So I work in retail. Let me clarify. I manage the only warranty center in all of Clark County, in more than a 4 hour radius, for a very well known wireless company, with very well known service problems. I deal with angry customers all day. No joke. ALL DAY. They come into my location already pissed off that their phone isn't working, then even more mad because they most likely made another stop at another store, only to be told to drive over 30 minutes just to get to my location. And because we are the only location in the entire state, we have an hour wait to see a technician.
So customer service is my job. It's my lively hood. I've worked retail over 10 years, I'm good at customer service. I'm good at managing and maintaining an active and friendly environment. My customer satisfaction scores for my entire location are in the high 90's,(up from the 70's when I started) and my situation is more unique than most of the other warranty centers in the country. We are not co located with the retail or corporate stores, so we are a separate destination. We service people from AZ, UT, NV, and even parts of CA. We get over 1600 claims a month. We have an average of a 10 minute wait time, at any time of day. We are the 8th busiest store in the company (only beaten out by other locations in way more populated areas- IE New York. Puerto Rico, etc) Yet we are still able to maintain an almost perfect customer satisfaction score. And mind you, we also have a very high troubleshooting resolved percentage (so we don't just replace their phones to make them happy). It has sickened me though to see what companies will ask of their employees to ensure customer satisfaction. How much is too much, and when do you just give up and let the customer go? When is it worth it???
I recently had a situation where a customer was verbally abusive towards two of my employees. (Mind you, my nickname as a manager is Mama Bear. I'm so protective over my employees. I back them up 100% of the time, and will do anything in my power to make sure their working environment is as good as it can be, and if it's not I'm focused on making it better. I wasn't in the store at the time, or I'm sure I would have been fired for what I wanted to do to the customer.) So the situation was basically the customer came in with a liquid damaged phone - it voids the warranty when the little white sticker turns red due to water or liquid activating it. He had insurance on his phone, so we could have helped him make a claim. Now this wasn't a $600 smart phone, it was a free basic phone, that had the lowest deductible, etc. My employee that was helping him is by far the most professional customer service rep I've ever worked with, and I've never even seen him roll his eyes at a customer or get frustrated with one. He explained that it was out of warranty, and we could help him file the claim, or some other options he had available (he was also eligible for an upgrade, and there's always the option of buying a pay as you go phone to use in the mean time, repairing the phone, etc) He didn't end the the interaction with sorry you're out of warranty, I can't help you. He offered help in the ways we could help. That's all he could have done. The customer was not happy about this- he asked to speak to the manager - well I was off, so the supervisor, who was the manager on duty, took control of the situation. Gave him the same information on what we were able to do, etc. My supervisor was asking my employee to look some other information up for him while he pulled up his account to see if there was anything else we could do for an out of the box type resolution. As my employee was replying to his supervisor, the customer interjected and told my employee very politely (right) - to shut the f* up, that he was done talking and wasn't competent to do his job. This situation got escalated even further, blah blah blah... and eventually the next day got to me. My employees did everything right, notated the account, and maintained their professional demeanor - I even reviewed tape. The customer called me the next day asking if I heard about it and I replied I had, and asked how I could help him, etc. He started off right away by making personal remarks about one of my employees. Like saying he could tell he wasn't a clean employee (personal hygiene issues) because he was fat... etc. Extremely uncalled for comments, etc. Then he goes on to call me incompetent because I said the same thing my other employees did, as far as our resolution goes etc... and then said I probably slept my way to manager, because there was no way in hell I would ever be considered manager. OOOOH. BOY. Now he's done it. I bit my tongue. I then asked him to show me the same respect I showed him, and his response "I don't have to respect you. I walked into your place of business, you didn't walk into mine". SERIOUSLY? I ended the call as calmly as I could, called my market manager because I knew it would get escalated, he was just that kind of a customer, and let him know the situation, gave him the customer info and asked him to call the customer. The next phrase out of my managers mouth should have been "Well I'm sorry you had to deal with that, that is not acceptable by any means from anyone, an employee, customer or anyone. I will make sure this gets handled appropriately, and I will back you up 100%." Sadly it wasn't. His next words were "Well, try calling the customer back and see if we were able to waive the insurance deductible if that would make him happy". Hmm. I'm sorry what?
So there are two things I'm ranting about today: When did being rude, and yelling and cursing mean that you're going to get your way with a company? And: When did companies become so afraid of standing up for their employees for being personally attacked verbally?
