Why do we suffer rude and ignorant waitress and shop assistants

mikemac

Duggy747 wrote:

Sorry, I realised I said that completely arse-ways. I meant over-charge, when you over-charge someone too much. Again, it's wrong if you're over-charged something like 40c and above but, come on, 10c? You'd go to all that trouble of coming back into the store, wait in line and then ask for your 10c back? I'd only do that if I desperately needed 10c more to buy fags or something.

I'd do the same and look for the proper change. Sure the checkout person might be taking 10c from a few hundred customers a week and it all adds up.
And if it's simply mispriced, the asian doctor may be rich but the corporation you work for is even richer so of course the customer is right to come back and look for their change.

I sometimes get overcharged in Tesco and always come back and point it out to Customer Service. Tesco give the item free if you are overcharged so the customers wins.:D . And Tesco can get customers to verify prices for them so I suppose they win too.

blow69

I work in a Super Valu during summer and weekends.There are some customers that are so irritating that it makes you indifferent to other customers.Besides i'm busy enough without having to make mind-numbing small talk with people i have no intention of getting to know or don't want to know.

Same as if i'm a customer at a shop/restraunt.I don't expect a waiter/waitress to pretend to act as if they care about our lives.All i expect is that they take our order and deliver drinks/food in a reasonable amount of time.I'll still tip.I also worked as a waiter.It is a stressful job especially at busy times so i understand if they aren't Mary f@*$ing Sunshine all day long!

stepbar

The trick is when dealing with awkward / **** (is that a word??) customers is to lower the tone of your voice and act like if what they are saying has no effect on you. The worst you could do is get angry. Copious amounts of the phrase "In fairness..." usually does the trick for me.

electric69

when its on the other foot where ppl get €10.01 or .02 petrol they arent very forthcoming with coughing up the money then.and these ppl get insulted if asked for the excess few cents.The stations only make 1/2 or 1 cent profit per litre of petrol.so many hypocrites.

sam_hain

Hey,

I have only read a few of the pages here but this reminds me of about 2 other topics that were here on boards a few years back.

I have worked (no longer) in Retail/Customer Services job for over 8 years and I have had pretty much every type of customer you can get. The worst were the posh bitches in Starbucks, Dundrum. The funniest had to be customer's when I worked in Game (although the majority of the time they were annoyingly stupid as well, especially around christmas) and the most irritating were the customer's when I worked for a Bank. Thankfully I am no longer in the Retail Section.

I have to be honest, I was never rude to a customer that wasn't rude to me first. I always treated people as I would like to be treated and I never let manager's f**king me over get in the way of serving customer with respect. I admit I might not have smiled all the time, but I was always curtious and poilte even when they would demand the moon on a stick and get annoyed when I couldn't provide them with it.

There was one thing I did want to say. I noticed that someone early one in the thread mentioned that foriegn people are nicer that Irish people. Can you please tell me what stores these foriegn people work in? Becuase other than the stores where I know some of the staff, I find it very hard to find a shop staffed with forigners that aren't rude or ignornant. If I walked into 10 random stores in Dublin, 9 of them would be mainly staffed with foriegners and 8 of those stores would have, and this is my opinion, rude and ignorant staff, especially if the staff are working in a deli. (Not that hard to understand I don't want Mayo or Onions)

This could be a coincedence but my girlfriend and I were in Canada recently and EVERYONE there was extremly happy and helpfully, except one girl that was working in a store. We asked her a question ("where men's socks could be found") and she looked at us like we had 4 heads. Reluctanly she told us where it was and then I said that her accect didn't sound very Canadian and I wondered where was she from....Poland.

It could just be that I have had the misfortune of being served by the only annoied person in the shop EVERYTIME i go into one, but thats up to you guys to decide. Oh and don't get me wrong, Irish staff annoy the hell out of me too, but at least I know what they are mumbling under their breath if I point out to them that they got my order wrong...

