Are people more rude and inpatient since covid?

[Felixss]

I went to a spa break at a lovely 5 star hotel. I'm not the type to complain unless something is very bad. One thing I've noticed is how rude some people are. Yesterday a group of women waiting were tutting and rolling their eyes as my friend requested a glass of water after a spa treatment. Another time an elderly woman was moaning , tutting behind us in the queue while we were waiting to check-in, she then berated the hotel receptionist. In the sauna a man was loudly complaining about the speed of the service for food (it was fine).

This morning upon checkout a woman was complaining angrily about a smell on the carpet in her room. She was demanding a partial refund/ meal contribution or she would leave a bad review, she was being very rude to the staff.

This was a really nice hotel not a dump, usually you would get maybe one person being an arse but this many? Are people more rude/entitled since covid ? I can't imagine working in customer service it must be awful.

I've worked in customer service my whole life, I'm in my fifties.

There was a period - I think the first lockdown (I was still working), where everyone got nicer for a while. I can remember saying to dh how great it was, and maybe people would continue with that attitude when it was all over...

Haha. I can't believe I was that naive. Since then, in my opinion, people are definitely worse. Almost hateful, even. I'm so disappointed.

IMO yes, but I don't think covid created it, I do think it has contributed and possibly accelerated it, but people were like that before and it was getting worse anyway.
I think it's that people have found that being rude and obnoxious gets you attention, and it seems weirdly fashionable to be a 'victim' of poor customer service at the moment, I think if covid does play a part it's because of furlough to some degree and others feeling like hospitality staff 'owe' them something, and because the tide of customers being able to bully their way into getting anything they wanted from staff changed - they could shout and stamp their feet all they liked but we couldn't do certain things whether we agreed or not and frankly most businesses were too scared of the fines and the backlash for breaking guidelines than of the bad reviews that these types of customers just weren't getting their own way - and now recently due to the shortages of staff, those companies who don't protect their staff are losing them - and for those used to bullying their way through customer service staff it's not pleasant to be getting told no and being unable to get their own way, and so they accuse of poor customer service everywhere they go - I almost guarantee that someone will be along saying how customer service is shit and more or less if people don't want to be treated like that then they are in the wrong job or should be doing better.

A friend and I were talking about this yesterday. We both agreed that many people have become more impatient and rude since the pandemic.

I think more people are just unhappy - covid, costs of living, bad news after bad news. Doesn't excuse rudeness but it explains it

They certainly have become more foolish and more entitled, even though they're foolish.

Yes, it's got worse. I wanted the "lockdown niceness" to continue but, even then, social media were filling up with angry people fulminating that old & disabled people should just fucking die because the younger & healthier majority wanted to socialise or work, and their poor kiddies were never going to catch up at school and were all having mental breakdowns.

I was horrified by all that. I tried to discuss with some of my friends, but ended up losing those friendships because they were basically saying they didn't care if I die of a vile disease, as long as their income didn't reduce. That's when I had to understand that my optimistic view of human nature - which, bizarrely, I still hold - was way too optimistic.

I think the Brexit divide showed Brits it's okay to flaunt intolerant, selfish and ill-informed views, even get rewarded for them. That was topped off by the pandemic's revelation that they could go further - much further, to not giving a shit about public health or other people's suffering - and would be taken seriously.

I miss my rose-tinted spectacles!

I've just about had my fill of this type of behaviour today - increasingly I feel like I'm being treated like an enemy and someone to get one over on and humiliate instead of someone actually trying to facilitate others enjoying some leisure time!
I've been talked down to, laughed at, ignored resolutely when asking a question about an order (think white or brown bread) and then eyes rolled and snarled at "White! Obviously!" When asking again, eyes rolled at me, the piss taken out of me right in front of me and my arm literally grabbed as I was carrying a stack of plates past someone who clearly couldn't possibly actually just speak to me.
And that's just one day.
And people have the brass neck to complain about not enough people working in these types of jobs and how it impacts their poor little selves when the staff can't defy the laws of physics - is it any wonder when you're treated like that?!

