Sorry, the customer isn't always right...
Feb. 28th, 2008 09:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vaxjediCustomer Backlash against bad service
Honestly, this sort of thing pisses me off to no end. So essentially what is happening here is that people are learning ways to harass other people in order to get what they want and getting rewarded for doing so.
So this guy gets caught on the runway for a long time. They ran out of water quickly due to an unforeseen event. Does he know why? No. Did poor policies from the airline cause the delay? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe they should have gone back to the gate, sure, but they didn't. Was there a good reason for that? We don't know. He didn't either. He didn't even bother to find out. But that didn't stop him from being a right asshole out of frustration and boredom. And you know what? He got free stuff for it and now he'll do it again.
And the guy who has all of the direct numbers for his local cable people and says he'll "never call customer service again". Well great for him. Now every other person out there who might need that those people's help gets put on the backburner because some jerk has the opportunity to interrupt whenever he gets a wild hair stuck somewhere. In grade school it's called cutting in line, and even kids know that cutting is a mean thing to do.
Isn't this the sort of thing we try to teach our kids not to do? That it's not ethical to just make a belligerent nuisance of yourself in order to get what you want?
My autistic daughter acts like this because she doesn't know any better. I expect better from adults.
Yes, a lot of customer service organizations need better policies, better support and more funds. I know that from the inside, as a matter of fact, having worked in such organizations before. But that doesn't give people the right to step on other people (the people they are harassing and the people they are shoving aside in order to get their own way and their complimentary 'just leave us alone you bully, er valued customer' gifts).
Honestly, this sort of thing pisses me off to no end. So essentially what is happening here is that people are learning ways to harass other people in order to get what they want and getting rewarded for doing so.
So this guy gets caught on the runway for a long time. They ran out of water quickly due to an unforeseen event. Does he know why? No. Did poor policies from the airline cause the delay? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe they should have gone back to the gate, sure, but they didn't. Was there a good reason for that? We don't know. He didn't either. He didn't even bother to find out. But that didn't stop him from being a right asshole out of frustration and boredom. And you know what? He got free stuff for it and now he'll do it again.
And the guy who has all of the direct numbers for his local cable people and says he'll "never call customer service again". Well great for him. Now every other person out there who might need that those people's help gets put on the backburner because some jerk has the opportunity to interrupt whenever he gets a wild hair stuck somewhere. In grade school it's called cutting in line, and even kids know that cutting is a mean thing to do.
Isn't this the sort of thing we try to teach our kids not to do? That it's not ethical to just make a belligerent nuisance of yourself in order to get what you want?
My autistic daughter acts like this because she doesn't know any better. I expect better from adults.
Yes, a lot of customer service organizations need better policies, better support and more funds. I know that from the inside, as a matter of fact, having worked in such organizations before. But that doesn't give people the right to step on other people (the people they are harassing and the people they are shoving aside in order to get their own way and their complimentary 'just leave us alone you bully, er valued customer' gifts).
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no subject
Date: 2008-02-28 06:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-02-28 06:10 pm (UTC)That said, I used to work as a cashier in a semifancy department store in a mall. The managers (except 1 good one) bent over backwards to appease customers, even ones who were wrong or who had clearly stolen or worn the merchandise they were trying to return. (Used prom gowns are a real hot issue. They tuck the tags in, wear them, drag the edges on the ground, get sweat & makeup stains on em, then try to return them & say 'I just tried it on.') & all the time the customers complained about how there was never any good service any more. Not to mention showing their complete idiocy when trying to use credit card machines with directions on the damn screens. (You know how many people signed the screens with pen?) People ought to have licences to shop.
I also witnessed this from the other side around New Year. Barnes & Noble (which my dad stopped going to after a clerk looking for an alphabetical listing messed up the order of the alphabet) lost a book I wanted after telling me it was on hold. I complained, & you know, all I wanted was for the manager to tell the clerk who told me it was there without bothering to go check not to do that again cos it's stupid. Instead, without me even being nasty, the manager kowtowed & gave me a free book. He arranged for it to be sent to me with no shipping charge & paid for it with his own credit card. WTF? I mean, I'm delighted to get a free book, but that sort of thing just encourages customers to run rampant over you. Yeah, if you're rude to me I'll give you two free books! It's stupid.
But then what can you expect from corporations & managers?
no subject
Date: 2008-02-28 06:23 pm (UTC)