Gingerspice99

[QUOTE=PeakOutput= by the way the customer is almost always WRONG and anyone who thinks a business can work off any other policy is an idiot[/QUOTE]

Do you know of a book called "Crowning the customer"
Written by Fergal Quinn - the CEO if SuperQuinn

Feargal Quinn opened his first store in 1960, a small premises of less than 5,000 square feet and with a total staff of eight. Today, he employs more than 4,000 people and has a sales area not far short of a million square feet. From the beginning his approach was driven by a search for excellence, a single-minded determination that his company would be the best at whatever it decided to do. Another part of Feargal Quinn’s retailing philosophy that soon emerged was his emphasis on customer service, founded on a determination to build an organization that would always try to see things from the customer’s point of view.

This man is a multimillionaire that based his company ethics around the needs of the customer so please tell me out of you and him who is the stupid one!!!!

Me thinks its you!!!

:mad:

PeakOutput

Gingerspice99 wrote:

Do you know of a book called "Crowning the customer"
Written by Fergal Quinn - the CEO if SuperQuinn

<snip>

This man is a multimillionaire that based his company ethics around the needs of the customer so please tell me out of you and him who is the stupid one!!!!

Me thinks its you!!!

:mad:

there is a difference between customer service and the customer being right.......i happen to give great customer service without taking/accepting the bull**** that alot of people here have mentioned...........im not arguing with him in fact i am positive he know a million times more about it than me after all im only 21 BUT i know for a fact that 95% of the time a customer complains(about something i have done or directly related to an area iv worked in) the actual problem is their own doing.............thats fine i will help them to the best of my ability........UNTIL......they start being dickheads its as simple as that


edit and i am far from stupid love

stepbar

Gingerspice99 wrote:

Do you know of a book called "Crowning the customer"
Written by Fergal Quinn - the CEO if SuperQuinn

Feargal Quinn opened his first store in 1960, a small premises of less than 5,000 square feet and with a total staff of eight. Today, he employs more than 4,000 people and has a sales area not far short of a million square feet. From the beginning his approach was driven by a search for excellence, a single-minded determination that his company would be the best at whatever it decided to do. Another part of Feargal Quinn’s retailing philosophy that soon emerged was his emphasis on customer service, founded on a determination to build an organization that would always try to see things from the customer’s point of view.

This man is a multimillionaire that based his company ethics around the needs of the customer so please tell me out of you and him who is the stupid one!!!!

Me thinks its you!!!

:mad:

Fergal Quinn sold Superquinn to Select Retail Holdings 2 years ago :rolleyes:

Gingerspice99

PeakOutput wrote:

edit and i am far from stupid love

By the way you would never be that lucky for me to be your "Love"

But before commenting on the way the man runs his business try reading the book so you can make educated comments on it :mad:

Gingerspice99

stepbar wrote:

Fergal Quinn sold Superquinn to Select Retail Holdings 2 years ago :rolleyes:

And if do a bit more research he is still CEO but not the owner of the business :rolleyes:

stepbar

And if you do a little more research you'll find he's not, Simon Burke is :rolleyes: Fergal Quinn is a "non - executive president", hardly the CEO. Bit rich to be calling the other poster stupid dont you think?

PeakOutput

Gingerspice99 wrote:

But before commenting on the way the man runs his business try reading the book so you can make educated comments on it

i dont need to read his book.....did you read what i said????? i didnt comment on how he runs his business at all so dont put words in my mouth please

i was being patronising because you called me stupid in case you didnt catch that bit

if you have done more research on the subject than me fair play to you i have no plans on being in retail for the rest of my life whatsoever but i do know what I have experienced and you will see from what i have written (if you read it properly) that is all i have commented on.


for every company like the one you proclaim superquinn to be you will find 10 more more succesfull ones based around the idea of minimum costs maximum turnover= maximum profits ie lidl aldi etc but they would not even be the best examples..........customer service is, to be blunt, generally an inconvenience to these companies rightly or wrongly..................

i would also not hold superquinn up as a pillar of customer care far from it or any of our grocerie outlets for that matter but that might be another thread

if you want better service why dont you speak with your wallet and shop somewhere else??? more than likely because it will cost you more

Trojan911

Gingerspice99 wrote:

What do you all think

I think if you are not happy with a service then bypass the junior managers & complain to the General Manager, politely.

