Is Customer Service dead?

[Diamond]

So, actively registering and humongous number of posts == avoiding people here? Hmmm.

[Walsingham]

I think Tigranes is right. I used to have people come at me all the time saying"I don't mean to get angry with you." Which was very decent, but i would interject that in fact since I had volunteered to be customer services I WAS the person to get angry at. Of course it's hard for them to really cut loose at you at that point.

 

What bugs me is when a customer service ape is being lazy or toeing the company line so closely they have forgotten why they're there. But then it always annoys me when people put procedure before purpose.

[Volourn]

"but the customer is the reason you have a job."

 

I absolutely disagree. The customer does NOT hire you. The employer/boss does. People ar ehired because the boss feels they are skilled enough to do the job. One is hired because they have the skills needed for the job. That's why people go to school.

 

I really hate the idea that people give customers credit for employees having a job. That's nonsenical.

[Cantousent]

What a stupid position. The company wouldn't exist if it didn't offer a service to someone. Somewhere along the line, your company wouldn't exist without the customer. You have a job because you have customers.

[Volourn]

Irrelevant. The statement was not whetehr or not the business woudl exist or not without customers; it was wether not an individual has a jobe simply because of the customers. That's bul.

 

One gets hired by the boss becuas eof the skills they bring to the table to do the job. Who signs the checks? Not the customers. Who can fire and hire the employees? Not the customers.

 

I rest my case.

 

Game over.

 

The end.

 

My position may be 'stupid'; but your position is simply old fashion retardedness.

 

 

L0L0L0L0LLIPOP

Edited February 25, 2007 by Volourn

[Cantousent]

whatever, no business, no job. You have a job because of the customer. The boss says, "hey, we've got this customer who needs this thing. Let's hire this unworthy fellow, Volourn, to sell it to them. If he can't serve the customer properly, let's can him!" :Cant's wolfish grin icon:

[metadigital]

Volo, we're talking about a job IN CUSTOMER SERVICE; the job description is to HELP THE CUSTOMER. In a very real sense, if there is no customer, then there is no job for the rep.

[Cantousent]

Not only that, but, since we're playing word games, what I said was "the customer is the reason you have a job." In that chain of causality, the reason you have a job is because of the customer. Hell, if you're a manufacturer, the reason you have a job is because of the customer. The reason you make widgets is because some widget buying fellow provides for you a reason to work. Literally, the reason you have a job is because of the customer.

[LadyCrimson]

Generally I'd have to agree w/the position that the customer is the reason for the job. I know where volo is coming from; he's not looking at the entire chain, just the short result.

 

But the entire chain goes something like: a person has an idea for a product. They make it. Customers like it and start buying. Business grows. The guy needs/wants to hire workers because there's a customer demand and more workers are needed to supply them.

 

At a certain point, it can seem a bit like the chicken and egg thing, but the customer demand originally dictated whether or not there's any need for more workers in the given business. No original demand, no jobs created.

[Calax]

I think Tigranes is right. I used to have people come at me all the time saying"I don't mean to get angry with you." Which was very decent, but i would interject that in fact since I had volunteered to be customer services I WAS the person to get angry at. Of course it's hard for them to really cut loose at you at that point.

 

What bugs me is when a customer service ape is being lazy or toeing the company line so closely they have forgotten why they're there. But then it always annoys me when people put procedure before purpose.

One ofo the more intersting paradoxes of working for a massive company like mcdonalds that doesn't have too much in the way of selection is that you get one person saying yes you can get say, a milk with your #1. while you are forced to say you can't because that would drop the price of the meal below the advertised price.

 

I think a major part of my frustration at mcdonalds is that if you take to long in drive through the bosses start to jump on you. Somtimes we have people who get up to the window where your only supposed to pick up your order, and promptly ask to get four more things.

 

and I misstated earlier, I don't get upset about one person calling me a jackhole, it's the fact that he does it after having changed his order a dozen times and trying to get stuff he know is off limits. Add to that that taking an order in drive through is like pulling teeth somtimes...

 

"What can I get for you?"

"Ummmmm.......

"..."

"I'll have...... a number six"

"..."

"..."

"do you want that grilled?"

"No............. Crispy?"

"ok.."

"........"

"and a drink for that meal?"

"A diet coke"

"anything else for you today?"

"....."

"........"

"............"

"Ok your total is $6.42 at the first window (saves the order so that he can start on the next one)"

"Oh, I wanted a number 1 and a number 9 and a ranch salad."

"(hangs head and curses)I'll change it at the First window"

"but I want those things...."

"FIRST WINDOW!"

[Volourn]

"Volo, we're talking about a job IN CUSTOMER SERVICE; the job description is to HELP THE CUSTOMER. In a very real sense, if there is no customer, then there is no job for the rep."

 

Customers can't fire employees. All tehy can do whine. I've seen enough situations that 90% of the time the boss sides with the employee. Only when the employees was no doubt in the wrong will the employer punish the employee in some way.

