i'm so glad this post was started! I even cracked my knuckles(sp?) before I started typing 
I can totally understand where everyone is coming from. I have been to stores where the checkout person didn't open her mouth either. That really ticks me off. No eye contact, no hello just nothing!
My biggest pet peeve is when I hand you my money to pay, I put it directly in your hands. And when change is due, I expect you to put it directly in my hands. Not drop it on the counter for me to fetch. 
I think this is a personal thing but that drives me up the wall! So when I remember a check out person that does this. I will purposely move to where there is no counter for him/her to put the money down in front of me, she will have to turn and face me and place it in my hand. 
Sometimes I have to remember that maybe people are just having a bad day and to let it go. Someone told me once 'the things that you don't like in other people are the things that you don't like in you' That isn't word for word and I don't know if she was quoting someone but that's what I took from it. So when I see that someone has a bad attitude I try to remember that, and think about if I am putting out a vibe that would cause this person to react to me in such a manner?
just my venting 2 cents 
My biggest pet peeve is when I hand you my money to pay, I put it directly in your hands. And when change is due, I expect you to put it directly in my hands. Not drop it on the counter for me to fetch.
My pet peeve is loose change on top of the bills. Ah, our idiosyncrasies are what drive us insane. 
I don't think it's all customer service that has declined. I believe that some customers themselves can be rude at times. I work in a law office and in the past three weeks, I have had three different clients call and were totally rude to me for things totally beyond my control. Unfortunately, I have to be professional and try to keep calm myself. It is getting harder to do.
I love the cashiers that not only don't say hello or hi but then don't even tell you the amount! They expect you to look at the register and see for yourself.
I always try to be friendly first when I approach a register. I always smile and say hi but, if the cashier ignors me, I ignor right back.
Or the WalMart greeters that just grunt at you when you walk in. Ugh! There was a greeter at a WalMart in SC that was the nicest lady ever! She was always in a super good mood. If she was ever in a bad mood, she sure didn't let the customers know. I loved going in whatever door she was at.
And while we are on the subject, lol, how about the associates who walk around a store and act like you are in their way. They never say excuse me or anything.
I agree with those saying you never know what is causing someone to have a bad day but people in customer service need to learn to serarate their personal life from their work life. I'm a firm beliver in "Do unto others..." but it never seems like people "do unto me back" when they are having a bad day. I can't count how many times I have gotten frustrated and said, "Forget it! I'm done being nice!" but it just doesn't work for me, I don't have the heart to be rude. 
I think just EVERY body is getting rude these days. Not just customer service (although they definately have their fair share of rudeness!) One of my pet peeves is people who think that since they are a pedestrian that it means they can slowly stroll across the road and make the cars slow down or stop for them.
Seems like anymore, everything is "me first". I have to watch myself because during shopping or driving I find myself getting cranky myself, and lowering myself to the attitude everyone else has. I have to remind myself to still rise above that.
Sometimes I remember what happened in New Orleans when the hurricane took everything and some of the people who were left just went lawless.... I wonder if someday America goes through another depression if we will band together and help each other out or if it will be mass chaos because everyone feels "their rights" have been violated.
Ok rant over.
II agree with those saying you never know what is causing someone to have a bad day but people in customer service need to learn to serarate their personal life from their work life. I'm a firm beliver in "Do unto others..." but it never seems like people "do unto me back" when they are having a bad day.:
Exactly. You might be having a bad day but it has nothing to do with me. As far as cutting people slack-You are there to help your store. Whether it be small store or big store. And some people do work on comission so not to care about your job really does not help yourself.
There is never an instance that it is OK to be in customer service and be rude. Even if a customer is upset there are ways to fix the situation. They are more apt to be mad if you just sit there and do nothing.
I have been yelled at and I took with a grain of salt.
I HAD to get in on this one!
First of all, I think any customer service based job is the most difficult. I've never liked jobs that require me to have lots of contact with the general public.
I am a firm believer in giving praise where it is due and complaining when necessary. When I get exceptional service at a store or restaurant, I will see the manager or e-mail the corporate headquarters and give the compliment. Praise is the best reinforcement for what can be a very thankless job.
