Maybe it just happens to me but I swear 90% of my customer service I receive is so bad. I went to Home Depot and I usually have a great experience.....I purchased a piece of MDF that was two feet by four feet and heavy. I go up to the register and stand there while one cashier works to ring someone up and the other stands and talks to another associate. The gal waiting on a price check has to tell the other girl to ring me up--What is that all about. I work in retail and I just do not get it. So I put the MDF on the counter with the bar code up so she can scan it and I also leave her flat scanner visible so she can scan my plastic tubing for making Sugar stick for the hot glue gun. She says "can yopu put that on the floor so I can scan this other item" I wish I could have seen the look on face! So she totals and I swipe my card and she says can I see your ID-Which is fine by me but do you think she is looking at my picture.....No she is looking at my signature which I just drew a line across the electronic siganature screen . Sure enough I did call to complain and I had a mean lady cashier at the grocery store too. Has customer serivce died?? If I have great customer service I will call and tell them "WOW what a great help this person was" I find those fewer and fewer........
Thanks my husband says I am going to get an ulcer!
No you are correct. At this time of year it really shows its ugly side of human nature. For some reason. I hope that those of us who can smile at them and have them wonder and think..... 
I just don't say anything cause I am in shock at how rude people are. I have worked in the busiest of times and went above and beyond. I would get letters from customers telling me how grateful they were for what I have done. It is fun helping people. My husband was on his way to Madison WI and a family was broke down on the side of the rode. He picked them up and drove them to the next stop-It took and hour because traffic was so backed up but they were so thankful!
That is oh so one of my biggest pet peeves! And I find as I'm getting older I am getting less tolerant with these boobs who are waiting on me. I call and complain also and when someone is awesome I let them know and also call about it. Seems to me that stores/companies need to do more training in this area! And why would you stand around doing nothing.....doing something just makes the day go that much faster!
Venting.........sorry!...lol
When my DH was in school (20 yrs. ago) I worked many different customer service jobs. I went out of my way to be helpful to customers. The sad part was other employees would get ticked off at me using the excuse that I made them look bad. Pretty sad. I even had customers that would tell other employees they would wait for me to help them.
I receive poor customer service more often than I receive good. It seems people don't care anymore.
it just happened to me today!!! I go to michaels and i went to ask a question to the person that looks like she's handling the front end at the time. I ask her a question then she turns away from me to do something else and then answers me with her back turned and that was it, i then just turned and walked away but how rude was that? I asked her a question she should take the time to answer me before she tends to something else. honestly there are 2 people in michaels who are always the nastiest and always rude, next time i go there i'm taking their names down and complaining. I was also at target and the cashier didnt not say 1 word when she rung us up. not hello not goodbuy nothing!
Not that I am glad that this happens it just goes to show the lack of goodness sometimes. I am not saying there is no good but hard to find. I have a six year old that will say please and thankyou. She also will ask to be excused.
debbie2881
I get those one too--The mute cashiers.
moydear77, I know what you mean. I was a hostess in a couple "up scale" restraunts (sp) and saw how some servers handled customers food when they didn't care for the indifferent attitudes or additional requests and especially when the customer would send something back to the kitchen.
OH THE HORRORS!
Well I agree and I try my best to go to cheerful servers/checkers. My son works in retail and alot of people tell them they appreciate his help and attitude.
But to be fair what did that grumpy person have to get up and face this morning. Not an excuse but a thought.
Count your blessings!!
Yes, customer service has gone the drain. But I have been on the other side too. I have been the nicest, and kindest to every customer, but it will never fail that a customer will yell at me, when I tell them that there item is not on sale, or yes I do need to see your ID. I have had one customer told me that I did not have to check her ID and that I was incompetant. All I want to say to them is hey, I just doing my job, and I am human too. I try too look at both sides. The best is when it is christmas time and people complain about long lines, and every register possible is open , yet they complain. Some people I feel complain just to get free stuff.
I am not saying that what she did is right. She should have treated you better. Anyways some people always have to be told what to do and can not see what can be done, or what they should do- she might be one of those.
I worked for HomeDepot several years ago. I would have been fired for that. contact the home office in Fl.
Talking about bad service.
