worst things about working in customer service

They are more than often only doing their jobs by acting and saying what they have been trained to say by their employer. One or both of you may be busy with a customer or preoccupied with finishing a task in a single area of the store. Why is customer service important? Kiarrra. Lying to a customer is one of the main customer service worst practices, even if it deceptively seems like a good idea in the short term. We see it all the time on some social media posts which go viral. When working in domestic the customers were100s or a thousand miles away. Flirting can go from being merely awkward and annoying to inappropriate very quickly. Everything is black and white. You should never lie just to appease a customer. I eyed him spitting in the food of a particularly unruly drive-through customer. Being in customer service, your response is usually a fake smile and a less-than-genuine apology about how long the wait time was. The 5 Worst Things You See While Working in Fast Food. Mental health is a difficult subject in customer service. It’s easy to feel uncomfortable when a customer is being a bit too friendly, especially when they seem to expect you’ll reciprocate their flirting simply because you’re working in customer service. It’s awkward when a customer is trying to be flirtatious, but all you want to do is finish your shift so you can get home to Netflix. ECG not working and worst customer service... can anyone help? That’s when you begin to feel like a glorified babysitter rather than a real professional. But sometimes customers will become defensive and act upset towards you like it’s somehow your fault. Shutterstock. Sometimes you have to ask the parent to control their rambunctious child or you have to stop the kid from breaking and opening things all by yourself. Even if your manager gets involved, they most likely will still be somewhat polite towards the customer, regardless of how awful they may have been speaking to you. You often finish your shifts tired, overwhelmed, and maybe a bit angry that so many douche bags can exist in the world. Jobs in customer service may help you develop many qualities such as patience and professionalism. As we’ve mentioned before, it’s difficult remaining professional and polite to all customers, regardless of how annoying they may be. Like any other employment opportunity, there are a few side effects you should be mindful of. You can’t even count how many times a customer has become angry at you for refusing to refund an item that isn’t broken or for your return policy, which you don’t even control. Being on your feet for five-to-eight hour (or longer) shifts at a time can be brutal, especially when you’re constantly walking around the premises helping customers. Needless to say, never treat those in customer service with such little disrespect as the majority of people who come to return products. 1. In this digital age only a few people will call your support to inquire about a product or service when most of the answers can be easily found online. After all, it’s their own fault for failing to bring it in. Facebook. Honestly, you probably need a month long vacation at a tropical resort to get the rest you deserve, but unfortunately medical insurance doesn’t cover that (as of yet). I've worked at many clothing stores over the years, so let me just emphasize this: if what you're looking for is not on the sales floor, then there's about a 5 percent chance that it's in the back. Nothing. Not everyone you encounter in customer service is rude or crabby. Whenever a customer is rude to you, it makes you want to work slower rather than faster. Your manager probably enforces a “the customer is always right” approach no matter the issue and you probably hate it. We got curious about who consumers think are the absolute worst, and found some answers. It’s an awkward situation when you have to tell a customer their card has been declined, especially when the same card has been rejected two to three times already. Either way, the sales associates are the ones who suffer. Pinterest. But you know you’re the one who has it worse. You really wish the kid wasn’t there and you’re pretty sure the kid feels the same way. The 5 Worst Things For Introverts About Working in Food Service by Kayla Mueller Much has been said about the types of jobs that are terrible for introverts , and I think we can all agree that retail and customer service are among the worst. There are many situations where our natural instincts result in the wrong customer service move. Get ready to clench your fists and grind your teeth while you nod in agreement to these examples, which will surely remind you how difficult working in customer service can be. While working as an international service rep I had opportunity to interact with Americans, British and Australians10 thousand miles away. You’re most likely not allowed to begin your end-of-the-day responsibilities or clock out if there’s still a customer in the store, meaning you are definitely going to be late going home. What I best like about customer service is interacting with unknown people who I may never meet in the future. But, seriously, if you’re unlucky enough to be on your feet all day, we’re sure you wish management would do something to resolve your pain. But on the other hand, you do take your job seriously, and want to protect your store’s products and watch out for criminal activity. Chances are you’re making a minimum wage salary, but you know that’s not even close to what you deserve-given all you put up with. Simply because the return policy isn’t to your liking. 