True Service - Something I read today
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Let me share this... I'll quote the whole thing, verbatim...
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Two Phrases That Destroyed American Culture
December 13th, 2006
Every time I promise myself that I will work on controlling my temper, I always end up making a scene.
This time, it wasn't my fault. All I wanted was a bagel. A bagel, a cup of coffee, and perhaps a spot near a window where I could idly watch the traffic go by as I browsed through the newspaper and licked cream cheese from my fingers. But apparently the Gods were not on my side.
Today I got in line behind a middle aged woman in a fur coat who was barking orders at the poor bagel girl like she was a dumb misbehaving dog. Fur Coat was ordering multiple bagel sandwiches from a list, but instead of ordering them in such a way that would make sense, she was attempting to order them all at the same time. The Bagel Girl was obviously confused and you could tell by her shaking hands that Fur Coat's harsh tone was intimidating her. Finally, Fur Coat snapped, "I said light butter on that bagel! Light butter! Jesus!"
I couldn't stand it anymore. I cut in, "You don't have to be such a bitch about it."
Fur Coat glared daggers at me and stated, "I'm not."
"Well, I beg to differ."
With a disgusted 'Hrmph,' Fur Coat went back to her overly complicated order, but she did so quietly and even managed to begrudge the poor girl a 'Thank you' after she was finished.
I have a theory about asshole customers: I think they only act that way because no one ever calls them on their bullshit. The poor kids behind the counter canÂ’t stand up for themselves lest they lose their jobs and other patrons look the other way claiming 'it's none of my business.'
Fuck that. When I see some self important asshole verbally degrading a teenaged kid with dead eyes behind a counter, it ruins my day. So, I say some shit. Besides, I feel that if I stay silent, I am almost giving an abuser permission to act like a raging asshole. Ignoring their behavior suggests to them on some sick level that what they're doing is Ok.
It's not OK.
The phrase 'The Customer is Always Right' is the single worst philosophy that has ever been adopted by American culture. It gave an entire generation of people the green light to be as impolite, unreasonable, and demanding as their little hearts desired because they were always going to be considered right. It destroyed the entire concept of courtesy and rendered manners obsolete. People began to treat their peers in the service industry like incompetent morons, lacking in feelings or human dignity, who deserved to be browbeaten and abused for no other reason than they had the audacity to run out of a particular brand of coffee. Furthermore, instead of suffering negative repercussions for their appallingly disrespectful behavior, they are awarded with free coupons and plenty of ass kissing. In reality, they should be shunned and humiliated for behaving like such self absorbed little children.
Speaking of respect, another idea that has ruined American culture is the one that states, 'I donÂ’t give respect freely. You have to earn my respect.' This one is most often uttered by punk kids with bad attitudes and black fingernail polish.
Fucking gag me.
I mean, how egotistical does one have to be to automatically assume that their respect is so fucking important that one must jump through multiples hoops in order to earn it? How about we give people respect because they are humans with lives and feelings just as important as our own? Why not give people a default level of respect and more or less can either be won or lost based on the behavior of the individual? The loss of respect is something that should be based on actions. The idea that that one must win basic respect in the first place is incredibly belittling. How narcissistic can you be to embrace that ideology?
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A few Sundays ago, my husband and I went out to breakfast. If anyone has ever attempted to go out to breakfast on a Sunday morning, they know that restaurants are usually packed around then. We were finally seated and our server was not only very busy, but also a new employee according to her 'Hi! IÂ’m new!' nametag.
I'd like to say that everyone in her section was very understanding. The place was a madhouse and she was obviously out of her element. I wish I could say that the patrons in that restaurant were mannerly and polite and treated her with even an ounce of dignity and consideration. But, if I did, I'd be fucking lying.
Nearly everyone yelled at her or condescended to her like she was a stupid little child. One guy ordered a side of 'home fries' and reamed her ass when she brought him French fries. Had he looked at the menu a little closer, he would have seen that 'home fries' werenÂ’t listed. This particular restaurant only served French fries or hash browns. Her mistake was understandable and he was basically yelling at her because she didnÂ’t read his mind accurately enough.
But let's all forget about that for just a moment. Instead, I want to point out that there are a multitude of things that can go wrong in one's life. Death, illness, and poverty just to name a few. Yet, here I was watching a grown man lose his fucking shit because he was going to have to wait 5 minutes for a side of hash browns. Suddenly, I lost my appetite.
At this point, the angry little man demanded to speak to a manager and a kowtowing corporate whore scuttled over with free coupons and many apologies. The angry man furiously demanded that his waitress be fired right that instant.
