Customer service (or lack of)

shoe_addict

Speaking as someone who as been a shop assistant for the last 4 years, I would like to moan about customers. I was brought up to say please and thank you and treat others as I would like to be treated.
However I get many customers who don't say a single word to me through the whole transaction, even when I have spoken to them.
People who speak on their mobile phones at the till are amazingly rude, could they not finish their conversation before coming to pay, or not start it til later?
Then there are the people who moan about the prices "how much?!!", everything is price labelled - if you don't want to pay that much, don't buy it.
However my current gripe is with the people that ask for a bag halfway through the transaction. I take the items, scan them, ask for the money, then if people are paying by card put the stuff in the bag then. If their paying by cash, I give them change then put items in bags. At no point do I just stand there. But when I'm swipping a credit card or sorting out change, people feel the need to ask me for a bag, as if I need telling how to do my job. OK this probably isn't rudeness, it just gets annoying after the first few times.
Rant over! :-[
I find, the nicer people are to me, the more helpfull and friendly I will be. But I am never rude, and I don't see why people think they can be rude to me.

System

what i dont like is when you are getting and the phone rings. Theres you who has been queing for some time and theres the other person who has just rang up...who gets the priority..the phone call. Why cant they say excuse me could you please hold the line until i have finished serving the customer. instead they talk on the phone for the next 5-10mins leavin you standing there like a lemon.grrr.
i really do hate bad customer service, i will go out of my way sometimes just to get a good service because i reckon they deserve my custom.

filigree_2

i said that i only had 3 items but they were heavy - hence using a trolley - she still refused to serve me !!!

I saw a guy who used a trolley because he needed the seat for his sprog, although he only bought a few items. The checkout girl refused to serve him, too! He politely explained that he wasn't buying much, but Ms Jobsworth wasn't interested. He took a basket, put his shopping in it, then plonked it on the till point. The girl gave him a foul look but she had to serve him. Worth remembering for another time.

I worked in retail and it sucks, especially when I realised that even the most junior clerical job offered more money for shorter hours! I could probably start a whole fresh thread on "Customers I have known and loathed".

Having retail experience has its uses, though. Now I know the difference between a genuine problem (ie faulty till) and stupidity/laziness.

IvanOpinion

Story 1 - From the customers point of view

As a biker teenager I went into shop to buy packet of ciggies. Shop assistant passing time of day with old lady woman discussing holidays and family. Waited and waited and waited a bit more. Subtly coughed just in case assistant had not seen me. Old woman calls me ignorant 'could I not see that they were talking ... these young poeple have no manners'. Waited for another few minutes and un-subtly cleared my throat. Shop assistant asked me what I wanted ... apart from that she did not even look at me or interrupt her conversation .. gave me ciggies ... I gave her £10 note. She didn't even look down and gave me change of £5. I also noticed that in her haste to put money in till she had dislodged the money and a £20 was at the top of the pile so I told her I had just given her £20 ... she tutted and told me that I was incorrect ... I told her to check the till and when she re-opened it the £20 was at the top. She was that engrossed in her conversation she gave me the £20 and closed the till ... so I walked out.

Story 2 - From the Shops ppoint of view

This actually happened last weekend in our local Tescos. DW was waiting to purchase lottery tickets at the information desk and the phone went. After a few seconds the girl calls one of the floor assistants to the desk and asks him to see if there is any Tesco Pineapple juice in stock (the phone was still stuck to her ear) ... the person at the other end must have said something ... because she then called the floor assistant back and told him to 'hurry up because the person at the other end of the phone was paying for the call and didn't have all day to wait' .. then into phone she said 'yes I have told him you are in a hurry'....(after about 5 seconds) 'No he isn't back yet' .... (after another 5 seconds) 'It is at the other side of the store madam' ... (after another 5 seconds) 'he should only be another few seconds madam' ... at this point several other customers had taken an interest and were laughing ... the poor girl on the desk was desperately trying not to laugh herself.

Pesonally I would have said 'Your call is important to us please hold the line' and then set the phone down for 20 minutes.

Ivan

loopy_lass

Well i never! went into asda couple of weeks ago wanting to use internet voucher, had a right hassle at the checkout, to the point of the assisstant getting quite flustered.

So i twittered something about "i can always take it to tesco you know" ... so blow me down if she didnt turn round and say well go on then!!!!!!

Then today, went into tesco, asked for a butty to be reduced as it was the end of the day .... assisstant says, er no discount dear, if we dont sell them we waste them! so i said well im here and i will pay you a reduced price as its the end of the day and its sell by... NO, she says, we waste them if we dont sell them... i asked if that was ethical and she said it was shop policy, they would rather waste them than reduce them!!!!!

IS IT ME????????

loops

cathy_3

I was in the co-op and the checkouts were packed as usual, but the baskets only one was empty with the girl sitting staring into space

so I went there and started emptying my stuff onto the belt

she said " this is baskets only see the sign?" so I looked around and said "no" so she pointed at it and said "THERE IT IS THERE!!" so I looks and said where??
she said "cant you read or something?" so I said

well actually no I cant, thanks for broadcasting it all over the shop. she went blood red and whizzed my stuff through in double fast time.

thatll teach her lol

loopy_lass

Ho cathy how i chuckled at that one, must admit i have done that in sheer devilment once or twice myself.

think i may start doing that again.... this will make me chuckle all day now... ;-)

they are so rude arent they...

loops xx

COS

What has happened to Safeway /Morrisons who have taken over the Northend Portsmouth store.


The place is a shambles with regards to items not on the shelves and not being replaced dispite being left on trollies and people overheard to be complaining and referring to how better it used to before Morrisons took over of which is a great shame as in the Midlands I found Morrisons to be excellent, that was of course before they had the extra stores.

The Staff are obviously trying their best but what a shame they have to work under the Management of which they have at present.

italia

I was shopping in SPAR in penwortham, I wanted to reach some cans on a shelf but an assistant was stacking shelves to the left of me and had to stop so I could reach, I was polite but as I left I heard her say 'f*ck off' under her breath. Pathetic really as if she had had any guts at all she would have said it out loud. It would seem that the customers are an inconvience.

Savvy_Sue

I believe there are two schools of Customer Service thought about whether a ringing phone takes priority over the customer in front of you. One says that because the customer in front of you can see you, it may be OK to ask them if they mind you answering the call, because the person at the other end of the phone can't see you, so may think you are sitting around having a gossip (which of course you're not).

But the other school says the customer in front of you always takes priority.

What's jolly annoying is when you are trying to phone, say, a GP surgery, and they pick up the phone and say "Surgery, please hold on" before you can speak and then put you on hold for 10 minutes!

I did 6 weeks as a Saturday girl in the Coop a long long time ago, and that was enough for me. But I have worked on reception desks since then, and what is a nightmare is when there is only you to answer two phones and an entryphone, and you are on one call when the entryphone goes mad, and you can't get a word in edgeways to ask the phone caller to hold on while you answer the entryphone, and then the other phone starts ringing and you are using the phone which goes to the answerphone, so it just keeps ringing, and so on!