Also mention that negative comments about his/her store go around just as fast as positive comments.

If it's serious then report it to the GM and ask for the Regional Managers name & contact details and or their Head Office.

Always write to complain as it's on paper then and has to be dealt with.


TJ911...

PS. Gingerspice99 When can we expect to buy tickets for the big comeback?

luckat

Here's a typical example of Japanese customer service:

http://www.nevan.net/index.php?page=betty_boop_matches

Now, Japanese shops are profitable - and the goods are cheap and fresh. Japanese people's attitude to their work is to be utterly professional in any job they choose to do, and absolutely loyal to the employer who's paying them.

And it's not the job-for-life syndrome - the job for life has gone in Japan, and people now move from employer to employer just as much as in Ireland.

But everyone there is serious about work, from small children to old people. Bus drivers wear white gloves, and clean the bus out (not that Japanese passengers leave litter, but they check every time, and if there's the slightest mark they clear it off) after every run. Japanese waiters are too proud to take tips, but give careful, caring, kind and intelligent service. Japanese shop clerks are friendly, take the money and give change while doing the sum in their head, and pack the food *beautifully*, as if they're doing a religious service, with an air of calm and sweetness.

And it doesn't take any more work to be kind, friendly and intelligent. (Even when you're posting replies to other people's posts, by the way.)

tampopo

Can vouch for the quality and friendliness and efficiency of the Japanese. It's just wonderful. Really dig the wrapping etiquette.

Taxi drivers have a lever that open the door for you and close it after you. They have doilies all over the dash and seats etc. Smells terribly of cigarette smoke though. Dressed impeccably, shirt, tie, cleanshaven, the works.

And the bowing, it's infectious, you end up doing it yourself!

they have their bad points too, but service is brilliant

Parsley

shane86 wrote:

Me "Id like to return this please"
Oul cnutface "Why?"
Me "Well, the meat and pineapple doesnt look the best, it doesnt look very fresh"
O.C "Its frozen pizza, its not meant to be fresh"

I wasnt sure what to say to this ignorance.

Um, the shop assistant has a point there.

dermo88

Its all very well to do comparisons with Japan. But to compare the behaviour of the Japanese to us, you may as well compare chalk with cheese.

I've worked in bars, shops, and bookmakers. I had good relationships with the majority of my customers. From time to time, however, there was a need to have a discreet word.

"Mr Flynn, if you ever touch that girl like that again, your feet won't touch the ground"

Some would try pulling tricks, and attempt to confuse staff.

"I know your game" (smile and grin)

I have been threatened, spat at, and my best move was to take 50 Pounds (55 after tax) in a voided bet from a customer, split it in three, and divide it with the staff, 10 Pounds of which went into the St Vincent De Paul box.

Signed, witnessed and authorised by the general manager, after a fax was sent through to the head office.

"If you ever try and defraud my work colleagues again, I will ensure you never walk into a betting office in the country again"

Of course he would not leave. So I went to the other side of the counter. He was screaming blue murder until the coffee spilled in his face. (Unfortunately it was cooling down).

I went to the other side of the counter and ran him out.

When you have skangers like these plaguing the place, there is no way you can compare us to the Japanese.

________________________________________________________________
By and large, most of my experiences as a staff member and a service provider have been positive. I aimed to be sociable, kind and entertaining. That was not always possible, so when it did get stressful, I detached myself from the situation and got on with it. Its hard to explain, but its something like a mind out of body experience. I've done it in college, and its got me through some tough phases.

