Customer Service Stinks in the U.S.

[LPZ]

Not to vent , but here goes....Went on vacation last week to the beachcoast of Maryland.

[tommy]

I don't think you can blame the whole US because of some bad experiences, but i do agree.

The problem IS in what you said....a bunch of kids working not careing, why, no one else will work in Mc Donalds and get paid nothing.

What can you do...don't go there anymore.

[monkeybomb]

We can't expect people to make 8 dollars an hour and give a crap.  You can think that's how it should be, but if you expect it you'll be disappointed plenty.  If you want someone to take their job seriously then they need to be paid that way.   Otherwise you are just left with the people who are bad at everything or kids that don't understand the world yet. 

[ChadTower]

That's the problem with America now, that last post.  I mean, how much does a person think they deserve for putting a piece of meat on a bun 450 times a day?  If anyone can do the work, they should be paid like they can be replaced by anyone.

[sidekick]

.

[danny_galaga]

actually (and some of you guys might be surprised i think so) i find that where there is tipping involved, the service in the US is normally better than in Australia. of course if theres no tipping, then people arent too bothered to try hard. so in australia our service is kinda 'averaged out' because we have higher minimum wages, but no tipping culture. so workers try a little harder, but no song and dance.
HAVING said that however, id rather live here cos im a slacker 

[Bones]

I don't think level of pay, wage or tipping should have anything to do with the service one gives or receives.

Do what you do and do it well because you have high standards and a strong work ethic.

Just my few cents worth but I have no time for poor service and slackers.

[danny_galaga]

but I have no time for...  slackers.

man, i thought you and i were like this (holds up crossed fingers) 

[monkeybomb]

Do what you do and do it well because you have high standards and a strong work ethic.

Someone with a strong work ethinc is worth more than 8.65 an hour.  They usually get better jobs and don't end up at a place like McDolnalds anyway.  So it can't effect service expectation in this kind of place or anywhere that the service providers make less than a living wage.

For me, I would never give 100 percent of myself for 8.65 an hour.  It's insulting and degrading.  The idea of taking my work and the limited time from my life to make someone who was born rich more money than I get for it just doesn't work for me.  I've had several jobs where the owners would try to con us into throwing away ethics to make more money for them.  They wanted us to give everything in our lives so that they could reap the reward.  No Way, not me.

[sidekick]

Yeah MB - stick it to the man!

[DrewKaree]

but I have no time for...  slackers.

man, i thought you and i were like this (holds up crossed fingers) 

He qualified it.  Do you give poor service in addition to being a slacker?  If not, you two can still peacefully coexist! 

YAAAAYYYY!

[Bones]

Your a slacker Mcfly, just like your old man.

[tommy]

Yeah MB - stick it to the man!

Whats going on here?

[Bones]

I understand your point MB but I can only speak from my own experience. Often going the extra step shows motivation, insight into character and more often than not it will be rewarded. When people make themselves an asset to a business good things usually happen. Not always I will concede, but more often than not.

I earn a pretty damn good living now but it wasn

[monkeybomb]

You're right.  That is how you make it in this world and put yourself in the best situation.  That's why people like you don't stay at those kinds of jobs long and we're left who does.

BTW - I didn't stay at those jobs either because I like to do my best and feel good about it. It's a shame because one of them was in a field where you can really help people, but you constantly have to answer to the profit takers and can't always give help where it is needed.  So now I'm in a field where I can help people and get paid something.  Not a lot, but enough.  I could live on it even if I weren't married. 

[Bones]

The irony is that I have not actually "seeked out" my last three consecutive jobs but have been "poached" in every instance.

I don't consider myself particularly smart or special and I have zero education, but you never know who is watching and what they are thinking!

[Jessica Simpson]

I don't consider myself particularly smart or special.....

I think you are special Bones. 

[Bones]

Thanks Jessica.

[shmokes]

Service in America is the best I've seen.  And this is coming from a liberal.  I don't consider myself an expert...I've only been two three other countries overseas, but America takes home the prize for best service.  I secretly believe that in America people are still brainwashed with the American Dream thing where if they just work hard and do their best they can be Bill Gates or the President of the U.S. one day.  In America you can be anything....you just have to work hard.  Everybody is always trying to climb the ladder here, keeping up with the Joneses.  And they actually believe that those ladders lead to the top.  They do lead up, mind you, but we believe they lead to the top.  And they don't, of course. 

Anyway, it's not just service.  America has the highest productivity in the world and I think it has a lot to do with having the American dream pounded into our head.  Personally, I think it's a double edged sword.  We're rich, and I personally benefit from and enjoy that.  Can't complain.  On the other hand, I think......

people of zee world, Relax!