Over hash browns.
I couldn't take it anymore. I leaned over and interrupted, "When you're finished talking to this man, I'd like to speak to you. I have the same server."
The angry man smiled smugly, no doubt convinced that I was going to back him up on his quest to get a new girl fired because he had to wait 5 fucking minutes.
The manager finished with him and moped over to my table ready for his second tongue lashing of the day. I surprised him by loudly saying, "I just want you to know that our server is doing the best that she can. She's been trying very hard and has been very sweet to us even though that asshole has treated her so poorly."
The manager suddenly looked panicked and started shooting terrified looks at the table that just finished reaming him out. "I know," he whispered fearfully, "Don't worry, I'm not going to fire her."
And while I was pleased to learn that this particular manager wasn't going to fire the new girl based on the whim of some fat ass piece of trailer trash, I was disappointed that he rewarded said trash's temper tantrum with free food. I long for the day a manager walks up to a table and says, "How dare you treat my employee this way. Get out now."
I'm sure they want to, but that ridiculous policy 'The Customer is Always Right' silences them. So until we banish that phrase from American culture forever, I suggest we quit looking the other way when people behave like scumbags.
After all, technicalities may suggest that they are always right, but that doesn't make them any less an asshole. -
Well, that's something we have in common with the americans eh?
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+2Originally posted by av98m:Well, that's something we have in common with the americans eh?
When I was working at Singtel as a pager promotor many many years ago
I had this idiot call up and rant and fucked me over on the phone because he couldn't understand the instruction manual of the pager
I had to explain to him what it meant and tell him politely that he read the sentance wrong.
The moron actually ranted off and said that we need to reprint the manual.
Felt like telling him he needs to go back to school
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well
i pratically had to shout at the shop supervior at the gift wrapping to get those name cards, all 70 of them because i bought 70 water bottles as gifts
and by right one gift can get one name card and ur gift wrap
i chose to gift wrap myself
but the stupid inlogical rule of the counter is that each customer entitled oni 10 name card at one time, and i was oni given 10 gift wrapper.
ya rite, so wat abt the other 60 present
mind u, the present was like 8 dollars each
spend like close to 600
having working part time in the service industry for some time, certain ppl are sterotype, and not giving attention to.
for example foreigners are always given more attention than sporeans
Well dressed ppl are given more attention than poorly dress ppl
PPl generally dun bother themself on youngster
so amidst the super long crowd
i use pressure in getting what i wan
this is hw u get things done in spore -
did the $600 spent give you the right to be an asswipe?
or did you ask nicely?
once i asked nicely and helped out.. they went out of their way to do what they could even when they were swamped..
i guess they'd rather serve people who are polite to them and treat them with respect...
did you try that? -
coz the salesperson keep saying no to me till i dulan without even asking higher authority
aiya if u were me u also feel frustrated too la at that time when dealing with repeated refusal from asking politely -
so... you suddenly wanted special treatment and demanded it..
who is unreasonable here? -
I am never rude to food service people ....YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT GOES ON IN THE KITCHEN!
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'The Customer is always right'
Another philosophy that attempts to absolve us of any personal responsibility. Sigh. -
i guess it goes both ways. there r rude customers and rude servers. recently i complained (i was pretty fierce) to a manager at a jap resturant about his waiter.
Our table had ran out of saucers and my dining companions asked the waiter to get some. they were asking nicely, using words like "please" and with a smile. he rolled his eyes at us and walked off. 10mins later still no saucer. so we asked again. this time we got rolling eyes and a "wat the fuck" look. this was way too much so I called the manager and told him that his staff was rolling eyes at us and what was his problem. The manager was very apologetic and got the waiter to come over to apologize. Guess wat was the waiter's excuse for not bring us the saucers? "Sorry sir, I'm not assigned to serve this station". OMGGGG, even if he was not assigned to serve this station, it would not kill him to get us some saucers right? even if he din wan to do that, he could have informed his colleague who was in charge of serving our section.
Good service goes both ways, if the server is being rude, you can't expect the customer to swallow it and enjoy their dining experience. if the customer is being unreasonable, the manager would need to know how to pacify the customer. i too use to think that singaporeans r bad customers, but this recent experience showed that they are bad servers too. resturants with bad servers dun deserve to have my money. -
Reminds me of an incident at, of all places, Econ minimart....
The cashier had accidentally given this middle-aged woman short of $2 in change. The woman had already left the minimart when she realised the mistake. She then came barging right into the minimart and screamed at the poor cashier as though she had been planning to mug her from the start.