Ditto for bad service. I will be as detailed as possible. Situations like bad attitude, uninformed employees and general poor competency can't be corrected if no one addresses it. More often than not, I get a very embarrassed manager apologizing profusely. If a lower level employee is not doiing his/her job, it meeans the manager is not doing thier own job.
My biggest peeves:
Retail employees who do not greet me in any way, shape or form, who think it is appropriate to complain about how much thier job sucks while I'm standing there.
Being ignored or dismissed when I need assistance in a store. " I don't know, try looking ...over there" is NOT the right answer.
I second the poster who said bad service causes her to stop shopping at a particular store. When I bought my car, the first place I went to exclusively sold that make and I could not get anyone to even look at me. I went to another multi make dealer and bought it there instead. Before I went home, I drove my new car back to the first dealer and spoke to the sales manager, informing him that his dealerships poor customer servce lost them not only my sale, but any future purchases. I felt so vindicated!
Sorry for the long vent, but I feel better!! Great post!!
I think just EVERY body is getting rude these days. Not just customer service (although they definately have their fair share of rudeness!) One of my pet peeves is people who think that since they are a pedestrian that it means they can slowly stroll across the road and make the cars slow down or stop for them.
Ha HA
I hate that too
If I am alone I start saying can you move a liittle faster please!! Especially on the streets!
have you also noticed that they don't teach the cashiers to count the money back anymore. when i was 16 i was trained to count the money back. no if s and or butts.
omg dont get me started. lol
i recently had the worst customer service experience of my life. 3 years ago I bought a 65 inch wide screen tv from circuit city and bought the 5 yr warranty plan w/ it .Total purchase $3800. 3 months ago it broke down and repair guy came out and said the tube was bad and needed to be replaced. Well 2 1/2 months later with daily calls to the warranty dept. at circuit city and my tv is still not fixed. I had a case manager tell me over the phone that he had other customers that we more important that he needed to take care of. OMG are you kidding me?? I was fuming. So I called the VP of Public Relations and sent email to him as well. Well then they are nice a pie and are going to give me a store credit for the original purchase price of the tv, tax and delivery included. I go down the circuit city to pick out a tv only to find out that they have only issued a credit for $2200, this isnt even close to what I had paid. Well 3 months later, i finally get them to give me the correct credit after several more unpleasant phone calls and emails. Just got the tv today! UGGHH it shouldnt be that hard. If you are working in retail, then you should be friendly and helpful. What happened to the customer is always right? Now it is service with a sneer.
Now that someone has quoted me, I should correct my typo. LOL I meant separate not serarate.
I'm all about giving praise where praise is due, too. I will most certainly tell a manager or supervisor or fill out a comment card or whatever when I have gotten good service. I feel if people hear it from others how well they are doing, they will keeping doing well. But I'm not afrid to complain when necessary. 
I've noticed alot of customer service people are rude to my kids. I have very friendly and polite boys and my 6 yo likes to say hi to the cashiers and ask them questions about their job or make small talk. I guess it could be annoying and I do try to just tap him and say "Let's let her do her job, okay?" but although a few will smile and answer his questions, some pretend not to even hear him trying to make conversation with them. I mean...kids are people too and the least they could do is smile and say hi back....
My last bout with a bad cashier was at Walmart (where else?) when suddenly the lady decided I had too many high value coupons and she tried to get me to not get to use them by claiming they only took one of this or one of that, or that this one wasn't good on this item, etc. I could prove to her in the fine print that they were all perfectly good and usable coupons...she went to her supervisor and came back and had to give me most of them, but still refused to allow me to use one (which they were courtesy coupons from the Lysol company that clearly say that they can be combined on any one purchase because they are for getting complimentary items). Oh well! I think its the first time I have ever actually gotten in a real argument with a cashier. 