Bad management, intimidation, bullying can also play their part. Staff cope with bad management by being a team. Bad management will always reveal itself over time. Dishonesty and deceit will always reveal themselves. Word gets around. I've had the displeasure of working in some bad places. They were bad at first, but normally I found that the first year is the test bed to really see what you are capable of. Thats extremely stressful. Anyone who made it through that got the wages, bonuses and conditions. I've had the pleasure in seeing some of the most venal dishonest managers, and staff exposed. A small number shop stewards, others held no managerial power, but held union power, and often used that as justification for stealing stock, and siphoning funds.

Owners, Management and staff should work as a team. Their aim is to make money. Their aim is to make each other happy. Thats the ideal world. All too often, many who never worked at the bottom are placed in charge, and they fail to understand the people who work for them, their customers, and they are isolated in Ivory Towers.

I could give an example of some major betting chains. The "in thing" in the 1990's, was open plan betting offices, where the staff did not have a pane of glass seperating them from customers. The idea...make us more accessible.

Unfortunately, the paramilitaries, criminals, and heroin addicts really loved the accessibility too much.

At a head office meeting, when this was brought up, I literally SWORE at the owner and general manager at this notion.

"Do you know what its like out there"


I could say more, but I'd reveal a bit too much.

monkey tennis

Gingerspice99 wrote:

This man is a multimillionaire that based his company ethics around the needs of the customer so please tell me out of you and him who is the stupid one!!!!

You clearly don't correctly understand the concept of the phrase 'the customer is always right', as embodied by Quinn's attitude. It's to do with treating the customer as though they were right, regardless of (and often in spite of) the fact that they're probably a brainless tool. Feargal Quinn new damn well that most people don't engage their brain in day-to-day life; he chose to work around that, and it worked for him. For ever Feargal Quinn out there, there is another successful business owner who doesn't subscribe to this philosophy. Ever heard of Michael O'Leary?

Also, multiple exclamation marks don't exactly convey intelligence (ever hear about people in glass houses?)

dermo88

I'd never turn nasty on a customer unless it was an absolute last resort, examples of which I have stated above. I'd never regard anyone as stupid, and managed to explain difficult concepts, and seemingly illogical business decisions to customers in laymans terms. Part of that came from understanding both sides of the fence.

Feargal Quinn is correct. People do not engage their brains in day to day life. As far as I was concerned, my customers had done 8-10 or more hours at work. They were there to relax, or they were there to enjoy themselves in either a passive or active manner. When, or if they needed to ask questions, or engage their brains, I was happy to help. If any of them were patronising or rude, I merely acted naive, and it went over my head. This disarmed those who wanted to cause trouble on one hand, and gave a sense of empowerment to those who THOUGHT they were getting a result, or a better deal, or were just chancing their arm.

A slightly mad, sell oil to the Arabs personality helps as well.....as I used to joke.

Its not the customers place to know how to treat staff. However, we are known to dislike.

Pettiness
Rudeness
Anti social behaviour
Lack of hygiene, or making a mess of the place.....although children can do that, kids are fine within reason.

Attempts to rip off by saying "I gave you 20". However, there is a trick around that though is to get two people to go to a crowded bar, one with a 50, the other with a 20, and learn the serial code of the note. The one with the 20, quotes the serial code from the 50, gets change of 50". I have'nt done that, and never will, more often than not till shortages are deducted from wages, or staff will balance up the till if its down more than 2-10 Euro, in order to avoid a verbal/written warning.

Mr Rooney types from Intermission......or jumped up little Hitlers. (There are ways and means of making their lives hell, that they will either resign or commit suicide, but thats not for this thread)

If any of these happen too much in any given day, or a given week, staff end up being narky and unpleasant. Its up to their colleagues to get them out of the mess, and make them feel better. In more cases than not, there is a pleasant manager who understands. Good staff are irreplaceable, and its not all about direct cash payments to make a job pleasant.

modalcommand

dermo88 wrote:

Its all very well to do comparisons with Japan. But to compare the behaviour of the Japanese to us, you may as well compare chalk with cheese.

