To find 'pet' names unprofessional in CS?

People like you make the world a little more miserable.

That is hilarious.

It’s part of some call centre training to ask things like that, it annoys me too but I try to remember that they’ve been told to ask questions like this - I know it’s ridiculous but they might even get marked down if they don’t try and strike up a conversation. I was once told in training to ask about dogs if you heard a customers dog barking 😂

🤣🤣🤣

I work in customer service myself and I never do this, partly because it's just not my style and partly because I've never heard my colleagues doing it so I suspect it's not allowed.

It doesn't bother me that much if someone says it to me, in fact I don't think it really registers unless it's someone from a different region who uses a word I don't hear very often. There used to be a shop assistant in my town who called everyone "bab" - I think she was from the West Midlands. That stuck in my mind because it was unfamiliar. If someone where I live now called me "m'duck" it would probably make me feel quite happy and secure because that's what they say where I come from.

Long story short, I think you will get people who like it, people who hate it and people who really don't mind, and you can't please everybody all the time.

If CS are trying to be personable during a call, I am all for it. Better than them being miserable/rude.

Come down and see us in Dorset, my lover! 🤣

I think it’s fine in informal settings like bars, trades etc

where there’s a more formal or serious vibe like teacher- parent, or doctor- patient I’d be a bit taken aback.

You sound ghastly

Doesn’t bother me in the slightest but I agree it’s unprofessional. Everyone has training about these things nowadays don’t they? Some are worse than others - sweetheart 🤮 better not to say them IMO.

I used to go to the Stoke/Staffordshire area for work and if someone didn't call me "me duck" I felt personally aggrieved. I adore a regional term of endearment. Usually love/lovely near me. Calling your husband Pal sounds quite Scottish/Glasweigan. I mean it's in a bar not at a solicitors.

Ugh how dreadful. You should insist on these plebs calling you ‘your royal highness’ when they serve you. Some people need to learn their place.

In the North where I live everyone is love, pet, duck or some other endearment
There is so much in life to get upset about I can't be offended unless it is said in an offensive way

I get called all those names at my local shop. I don’t mind older women doing it. I feel a bit bemused if someone my age or younger does it.

The Asda delivery men call me “mate” and that doesn’t feel right.

I'm surprised you were called a pet name by anyone in the Civil Service. The NHS is a different kettle of fish.

As for pal, be grateful it wasn't aimed at you. It could've been if you had your money in your hand but I bet you don't do that!

I don't need the busdriver or the person in Sainsbos to call me madam !

You refer to these terms as being terms of familiarity, but in many areas of the country that's just not the case. Where I'm from they're used in day to day speech both with people we know and love, and with strangers. It shows friendliness and put the other person at ease. I also don't understand the offence at the word 'love', but then where I'm from it's not unusual to hear older men another older man love. It's not gender specific.

I would say from experience these patterns of speech are also found slightly more in working class and lower middle class areas. So maybe you're just not used to hearing it?

Were you making a joke?

Awright mate?

Of course it's unprofessional, not to mention patronising. These people aren't friends, so why should they be "friendly"? If they really can't bear to use Sir or Madam, then they just don't need to call customers by a name at all.

This x 1000.

Think you need to change the places you drink in or stop being such a snot.

I like it in general - it’s friendly. There’s a scene in No More Meadows, by Monica Dickens, as Christine is leaving the UK for the US, post WWII, and someone calls her “ducks” and she wonders when she’ll hear that again.

I also hate it when I'm on the phone to someone and they ask me a question, like "good morning Connie, how is your day going?" And I'll usually reply with a "ok thanks" (because I just want them to get to the point of the call & I'm not interested in talking about my day) and they say "perfect!" Or if I want to book a holiday, they ask me which airport I want to fly from, I tell them and they go "amazing!" I don't need to be complimented at every turn!

I get this from the other side - I work in retail and get called 'pet', 'honey' 'sweetheart', occasionally 'mate' and I actually love it. I don't have a SO in my life to call me anything and my kids just call me Mum, so it's really nice to have people being affectionate in speech towards me.

I don't do it to my customers, but that's because I was brought up in a different part of the country, where the term 'my lover' is used as a pet form of address and if I used that one on them I might get some very funny looks.

Imagine questioning a member of bar staff for calling someone "pal"?
Ridiculous and rude of you. If that's your main concern in life you should count yourself incredibly lucky. And I'd imagine that barman wouldn't want to serve you again.