Customer Service - Am I in the wrong?

Customer service is a touchy subject for me.

When dealing with customer service people, its hard to watch them tripping over policies to kiss someone's ass....especially if the person is acting like a pompous, self entitled, asshole.

With the amount of dill holes in the world, its hard for me to believe that the customer is always right and sometimes the person working is the one I feel for.

In the OP's case...I doubt it was anything the OP did to make the person mad.
Its possible that they were just having a bad day, and that was the thing that set them off....it could have been anything really.
They might have gotten news 10 minutes earlier about a cheating spouse for all we know??


If they sell good products,no reason to boycott it IMO.

Now, if she'd jumped up and got on the store microphone and hollered... "The Fecking Idjut at Checkout #3 just jacked up my store by dropping her crap and making a mess! Yeah, this one, right here!! (while pointing at the top of your head)"

Well, that would have led to a much larger, ahem, 'wet cleanup on Checkout #3'!

a reply to: NthOther

I'm using this one specific case as an example, but I guess I'm talking about customer service/relations as a whole. There was a time when people were just nice. A time when businesses would go out of their way to help you. I'm not talking about butt kissing, but just being human -nice. I guess those days are looooong gone. sad

To Athetos

Then I’d go into the back and be like damn you guys see that idiot trying to juggle his jars of jam.

I know you weren't talking about me specifically, (sometimes I'm am an idiot but in this case I was just clumsy, fyi slippery sweater material doesn't grip glass well) but it also begs the question why would a customer need to hold that many jars? Maybe they should offer bags, or have bags you could buy? I guess I think more like a business owner sometimes, they are limiting how much a person might want to buy because they can't hold it all. Maybe I'm silly, but I think bags are a pretty basic thing when owning a store.

"The Customer is always right" has been completely misconstrued from its original definition. The idea behind the statement is that the customer knows what he wants to buy. If the store does not have it, well, the customer can go elsewhere to a store that does stock the item, so if the store does not have what the customer wants, it's the store's fault. But the phrase has been used to justify employee abuse BY the customer, including abhorrent behavior, rudeness, and unreasonable demands for things like returns. This has led to customer expectations that they can do no wrong and that no matter what happens the store will bend over backwards, even at its own expense, to mollify the customer.

Here you have a person who was obviously disorganized on several levels. First, she does not have the presence of mind to accept an offered bag for her stuff when even the clerk recognized she was in over her head. Second, she suddenly saw yet another impulse item to buy after the transaction was completed. At that point every item she had was bought and paid for. It was hers, but no! She bungles it and drops an item and because she's still in the store, not a few feet out on the sidewalk, the expectation is that the store replace it for free. If she had dropped a bottle of perfume in the store parking lot, would she then expect to rush back in and say, Hey, I dropped that bottle of perfume I just bought in the parking lot. Give me another bottle for free!" No, of course not. In every china shop I have ever been in there is a sign that says, "Lovely to look at. Lovely to hold, but if you break it, then it's sold." How about consider some personal responsibility here? It wasn't the store's fault this person screwed up.

a reply to: JAGStorm

You don't know what was going on with her. She may have had cramps. Maybe her child was sick or one of her parents is dying.

Maybe she's short for the mortgage or is facing foreclosure. Maybe she's in the middle of a nasty divorce.

You need to cut people some slack.

YEah its totally your fault they didn't offer a bag.

Some responses are hilarious, sorry you guys work retail and hate it.

When you're the custie, they suppose to suck your # a lil.


I just picture the typical walmart worker that flees when you say "UM EXCUSE ME DO YOU KNOW WHAR"

a reply to: JAGStorm

I know you weren't talking about me specifically, (sometimes I'm am an idiot but in this case I was just clumsy, fyi slippery sweater material doesn't grip class well) but it also begs the question why would a customer need to hold that many jars? Maybe they should offer bags, or have bags you could buy? I guess I think more like a business owner sometimes, they are limiting how much a person might want to buy because they can't hold it all. Maybe I'm silly, but I think bags are a pretty basic thing when owning a store.

Geeez ... I missed this part of the story first read. When she was stubbornly refusing the apology, whilst cleaning the mess..I would have lamented the fact they don’t have bags for their purchased products. That’s just insane ! Are they some type of green store that expects everyone to bring their own reusable one ?

a reply to: Lysergic

so you guys work retail and hate it.

Not this guy!!
I have the option of telling people to go and fornicate their hats if I see fit,I could never last in retail.

a reply to: schuyler

You are absolutely wrong on a couple of items.

