Customer service, why is it so terrible?

[Adrenaline1]

I blame parenting. The digital age has softened how kids are raised. Work ethic and pride in what you do sadly is not a priority and it has bled into the professional world.

Absolutely but the problem is sadly much bigger than that. The entitlement programs that continually bail out the irresponsible and poor performers are constantly growing. This is crippling everything. People are no longer held accountable and it seems people just gave up and accept or prefer it that way now. The "can't beat em join em" mentality is setting in now that it has gotten so bad.

 

[chenrio]

I just want to say that Shotscope has the best customer service I've ever eperienced.

 

[Hacker67]

Here is a pet peeve for me. The other nite the bestest half says, let's go get ice cream. So I take her to Baskin Robins and we walk in order a couple of cones. I go to pay, and a screen pops up, how much to you want to tip? 10, 15, 20 percent? Why? For gods sake I drove here and walked in and carry out.

So many places do this tip thing now, it drives me crazy. Panera hands me a empty coffee cup and wants a tip.

 

[GolfTravelDude]

lately thats Target, Kroger all the big ones it seems in my area, more self checkouts than manned ones. Now they are putting them in at Racetrack, QuikMart everywhere

I get the self checkout....but they only had 3 kiosks open. And every 3rd person had like a cart full.

 

[xThor]

Ahhhhhhh my wheelhouse.
I feel so bad for ‘most’ customer service reps.

context: I’ve spent several years in national/international contracting, outsourcing, and vendor management specific to customer service centers. I’ve opened and managed numerous centers in the US as well as internationally.

customer service has become a dollar-centric industry across most companies, as opposed to a customer-centric industry. By that I mean, most customer service leadership has never been in customer service, has no interest in customer service, and is looking for efficiency and cost-cutting measures. It’s a method to finding a quick buck at the sake of customers, and a gamble on retention and customer loyalty.

Key Performance Indicators that used to be based around Net Promoter Score, First Call Resolution, and other customer-centric initiatives, have been replaced by call handle time, and calls handled per hour/shift.
As leadership has shifted those goals over the years (and this has really exacerbated in the last 2 years), the customer service person you are dealing with is likely unable to give you the help you want, because their performance metrics (aka if they want to keep their job) most likely have nothing to do with your satisfaction.

it’s a sad reality I’ve seen develop personally and across many companies I’ve worked with over the last couple years, and ultimately why I took another job.

 

[-CRW-]

It’s terrible because people are generally stupid and lazy. It doesn’t matter what industry or how much they are getting paid. It exists everywhere.

 

[Matthew]

Yup, I'm not exactly in customer service but after about 5 minutes of being fussed at about something I had nothing to do with, my tolerance is real short on putting up with it.

Case in point. Customer you is in my former territory, that has been handed over to the new area guy calls me to complain about something he bought. I said ok, not really something I know about but tell me what's going on. Turns out, the other sales guy spec'ed out a piece of equipment, customer just signs off. All specifications are written in plain English, customer signature at the bottom. No questions asked, no rebuttals, no "hey this needs to change from X to Q", just signed & returned to start manufacturing. Now, it's a problem because he either didn't read the specs or didn't know what he was trying to do. Somehow, my problem & we're idiots because he can't read.

So, small update to this one in particular.
The owner & I talked and came to an agreement that left everyone equally unhappy. He got a slight break because he didn’t pay attention to very specific details concerning design parameters & I was able to put an issue to bed.
10 minutes later, his son called me. Cussed me like dog for exactly 9 minutes & 27 seconds because he can’t read. No kidding, Samuel L Jackson would’ve been proud. So, I see how somebody dealing with that all day could get close to 0 on the give a $hit meter.

 

[PatsFan]

I worked in Retail for 25 years and I thank god every day that I no longer do.
Customer service may be a lost art but the Amount of ENTITILED Bitches shopping that think the whole world revolves around them is steadily increasing.

From people destroying stores over a $1.75 sauce packet or just being unhappy it is getting crazy out there.

Some people think The old saying "The customer is always right" means they can say or do anything they want and they are sadly mistaken.

 

[tequila4kapp]

The answer is because there are so many more jobs than people wanting to work them. Nobody fears losing their job for bad performance, so they perform poorly.

 

[chile]

I think CS is overwhelmed and rather than throw people at the problem, they try to "tech it out" with online forms and other asshattery that doesn't actually get you talking to someone...

 

[Junkyard]

Ahhhhhhh my wheelhouse.
I feel so bad for ‘most’ customer service reps.

context: I’ve spent several years in national/international contracting, outsourcing, and vendor management specific to customer service centers. I’ve opened and managed numerous centers in the US as well as internationally.

customer service has become a dollar-centric industry across most companies, as opposed to a customer-centric industry. By that I mean, most customer service leadership has never been in customer service, has no interest in customer service, and is looking for efficiency and cost-cutting measures. It’s a method to finding a quick buck at the sake of customers, and a gamble on retention and customer loyalty.

Key Performance Indicators that used to be based around Net Promoter Score, First Call Resolution, and other customer-centric initiatives, have been replaced by call handle time, and calls handled per hour/shift.
As leadership has shifted those goals over the years (and this has really exacerbated in the last 2 years), the customer service person you are dealing with is likely unable to give you the help you want, because their performance metrics (aka if they want to keep their job) most likely have nothing to do with your satisfaction.

it’s a sad reality I’ve seen develop personally and across many companies I’ve worked with over the last couple years, and ultimately why I took another job.

You sir, have hit the nail squarely on the head IMO. Sadly their performance is no longer judged based on results, but on time spent.