I've worked in bars, shops, and bookmakers. I had good relationships with the majority of my customers. From time to time, however, there was a need to have a discreet word.

"Mr Flynn, if you ever touch that girl like that again, your feet won't touch the ground"

Some would try pulling tricks, and attempt to confuse staff.

"I know your game" (smile and grin)

I have been threatened, spat at, and my best move was to take 50 Pounds (55 after tax) in a voided bet from a customer, split it in three, and divide it with the staff, 10 Pounds of which went into the St Vincent De Paul box.

Signed, witnessed and authorised by the general manager, after a fax was sent through to the head office.

"If you ever try and defraud my work colleagues again, I will ensure you never walk into a betting office in the country again"

Of course he would not leave. So I went to the other side of the counter. He was screaming blue murder until the coffee spilled in his face. (Unfortunately it was cooling down).

I went to the other side of the counter and ran him out.

When you have skangers like these plaguing the place, there is no way you can compare us to the Japanese.

________________________________________________________________
By and large, most of my experiences as a staff member and a service provider have been positive. I aimed to be sociable, kind and entertaining. That was not always possible, so when it did get stressful, I detached myself from the situation and got on with it. Its hard to explain, but its something like a mind out of body experience. I've done it in college, and its got me through some tough phases.

Bad management, intimidation, bullying can also play their part. Staff cope with bad management by being a team. Bad management will always reveal itself over time. Dishonesty and deceit will always reveal themselves. Word gets around. I've had the displeasure of working in some bad places. They were bad at first, but normally I found that the first year is the test bed to really see what you are capable of. Thats extremely stressful. Anyone who made it through that got the wages, bonuses and conditions. I've had the pleasure in seeing some of the most venal dishonest managers, and staff exposed. A small number shop stewards, others held no managerial power, but held union power, and often used that as justification for stealing stock, and siphoning funds.

Owners, Management and staff should work as a team. Their aim is to make money. Their aim is to make each other happy. Thats the ideal world. All too often, many who never worked at the bottom are placed in charge, and they fail to understand the people who work for them, their customers, and they are isolated in Ivory Towers.

I could give an example of some major betting chains. The "in thing" in the 1990's, was open plan betting offices, where the staff did not have a pane of glass seperating them from customers. The idea...make us more accessible.

Unfortunately, the paramilitaries, criminals, and heroin addicts really loved the accessibility too much.

At a head office meeting, when this was brought up, I literally SWORE at the owner and general manager at this notion.

"Do you know what its like out there"


I could say more, but I'd reveal a bit too much.

You must be the craziest, toughest shop assisant on boards. Threatening customers with physical violence. What are you like. You literally swore at your mangager. LITERALLY! Some man.

dermo88

No, not really.

I worked at the tills, packing shelves, stock room, cleaning, general dogsbody, and worked my way up.

I'm not a shop assistant now, and I don't think I'll do that ever again. I'm too comfortable. But if I had to, it would'nt be so bad.

The incidents I mentioned were a small number over the course of working between the ages of 16-22. They were rare, but I remembered them.

As for swearing at the owner, I knew the guy on a social and professional level. The crazy parts of my personality were accepted because I knew the job and took pride in it. If I objected in such a strong manner, he (the owner) knew there was rationale in that. The GM, on the other hand was a university graduate. Brilliant mathematical and commercial brain, the likes of which I have yet to see again. But his understanding of logistics, people, and how they worked on the ground was lacking. The previous week, one of my colleagues had been pistol whipped in a raid. That was why I reacted in that manner, and when that happens, am I really so crazy after all?

The screens stayed where I worked. It could never be any other way.