 

 

"But the entire chain goes something like: a person has an idea for a product. They make it. Customers like it and start buying. Business grows. The guy needs/wants to hire workers because there's a customer demand and more workers are needed to supply them."

 

Bingo. The person initially responsible for a job existing is the eprson who starts the business.

 

Customers are important to a companyu's success; but we should look at the motivation for the customer. The company in question obviously has soemthing - product or service - that they want. That's why they do business with the company. It starts with the company.

 

 

"The boss says, "hey, we've got this customer who needs this thing. Let's hire this unworthy fellow, Volourn, to sell it to them. If he can't serve the customer properly, let's can him!" :Cant's wolfish grin icon:"

 

Who's making the decision to can me? The boss. Not the customer. Customers can complain all they wnat; it's ultimately up to the boss who gets canned. Who interviews me for the job? Not a customer that's for sure. The boss/manager/hiring department does.

 

Case closed.

Edited February 25, 2007 by Volourn

[Tale]

I just want to say this, if customer service is dead, it was a customer that pulled the trigger.

[LadyCrimson]

Bingo. The person initially responsible for a job existing is the eprson who starts the business.

I disagree. He's responsible for the product and original marketing. The customer demand is the reason there's jobs and money for more than himself - ie, you, or me.

[metadigital]

"Volo, we're talking about a job IN CUSTOMER SERVICE; the job description is to HELP THE CUSTOMER. In a very real sense, if there is no customer, then there is no job for the rep."

 

Customers can't fire employees. All tehy can do whine. I've seen enough situations that 90% of the time the boss sides with the employee. Only when the employees was no doubt in the wrong will the employer punish the employee in some way.

One day you might actually BE a boss (scary thought), then you will see the flaw in your logic. Until then, there isn't much I can say that will grant you the paradigm shift you require to understand how wrong you really are.

[Oerwinde]

"I make his sandwich, get to the till, it comes to 4.55 after tax"

 

Holy frig! I don't blame him for compalining though the complaint should be towards the government. That kind of tax on something that's 3$ is completely and utterly outrageous.

 

Turkey wasn't one of the $3 ones, and I told him so. Turkey is like 4.19 or something like that. Thats why he was stupid. I told him it wasn't 3 bucks, he said ok, and freaked out when it wasn't 3 bucks.

[Arkan]

Interesting subject...

 

For some reason, everyone craps all over Dell's customer service, but any time I've had to call in, my problem has been taken care of righ away.

[Volourn]

"Turkey wasn't one of the $3 ones, and I told him so. Turkey is like 4.19 or something like that. Thats why he was stupid. I told him it wasn't 3 bucks, he said ok, and freaked out when it wasn't 3 bucks."

 

Ah. Ok.

 

 

"One day you might actually BE a boss (scary thought), then you will see the flaw in your logic. Until then, there isn't much I can say that will grant you the paradigm shift you require to understand how wrong you really are."

 

The majority of bosses I've seen in play and interacted with disagree with you. The customer is important; but the boss is #1. He (or she or they) gets final say.

Edited February 26, 2007 by Volourn

[Tigranes]

I would blame someone for prolonging a stupid debate about the most trivial part of the discussion, but I know better.

 

The customer is not the direct and short term reason for your having a job. However, he indirectly and long-term wise is one of the more important reasons that your job exists. Everybody that's argued about this already, knows this already. But hey, what did I just say in my long post abaout Customer Service? People sometimes argue even when they both know what the answer is, and that's just how it happens. If I didn't know better I'd congratulate Volourn for setting up a masterpiece of ironic demonstration.

[Cantousent]

"...he indirectly and long-term wise is one of the more important reasons that your job exists."

 

hahaha He is the only reason your job exists in the first place. You cannot sell if no one will buy. Hell, the business owner doesn't have a company unless someone buys. hahaha It's like saying having a heart is one of the more important reasons that you're alive.

 

I mean, I'm no captain of industry like Vol, but I might have talked to a few bosses in my lifetime. Maybe had a chance to question them. Hell, as management, a position in which our local business tycoon Volourn has more exprience, half the time you're told that it better not reach the district manager unless it's important. Even someone like me, who doesn't try to be unfair and isn't particularly rough with service folks, I get free meals if the service is bad. I recently got a $200 dollars removed from my wireless phone bill because I felt I'd been wronged. At one point, the supervisor told me that there was no way that I'd get those charges removed, as they were valid, but she'd give me the contact information for her boss. You know what, Verizon did remove those charges. Granted, they were wrong in the first place, but it kind of goes against the dictates of Vol, our resident Donald Trump. Good Lord, when my parents moved to their new house, the buliders told my mom and dad that they'd have to stay in a hotel for a week because of a mistake that was clearly the builders. Not only did I have the builders pay for the storage and part of the moving expenses, I had them agree to pay for my folks' hotel stay. Amazing how the problem was mysteriously fixed the next day. hmm. ...And the builders weren't going to pay for it, either. I calmly said I understood but that the solution was unacceptable and that I'd like to talk to her boss. After two levels of bosses, we struck an agreement and then, lo and behold, the move-in date was moved up to the next day. Funny thing about bosses. Oh, and I'd say that one of the more important reasons to build 500 homes is because there are customers to buy them. That's going out on a limb in this place, I understand. After all, customers aren't the reason we have jobs. The boss is. The boss doesn't even need customers. If there weren't folks to buy homes, I'm sure K&B would build them just to provide jobs for a bunch of deadbeat slobs who do nothing but complain about folks who actually move the economy. That would be the consumer, to you guys.

