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Azur,
I love and miss personal contact on the phone for customer service. It's hard to get to the prompt that says, "to speak to a representative..." Agghhhh! It seems to only time you talk to real people is when they are telemarketers calling and asking for money. You make excellent points about being pleasant and receiving pleasantness in return. Sometimes, though, it is just genuinely bad customer service, no matter how pleasant or cordial you are. Good post. :)
posted by
BlackPearl1
on August 8, 2006 at 4:51 PM
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Azur
The phone can be a big pain in my behind regardless...I esp. hate phone solicitors. And too, it always sounds so jostling, so alarming to me when a phone rings. It like jolts me or something, and being an alarmist type person I always think that it is going to be bad news on the other end!!! aaaah!!!
posted by
mysteria
on July 31, 2006 at 9:09 AM
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Wiley
take care, stay cool
posted by
Azur
on July 30, 2006 at 5:56 AM
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Azur
I better not even try to write about this calmly. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I'm out of control just thinking about it, heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp
posted by
WileyJohn
on July 29, 2006 at 7:28 PM
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I like the challenge
of disarming cutomer service agents with 'an attitude' by loving friendliness.
posted by
Shams-i-Heartsong
on July 27, 2006 at 5:15 AM
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People don't care...it's just a job.
In the old days the person giving you the service was probably the owner, or a member of the owner's family. Now with places like Walmart and McDonalds all over what can you expect, people just work there and don't relate good service with return visits with increased profits. Even if the profits do increase, they will still make the same wage - so why care?
posted by
DarrkeThoughts
on July 25, 2006 at 5:00 AM
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you are right
Dear Azur you are right .
posted by
Rosetree
on July 19, 2006 at 11:57 AM
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Azur, consider this a Public Service Announcement,
or at least a word to the wise, prompted by Cringe's remark about sending food back in restaurants: if you
must do that (and there were indeed a couple of occasions when I had to), do
not ask
for
something else! Ask for your money back and remove yourself from the establishment. I have heard from kitchen personnel about some of the unspeakable things they will do to the dish of a customer who has incurred their disfavor...
posted by
Nautikos
on July 19, 2006 at 9:43 AM
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I find more good service
then bad. I think that we're so bombarded about our rights as consumers that we have raised our expectations to unreasonable heights.
posted by
fionajean
on July 18, 2006 at 11:46 AM
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Azur, cellphones. Need I say more? They've become a form of performance art
posted by
Blanche.
on July 17, 2006 at 7:12 PM
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Blanche you know they're gonna be the really audible ones in restaurants
sending the food back as well.
Tsk, tsk. The reason why I've so many grey hairs.
posted by
Cringe
on July 17, 2006 at 11:41 AM
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Isn't that the truth, Cringe, wannabes seem to feel that the mere act of
rudeness somehow elevates them in some way.
posted by
Blanche.
on July 17, 2006 at 11:34 AM
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Thanks Azur.
posted by
Cringe
on July 17, 2006 at 11:28 AM
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Wannabes are the worst.
It's a status thing.
posted by
Cringe
on July 17, 2006 at 11:28 AM
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Azur, I think that nowhere is there a clearer indication of "you get out
what you put into the conversation" than in dealing with sales and customer service people. They are people, and get tired of being treated with disdain and rudeness, an attitude I've frankly never understood, since they are there to help. It does not benefit anyone to be rude or dismissive to the sales people.
I'm sure you're very civil, because I can't picture you being otherwise, but it does irk me because Gideon works with the public and puts up with a very snobbish attitude all day. However, it does seem that genuinely wealthy people are the most gracious and appreciative, as opposed to the mere wannabes.
posted by
Blanche.
on July 17, 2006 at 11:18 AM
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AZUR
I really think this is a very good post. It is a wonderful attitude on your part. I may be unlucky or whatever. But I have had it take up to an hour or more on many occasions to have telephone and web server problems attended, not solved but attended. I was a customer of Bellsouth Telephone for 50 years and the service became increasingly worse until I simply cut off my land line. On one occasion I had gone through several people and finally the voice on the computer said your estimated wait time will be 37 minutes. I consider that extreme and having been in business 34 I would never have done that particularly without a live person coming on the line and learning if I could have some one call them back. I have seen it become worse year by year.
