to takes its place.

If you are unhappy with your telephone service... switch it. I got tired of billing errors with Telus when I was at the UofA so I cancelled my service and got a Rogers cell phone and havent looked back. Not that Rogers doesnt have its issues but the phone works, they dont hassle me, the billing is correct so they retain my buisness.

[Got Miikka?]

The most important thing to me is to get efficient service and even that is expendable so long as I get what I ordered. What the hell do I care if the 14 year old punk kid working at the theatre doesn't smile at me when I order my pop? Just give me Coke if I ask for Coke, and we're cool. (In fact, given the nature of today's disenchanted youth I think I'd be more concerned if the kid DID smile...)

For my part I just try to be pleasant, even if I am not getting that from the person serving me. I always close with a "thanks, have a good one" and if they don't say anything back I don't let it bother me.

It's been mentioned before but a lot of these employees really have no incentive to give you better and even though that may not be right that's just reality - don't take it personally.