Today on Boxx's diary, she asked whether we'd ever worked in customer service, and what our worst experience was.
I used to work at a computer store in suburban Virginia as a cashier. I worked there summers during my college years since my parents thought it would be a terrible idea for me to simply lounge around the house after working my buns off at school the other nine months. I also had books to pay for, and working at the fabric store (which I did during the year at college) wasn't bringing in enough money.
The second summer I worked there, I'd done such a good job as a cashier that I was promoted to customer service rep (aka, CSR). I loved being a CSR. I had more money in my till, which meant that when it balanced to the penny at the end of the day I really had something to be proud of. I had a really great boss, who tried his hardest to keep his CSRs' schedules consistent. As a result, I almost always worked the 9:30-6:30pm shift. Part of the responsibility of a CSR was also working the phones in the phone room, which meant I was getting paid $8+ an hour to sit with a headset on, and cross-stitch the day away. How much better could it get??
Well, the damper to all of this were the irate customers.
When we would check a computer in to the repair shop, we would tell the customers straight up that it would take 48 hours for a technician to even see their computers. I would work at the counter in the morning checking in computers, and in the evening I'd have phones duty. More times than I can count, a customer would bring their computers in before noon and be badgering me in the afternoon, wanting to know why a technician hadn't seen their computer yet. They also would NEVER have their work order number handy, even though I had emphasized the importance of the work order number, and even circled it in dark ink when I checked them in earlier in the day. They would always say, "I wasn't given a work order." When I finally found their name (which always took a while because the folks who lost their work order number were always named something like "John Smith," so I would have hundreds to scroll through to find the correct one), I would see that I was the one who checked them in, and I would inform them that yes, I know for certain they were given a work order number.
One day I was working the counter when a gentleman in a surgical mask approached my workstation. He wanted to know what was going on with his computer. A reasonable request. I looked him up in the computer, and I can't remember what the situation was, but whatever was going on with his computer, he was not satisfied. He began to verbally abuse me. He was screaming so loudly he brought my boss out from the manager's office, where the door is ordinarily shut. He kept screaming and shouting and yelling. I have blocked most of what happened from my mind, but I do remember my boss gently pushing me behind him to protect me as he tried to calm the man down. Finally our security detail marched the man out of our store, and I believe he was banned from returning.
Another time I was working the counter, and the lines had been getting pretty long. So people were already frustrated by the time they got to the head of the line. Finally a woman and her male friend approach the counter and ask for her computer. The friend had come with her to make sure we didn't take advantage of her lack of knowledge about computers and try to sell her things she didn't need. Of course, they didn't have their work order with them, so I asked for her name. The man rattled off the woman's last name and spelled it, but he went so fast I got lost (just so you know, I have a really hard time when people spell things to me verbally. There is a disconnect between what I'm hearing and the processing part of my brain. I do much better when I see it down on paper). I could have sworn he said "S-A-M-M-I-E," when actually he said "S-A-M-M-Y-E." As I finally figured out my mistake, he began shouting at me that I don't know what I'm doing, that I'm not paying attention, that I'm not smart enough to be doing this job, that I need to listen to him when he'd talking, etc. I kept trying to calm him down and I was very polite, making sure I called him "sir" in respect. When it was realized that his computer wasn't ready yet, again he started screaming. He wanted the manager, so again my boss came out. This man told my boss that I ought to be fired because I'm so stupid I don't even know how to spell. He kept going on in this vein until again security was brought to the front and he was escorted out. I went back to the bathroom, shaking, and I stayed there for probably 15 minutes until I could face the customers again.
I know I was good at what I did. I had customers who were loyal to me. We had done this promotion where if you signed up for 3 years of MSN dial-up service (this is before high-speed, folks), you received a voucher for $400. This made our low-end computers "free" or $50. That brought the price of a computer well within the budget of some of our less-fortunate customers. I had one lady who drove in from Maryland almost every weekend to get computers for various members of her church group. When I had first started at the store, I was hired to fill out the vouchers at a special desk, and that's when I first met this lady. Once I moved to the CSR counter, if she had to return a computer (which was often; the "free" computers were total crap), she would wait and let people go ahead of her in line so she could talk to me. I remembered her name and always called her "Mrs So-and-So," which I think pleased her, and I always had a huge smile for her when I glanced up and saw her waiting for me.
I think part of the problem that customers have with CSRs and cashiers is that there is no respect given to the customers anymore. I've worked several jobs relating to the service industry, and my training has always focused on how to work the cash register and the computers and how to balance my till. Never was I given training in how to interact with people. Now doctors are receiving training to better their bedside manner; shouldn't companies start focusing on making sure their CSRs know how to treat the customer?? I would have loved to seen some sort of training program at the stores I worked for. It also would have prepared me better for dealing with screaming, irate customers.
I also think that customers ask for it sometimes. I've dealt with so many people who take literally the adage that "the customer is always right." They try to get something for nothing, or they don't read the fine print, and when you explain it to them, they get irritated that it's not the awesome deal they thought it was. And then they believe you ought to give them what they want, even though it's not what was advertised, simply because "the customer is always right."
There was this old, nosy lady that lived in my dad's neighborhood for years. All the neighbors felt sorry for her because she was so mean and so evil and so bitter. She would drive around the neighborhood in her white Cadillac, as slowly as possible, looking for covenant violations. She informed on her neighbors across the street because their privacy fence was four inches too high. She had vanity plates on her Cadillac too, and the last three digits were "666." I kid you not.
My mom told me that this old lady would go up to the McDonald's in town and make life hell for the folks who worked there. She would walk in, and the cashiers would scatter. It got to the point where she would ask for whatever it is that she wanted, and however much she wanted to pay for it would be what the cashiers would accept. It was too hard to force her to pay $2 for something when she only wanted to pay $1. They let her have whatever she wanted and pay whatever she wanted for it because it was easier. But the poor McD's employees dreaded her visits.
She's gone now, passed away. Her house has been sold to someone else, but I can't help but shudder as I pass it.