Oh my gosh, my story tops them all. As many of you know, I recently had to make the decision to file disability. Now, I was once a government worker myself...and I know when someone calls a gov't office, it's usually to call and complain. I always used respect and was very nice to even the worst complainers! So I called the "800" general information number to social security to ask how the process is started. (Oh before I forget, I was instructed to do this by my attorney who is helping me file) So this lady picks up after I had been waiting over 10 mins for my call to be answered. (again, it's very common when you call the gov't to be on hold awhile, so I didn't mind waiting) The first thing out of her mouth "what do ya need." not, "hi how are you, OR how may I help you?"...So I told her exactly what my atty told me to ask for - an application appointment. You would think that I just offended her dead mother or something with the way she flew off the handle. She goes, "HUH???" like she had no idea what that was. I calmly told her, "my attorney told me I need to ask for an appointment application - are you the right person to speak with?"
she goes, "I never asked if you had a damn attorney and we don't do those by mail anymore!" I was shocked...I mean I literally could not speak. I couldn't believe that this lady was so rawled up by such a simple question. So I said, "ma'am you don't need to be rude, I'm just asking how to get started on the disability process." She asked what my disability was and I said interstitial cystitis...she goes "Well I've never heard of that so you best have some kind of medical diagnosis to prove it." I'd had it. I told her to put her supervisor on the phone, and she hangs up. Ggggrrrrrr.....I will remember that call for the rest of my life and that lady is by far the RUDEST person I have EVER dealt with!
I honestly thought that rude customer service only existed in the Northeast! I also must sound off on what I call the "wordless transaction", sometimes I loudly say "thank you!" and then the person says "you're welcome" for what? spending my money!
I admit that I will complain about poor customer service but I also praise for excellent customer service.
I have thanked baggers before when they do a nice neat job bagging my stuff and not overbagging. Sometimes you get people who don't care and they pile stuff in your bags. One time I had an older lady who took a few extra seconds to make sure like items got bagged neatly together and did not overstuff the bags. I definately complimented her on that.
clever_cakes311,
I know what you mean about rude people & disabilty. My husband started filing in June 2002. We started without an attorney; wrong thing to do. Anyway, he must have gotten the same lady. This lady told him he was young enough to go to school & learn something. He shouldn't stay home & mooch off of the government. Holy cow. If I could have grabbed her throught the phone....
Anyway, after 2, yes 2 spinal fusions. He had 3 T.I.A. strokes in a weeks time. His main worry; not supporting his family(being a man) & mooching.
I am aware of the issues in working with the public. I worked retail for several years. The poeple on the phone can't tell you what you should or shouldn't do. Thety aren't doctors or disabilty board members. Thank God after three years, he was approved.
I really think that in today's times, civilty & manners are not taught to the youth in America.
If a cashier is rude, I will usually bring it to her/his attention. If really bad the managers also. The same goes for a really nice one.
OMG!! I am a bad customer service associates worst nightmare!!! It takes a LOT to make me even get a small amount snippy with a person either face to face or on the phone. Not because I am so sweet...lol...but becasue I always think of the "you get more bee's with honey" saying. When someone ignores me at the register, when I leave, I purposely make their eye contact even if I have to lower my head down to get into their vision area, and I say really loudlu "Well Thank You so much!!! You Have a nice day Too!!!!!!!Gets them every time. LOL. I just yesturday called a company vice president to report that the CS supervisor was REALLY rude to me. I have had 2 car loans from this company for 2 years now. I have paid every payment by check. Because of internet fraud(NEVER let a website store your CC info...what a nightmare) my check bounced. I called the company last week and let them know but because they didn't have the check back they said to wait for them to call me. I recieved a message to call. When she answered the phone, she didn't even address me, she yelled "LATER" to someone she was talking to. I said "HellO?!?" She said "Yeah" She then proceded to get REALLY snippy when I asked her for proof of the fee ect stating that they don't usuallyy provide that ect. I stated it was so I could get my fee money back from the company. She gets all rude with me. I asked how much I owed. She told me. SHe then proceded to tell me that I was NEVER going to be allowed to send in a check again. I said this was my first one that bounced and that I had proof that it wasn't my fault...do you know what she said??? She said "Yeah right, proof....I have a computer and printer too ya know" I almost lost it. I ended up finding out who shw was (the CS SUper) and talked to her boss who was also kinda snippy till I explained what I was calling for. Told me to talk to the person's supervisor ect. I said "You mean **** at ex 1003???? That is who I am complaining about!!! Aren't YOU her supervisor" Suddenly he was nice. It really is rediculous. (SP) People really do need a reality check. The worst part is you know most of these rude people probably go into a store ect and EXPECT PERFECT CS. What goes around comes around.