The first part: Where do people get off thinking that if they yelled, cursed, throw things, throw a tantrum, that it means they will get their way? Why does it mean that because something unfortunate has happened, and it's out of policy or whatever the reason of why it can't be solved, mean that just throwing a tantrum will make it all of a sudden in policy, and able to be resolved? Now this isn't for everything that happens - sometimes companies make mistakes, and when they do, they normally own up to it. But sometimes, it's really the customers' fault. The customer is NOT ALWAYS RIGHT. That's right. They aren't. I'm Mrs. Customer Service. If you're in the right, I will do everything I can to help you. I will bend the rules, I will do whatever it takes. Even if you are out of policy, but you're polite, I am much more likely to bend the rules for you, vs you yelling and screaming at me. Can someone please tell me how society thinks this type of behavior warrants special circumstances for them? And who the hell raised these people to make them think that acting like this is acceptable? I understand if you're upset, completely get it. Vent towards the company, not the employees. I can handle a yelling customer, if they are screaming that they hate the company, and then saying I know it's not you who makes the rules, and I'm not yelling at you, or saying it's your fault, and I'm sorry for yelling at you.... I will do what I can to make them satisfied. But you personally attack me or my employees, that's the quickest way for me to deny every extra thing I can do for you. First off, you look like an idiot to everyone else in the store when you're screaming and being rude and condescending to an employee. Second off, half the reason you're so upset is because you know you messed up and you won't admit it. I'm sorry, you're phone does not magically get wet on its own. You did something and you want us to pay for it because you don't want to pay the insurance on your phone.
Third off, didn't your parents teach you respect? Don't you teach your kids to respect other people? Don't you want respect in your workplace? Would you ever allow someone to talk like that to your wife/mom/daughter/son/sister/etc.? Would you ever let someone talk like that to you? So why is it ok to talk like that to them? Because you know they can't say anything back to you so you can feel like a hot shot? Screw you. Leave the store. Cancel your lines. I don't care. You screaming how you've been a loyal customer for 3 whole years. Let me break out the champagne! WOO HOO! That's probably the longest commitment you've ever made!!! Congratulations! Your $50 bill isn't worth me getting verbally abused. Or my employees. Hell, I wouldn't even let you talk to a stranger like that! You playing the loyal customer card, I spend a ton of money here card, etc, does not sway my decision. I do what is right, and I will help you if you spend $20 or $20,000. Every customer deserves the same service, and respect as the next one. So next time you are faced with an out of policy, or a special circumstance, please remember the employee you are working with is doing their job. They get yelled at all the time, maybe not by you, but by someone, and they are human. Each person has a limit to what they can take, and no one deserves to be treated second class because of a mistake or policy. I'm not saying all customer service reps are perfect, some have given attitude to me, but what if you're their hundredth call of the day, and 98 people have been yelling at them all day? How would you feel if every person you spoke to that day was yelling at you? That's a hard days work to stay cheerful and pleasant after being yelled at ALL DAY. And I am almost willing to bet they barely make any money for putting up with it too.
On to the second part: Companies. I know you are out to make every customer happy. You can't. I'm sorry. It's not possible. When you know that, you are ahead of some! But you companies and managers that allow this to happen, are the ones that have allowed society to get to the point where they think they can yell to get their way. If they've done it once, and got their way, they'll do it again and again, and then tell their friends to do it, and so on and so on. I know it works because my company bends all the time to make the upset customers happy. But the calm customers, that accept its out of policy get nothing? That's not fair. Because they were polite and understand that its out of policy and didn't scream, they don't get the exceptions made for them? Guess what, if you are going after a CSAT score (customer satisfaction) the angry customer that yelled and got his way- won't give you a good score. He'll blast you again on the survey. So you lost money (normally when you make an out of policy decision you lose money, but its seen as saving a customer so its a smart business move) and you have a bad survey. And, if it was bad service he was yelling over, do you really think he's going to come back? No he won't. And what kind of message are you delivering to your employees that are treated this way? That you don't care about their environment, and really, that you don't respect them either. It's a lose lose situation. Just once I'd like to see a company stand up and say you know what? You yell at my employee, you're done in my store. I don't want customers like you in my store. We respect you when you're here, and we expect the same respect from you as well. Not just a store. But a company.
Look at the restaurant business- I have a few friends that are waiters, and we were talking about this over dinner one night, just so happened to be the same day I was verbally abused by that customer above, and they said the same thing. If they messed up a meal, whether it be written down wrong, or made wrong, if the customer didn't make a big deal about it, then nothing is done. No credit on the bill, etc... But if the customer makes a big deal, and is upset, they credit the meal. Guess what, not only do they lose out on that money, the waiter most likely doesn't get as good of a tip, and they most likely won't come back to you're restaurant.
So when do you give in to a customer's demands, and when do you stand firm to the policy? I don't mind giving in to the demands if it's asked for respectful, and there's truly no other option. But trust me, you disrespect me or my employees, I will be standing firm all day long. Just a thought for everyone out there. If you don't work in retail, you shop retail. I hope you are not the demanding and rude customer, and if you are, look in the mirror. Is this who your mother would be proud of, is this behavior something she'd be ok with? And would you be ok with someone screaming at your grandmother this way? Or your child? If you aren't then adjust your approach. You always catch more flys with honey than vinegar....
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