5- SHITTY SERVICE! You know you won’t be dealing with angry customers and disorganized shelves forever and knowing that is one of the only reasons you make it through the work day. When 86% of customers quit doing business with a company due to a bad experience, it means that businesses must approach every support interaction as an opportunity to acquire, retain, or upsell.. Good customer service is a revenue generator. One of our regulars just leaned and whispered "I miss you" in my ear. My book Out of Office: Ditch the 9-5 and Be Your Own Boss is an Amazon bestseller and the perfect guide for anyone who craves a more flexible work life. But nobody is meaner or grumpier than an impatient person who had to wait in line for more than five minutes. Maybe the parent is rude enough to act like you should babysit their child while they shop. Remaining polite and professional is one of the most difficult things about working in customer service, especially if the customer is being anything but kind to you. Customer Service is the worst job possible. There is absolutely no reason to not say "please" and "thank you" to staff or even just flash a smile, because being rude is never the way to get what you want. People are rushing to pick up holiday-related merchandise or presents before stock runs out and are rushing to return items that didn’t work out. However, most of the time, the products turn out not to be defective and the customer doesn’t even have the receipt.... You’ll never understand why people get so angry when you explain that you can’t refund a purchase without the receipt. Sometimes the item is genuinely defective or the customer has another valid reason for wanting to return it. Customers are especially grumpy and rude when they’ve been waiting in line for a while. Thirty minutes is not enough to mentally recuperate and recover from whatever you’ve encountered during the first half of your shift. The 11 Worst Things About Working In A Supermarket; The 17 Worst People Every Waiter Will Inevitably Serve; The 20 Biggest Hates for Workers at the Grocery Store; The 22 Most Soul-Crushing Things About Working Retail; The 5 most annoying types of Customer you will ever meet! You sometimes feel sad that you don’t enjoy the holiday seasons as much as you used to. Your relationship with customers is fragile. You’ll never understand why some people think it’s okay to be verbally abusive and offensive to employees, especially when they’re only doing their job. They expect you to have eight arms like an Octopus so you can make the line move faster, even though that’s just downright ridiculous. Having a personal office space and working in an office on your own is a great way to get work done within the shortest period of time. You deserve at least an hour with a complimentary foot massage! That’s why you hate having to deliver the awkward news to customers and deal with the proceeding a moment of silence as they think of another way to pay. Bad Customer Service – The 6 Worst Things You Can Say To A Client Bad customer service has become one of the central talking points of the modern retail experience. Here are five awful things I've seen while working in fast food restaurants. So, it is really impossible that you’d be able to stop every single potential shoplifter. Most customers walk away without ever saying a word. Whether you compare one customer to another customer, your mother, colleague, husband or best friend, by saying he is similar to others is a form of dismissing his concern, idea or question. Covering the hottest movie and TV topics that fans want. #retailproblems, — Retail Problems (@myretailproblem) June 24, 2015, Our "motivational poster" for the door to the sales floor #retailproblems #Christmas pic.twitter.com/9ZMk7dkMJ1, — Cee WEAR A MASK Nobi (@obiwanceenobi) December 18, 2014, What i feel like doing to a customer when they come in 2 minutes before closing pic.twitter.com/NlGTupblsd, — Ugly Dude (@Yes_Dee_Yes) November 5, 2016. Oh boy, did you tell us. You’re the first one to complain about this. And you told us. For whatever reason, there are some customers who think yelling and acting rude are going to help make things go their way. Being thirsty all the time. Anyone who currently is or has previously worked in the customer service industry will definitely be able to relate to these examples. Customers always think they’re the ones who have it bad when there’s a huge line at the cash register. You wish your customer service policy could be a bit more understanding of what employees go through, because complying with a customer who is wrong is incredibly painful. Hey, can you tell me the time? This is a sad truth of so many customer service jobs. If anything is clear, it’s that it's not easy to work in customer service. While it does come with various benefits, like working in a sociable and often fast paced environment, it also comes with a lot of downsides. The people who have worked customer service jobs will do well even under pressure. Disadvantages of Working in an Office: Working in an office environment comes with several dangers too. 6 Reasons Why Working In Customer Service Is Actually The Worst Customer service employees deserve more, so excuse me while I rant. How I got in. You used to love holidays like Christmas and Halloween. I worked in callcenter in an insurance company for two years. You have to leave work early because Daycare reached out with concerns of a high fever of your 3 month old baby? But it also makes you upset when your management believes you alone are capable of stopping shoplifters in the act. Parents are always embarrassed when their child starts acting up in public, but it’s customer service reps and sales associates who have the worst time. You only hope they ask for your manager so they can tell the rude customer off and you can watch it all unfold in the background. She