Customer Service. What Happened to it?

[R1oldguy]

I was wondering. WTF happened to customer service?

Are we that comfortable standing in line and getting checked out by a non smiling, careless, button pusher and a lot of times not even getting a thank you.

It doesn't matter if I'm in line at a Lowes or Home Depot, or standing in line to buy cigarettes, customer service and appreciation are almost gone.
I grew up working in a family hardware store and lumber yard. My sisters and I were always helpful and taught to smile and thank the customers. We went out of our way to HELP people with thier needs. Try getting some help at a Home Depot sometime. If we weren't sure about something, we would find someone who knew the answer. We special ordered anything the customer wanted. We actually RAN out of the store out into the lumber yard to load a customers truck if the yard men were busy.

I remember actually babysitting a couple of kids so that thier dad could get his lumber home. He didn't have room in the car for the kids. He ran it home and came right back. Could you imagine doing that today?

When we had a big sale out of a circular, we opened extra registers and NOBODY had the day off. We appreciated our customers. Sadly, the large chain stores and some large tract builders made it too much of a hassle for my dad to worry about cash flow and he decided to sell out.
The new owner didn't last long, for a lot of reasons.

But to this day, some 20 years later, I still run into old customers who tell me how much they miss our old family store. And go on to tell me how much they HATE shopping at the Mega Stores.
I for one try my best to support local, privately owned business. But even some of them seem to hire the cheapest people they can get away with.
Funny, but the best service I can say I've recieved lately, was from the local Chinese restaurant. They just seem to love everyone that comes in the door, and treat you like family.
I know I haven't been asleep for 20 years (although the 80's are a little fuzzy), but what happened to treating the customer with a little bit more than a half hearted, unfelt, non smiling, sort of, thank you?
How about taking some of the money that you are paying for BULLSHIT adds, and hiring some people that aren't just there to collect a paycheck?

RANT OVER

[not2slow]

I am with you on this, the company that I work for will send a secret shopper in every so often to video their experence. I thought it was a great idea, it keeps our people on their toes to give the best customer service they can. And it is a great training aid to help them get better.

[UberGoober]

I think service started to disappear when people decided they wanted to save a few cents on every purchase. The best example is the full serve island at the gas station - don't see those anymore.

Since they need to cut prices, stores did away with professional staff - you know, like in the old movies where people in their 40s and 50s are working at Macy's and Gimball's as professional shoesalesmen etc - and started hiring people who put out minimal effort for minimal wages.

If people would change their attitudes and understand that its OK to pay a little more for service, those kinds of jobs might come back. I don't see that happening anytime soon - everytime a Walmart opens outside of some small town a dozen small family businesses start having trouble.

[Builtgypsy]

Andrew Carnegie said customer service was as purchasable a commodity as any other skill. That's paraphrasing, but still. I don't care if the company is the best at what they do in the world, if they have piss poor customer service they lose my business. I spend well at places where the customer is appreciated, and stop any dealings immediately with those that are not.

[Alawicious]

people who put out minimal effort for minimal wages.

That's the biggest problem right there.

[Alawicious]

Originally Posted by Builtgypsy

Andrew Carnegie said customer service was as purchasable a commodity as any other skill. That's paraphrasing, but still. I don't care if the company is the best at what they do in the world, if they have piss poor customer service they lose my business. I spend well at places where the customer is appreciated, and stop any dealings immediately with those that are not.

Thats why I ended up with a Suzuki. The people here at the local Honda shop seemed very put out that I even walked through the door. Whatever they were reading in the newspaper was more important I guess

[UberGoober]

^^^ Generally I tell them these things as I leave - "I came in here to buy a bike today, but since none of you can be bothered with me, I'll go buy it across town."

I've actually done that in car dealerships - because I usually dress pretty shitty. They get pretty shocked when I start asking about their cash purchase price.

[Builtgypsy]

Originally Posted by UberGoober

Since they need to cut prices, stores did away with professional staff - you know, like in the old movies where people in their 40s and 50s are working at Macy's and Gimball's as professional shoesalesmen etc - and started hiring people who put out minimal effort for minimal wages.

When I went to buy my Red Wing boots, the store owner himself helped me get the right pair, explained a lot of things about boots I didn't know about, and I really appreciated it. Honestly, I was surprised someone knew so much. It seems rare that anyone knows a lot about the product they're selling except what's in the training brochure they get at their initiation meeting.

I really don't expect it everywhere, and I don't think for many things you should be expected to.

[Builtgypsy]

Originally Posted by Alawicious

Thats why I ended up with a Suzuki. The people here at the local Honda shop seemed very put out that I even walked through the door. Whatever they were reading in the newspaper was more important I guess

Oddly, I like the service department at the big bike shop here, but I'm really not a fan at all of the sales department. The parts people are pretty helpful, but a bit unprofessional at times.

[kman458]

The mom and pop stores were all about giving the customer the service they deserved. The big box stores ,Walmart for one, don't think like that and have no problem with wasting you time as long as they save a few bucks. They like to hire lots of part time help so the can bring them in for a couple hours during the busiest part of the day and then send them home. Some of them may only work 6 to 10 hours a week making minimum wage so they could care less about helping anyone do anything beyond there assigned task. Its a shame that everything comes down to the almighty dollar but until people insist on better service we will never get it.