Illtellya's Blog

I sat across from my daughter a few weeks ago and caught the conversation going on in the booth next to me.  The customer had ordered something that did not come out the way she wanted it or something to that effect.  The poor waitress tried every which way to correct the mistake that was made.  To no avail, the customer wanted to speak with the manager.  The customer called the waitress stupid, told her she should find other employment and threatened her job.  All because the steak that she ordered was not cooked as she requested and the baked potato was not hot enough.  None of which was in the control of the waitress.

Once the manager arrived the demeanor of the customer changed.  She went from an out and out horid witch to a creepy, grinning, sweet -talking mature female.  The noose around the managers neck was about to be tightened to choke.  She began by saying that she came there often and has never had a problem before.  She adds that she wasn't sure that waitressing was the job for this girl and that she hopes it can be taken care of in some meaningful way.  The manager began by putting on his most serious and earnest look.  He did the appropriate I"m sorrys and ended with how can we make it up to you?  Bad choice of words.  It ended up costing the price of the entire meal for the customer and her brood. 

He should have asked the waitress about how he could make it up to her.  Instead, the waitress was forced to smile broadly and reserve the hag her steak and potato.  How demeaning. 

Two weeks ago I was standing in line at McDonalds.  There was a lady and 3 kids in front of me.  They ordered, changed the order, added to and subtracted from the order and otherwise monopolized the counter for several minutes.  The poor kid at the counter repeated back what they ordered.   When he got to the fish fillet meal he made no mention of it not having cheese on it.  She did not want cheese.  This woman leaned in and screamed in the kids face "NO CHEESE"!  The kid took a step back and the woman turned to her kids and remarked "look at the baby" and pointed to the waiter.  When the kid related to her that he would not tolerate this behavior, the woman asked in a very provocative tone, "what are you going to do about it little boy".   The boy asked her to leave.  The next thing you know the manager is standing there asking the woman what he can do for her and excused the kid from his post.  She got a free fish meal and he had not returned a half hour later when I finished my meal. 

Then there is the airline.  I can not tell you how many agents have been threatened and abused.  Do the agents fly the planes?  Do the agents cause bad weather to happen or computor glitches?  Do the agents make the rules at all?   No, they get paid less than $10 an hour to tolerate asses that make no sense what-so-ever.  I mean, who can argue with a delay if flying the plane means risking life and limb?  Who cares if your luggage is delayed a day in order to make sure you got home on time?  It is just frigging unforgivable some of the things that get said to those agents who have no control over anything the airline does.  However, if you cry, stomp, threaten and otherwise BLEEP enough you will no doubt be rewarded with discounts or something to shut you up. 

I remember working at a call center very briefly.  It was stated to me, during the training phase, that we are never to hang up on a customer.  I asked if that meant a person who is abusing, harrassing or threatening and they simply stated that no caller will be hung up on ever.  I asked if this meant those who call for sexual purposes and again I was told that no caller will ever be hung up on.  I asked about protocol for handling such calls and was told to merely hang on until the caller stops talking and then try to assist the customer.  If the customer insists on speaking with a manager then a manager will talk with the customer but only as a last resort should the operator pass a customer on to a manager.  Now, as you can guess, I did not continue employment in that place.  Are companies that greedy that they really need that kind of a customer? I might want to add that the lines I was manning was a reward program, you know, like coupons.   If people get so upset over a coupon then they need another kind of hotline don't ya think?

Perhaps the most offensive piece of all of this is that the companies that employ these poor customer service persons will not hold the customer accountable.  They will not give reward to the associate but rather encourage bad behavior in its customer base.  I don't quite get it though because the law states that a person has a right to a violence free work place. 

Isn't the employer's first responsibility to its employee?  Sure, we all know that fellow employees are not allowed to abuse, harrass, threaten, and otherwise cause hostility in the workplace but what about continued harrassment by outside vendors, customers, etc.  Doesn't the employer have a legal obligation to deal with it?  They do.  If an employer allows continuous harrassment and abuse to its employess, then the employer is allowing violence in the workplace.  That is against the law and the employee's human rights.

The customer is right policy can and is constantly being taken too far.  I have dealt with my share of idiots, people who can not speak english and voice mail to know that the frustration level can climb pretty high.  However, I can not remember a time I felt it necessary to threaten or abuse anyone.  When I hear something like "we are a nation of whiners"  I know exactly what it means.  However, they need to add that we are a nation of abusive whiners.  From what I have seen lately it is true as hell.   Might want to check yourself the next time you need to negotiate something.