To think that customers are behaving in an increasingly unreasonable, rude and aggressive manner?

[TheyBrokeMeToday]

Customer service. Love my wee job. The customers broke me today. So much rudeness, aggressiveness and just general unreasonableness. It seems to be becoming a very regular thing lately. Anyone else? Broken.

I had two customer service experiences yesterday.

1. Tesco

Self service checkout buying two bottles of wine. Checkout robot 'we need to approve this' Staff member behind actual checkout "have you any ID" Me - flakes around in bag Staff member "nah, I was only joking, yer alright" Me - cheeky bugger, you could have least gone along with it Staff member "sorry, couldn't resist it" Wee bit banter, I'm approaching 50yrs so he was sure no offence and we both had a wee laugh.

1. Premier inn

3 night stay, paid for breakfast up front but noted could have evening meal for £24 + breakfast so opted for that the last night and paid up front the day before. The deal meal was 2 courses + a drink. Last night went for the meal and were told that xyz were off the menu. Ok, no problem but when we looked at the menu, xy&z were most of the starters, the only starters remaining were chicken wings or cauliflower bites - neither of which were to our taste. Ok, no problem we'll have a main and a desert. We ordered our main my husband wanted a steak so that was a supplement to what we'd already paid, no probs there. Took our plates away and asked if we would like desert menu, yes please. We waited 20 minutes, then grabbed a waiter to say could we please have desert menu as been waiting a while. Waited a bit more, finally got desert menu, then 20 minutes on no one came to take our order. Totally frustrated at this point we went up to the bar just to settle our bill and get out of there. Bearing in mind that we'd paid for a two course meal and only had one course. Me - can we just pay our bill please Staff - yes, no problem just let me sort that Me - although we paid for 2 courses we couldn't have them and only had one course. Staff - how come? Me - well the normal starters we would have weren't available. Staff - but still others starters available. Me - 2 out of 5 not great and we really don't like chicken wings, we thought we would go with a desert though so weren't too fussed. Staff - well you can have desert now, I can order it for you here! Me - that would've worked 45 mins ago but now we're just fed up and want to go. Staff - ooh, sorry we've been really busy tonight. Me - I know, just a bit disappointing though really. Staff - what's your room number if you're on he meal deal I will refund your breakfast tomorrow to make up for tonight. Me - that would be great thank you 😊

And they have. Didn't ask for a refund but got one anyway. Total example of a company not having enough staff on and expecting their staff to run ragged and their customers to get substandard service as a result.

Do you work in an independent cafe 👀

Before she died my DMiL was a frequent flyer in an ambulance , I always thank th e crew , and one day the paramedic told me that I was the only person who thanked them that day.

I've worked in customer services so I think I'm more prepared the thank people, like Brakeburn Customer Services who were ace when I ordered the wrong size dress.

I can't stand the phrase "The customer is always right"

The customer is hardly ever sometimes right.

It’s not new I work for one of the utilities over the years had a few roles that involved interaction with customers

rudeness , aggression and entitlement is breathtaking

when they can’t get there own way they just blame bad customer service

There’s been a few go bust over time. Just type in Dentist goes bust & a few stories appear

@TheyBrokeMeToday

Everything is so divorced from the person now that’s the issue.
the only way to fix this is to start to build some responsibility back in communities.
we need to utterly change local government and local policing and adopt the Swiss model.
then perhaps general behaviour would increase.

Customer Service isn't great anymore either. Went to the spa last week and the woman on reception barked at me 'money upfront '. This is quite a fancy day spa. I had no problem paying it but the manner of delivery could be improved. 135 euro as well. When I'm paying that much I wouldn't mind some politeness. It's the largest hotel spa in Enfield, Meath.

So you are no better than that individual. How rude.

That's a nasty thing to say

Do you have security? Thankfully ours is better since we got it.

I think it’s a mix of both, but that generally customer service has gotten worse. My husband had to call insurance yesterday and was stuck on the phone for an hour as he kept getting put through to the wrong department. That said though I work from home in customer service and there has always been some absolute pigs for people out there who get off on being nasty to someone else. Mostly though people are nice and polite.

I don’t agree with anyone treating others poorly but I have to say that I find that the standard of customer service appalling more & more frequently (not suggesting yours is) but maybe people just don’t care anymore, I find that a certain generation just don’t have the same level of respect as older ones

Baby boomers can be very rude.

I think it goes with increasing wealth and entitlement, to some extent. When I was young you couldn’t return something you’d bought unless you could show there was something wrong with it. People are now inclined to think that not only is the customer always right, the customer is also king!