posted by
Justi
on July 17, 2006 at 11:10 AM
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Great post...
posted by
_Symphony_
on July 17, 2006 at 11:00 AM
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Cringe, when I said
":I think you must have confidence and intuition and that is what makes the difference" I meant you in particular not a general you
posted by
Azur
on July 17, 2006 at 7:56 AM
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Bel_1965
Me too even if it costs slightly more. The day we lose them is a very sad day
posted by
Azur
on July 17, 2006 at 7:55 AM
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Just stay out of walmart!
There is never anything close to customer service! I like my little hometown places where service is still #1.
posted by
bel_1965
on July 17, 2006 at 7:51 AM
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Cringe, thanks for painting a picture
I find quite a lot of people want to help. I think you must have confidence and intuition and that is what makes the difference.
posted by
Azur
on July 17, 2006 at 7:36 AM
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I'm with the 'It's us' argument.
If we expect too much from Customer Service, then we risk seeing a human kick-back from behind the mask of the job. They're only human, after all, and if we start being snobby superegos, then we're asking for it.
posted by
_dave_says_ack_
on July 17, 2006 at 2:21 AM
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Moon Spirit, we need more like
Mademoiselle here however that is impossible because she is a one off.
posted by
Azur
on July 16, 2006 at 10:29 PM
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Mademoiselle
I am assuming of course that you are one of those rare women who is not going to turn into their mother.
posted by
Azur
on July 16, 2006 at 10:27 PM
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Proud customer service veteran here.
In the six to seven odd years I've worked in various call centres, dealing with various products and services, I've only had four calls that had to be passed over to a supervisor.
My aim was always to give the person on the other end some sort of option, even if there weren't any through the company.
I had the luck of being 'remote listened' to by a coach in one call centre who suggested I take her job when she left (even though I don't have any college education). She told me that she'd never heard anyone turn around customers like I did, that my technical skills may not be the strongest but that could be taught, the people skills you can only hope for a certain level of, and mine exceeded anyone's she'd ever encountered. I was very proud of myself, but aside from other problems within that job, that whole in house training department was cut from the budget a year later.
It's difficult to get adequate customer service that's genuine, un-scripted, and for the benefit of the customer as opposed to the company in this day and age.
posted by
Cringe
on July 16, 2006 at 3:42 PM
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Azur
Being friendly and non-aggressive works much better. I've gotten angry before and regretted letting my mouth run off.
posted by
avant-garde
on July 16, 2006 at 2:42 AM
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Azur, I agree!
I also want to smash the phone when I hear "did you mean..." Arrrggh! I hate that. A while back, I posted about that and the fact that if it's one of those "press or say" blah blah blah and you accidently cough or make a noise and suddenly you're being transferred to who knows where in the system! About the customer service treatment, I like to kill 'em with kindness. Usually works. I purposely speak in a friendly tone because I picture being on the other side of it. Being nasty just isn't cool...unless appropriately deserved, of course!
posted by
SpitFire70
on July 15, 2006 at 8:59 PM
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Azur.....sorry.....can't stop LOL about Mademoiselle. Isn't she amazing? Regarding customer service, I agree with you 100%. I've found that if I am polite, understated, make small talk, engage the agent personally (there's a fine line, you have to test the boundaries, usually engage just a little, just the right amount, not too much) they will bend over backwards to help you - usually. Moon_Spirit 
posted by
syzygy
on July 15, 2006 at 7:22 PM
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You should hear my mother dealing with customer service people (or anyone else, for that matter) ...
What a shrew she is! I, on the other hand, am always warm, considerate and kind.
I might stay for a day there if I had my wish
But there's not much to do when your friends are all fish
And an oyster and clam aren't real family
So I don't want to live in the sea
posted by
Mademoiselle
on July 15, 2006 at 7:09 PM
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