#1 they don't have bags, I never declined one because they don't have any to give
#2The store has different sections where you buy different items at different registers, I don't think you are even "allowed" to purchase items not from that section, you are in essence forced to go from one section to another in order to buy from that section.
#3, I never expected them to replace the item I purchased. I know that smaller local stores have thin margins and did not expect a free replacement. I know this is policy at chain store and they can absorb it, but never once expected it here.
#4 I took personal responsibility by apologizing not once but several times

In all seriousness all I expected was HUMAN response from the owner recognizing my apology. that's it.

a reply to: schuyler

You are absolutely wrong on a couple of items.

#1 they don't have bags, I never declined one because they don't have any to give
#2The store has different sections where you buy different items at different registers, I don't think you are even "allowed" to purchase items not from that section, you are in essence forced to go from one section to another in order to buy from that section.
#3, I never expected them to replace the item I purchased. I know that smaller local stores have thin margins and did not expect a free replacement. I know this is policy at chain store and they can absorb it, but never once expected it here.
#4 I took personal responsibility by apologizing not once but several times

In all seriousness all I expected was HUMAN response from the owner recognizing my apology. that's it.

I do enjoy working there for little extra dough. Even the pricks make it fun when you tell em off.

Laughable I have it out with ignornarnt pricks all the time, never once been talked to by a supervisor in the negative.
We don’t like a holes in our store when they act up or belittle the staff it’s time to go. It’s not a chain store it’s family owned and operated.

Leave your crap on the counter get out don’t come back. This is the extreme like maby once a month rare.

You should see how we treat theives.

We outsell every other store in town by a mile wide margin too.

They can always go to giant tiger.

I feel bad for the OP though he should have been acknowledged and assured as the bare minimum.
Again this is what it’s like when you become jaded i suppose.

a reply to: Lysergic

a reply to: Athetos

I worked retail, customer service, sales, waitressed and worked in a call center. I can say without a doubt that I really try my best to be nice, kind and polite to all workers I come in contact with as I was once on the other side. Maybe that is why this whole incident left such a bad taste in my mouth, I wasn't even offered basic courtesy.

Yes I have bad days too, my parents are very sick and their days are numbered amongst other things, that does not cause me to lash out at a random worker (or owner). I think that is a ill excuse for someone's rude behavior.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Athetos

I worked retail, customer service, sales, waitressed and worked in a call center. I can say without a doubt that I really try my best to be nice, kind and polite to all workers I come in contact with as I was once on the other side. Maybe that is why this whole incident left such a bad taste in my mouth, I wasn't even offered basic courtesy.

Yes I have bad days too, my parents are very sick and their days are numbered amongst other things, that does not cause me to lash out at a random worker (or owner). I think that is a ill excuse for someone's rude behavior.

I guess you've never been sick or upset a day in your life. 🙄

Yelp.

originally posted by: Creep Thumper

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Athetos

I worked retail, customer service, sales, waitressed and worked in a call center. I can say without a doubt that I really try my best to be nice, kind and polite to all workers I come in contact with as I was once on the other side. Maybe that is why this whole incident left such a bad taste in my mouth, I wasn't even offered basic courtesy.

Yes I have bad days too, my parents are very sick and their days are numbered amongst other things, that does not cause me to lash out at a random worker (or owner). I think that is a ill excuse for someone's rude behavior.

I guess you've never been sick or upset a day in your life. 🙄

Some people can actually be sick or upset and still manage to not be jerks to others, Creep.

originally posted by: SocratesJohnson
sometimes people are having bad days.

I wouldn't take things too personally

The voice of reason. Needs to be repeated.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

All the owner had to do was just once say "it's alright." Even if she had the FBI in her back office, was sick AND her mother was dying, saying "It's alright" is not too much to expect. How much effort does that take??

it happens all the time?

Wow you went from sweet to 8m never going there again. Reality you dis do something stupid and no she shouldn't have to coddle your feelings. Who has an armful of stuff and decides to add more to the juggling. Why did you refuse a bag anyway? And why didn't you take the stuff to your car and return odds are pretty good the owner didn't even know you broke your stuff. I mean who buys something than gets back in line seriously?

The other thing cleaning up glass becomes a priority and is very serious to a retailer it is a huge safety hazzard. So you want her to make you feel better while shes worried about customers getting hurt. Ill dave time you seem self absorbed i dont think they will miss your business.

I have stopped going to regular places for similar reasons, sometimes I would know the owner and told them that I would not be coming back and why.
(Some times they would take care of it sometimes they wouldn't)
In your case you should talk to the owner and let her know why she has lost a valuable customer.

I guess the ones giving OP crap for wanting at least an acknowledgement that they were sorry are the same ones who when they accidentally drop something and just keep walking like it never happened.
Nothing wrong with expecting a response from someone you are talking to is there?