The cashier apologised profusely and gave her an extra $2 note. But that wasn't enough - the blardy woman kept screaming at the top of her voice at how 'my rights have been infringed!!!' and that 'I should sue the shopkeeper!!!' and how the cashier 'should go to jail!!!!'
Some of the other customers tried to reason with her, saying that there was no need to get so worked up and that the poor cashier had apologised and given her the correct change. Even her husband (who was with her) tried to calm her down.
In the end, she left after more than five minutes of non-stop ranting.... and only because her husband pulled her away from the place. -
Wow... really great article!
BTW, Bear, where did you find this article? URL, please!
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It annoys me when I see people abuse the "Customers are always right" policy. Afterall, the person who provides the customer service is also human and the customers shouldn't treat them like they are slaves.
Nowadays there are too many people who only know how to blame others for their mistakes and fail to take responsibility for their own actions. One of these examples is: A woman sued the department store after she tripped over in the store. The worst thing about this is that she tripped over her own child!!!! What is it to do with the department store?? Guess what? She won the law suit. This happened in America. How sad! -
actually nothing unreasonable about it. the policy is 10 per customer per time. if they had been more flexible they would have realised that they can give him the 60 extra by seperating it into 7 bills. or should i say the rule is crap cos that can be done?Originally posted by the Bear:so... you suddenly wanted special treatment and demanded it..
who is unreasonable here? -
Originally posted by honeymouse:It annoys me when I see people abuse the "Customers are always right" policy. Afterall, the person who provides the customer service is also human and the customers shouldn't treat them like they are slaves.
Nowadays there are too many people who only know how to blame others for their mistakes and fail to take responsibility for their own actions. One of these examples is: A woman sued the department store after she tripped over in the store. The worst thing about this is that she tripped over her own child!!!! What is it to do with the department store?? Guess what? She won the law suit. This happened in America. How sad!
lets all go america and earn money by triping over each other
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Interesting.
Good thing I operate on a 'take it or leave it' policy. -
CBOriginally posted by honeymouse:It annoys me when I see people abuse the "Customers are always right" policy. Afterall, the person who provides the customer service is also human and the customers shouldn't treat them like they are slaves.
Nowadays there are too many people who only know how to blame others for their mistakes and fail to take responsibility for their own actions. One of these examples is: A woman sued the department store after she tripped over in the store. The worst thing about this is that she tripped over her own child!!!! What is it to do with the department store?? Guess what? She won the law suit. This happened in America. How sad!
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i guess you'll be one of those who will drag his wife, 3 screaming brats with a trolley full of groceries to a 10 item or less lane saying there are 45 items in there and 5 people between them..
right.. sure... the customer is always right...
sheesh...Originally posted by hisoka:actually nothing unreasonable about it. the policy is 10 per customer per time. if they had been more flexible they would have realised that they can give him the 60 extra by seperating it into 7 bills. or should i say the rule is crap cos that can be done? -
No doubt there will be many people doing just that to get rich. Sigh....Originally posted by hisoka:
lets all go america and earn money by triping over each other -
customer satisfaction is the holy grail in the hospitality business.
I remember this two customer who walked in during xmas time. Wanted this and that and we obliged. Well, they left a $100 tip. -
Actually hisoka, are you talking about Metro?
I saw the sign. They state that it is limited to 10 wrappers per customer.
I'm not surprised they did that because they provide the wrapping service as well and during the peak season, there should be alot of people queuing up for the wrappers and free wrapping service.
I think they are afraid that run out of wrappers too (and make other customers unhappy) and the other reason they refused could be so that they will be fair to other customers. (reduced waiting time) -
It's not directly to do with customer service but thought I share it here anyway....
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OMG.............Originally posted by honeymouse:It's not directly to do with customer service but thought I share it here anyway....
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WITH REGARDS TO the wrapping paper incident ..........
Free gift wrap and paper is a seasonal extra service, not a given that comes with a product.
If you buy an item and it comes with a box , then 70 items should come with 70 boxes
But gift wrap is a free add-on service for everyone to enjoy, and rightfully, there should be and will be conditions.
It's not the store's fault that you bought & need to wrap 70 items
I agree that they were inflexible but in this case I think it was reasonable for them to turn you down. If they agreed to your request it would be a favour that the sales people do for you, not something that they HAD to do.Originally posted by pierre^^:but the stupid inlogical rule of the counter is that each customer entitled oni 10 name card at one time, and i was oni given 10 gift wrapper.
ya rite, so wat abt the other 60 present