Customer service isn’t the easiest thing to. Sure, it takes certain personalities and the right amount of composure and professionalism to deal with the different every day occurences when it comes to dealing with the good and the downright rude guests. Whether it’s working in food handling, cash handling, tech, or different floor operations, it isn’t always too easy to handle all the heat. So to honor and give respect to those who give great customer service everyday even through the worst customers, let’s look at the 5 worst things employees have to deal with in Customer Service.
The Guest who just wants free stuff:
One of the first and one of the worsts things in working customer service are the guests who will say or do anything they can to get something fo free. Usually, this means that either they’re very cheap on how they operate their spending, so they’ll use any excuse to get a refund or to compensate for something else. The tactics we see as an employee is that if we don’t comply to their demands, there’s a threat of them calling corporate or a general manager, leading the employee to a possible write-up or counseling issue.
The Guests who insist they’re right when they’re wrong:
Ever heard that saying, “The Customer is always right?” That’s rarely ever the case in actuality. But as an employee, it’s your job to act as if they’re right to avoid further confrontation. Now that doesn’t mean that if a customer is completely full of crap, that you take that crap and give them free things or admit you’re wrong when clearly you’re not. The difficulty lies in trying to tell them that they’re mistaken in the nicest, professional sounding way possible without sounding sarcastic or maniacal. It’s a crappy situation. And what’s even tougher is the fact that you cant’t control how they respond to the situation or to your own response. It’s a tough world. But there just has to be a way to carry on.
The Rushes.. oh the Rushes.. :
Perhaps the biggest thing to deal with in customer service are the continual rushes, especially during weekends and holidays. The atmosphere just smells of non-stop business. But with good profit and business comes the cost of long lines, leading to angry customers, leading to frustrated and tired employees. Whether at a supermarket, a movie theater, or even a subway, when there’s a long line, there really is nothing that can be changed to make things go by quicker. Jobs require not just the quickest service, but accurate service to ensure that everyone gets what they need.So when customers get upset at the employee, they don’t realize that if they want the best service, they have to consider that every guest before them deserves equal treatment, meaning the quickest service POSSIBLE and the MOST ACCURATE service possible.
The Customers who pay in strange currency:
One of the strangest and frustrating things of customer service is the exchange of currency. The customers who pay in coins or big bills to start off the day. Granted, every register is different. But there has to be some sort of understanding that pulling out a 100 dollar bill to when you’re the first customer isn’t the most thoughtful thing to do. Or maybe paying a 30 dollar bill in dimes and nickels is a little strange and time consuming and not to mention a huge hassle!
The Dumb Questions:
The customers who ask if Best Buys sell food, or if a movie theater sells tickets (yes people ask that). Dumb questions can be frustrating. The common sense ones are perhaps the most annoying. Like when a guests approches an employee with a company shirt and asks “Do you work here?” or they’ll go to Guest Services and ask “Hey is this Guest Service?” Perhaps they don’t mean to come off as clueless but there is also always a saying called “Think before you speak.” It’s usually customers who don’t want to figure the simple things out for themselves so they’ll go to extreme lengths to ask every question out of the book to get obvious answers. It’s something that is dealt with every day. Although frustrating, it’s something one can look back on and just laugh.