When I went to vote on the 7th, the lady was hassaling me because my address was different on my dl compared to my voters reg. card. I explained that i went to the voter reg. office & changed my address, the lady said that since I had changed my address @ the DMV, no need for a new lisence(sp?).This "older lady" talked to her friend for about ten minutes while I paiently waited to give her my name to vote. The main person there was a man, came over tosee what was wrong; told her to let me vote. Beofre I walked off, he grabbed my elbow really tight & pointed his finger @ me and said I needed to get everything fixed. 
I said" You have all of 2 seconds to get your hands off of me. I have a Mom & a Dda I don't need any more". I voted & left. I'm going Mondasy to the local office & reporting them.
I have taken a personal stand on this issue. If I don't get customer service from a business then I don't shop there anymore. Period. This means I may have to go out of my way to get something or spend a little more money or wait a little longer for the item, but it is totally worth it to me to have a better shopping experience and to know that I am supporting business done right instead of business done wrong.
There is no excuse for poor customer service. Even if I had the crapiest day so far I go to work and put 100% into my job. She was young and probably in highschool.
I have been yelled at by a a customer but it had nothing to do with what I did. The company I worked for is noted for outstanding customer service--For those of you in the Twin Cities--Creative Kidstuff. It is our number one goal to make the customer happy. So yes we would honor a coupon or try to accomadate as much as we could. Is there people who take advantage of our kindness you betcha.
All I wnated was MDF for the base of my gingerbread house and left feeling upset. Do I feel bad about complaing-No because hopefully that person will know to change there actions in the future.
Customer service has taken quite a hit over the past 15 years or so. I worked in customer service for many years and we bent over backwards to help our customers. The U.S. used to be a "service oriented" country. In today's world you're lucky if you aren't hung up on or ignored, and even yelled at. It really is sad commentary on civility. I'm so sorry you had such a negative experience, it all but ruins the desire to return to that particular store, and they probably don't even realize it. 
This topic is truely intriguing and interesting! I see several stores mentioned and I have to agree with all the comments regarding negative attitudes towards shoppers!
I'm usually a pretty easy-going person; try not to get in a hurry and try to always help people if I see they need it. I agree that it is very frustrating when you are treated ugly when shopping, eating out, or whatever! And it's happening more and more everywhere!
I recently (this past Weds) resigned from my job; my last day. (I'm still a bit nervous - what if I can't stay busy enough....) I've been an xray technologist in a hospital since 1979 (not the same one...) and like I said, "it's everywhere"!!
Sorry for rambling - very good topic!!!
honestly- it some ways i think it is a result of the kind of stores we shop at...
i used to work at a small retail est. where we where allowed to have an interestin our costumers -make some command decisions and where "trusted" to do the right thing. we had pride in our store because we had a direct influence in things-yes small town
but don't you think that is what we jhave lost????
don't get me wrong i shop at alotttttt of the big boxes- i have to but the cashiers (generalization here so nobody get mad)aren't alowed to do much else but stand there- they can't know or do much else. therefore they don't feel conected because of our corporate culture which has really spiriled in the past decade - no more mom and pops where people had a real vested interest in costumer service and satisfaction!!
I work in a large grocery retail chain, well somewhat large, and we pride ourselves on our customer service. i have always made the customer come first no matter what, and if i miss waiting on a customer i appologize,i use to work in the meat dept and someitimes when i was cutting meat i wouldn't look at the counter(cut the tip of my finger off once, so looking up is no longer an option,) but i always run when i notice them. i also now work in a different dpt and one day in themeat and i will help on the counter even if i am not in that dept that day. i get sooo mad at bad customer service and i will let the people know about it. especially since i work in that field. we went car shoppin once and no one would wait on us. so i went in to the sales manager and asked if i would get the comission off the sale since i was selling the vehicle to myself. he didn't like that one bit. he asked me if i wanted a job and I said yes, YOURS. well we didn't end up buying a vehicle from them but i did leave with a smile on my face. The big problem is that places like Walmart have come in with the attitude that they are saving you so much money they don't need to be nice, and they pay there help crap for wages that they don't care. (my mom use to work there, did for 7 years and went from 6.50 hr. to 8.50. ) they have also put in those self checkouts that i refuse to use, they don't pay me to do there job, and i won't take someone elses away.
so in short i agreee with you. just needed to vent.