I agree with you. People are horribly shit, obnoxious and couldn’t care less about one another. it’s noticeable everywhere, shops, doctors, hospitals, in town centres, everywhere. I have little faith in humanity 😔

I think a lot of people feel horrible treated during covid and can’t see any reason tk be overly polite to people who basically shut up shop and put loads of hindrances in place for them to visit and just generally made life suck for such a long time .
small businesses were awful and large ones became totally impersonal, everything changed. I don’t think we are going to ever recover, I think we have all lost trust in each other and humanity

Sadly I agree, and definitely believe there's a covid factor.
Unpopular opinion probably but think people were increasingly used to 'customer is king' and special treatment like free home delivery from pharmacy and supermarket, priority shopping time, queue skipping etc and their pissed they don't get this anymore so take the frustration out on the staff!

@GarlicGrace kids did suffer immensely though. Everyone going through the pandemic did.

@squidwid, yes, everyone did. What was so awful, to me, was that we were in a global crisis which meant we were all going to have a bad experience - yet so many were ready to sacrifice other people's lives to make their own experience a little less bad. Literally, they were willing other people to die.

The disagreement over covid rules was about what people thought best to keep people alive. Eg. Should cancer treatment stop temporarily to reduce social contact. There is currently an excess death rate of hundreds a week. Why I wonder, well some people think it's due in part to the covid response.

100% yes, even my exh was nice for about 10 mins when it first all kicked off.

Unfortunately I think it's going to carry on/get worse for a bit with the COLC

Customer service has taken a nose dive since covid(not usually the fault of individuals) as some companies are still hanging on to covid measures to cut costs and keep staff numbers down. WFH has also had an impact on customer service. I rang a company the other day and the person who answered was at home, had friends around and was clearly drunk. It was about 4pm on a Friday and it was the company that had requested I call them. He couldn’t deal with the issue and asked me to call back the following week.

Covid measures linger and less staff to help you in many places. Plus less places take cash or want you to use apps or self service. These are all things that complicated experiences now. And pre booking systems if you can't get same day tickets. I find them frustrating and just want to go in find a staff member and buy/do something not the complicated queues, self service etc. I think these make customers grumpy. If you spend 10mins hunting out a member of staff and they aren't the person who can help anyway people do get more irritable.

I get what you’re saying, and deal with this a lot in my job. But it isn’t the staff members fault. I actually said that to a customer at work the other day “I understand you’re frustrated but please remember it isn’t my fault” He still wasn’t happy and I was no longer happy to serve him.

I have noticed this too and I agree that Covid is a factor. I think that lockdowns and the fears associated with the pandemic (death and disease, but also loss of income/freedom, loneliness, etc) have made people more self focused and also more conscious of their limited time. I also agree with a pp that businesses often treated their customers poorly and people haven't forgotten. For example, going to the hairdressers became such a horrible experience during the mask wearing phase that I now rarely go.

Virtually everyone had a selfish view of the pandemic - all humans are ultimately selfish, it is hardwired into us to look out for ourselves and our immediate family group - we are only able to have a meaningful connection with a very small number of people (I think it is approximately 50). This is human nature - some people just hide it better than others.

Only the staff, or even the business itself - the ones being treated like shit - didn't shut up shop and then put loads of hindrances in place, the fucking government did and they put threats of being closed down all together and £10k fines in place if you didn't follow the rules.

It wasn't a secret, it was well publicised and it didn't matter what my personal opinion was on the covid rules, I didn't have much choice but to follow them - couldn't go to a workplace that wasn't open could I?
There's a place near me that was caught open during the lockdown - they've just lost their challenge against the fine.

The rules fly in the face of everything I know about hospitality - but why can't people get it through their heads that what I (or indeed anyone else except those making the rules) thought was of absolutely no concequence?! We weren't the ones making the rules - yet we were the ones blamed for them - and if you want to look at why people in these jobs care less - well we're not forgetting how we were treated by the general public either, the abuse, the threats, accusations, putting our jobs at risk by blatantly ignoring the rules, and knowing that it was the business that would pay, not them. No, we haven't forgotten either - we weren't in some alternative universe, we were also living with all this too, as well as trying to work in a way that was twice as hard and against everything that's supposed to happen in customer facing jobs.
The real problem is that people like me couldn't be bullied into breaking said rules because that's just what the customer wanted like usually happens, because we were more concerned about the concequences of doing so than the concequences of a Stampy feet customer who couldn't get their own way.