Peter Collins

I love the way sometimes shop assistants will drop the change into your hand, for fear of actually touching your hand!!!

And they're handling those manky coins day in, day out.

Shows you some of the muppets who do that for a living.

A summer maybe, but not a living.

Random

If the customer is nice then generally the staff member will be the same. Treat the staff member as you'd like to treat them and generally you'll get the same in return.

Wompa1

I worked in retail for over 10 years, I can understand how it can make a person bitter but you shouldn't take it out on the next customer, I usually punched or threw something or made a smart ass comment. Still most people will be nice when you are, the rest have never had to deal with the public before and don't know what its like to be made feel like a servant. I'm so happy I'm out of retail..horrible,horrible job, I know its not all tht physically demanding compared to other jobs but at least labourers don't have to give up their diginity when they go to work

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Didn't get to read all the comments, as there are so many of them, but there are some interesting points being made.

As someone who has worked in different areas of retail (Dunnes, Virgin, McDonalds, Cinema, Barman) I can tell you that most workers will treat customers, the same way customers treat them.
If a customer comes up to me and is friendly and polite, it doesn't matter how busy I am, I'll go out of my way to help them out and I enjoy helping people who are nice to me, however if the first impression I get from a customer is a negative one, I'll usually be rude and obnoxious towards them.
Someone else said that it sometimes comes down to the management and that is also true, I have often gotten in s**t from a manager for spending too long with one customer, when there is "other work" to be done, because of the person I am however, I usually argue with the manager about it and explain to them it's my job to be nice and polite and it usually works as another manager will come along and back me up. Some of them unfortunately go on little power trips and think they're the bees knees because they're a junior manager in Dunnes. I usually just laugh about it, because they're stuck in that job for the rest of their life, whereas I'm only passing through while I'm in college.
Then of course, some workers are just downright a**holes.

luckat

I wasn't really comparing the Irish and the Japanese, more saying that we could learn from the Japanese way of doing things.

They seem to bring a Zen attitude to every job, and make it into an art.

thefinalstage

luckat wrote:

I wasn't really comparing the Irish and the Japanese, more saying that we could learn from the Japanese way of doing things.

They seem to bring a Zen attitude to every job, and make it into an art.

Pfft. That comes from their culture of respect towards each other and the honor of their names. They believe that everyone is as important as the next. I mean Japanese managers take pride in handing out their business cards. They are clean, crisp, well made because they believe that the card is a reflection on themselves. The cards you get over here are usually ratty
or in some cases post-its. :P

PeakOutput

Peter Collins wrote:

I love the way sometimes shop assistants will drop the change into your hand, for fear of actually touching your hand!!!

And they're handling those manky coins day in, day out.

Shows you some of the muppets who do that for a living.

A summer maybe, but not a living.

do you not think its stranger that you notice these mannerisms than it is them having these mannerisms???

personally iwould probably feel wierd if a shop assistant corresed my hand with theirs giving me the change and if i was the shop assistant i d feel wierd doing it.


but at the same time i dont have the same need, as some obviously do, to have some sort of personal/physical connection with people who are providing me with a service

luckat

It's not a question of a personal connection, but of professional behaviour.

Every time you address another human being - whether it's in a professional context or saying "excuse me" on the street, you're having a connection with that person.

It can be pleasant and mannerly, or it can be sullen and adolescent.

Peter Collins

PeakOutput wrote:

do you not think its stranger that you notice these mannerisms than it is them having these mannerisms???

personally iwould probably feel wierd if a shop assistant corresed my hand with theirs giving me the change and if i was the shop assistant i d feel wierd doing it.

Not carressing my hand, but some of them just drop your change in from a height, or place it on the counter if you have your hand out.

Stupid, stupid stuff.

Most staff are fine though....Dunnes staff and DIY Shop staff leave a lot to be desired in my experience....but I suppose you get what you pay for - and that applies to employers too.