The Service Industry in America

[TheMercenary]

Shamelessly copied from another forum I visit. I thought you all might enjoy it.

Two Phrases That Destroyed American Culture
December 13th, 2006
Every time I promise myself that I will work on controlling my temper, I always end up making a scene.

This time, it wasn’t my fault. All I wanted was a bagel. A bagel, a cup of coffee, and perhaps a spot near a window where I could idly watch the traffic go by as I browsed through the newspaper and licked cream cheese from my fingers. But apparently the Gods were not on my side.

continues:
http://www.violentacres.com/archives...ican-culture?1

[Sundae]

Very interesting. I completely agree re people in the service industry deserving good manners and respect.

So the next time I suffer lousy service (because The Customer Is Always Right doesn't apply here - not so much anyway) I will soothe myself with the idea that the opposite end of the scale would be far less palatable to me.

[TheMercenary]

Lousy service is certainly on the other end of the continum.

[HungLikeJesus]

Merc, from that same link there is an interesting article on training children. Since I don't have any children I don't know how effective the suggestions are, but I hope they're very effective, and, if so, I hope all parents in the world immediately implement these procedures.

It's a three-part article, starting here.

I thought parts 2 and 3 were the most useful. The links for those can be found at the end of the first article.

I hope someone with kids tries some of these techniques then reports back. It might improve your chances of getting your car fixed.

[TheMercenary]

That was really good HLJ, I am going to forward that to a few friends who I know reward their kids with toys for good behavior.

[Clodfobble]

Well I've only gotten halfway through, but this part

(I hate to say it, but because of the 60 day rule, it is pretty pointless for non custodial parents to attempt to shape behavior. The 60 days almost always have to be in a row. So if you only get your kids every other weekend, you’re pretty much screwed. It sucks, but if the custodial parent is not on the same page as you, your kids are probably going to end up little bastards. If you don’t accept this now, you’ll likely spend the next 2 decades contemplating driving your car into a goddamn tree.)

can sometimes be overridden, but is often painfully true.

[sweetwater]

If only all of those 'poor kids' behind the service counters realized that it's a money for work exchange, and not their private social club. No pity for junk service from me - been there, had to do that. OTOH, someone learning or trying to do the job deserves a generous spirit from customers. It's a tough career. The "hash brown" and "french fries" thing is a good example of customer jerkiness.

[Cicero]

Heh! I like Violent Acres. lol! I spent a while there. But you know, of course I like it. I also like cala lilies. They're my favorite.

[kerosene]

I read through some of her rants and thought they might be Cicero under a different name.

[HungLikeJesus]

Originally Posted by case

I read through some of her rants and thought they might be Cicero under a different name.

Case, you didn't even need to read that article. You've already got a perfect child.

[kerosene]

Originally Posted by HungLikeJesus

Case, you didn't even need to read that article. You've already got a perfect child.

Just because I have kids doesn't mean I don't get irritated at the way other people's kids behave.

[jinx]

Where exactly is this place where the customer is always right? I've heard rumors of it, but I've never been there.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by jinx

Where exactly is this place where the customer is always right? I've heard rumors of it, but I've never been there.

I always end up at the place (everywhere) that the customer has a valid complaint that the service desk can't resolve for 15 minutes, that the manager can't resolve for another half hour, that the corporate helpdesk can't resolve until Monday, and that the manager of the corporate helpdesk eventually admits to being able to resolve in about 15 seconds -- but here's the catch: IT WILL NEVER, EVER GET RESOLVED UNLESS I FVCKING YELL AT EACH ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE FOR X AMOUNT OF MINUTES UNTIL THEY PASS ME ON. The system is designed so that YOU HAVE TO YELL AT PEOPLE or else nothing gets done EVER. The system is designed so that 99% of people will give up before getting what they rightfully deserve when the store is clearly at fault (and they don't even deny being at fault! they just say it's "not our policy" to fvcking do anything about it).

It's not the fault of the employee, and it's NOT the fault of the customer. It's THE POLICY that is designed to make it impossible to resolve anything.

Well, guess what? I'M NOT LEAVING THIS GODDAMN STORE UNTIL SOMEBODY FIXES THIS FOR ME! IF I HAVE TO FVCKING YELL AT YOU AND YOU AND THE NEXT MOTHERFUVCKER FOR THE NEXT TWO HOURS, EVENTUALLY YOU WILL HAVE TO FIX THIS FOR ME. . . .YOU. WILL. FIX. THIS.

I'M NOT LEAVING UNTIL YOU FIX THIS!!! . . . That's what you have to do. They MAKE YOU DO IT.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Flint

The system is designed so that YOU HAVE TO YELL AT PEOPLE or else nothing gets done EVER. The system is designed so that 99% of people will give up before getting what they rightfully deserve when the store is clearly at fault (and they don't even deny being at fault! they just say it's "not our policy" to fvcking do anything about it).

Well... I've never been to anywhere that is set up so that the customer has to be aggressive towards staff in order to resolve an issue.

However I have worked in many places where an obnoxious customer is eventually given something they are not entitled to, or is given special treatment at a Manager's discretion because it is not fair on the staff involved to make them deal with this person.

It's always saddened me when this happens, because the arsehole goes away with the impresion that they were right all along, and that all the staff have just been lying, creating obstacles and being difficult. It encourages this behaviour next time and ensures that the highest level of customer care goes to a customer you would be happy never to see again.

I'm sure the above doesn't apply to you of course Flint.

[Flint]

Back to my original post:

Originally Posted by Flint

It's not the fault of the employee, and it's NOT the fault of the customer. It's THE POLICY that is designed to make it impossible to resolve anything.

It's unfortunate that the first-line employee (and second and third and fourth) are discouraged from directing you towards someone who can fix the problem. I don't want to yell at them any more than they want to get yelled at. But if they think I'm leaving without getting my issue resolved, then there WILL BE some yelling.