 

Having been the boss to whom the customer complains, I will say this, I accomodate the customer, but I try, as best as possible, to take the employees part. However, if I had an employee who showed the same amount of contempt for the customer as some of the folks in this thread, I'd counsel/coach them. If the problem persisted, I'd fire them. Well, I wouldn't want them to file for unemployment, so I'd give them the worst shifts and every legitimate crap job until they quit or I could fire them for cause, thus having the best case if unemployment became an issue.

 

I'm for the employee, and I understand that this thread is all about venting, but customers are the reason you have a job. They're not one of the biggies. They are the biggie. No customer, no job. Oh, and your boss only has a company because of customers. I mean, I should probably defer to Volly Warbucks, but he's wrong.

[Tale]

Customers are the reason people have job. A single customer is not. The problem is primarily when a customer expresses a gross sense of entitlement due to their status as a customer and they attempt to willfully abuse anyone they see fit. I don't know if it's just typical human arrogance or rampant consumerism, but customer, clerk, or service provider, you're all humans and need to act with dignity and respect. I don't care the cost of the product or the problem with it, it does not entitle a person to be a prick.

Edited February 26, 2007 by Tale

[LadyCrimson]

I think in many ways customers can sometimes be surprisingly angry because the person at the counter, the person at the other end of the C.Serv. phone line, is often the *only* representative of that company or franchise at which they can vent their frustrations.

In terms of the phone - one of my biggest beefs is how it's become harder and harder to even get a real person on the other end of the phoneline.

 

"Press 1, press 2, press3"

 

*I press 2*

 

"Press 1, press2, press 3"

 

*I press 1*

 

"recorded message" then "press 1, press 2..."

 

Most of the time it's a minor annoyance, but on those days where you have to make a lot of calls for some reason....DRIVES ME INSANE. By the time you get to a real person, you're so irritated it's hard to be nice.

[Cantousent]

Customers are the reason people have job. A single customer is not. The problem is primarily when a customer expresses a gross sense of entitlement due to their status as a customer and they attempt to willfully abuse anyone they see fit. I don't know if it's just typical human arrogance or rampant consumerism, but customer, clerk, or service provider, you're all humans and need to act with dignity and respect. I don't care the cost of the product or the problem with it, it does not entitle a person to be a prick.

 

If this is essentially what Vol meant, I agree with it. Wholeheartedly. I've had folks trespassed, literally escorted them to the door and told them not to return. In this case, I don't know of any halfway decent boss who does not take the part of the employee because, when push comes to shove, you're accountable for the welfare of the employee while he's on the clock. That's why I refused to call my cashier stupid. Won't happen. Ever. ...And I have had to be tough with customers. I've had to look them in the eye and tell them I would never be able to accomodate them and that there was no other option.

 

Yes, customers can be crazy. Take the guy who wanted the sandwich for the wrong price. He was wrong. There's no way to accomodate him. You should be respectful, but he's wrong. ...And I would completely agree with the server in this case, as long as the server was professional about it.

[Fenghuang]

If a customer's a jerk to me I just don't go as out of my way to do extra things as I usually do. This serves a dual purpose for me as customers who are jerks aren't as likely to tip.

[Volourn]

It's a simple question. Who can fire or hire an employee? An employee or a customer? Only one of those do that. I know that as a customer I can't walk into McDoinalds, and fire the staff and hire my own friends to work there. It simply doesn't work that way.

 

The business exists for two reasons - customers' need/desire for a product/service; and the owner's need/desire to deliver product/service.

 

So, both are needed for a business to be in place. But, only one has the power to fire or hire employees.

 

 

P.S. At my current job, customers complain a lot. Sometimes they are right in their complaint; sometimes they'r enot. I have never seen someone fired because of a customer complaint. I have seen someone fired due to lack of respect TOWARDS THE BOSS, and not doing the job (ie. being late all the time, missing shifts, taking hour long smoke breaks, etc.); but NEVER because of a customer complaining.

 

Go figure. *shrug*

[LostStraw]

Sorry to burst your bubble Volo -- but I got fired because of a customer complaint. See, your personal experiences don't describe the world.

 

In the end it's the boss who makes the final decision, but you're fooling yourself if you think customers can't factor in that.