[AlanS17]

Fed up with customer service? Come move to south Texas. Best customer service around. All the "crap jobs" are taken be illegal immigrants that are willing to work for what they can because it's still better than back home in Mexico. And they do a good job, too. It's where I grew up. I'm not familiar with bad customer service.

[JCL]

You want champagne service on a mad dog 20-20 budget?

Tell me how that works out for ya!

The US of today is all about diving to the bottom. We like cheap, not good. Look at Wal-Mart et al.

1) Buy Cheap Crap from China
2) Pay your people as little as you can
3) Don't pay for little things like health care
4) PROFIT!!!11!!!@!@!


That's capitalism in the USA. Life is like an --auto-censored-- sandwhich ...

IGMFU!

[Bones]

America has the highest productivity in the world and.....

Really??

I thought the Japs had it over everyone. Maybe that's just in the movies.....

[JCL]

America has the highest productivity in the world and.....

Really??

I thought the Japs had it over everyone. Maybe that's just in the movies.....

Productivity is a slippery concept.

Some measurements ignore hours worked. So a country (like the US or Japan) where people work a lot gets a higher number than a place where people work less (say Sweden).

Other measures include hours so the US is lower.

The US does have high productivity per worker hour, but not the highest. France and several other European nations (and probably others) are higher. But even this measurement of productivity per hour doesn't tell the whole story.

For example, France is more productive than the US as measured per worker hour. But France has high unemployment and low participation in the labor pool. So the people working typically are the best at what they do as the competition for jobs is tougher than many other places.

[Havok]

Customer service sucks in the US, because it has been outsourced to India and China..

[DrewKaree]

Unless dealing in something intangible, productivity is poorly measured without factoring in hours worked.

If it takes Joe American 5 hours to make a widget, and it takes Joe Asian 4.5 hours to make a widget, and it takes Joe Aussie 29 hours to make a widget.....Bones should drop the "Joe Aussie" alias

Tangible products need time measurements per piece in order to determine a person's productivity. 

You're not measuring the out-of-work person's ability to make the widget, you're comparing people who presently make identical (or VERY similar) products, and using that to compare productivity.  It's the same way you figure out if you're more productive than in the past.

[fredster]

I don't think level of pay, wage or tipping should have anything to do with the service one gives or receives.

Do what you do and do it well because you have high standards and a strong work ethic.

I agree. You don't have to take a job like that. There are many jobs. 

Level of pay has nothing to do with the ethic of work.  If you agree to work for a certain amount of cash.  They pay you and you do work.  Simple.

If somebody starts complaining about their pay, then it's a problem for me. I was always happy with my employers.  If I wasn't, I didn't complain, I'd just find another job. Again, Simple.

Service sucks because managment sucks IMO.  People aren't paying attention to customer service in places like that because they have sooo many.  They don't need to pay attention to it, and that's sad.

[DrewKaree]

 

[Shape D.]

I hate to send food items back, because probably when you get it back, it has something extra on it if you know what I mean.

Yes, because if you complain that something was made wrong they will do something horrible to your food. 

Yes, so customer service in the us sucks, did you tell any of these buisnesses of thier errors?  Theres a lot more to customer service than just doing it right the first time. (not that it isn't important) But if you didn't alert these guys to the problem you never even gave them a chance to give you "good customer service" wich has alot more to do with customer relations and how you handle something when theres a problem.

[Avery]

Service sucks because managment sucks IMO.

[Dartful Dodger]

I hate to send food items back, because probably when you get it back, it has something extra on it if you know what I mean.

Yes, because if you complain that something was made wrong they will do something horrible to your food. 

I was a waiter in college...

If you are going to complain about the service, do it AFTER you've gotten your meal.

NEVER LET YOUR FOOD LEAVE YOUR SIGHT AFTER YOU'VE COMPLAINED.

[Stingray]

I worked as a line cook for years after high school. I never once did anything to anyone's food no matter how pissed I was. Wait staff can be much more petty though.

-S

[monkeybomb]

I was a waiter in college...

If you are going to complain about the service, do it AFTER you've gotten your meal.

NEVER LET YOUR FOOD LEAVE YOUR SIGHT AFTER YOU'VE COMPLAINED.

What if you are super nice and appologize for sending it back?  Does that make a difference?

[Dartful Dodger]

What if you are super nice and appologize for sending it back?

[Bones]

I've seen a steak that had the wrong sauce on it brought back to the line it was rinsed off under hot water, then thrown against the wall and dropped to the floor to knock the water off of it.