When I was a waitress there were customers who would leave if I wasn't there working because they said I went above and beyond. The others I worked with didn't like this and said I was making them look bad by comparison. whatever, just do you job and smile no matter how bad your day is and customer service will be fine. To bad a LOT of people don't follow this advice anymore, we are getting close to the holidays so it will only get worse.
i also realize that being a cahsier is a hard job, you hear about everything good and bad and if a customer has a bad day nine chances out of ten you will be the one who gets it, so around this time of year i usually try to be more patient with the cashiers, just because ihave been there,
This is one thing I love about Okinawa and don't look forward to in going back to the states. The people here are soooooooooo nice and very helpful, all the time. Whenever you walk into a store or restaurant, all the people yell "Welcome!!" As you are walking around the store, as you pass an employee, they say say "Welcome". Even if you need help and they don't speak English, they will stop what they are doing and go find someone who does speak English and then that person will help you till everything you need is solved! They really go out of their way to help you here. I once knocked some pillows off a shelf in a department store. I went to pick them up and put them back but just as I got my hands on one an employee ran over and picked them and told me to not worry about it. It's like that all over here. I'm sure going to miss this place. 
Maybe they should send Okinawans to the states to teach good customer service. 
I have yet (in 2 years) to have any bad customer service in Okinawa.
I think customers should be understanding and not take things out on the cashier because they cant do much standing behind the counter and cashiers & other workers should try to help as much as they can. I understand that sometimes someone is just not able to help and thats ok but atleast show that you tried or atleast get me someone who you think will be able to help. When someone is asking a simple question there is no need to be nasty. Everyone has bad days but its not ok to take it out on people who didnt cause you to have a bad day. I used to tell DH all the time when he had a bad day that i didnt cause it and its not fair to me to take it out on me and he doesnt anymore. there is no reason to take out your frustration on anyone especially a stranger. Maybe we should go back to the thinking of "do onto others as we would like done to ourselves!"
I agree that customer service is lacking in many places these days. However, today I had a lady go above and beyond to help and you can believe I will be going back.
I went to a small cake and candy supply store today. She carries some Americolor and some luster dust and petal dust, and lots of different tips so I wanted to go check her place out. I had my four year old with me. He was behaving pretty well.
She also makes and sells cookies and cakes. She was baking some cookies while we were there and my son wanted one. I told him that I would ask if she had any available that she could sell. Well she heard us and she brought him an undecorated cookie which he devoured. Then while I was shopping, she let him decorate one and she wrapped it in foil for him. And when I started looking at the tips and petal dust, she got him about 5 cookies that were not shaped right to sell and she got him a big bowl of icing and 3 types of sprinkles and let him go to town. She even boxed them all for him to take home and didn't charge me a penny. I was so impressed!
All of this gave me some time to look. And even if I know I can get something a little bit cheaper elsewhere - you can bet I will patronize her shop every chance I get! I also told several people today about it. It's great to know that there are still people around who understand customer service... it's not all lost!
it's everywhere you turn these days. Just recently I had a winning ticket on a scratch off and when I went to the service counter to turn it in the woman just looked at me and said "well your just gonna have to wait a minute i have to do this first" I was speachless. Ya know a simple one moment ma'am or something like it would have been much nicer.
I always smile and say thank you and show some respect to everyone around me because I know what a difference it makes for me to hear it.
I feel we(corporate America) believes that "good customer service" is no complaints. I, too, work in customer service and in my experience 99% of the calls are bad. Maybe its just in my area but everyone here expects everything to be handed to them, and when its not they call to complain. I've been managing cashiers for 6 years so I'm confident they know what I expect from them. I'm also confident that most of our customers are happy with the service(I've witnessed the interaction between the two). Yet, I've never once gotten a call about good customer service, an email once but no call.
With this in mind, I think some employees don't want to take the effort to go out the way because they get nothing in return from the customer.
Personally, if a cashier doesn't say something like hi or hello, I will. I love to say something that gets them laughing. Works like a charm, the rest of the time we are going on like friends. I think it much easier to be nice than it is purposely be mean. But I do know everyone, myself included, has bad days. Cut people a little slack.
I hate self check outs! Corporate gets out of paying a cashier, bagger, etc. but yet our prices get higher and higher. I'm not falling that one, thank you!. Once the cashier told me I could use self check out and I said NO, I'll wait.
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