To wonder why customer service is so awful?

[PlomBear]

Is it just me or is customer service in the UK crap?

In a department store - huge queue, two cashiers. I appreciate that it’s management who roster staff. Waited ages to pay. I said a cheery “hello” and the woman just pursed her lips at me. She only spoke to say the transaction amount. I said “thanks” and she just looked at me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

On a train, the conductor checking tickets. Showed him my ticket “need your railcard too, you need to have that ready for me you know.” I smiled and said sorry, he proceeded to ask me why I was entitled to that railcard! And yes, it was my railcard and in date with my photo. Then just kind of grunted at me and walked off.

Post office - posting a dozen cards, some overseas. The clerk actually shouted at me that it wasn’t her job to stick the stamps on, I didn’t even ask her to! Considering there was nobody behind me in the empty store I thought it was a bit weird. She wouldn’t let me stand there to put the stamps on. I had to take them home, figure out which one was which (different countries needing a different number of stamps) and then go out again in the rain to post them.

I have worked retail many moons ago. I get that it’s minimum wage and that customers can be rude. But I really am always smiley and polite. Yet I am often met with downright hostility from staff. Everybody (staff and customers) seem so miserable.

You're annoyed because someone asked if you wanted some help? Others would be equally annoyed if they weren't offered help. Shop assistants can't win!

I work in customer service. I'm friendly and helpful and I bend backwards to help people. I have 30 years experience. I get 10p above min wage. Then I go in M&S, tesco, sainsburys, today tk maxx and get someone probably paid more than me who is fucking hopeless.
I really don't know why I bother

If you work in a customer service role, you cannot win though... I work in a pharmacy. I go out of my way to be helpful - above and beyond type helpful. On a typical 4 hour shift I serve 150 customers - it is busy.

Around 100 of them will comment on how helpful I have been (10-20 of them will have come in especially because I am on shift), around 45-50 will be businesslike, do their transaction and leave, around 0-5 will whinge and complain -

like the customer today who whinged that I took too long popping out to put a large box of medication in an elderly customer's car (they could not carry it, they use us because we will help them, it took 2-3 minutes), and they were in a rush -

or the one I had to ask to return this afternoon as we had had to order her medication - not a stock item "the doctor said it would be there waiting", unfortunately the doctor didn't ring to see if we had any...

I just figure that customers using a pharmacy are ill or in pain, so need some slack, apologised profusely and helped them through their transactions and on their way. But those 2 customers will think they had crap service none-the-less.

My pet hate is when there's no greeting at the point of sale. Seems to be the norm now in a lot of shops - awful!

The other side of this is the overwhelming in-yer-face interactions from the likes of Lush and BodyShop.

I personally don't like SelfService tills .

I don't mind if a member of staff spends a bit more time chatting to a customer (especially if they are elderly or infirm)

I asked a till operator if the customer before me was "one of her regulars" - she was and obviously planned her shopping when it was quiet and could go to this till. Most likely made a huge difference to her day .

In defence of PO staff, the lovely sub postmaster in our village told me to go home and he stuck all the stamps on my Christmas and change of address cards for me. The PO is also the village shop, and it wasn't very busy, but it was lovely of him to do it.

Call centre workers are the worst. In the olden days (1990s) they used to apologise and at least pretend to be care or to try and help you. Nowadays, they talk over you and are dismissive, defensive and rude. Classic case of entitled millennials who don't think they should have to work for a living.

Yab slightly U.
There are good and bad people across all walks of life.
I work in customer care I am extremely helpful often have a queue on hold for me.
Though today I had the worst cc experience with a large broadband company. V.
The chap was arrogant rude even after I asked him to stop speaking over me, he wouldn't. I hung up and rang back to complain.
The lady I made the complaint to was excellent at her job so it varies.
I never complain but I thought how bloody rude.
To balance it out some customers are extremely rude too.

To add a post office makes a tiny percentage on stamps probably 2p a stamp it is not cost effective for paid employees to be doing unpaid work.

Move to Northern Ireland, people are friendly and chatty, including the ones serving people...

We have a mix of extremely lovely and friendly and absolutely useless and grumpy where I am. DH keeps complaining that it’s because we left London. I’m from Australia so I’m pretty used to this kind of mix.

I work in Customer service. I love my job. But, I can tell you that I have noticed the increase lately in rude entitled customers who treat you like you are shit. It's incredibly demoralising for us, but we keep going and try our best. I wish the public could understand that. I can completely understand why some people in the industry end up fairly embittered.

I agree with the OP. Customer service is pants these days. It's either rude members of staff or awful shop practices (eg upselling). There is the odd organisation that still gets it right but it's more the exception rather than the rule.

I also think the skill of good customer service is massively undervalued. Not everyone can do it and it's vital to the success of a business so not sure why this would be.