You people complaining about Walmart employees have got to come visit me. We live in a VERY rural area, the closest Walmart is 95 miles away and isn't open 24 hours. There is a store called ALCO in the town my husband works in and they are terrible about everything but it's so far to go anywhere else that we don't have much choice sometimes so we go to ALCO. Their employees aren't generally the brightest crayons in the box, I'm not trying to be mean but these are people that have to spend 15 minutes figuring out how to give change if they don't type it in right or if someone finds a dime after they type in the dollar amount. This wouldn't be so bad if they didn't insist on not calling extra people up or having just the customer service desk open but it can take 20 minutes in line with 2 people in front who have 5 items each. They just got new tills with a more complicated system and instead of having extra people at the tills until everyone is doing okay they have people waiting in line for 20 minutes while only 2 of 6 tills are going. 
A town about 30 miles from home is getting a new Walmart sometime in the next couple years, they've bought the land and stuff, and we can't wait. Walmart isn't our favorite store but we can stop going to Alco.
I've noticed alot of customer service people are rude to my kids. I have very friendly and polite boys and my 6 yo likes to say hi to the cashiers and ask them questions about their job or make small talk. I guess it could be annoying and I do try to just tap him and say "Let's let her do her job, okay?" but although a few will smile and answer his questions, some pretend not to even hear him trying to make conversation with them. I mean...kids are people too and the least they could do is smile and say hi back....
That happens to my DD too! She's 5 and likes to say "Hi! How are you?" Some people will smile and reply, but most just look at her like she's some kind of alien or something. I feel bad because she's trying to be friendly and people just ignore her.
I'm finding the posts about people ignoring kids to be kind of sad. I'm not exactly a "kid person" but I would never be rude to a kid. (Especially a small child.) I always say hi to kids that say hi to me. Even the random ones walking around in a store and just happily say "HI!!"
OMG!!! I work for a small packaging company and our is "The customer may not always be right, but they are the customer." We pride ourselves in going above and beyond to exceed our customers expectations. So we really get ticked off when we receive bad customer service. I too hate it when a cashier will not look at you. But by far the worst thing that I have seen was at an upscale Boutique in Tulsa, during the holiday season. My aunt and I were looking around at the Jewelry. We were just drooling when this old man - I say old because he was probably late 60 to early 70 and I was all of 15 at the time - comes in to the store, overalls stained with dirt and grease, asks to see this gorgeous $9000.00 bracelet the sales lady looked him up and down and said I am sorry, but can you afford it...... He looked at her and walked out. The manager runs after him. Turns out this guys was worth well over 75 million dollars easy and because he was treated rudely for being in his work clothes, he refused to buy anything. The manager went off on that sales lady. My aunt and I left laughing after we stuck around to see how it all turned out. Just goes to show you should be nice and respectful to everyone.
well, my day started out crappy, with HOBBY LOBBY & there lack of helpfulness (she was rude, just not helpful), then checkout was RUDE!! i asked about using to coupons & she told me 1 coupn per person per day, so i ask if my son can buy it & she rudely repeated herself, well he's young & i wasn't going to give it to him if she wasn't going to ring it up....i went to MICHAEL'S & again not rude, little nicer just not helpful.....VERY VERY HELPFUL at TOYS R US......at WALMART i had an annoyed unhelpful employee, then a VERY VERY helpful one, go figure---i was ready so scream---i did have a funny thing happen, DS & i went through the grive thru & be were listening to the last 3 minutes of the FL/SC game & u could barely understand it--i think she thought we were CRAZY all she could do was smile, to keep from laughing (DS & i (((were))) acting crazy) FL was either losing or had just got a TD--thank you for listen to me & thanks to the girl at the drive thru & being a happy person
All of these large corporations are only after the almighty buck. I worked for a customer service company for UPS and last year they started going with the new automated system where you talk mostly to a machine and its so hard to talk to a human. As soon as they started that we knew our days were limited. Sure enough we were laid off in January of last year. I worked for them for 5 years and I cared about what I did. I was always thanked by customers for going the extra mile for them and for being friendly and I was criticized by supervisors for taking too long on my calls. Well at least I've gone back to school and I'll have my degree in a year. I probably wouldn't have done it if I hadn't lost my job.
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