@TheyBrokeMeToday
I have noticed some dog walkers {and their revolting ill trained mutts from overseas or the local puppy farm are utter arseholes.
It seems to be lockdown dog walkers.

Covid absolutely destroyed society in my opinion.

Agree with all of this.

For all those who work with the public and haven't heard this lately - thank you very much 🌼

Staff are openly rude and dismissive. And customers are rude and aggressive.

I went into the bank recently as had a question and couldn't find the answer online. Well bugger me. The woman was so rude and nasty you'd think I'd asked to shit in her hands. I had to re state my question 5 times. She kept reciting the most irrelevant comments and I couldn't work out how to unblock the conversation. I literally had to say to her at one point "I don't know how to do this, that's why I'm here." I work with difficult stakeholders in my job, and had to use all of those skills not to lose my shit. I felt psychologically violated afterwards.

Also recently went to an expensive pub for MIL milestone birthday. Staff were so disinterested. Half the ingredients were missing from SIL's plate. They didn't apologise at all, just "oh". I was gobsmacked. Very tempted to find the manager but SIL didn't want a "scene". So she ate her half meal and we paid full price for it!

I will say that minimum wage is not enough to live on, and so I don't take it personally when people are so rude.

It is definitely much worse than pre-covid. Some people seem deranged.

Customers have always been awful IMO. I have noticed there’s much more of a general selfish, FU attitude post covid.

There is rudeness everywhere. I am often struck by poor customer service and rudeness. I am far more likely to return to a shop where someone has been lovely than when staff have been rude and unhelpful.

In my NHS role i have come across all sorts of poor behaviour. From patients relatives and colleagues. I never stoop to rudeness though and keep my own standards of behaviour.

It is best to concentrate on the positives. I am a pretty nice customer. I always ask staff how they are, when their shift ends, thank them etc. In shops and restaurants. I am grateful. If someone is extra-helpful I either tell their manager there and then or send an email to head office. I know staff have received gift vouchers and thanks from employers as a result of my positive feedback. I really value helpful staff.

Try and focus on the good ones. There are nice customers and nice staff. Those interactions are the ones to try and remember. Once you start generalising, it makes the job hideous. I always think it must be awful being so rude and angry. Remember you only have to see them for a few minutes; they have to live with their undesirable personalities 24/7 ;-)

There are always rude people. But I think just managing daily life is really hard now and the systems in place to manage calls etc are so unhelpful by the time you actually talk to someone you are completely hacked off so any minor thing that is a slight issue at that point drives you over the edge. I would say I am above averagely polite and patient but I am finding it hard not to take frustrations out on individuals when I have already navigated through a call handling system etc . And on one level we all accept this is ok. I work in local government, trying to get through to the right person is like trying to speak to the king. Woeful .

Also in shops etc I now am fed up with poor service , I can shop on line so when I go to a shop I think I am paying for good service and that is what I should expect. I do wonder how some workers are employed as their basic people skills are so lacking.

I think it is a vicious circle though: customers' attitude is going downhill but so has customer service in many places.

I think many retail and hospitality jobs are poorly paid so staff doesn't care: very common to be ignored by staff in shops or treated like the customer is an inconvenience.

Everything is getting more expensive, yet companies seem to think treating customers well is optional and that shoddy service is acceptable all in the name of making more profit.

So everyone is increasingly stressed.

And don't get me started on utility and phone companies with their automated systems where it takes forever to speak to someone who is often really bad at sorting out issues.

I have worked in customer service all my life. Customers are definitely more rude and aggressive than ever before. They won't listen to reason, they seem to think we have teams of workers waiting to race off to their house the instant they want anything, they are abusive and aggressive. I get called four letter words on pretty much a daily basis.

We can't transfer calls to managers and I've actually had a customer tell me it's the law that I have to pass her to a manager. Then just when I have completely run out of empathy, a nice person calls. You used to remember the rude, aggressive, abusive ones. Now you remember the nice ones!

We can't keep new staff because of the abuse, so it takes longer for calls to be answered, so customers are even more angry when they get through. I have to explain on a regular basis that if I was in charge of policy, it's unlikely that I would be answering the phone.

Oh and one more thing, threatening to go to a solicitor, the council, the ombudsman etc won't get you an earlier appointment because I always offer the soonest date and can't magic up an earlier one. By all means go to an outside authority to try and get a better resolution, but don't expect the person at the end of the line to be cowed by your threat. We get them all the time.