Although I do find that funny, that's pretty cold. Messing with a mans woman, car or food is just plain wrong.

[danny_galaga]

actually, when you think about it its all good. whats the worst service you usually get? its fast food joints etc. they are usually low paying jobs. but they are usually surly teenagers. weve all been there. some will work hard, most wont because there is something 'better'. they move on, get a more professional job and earn more.
i was being a bit self-effacing when i said i was a slacker. before i moved to queensland in april i had my own business. for about 3 years. when i started i wasnt earning much and i managed to get a part time job on sunday mornings. now the work was pretty uninteresting, cleaning up after some markets- cleaning tables, picking up rubbish etc and i had to get up at 5am to get started. but the pay! what they did was pay you a set amount and you work however you want as long as its done at the end of the day. the guy before me was a REAL slacker. same money, but took him hours longer. so earnt the equivalent of maybe 15 dollars an hour while i was getting about 27! makes you work harder when its a set amount. for some types of work where there is a tangible result that could be a better way of paying people. obviously not burger joints though...

[DrewKaree]

Although I do find that funny, that's pretty cold. Messing with a mans woman, car or food is just plain wrong.

I was telling Mrs Bones the same thing in the Kombi the other day as we were enjoying those lobster tails you were told "the store is out of 'em"

OK, all jokes aside, that IS pretty funny, but points to a general lack of integrity that SOMEONE back there who couldn't have POSSIBLY missed that display wasn't going to say anything about it.  For the sake of my wondering mind, how long did the guy work there, and did SOMEONE say something about it? 

[Bones]

actually, when you think about it its all good. whats the worst service you usually get? its fast food joints etc. they are usually low paying jobs. but they are usually surly teenagers. weve all been there. some will work hard, most wont because there is something 'better'. they move on, get a more professional job and earn more.
i was being a bit self-effacing when i said i was a slacker. before i moved to queensland in april i had my own business. for about 3 years. when i started i wasnt earning much and i managed to get a part time job on sunday mornings. now the work was pretty uninteresting, cleaning up after some markets- cleaning tables, picking up rubbish etc and i had to get up at 5am to get started. but the pay! what they did was pay you a set amount and you work however you want as long as its done at the end of the day. the guy before me was a REAL slacker. same money, but took him hours longer. so earnt the equivalent of maybe 15 dollars an hour while i was getting about 27! makes you work harder when its a set amount. for some types of work where there is a tangible result that could be a better way of paying people. obviously not burger joints though...

I think danny might be a slacker.

[daywane]

service stinks.

many times I bought things from wal mart and are broken right out the box.

You scan your own goods at stores are popping up every place around here.

( I complained to a manager at Wall Mart about them and staid I do not think I should have to scan and bag my own cart. I did not come here to work)
( she laughed at me and said you call that work.... You must know the meaning of work)
that was uncalled for. YES a sales clerk is work. ( a position of employment)
I did explain to the Manager I make 2 times her pay so I guess I work smarter not harder like she did

Restaurants. Cracker barell ordered a pricey plate and the side dishes were 1 table spoon portions. not kidding. I kept sending it back . I told them I wanted $25.00 a plate worth of food since I am paying $25.00 a plate

TGIF went there for Fathers day. Reserved a table for 6
got there they wedged us all in a small table. no room to move , took 1.5 hrs to get our food. wrong orders and our food was cold and had been microwaved.
I can tell a microwaved baked potato over a baked in the oven.
Management said they were swamped and had not planed for a big rush.
FATHERS DAY!!! duh...

Wall Mart... new style rotating bag holders. Clerks steal a bag all the time. Watched them do it. (tried on me several times.)

Comp USA and Office Max clerks give bad PC advice all the time. I have had to learn to bite my lip. My wife hate it when I jump in and tell the customer that the teenage kid has not a clue what they are talking about and you do need to find out if your GAP slot is 4x or 8x
Or no you can not back up your movies with window 95 and this burner

[AlanS17]

Not getting waited on for an hour = bad service.
Broken items out of the box = bad product.
Getting an order wrong = not bright individual.

Don't confuse poor customer service with other things. You can try really hard and still mess everything up.

[fredster]

Bad service doesn't limit itself to Fast food service or low paying jobs.

It's everywhere.

Doctors spend like 2 minutes with you.  Lawyers charge you and don't give it the effort.  Police officers slack out.  Look at politicians in it for the cash and their own personal gain.

Try getting somebody to do something when they are supposed to and see who's good and not good.  Try getting help on tech issues on your telephone service.

I absolutely hate voice jail. 