love spontaneous road trips, drinking coffee from mason jars, and her hair straightener. The customer service person normally meets with all kinds of customers, some very polite and soft spoken whereas many others are more often , pretty rude. Sometimes, customers go through quite an ordeal when dealing with customer service. Employees rarely have the power to change or bend store policies, alter prices, or order new stock. Alexandra is a University student and freelance writer and editor based in the Montreal area. It gave me anxiety attacks. I hated the way some of my co-workers fawned all over the customers just to get a good rating and make more money but I don’t think they really cared about the customers one way or the other. Customer service mostly involves dealing with failures – flawed products, equipment shortcomings, delivery inefficiencies, miscommunication, human errors, imperfect policies, broken promises and so on. And that’s because it takes you on one heck of a rollercoaster ride. Most likely the customer will be embarrassed and will sheepishly leave or pay a different way. Most children tend to be destructive, loud, and just downright annoying when they have to go shopping. 18 fucking awful things about working in customer service. Here are some sayings retailers should avoid. When there are only one or two employees looking out for a section, it can make watching for potential shoplifters down every aisle impossible. I had two customer service jobs and hated them both. All customer service employees deserve a huge pat on the back for remaining tolerant towards customers like these. 1. The most obvious is dealing with annoying and abusive customers, but other shortcomings include a measly salary, no time off during the holidays, and trying to explain the return policy. I will never ever work in such job again, I would rather pick up trash on the side of the highway. Perhaps this client constantly gets poor customer service since he's a bad customer. Have you ever walked into a shop and had to jump up and down, or stand on a soap box … Put simply, customer satisfaction has been proven to have a direct relationship with financial success. 0. dkhouse37 October 30, 2020 14:54; Follow. Arizona State University. The 10 Worst Things About Working In An Open-Office–In Your Words. From your personal experience working in customer service, you can definitely confirm that customers are not always right. While you understand some parents have no choice but to bring their kids shopping with them, you really wish they would leave them at home sometimes (I swear I'm not heartless). Impatient people are the worst. This is the ugliest part of customer service. It doesn’t help to be rude towards them, even if you’re frustrated. I know what we stock. You just want to go home and watch some Netflix! T. Working in customer service can be a painful experience. You’re forced to be polite and compliant to the customer’s will, no matter how ridiculous or insulting their demands may be. Over the years, I’ve had customers yell at me for things that happened when I … what did you score? The only thing that really matters is getting home from work to spend it with your loved ones. You might clench for fists, grind your teeth, and be giving major side eye, but you’ll do anything before letting the customer know how annoying they’re being (even if it’s only for the sake of not losing your job). It’s no secret that customer service employees have to deal with angry customers nearly about 80% of the time. You might warn them that the store is about to close, but it certainly doesn’t make them hurry up their shopping. In your job, you have to complete the responsibilities of a counsellor, personal shopper, mediator, janitor and everything in between. But it’s a different story when the customer is being annoying, insulting, or even abusive. Probably 80% of your job is keeping a smile on your face even though you’re internally screaming. pic.twitter.com/1CYZKoHq9d, "Sorry we've never stocked that""I bought it here last week though so you did have it"No you didnt. CustomerThink’s Advisors – global thought leaders in customer experience, marketing, sales, customer service, customer success, and employee engagement – share their advice on how to sustain positive relationships with your customers and employees during the COVID-19 crisis. The good news is that even the worst customer service habits can be corrected without detrimental damage to your brand, assuming you take action quickly. Though they might not know you’re technically off the clock, your boss most likely still expects you to answer their questions or concerns and not brush them off. 4 years ago. It gives customers a complete, cohesive experience that aligns with an organization’s purpose. If you’ve already clocked out and are on your lunch break, this can seriously affect your break time and make you grumpy when you have to return to your shift. They begin raising their voice and saying inappropriate things to you, hoping it will make you bend to their will (even though you know it will do the exact opposite). 2. They have to deal with a handful of rude customers each day, so you try to be extra nice to them, even if you don’t work in customer service anymore. Twitter. Everywhere I go, employees treat me like trash!" Keep up the good work! In fact, most retail stores make an effort to bring every item out on the sales floor, to ensure that the shopping experience will be as efficient as possible for the customers. 19. You wish customers might be more considerate that you want to leave work on time because it’s not like you’re getting paid anymore to stay behind only to babysit them as they so rudely shop. 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