Oh absolutely, everyone had to follow the rules.

But now, they don't, yet service remains poor/restricted. Late check-in at hotels for eg is just standard now, while prices are high. And yes hotels are "discretionary" spending but often actually necessary in order to do one's job/meet one's family obligations, all made more difficult by this shift. Similarly, try actually getting to speak to someone at a company who isn't watching daytime tv on the sofa with a headset on and half an eye on their laptop. It's a chore in itself doing anything at all and everything costs loads of money. I think we're all a bit fed up.

I disagree, I haven't noticed things are worse at all

Yes I get it, because I'm actually a customer too at some points, as well as being customer facing. I'm facing the same issues as everyone else when not at work, but what I don't do is take it out the person in front of me or on the phone just because I'm frustrated and annoyed and because I know I can.
I recognise that the people still doing the actual jobs are more than likely stretched thin and trying their hardest, shouting at them, being personally insulting and treating them badly isn't going to change anything, possibly other than get me refused service.
The problem lies with this obsession with making more and more money and society idolising those that do, and the attitude that if you're spending money, you get to behave exactly as you like because the little people will put up with anything - the tide is turning a bit because of the general lack of people willing to be treated like this, and a small but vocal minority really don't like having to treat those they consider 'beneath' them in a civil manner because they're all too used to getting a bit of validation and superiority from these interactions.
I agree that customer service isn't great as companies seek to streamline costs - but then people are also not willing to pay extra for better service (so more people) either.

I think customer service, as said, is terrible in this country. More people are holidaying in the UK who used to go abroad, so are used to better. The threads on here were they are expected to clean after paying ££££ to rent cottages etc it's amazing that they are still in business. There's no need for rudeness, though, unless what you are saying is being completely dismissed. Many tourists will tell you how bad our hospitality services are.

I think it coincides with the virtual collapse of customer service. Covid gave organisations a brilliant excuse to cut staff, reduce services, etc., so "consumers" generally get a worse deal these days.

There's a hotel I go to regularly for business. Before covid, they always had 2 receptionists. Since covid, it's only even one, so there are nearly always queues. At breakfast, there used to be someone else checking guests against the list for paid breakfasts, since covid, the poor lone receptionist has to do that too!

The delays/queues causes guests to be unhappy and inevitably they take that anger out on the lone receptionist. Same with shops. Same with telephone call centres.

But, also, I get the impression a lot of staff enjoyed covid as they didn't see as many customers and liked the "quieter" life, so they're not as bright and bubbly and helpful not that customers have returned.

So, lots of different angles really. I've no doubt that customers are ruder and more impatient, but I do think that the organisations and some staff are contributing to the collapse in customer service.

It's not 'inevitable' it's a choice. It's only inevitable because of the school of thought that you can behave pretty much how you wish towards another person if they're in a customer service role, and they'll just take it.

From your post you, and therefore most people, can see what the issue is, not enough staff to meet demand, yet choose to take their frustrations out on the person there actually doing the job, and likely in the full knowledge that that person can do precisely nothing to change the situation. Because from first hand experience in a very similar situation to the 'poor receptionist' I can tell you that if I could change it then I absolutely would! I don't particularly enjoy doing two people's jobs and then getting shouted at, huffed at, personally insulted and threatened because I can't defy the laws of physics and be in two places at once.

And sure, the majority of customer service staff just wanted the quiet life and less customers, that's why they're not as bright, bubbly and helpful. Nothing at all to do with being on the recieving end of other people's poor behaviour day in day out and getting worn down by being treated like the enemy and surrounded by negativity all the time.

Honestly, when it comes to customer service, no one wants to take responsibility for their own poor behaviour it's all "Well, they made me do it because I got poor customer service" yup, blame someone else because you are frustrated and angry about the way the face of being a customer has changed and you can't cope with it, but make sure they're someone who can't answer back or can actually do anything about it.

And as I've said before, for some bizarre reason it's almost fashionable to be a 'victim' of poor customer service since covid, and to milk it for everything it's worth.