[ChadTower]

Restaurants. Cracker barell ordered a pricey plate and the side dishes were 1 table spoon portions. not kidding. I kept sending it back . I told them I wanted $25.00 a plate worth of food since I am paying $25.00 a plate

I go to Cracker Barrell all the time.  I have never seen an item there approach $20, nevermind $25.  You might want to look at your check.

[Harry Potter]

I don't know about the US but in Australia, I sometimes get the feeling they try a bit too hard. I actually like walking through a department store looking at all the electronic gizmos without someone coming up to me every two minutes asking if I need help.

When I was in my home country, the Czech republic recently, I found it was the exact opposite. No one bothers you when browsing (nice) but then trying to get help would be almost infuriating. I later found out that the average wage there is about 10000 Korunas a month, which is about $416US. I'd be quite unpleasant if I were earning such crap money. And before the standard of living comparisons come out, it ISN'T enough to live on. It's enough to survive on.

My 0.02 (0.36 Korunas)

[DrewKaree]

You scan your own goods at stores are popping up every place around here.

( I complained to a manager at Wall Mart about them and staid I do not think I should have to scan and bag my own cart. I did not come here to work)

While I don't like the concept of me allowing them to save on payroll, I certainly enjoy the "cashier" way more than the slack-jawed yokels commonly employed who can't even be troubled to make eye contact or smile.  I'll go that one better.  I walked into a store, returned an item I had paid $70 for three days earler.  There IS NO restocking fee at this establishment.  The register jockey rang it up as a refund, scanned it, paid no attention to the amount on the receipt of what I paid, and gave me back $50 and some change.  When asked "WHY are you only giving me this amount, when I paid $70 for this?"  "Oh, it's ringing up on sale right now, so that's what I have to give you back".  After the 2 question argument (my next question was "why aren't you giving me back what I PAID for this, since I clearly bought it when it WASN'T on sale?") I realized this woman had less intelligence and a grasp of the obvious than a fresh stump, I told her to get her manager, to which she replied "OK, but he's just gonna tell you the same thing".  Said manager in fact did NOT tell me the same thing, and informed her I was right.  When her snotty attitude became too much to bear, I asked her "WHY do you think I'd take $20 less just because you have it on sale?  If I bought it on sale and brought it back when it WASN'T on sale, would you have given me $20 more, and if you WOULD have, then perhaps I need to let your manager know so he can save himself needless waste in idiotic refund interpretations because you can't figure out a receipt means I get what I PAID back"  Snotty girl was fired later that week, I was informed, after e-mailing the company and having the manager personally call me and thank me for the e-mail that helped bolster his case for WHY she should be fired from a customer service position (obviously I wasn't the first, nor the last to have suffered that fool)

[DrewKaree]

Wall Mart... new style rotating bag holders. Clerks steal a bag all the time. Watched them do it. (tried on me several times.)

Since they're still on the clock and at their register, how do they hide the mounds of bags they're stealing from customers?  That one doesn't make sense to me.  Seems too "interpretive" of someone's in-plain-sight actions

Comp USA and Office Max clerks give bad PC advice all the time. I have had to learn to bite my lip. My wife hate it when I jump in and tell the customer that the teenage kid has not a clue what they are talking about and you do need to find out if your GAP slot is 4x or 8x

Who jumps in to tell the customer Dawayne the ham-fisted-typer isn't exactly helping them by asking about their GAP slot, since they won't know they're actually supposed to be looking for information on their AGP slot?

 

(yes, I know it's a typo, it's just hilariously ironical and all )

[danny_galaga]

Bad service doesn't limit itself to Fast food service or low paying jobs.

It's everywhere.

Doctors spend like 2 minutes with you.

[AlanS17]

When I was in my home country, the Czech republic recently, I found it was the exact opposite. No one bothers you when browsing (nice) but then trying to get help would be almost infuriating. I later found out that the average wage there is about 10000 Korunas a month, which is about $416US. I'd be quite unpleasant if I were earning such crap money. And before the standard of living comparisons come out, it ISN'T enough to live on. It's enough to survive on.

My 0.02 (0.36 Korunas)

I went to Prague once for a weekend while I was staying in Germany. I didn't rent a hotel room. I rented an entire fully furnished 2-bedroom apartment for $25 night. Just $4 was all I needed to buy more food than I could eat. I didn't notice any service issues, but i wasn't paying attention to that stuff either. It was incredibly cheap, though.

[Harry Potter]

yeah, it is cheap for foreigners. until the dreaded Euro comes in. Then I'll have to cut my beer consumption down to 10 pints a day.