For all intents and purposes you can say that as the technical support guy at my company I'm a form of customer support. What I have started to notice lately is that I will have customers call with a question and then want to argue my answer once I give it to them. They seem to forget that the reason they called me was because they didn't have the answer. I've never said it, but I have certainly asked myself "if you didn't want the answer why did you call in the first place?"

In fairness to all of the CS people out there, I realize that it's not an easy or desirable job. In a lot of cases you're working out of a call centre where you only see the light of day when coming to and going home from your building, you're crammed into cubicles like sardines and the person you're talking to is usually not in the best of moods. I make a point of expressing my thanks to any rep that I talk to that has provided me even a shred of useful assistance.

Another component to the equation that I just thought of and don't think has been mentioned here is the outsourcing of CS. Due to volume, companies are now using third party services and in a lot of cases the person you wind up talking to may have never even seen the item you're calling about. I don't know about the rest of you, but if I have physically laid eyes on a piece of equipment I am better at answering a question than if I have no idea what the customer is looking at. One of the major humidifier manufacturers that we used to represent had a policy that all of the technical support guys had to work in the R&D lab and certain areas of production for a period before they were allowed to start doing tech support. But as @xThor pointed out, it's all about the costs associated with service so a policy like this can get cut out pretty quickly.

 

[DataDude]

Most places I go are good to great at CS. Plenty of good people out there. Yes there are certainly bad experiences but that's generally a place where price is the reason I am there. You can't have great service and the lowest price. The world doesn't work that way. Never did work that way. Also I don't want the US to be a place where people are so afraid of losing a $10/hour job they will do anything to keep it. That's where we were for the last 30 years. The current environment where workers have the power is better for people and we are people.

 

[mancest]

So in the issue that started this, after requesting that I would like to speak with someone on the phone and being told that is not possible by someone at Venmo while they also got my name wrong in multiple emails (always fun) I let them know I would just contact Paypal since paypal owns venmo. I call their CS # and get the notice that it will be a wait and I can get a call back. They call back right on the time frame that they would, and the woman I spoke with was wonderful. I explained that I doubted she could correct my issue, but told her what was happening. She goes oh boy... I think we are going to have a big issue with taxes next year. As I don't work for Venmo there is nothing I can do on that account, but I can give you a phone number where hopefully you can actually speak with someone.

So, she was wonderful and hopefully I can talk to someone at venmo and maybe if not get this whole thing resolved, at least get an adequate explanation on why it can't be...

But we will see, won't have time to call them until after work.

 

[DaveGolfer15]

Absolutely but the problem is sadly much bigger than that. The entitlement programs that continually bail out the irresponsible and poor performers are constantly growing. This is crippling everything. People are no longer held accountable and it seems people just gave up and accept or prefer it that way now. The "can't beat em join em" mentality is setting in now that it has gotten so bad.

Yeah, everything is so awful now and everything used to be so wonderful .

 

[aljaklaw]

Ahhhhhhh my wheelhouse.
I feel so bad for ‘most’ customer service reps.

context: I’ve spent several years in national/international contracting, outsourcing, and vendor management specific to customer service centers. I’ve opened and managed numerous centers in the US as well as internationally.

customer service has become a dollar-centric industry across most companies, as opposed to a customer-centric industry. By that I mean, most customer service leadership has never been in customer service, has no interest in customer service, and is looking for efficiency and cost-cutting measures. It’s a method to finding a quick buck at the sake of customers, and a gamble on retention and customer loyalty.

Key Performance Indicators that used to be based around Net Promoter Score, First Call Resolution, and other customer-centric initiatives, have been replaced by call handle time, and calls handled per hour/shift.
As leadership has shifted those goals over the years (and this has really exacerbated in the last 2 years), the customer service person you are dealing with is likely unable to give you the help you want, because their performance metrics (aka if they want to keep their job) most likely have nothing to do with your satisfaction.

it’s a sad reality I’ve seen develop personally and across many companies I’ve worked with over the last couple years, and ultimately why I took another job.

short term gains over customer satisfaction (retention? what's that?)

some call it business decisions, some call it greed

 

[mancest]

Ahhhhhhh my wheelhouse.
I feel so bad for ‘most’ customer service reps.

context: I’ve spent several years in national/international contracting, outsourcing, and vendor management specific to customer service centers. I’ve opened and managed numerous centers in the US as well as internationally.

customer service has become a dollar-centric industry across most companies, as opposed to a customer-centric industry. By that I mean, most customer service leadership has never been in customer service, has no interest in customer service, and is looking for efficiency and cost-cutting measures. It’s a method to finding a quick buck at the sake of customers, and a gamble on retention and customer loyalty.

Key Performance Indicators that used to be based around Net Promoter Score, First Call Resolution, and other customer-centric initiatives, have been replaced by call handle time, and calls handled per hour/shift.
As leadership has shifted those goals over the years (and this has really exacerbated in the last 2 years), the customer service person you are dealing with is likely unable to give you the help you want, because their performance metrics (aka if they want to keep their job) most likely have nothing to do with your satisfaction.

it’s a sad reality I’ve seen develop personally and across many companies I’ve worked with over the last couple years, and ultimately why I took another job.

Holy crap, you actually answered my question! thank you!

 

[Hamfist]

Yeah, everything is so awful now and everything used to be so wonderful .

Hindsight is rose-colored.

 

[Buckeyegolfnut]

I think CS is overwhelmed and rather than throw people at the problem, they try to "tech it out" with online forms and other asshattery that doesn't actually get you talking to someone...

Absolutely! We would like to think that these phone banks are just absolutely stuffed with operators! The fact is they are not. Why else would you wait for the "next available operator?!"

 

[ccjimmy2001]

Besides numerous obvious answers, why is doing your job, or even pretending like you care seemingly impossible for most businesses anymore? For me the straw that is breaking my back is Venmo.

Our golf club (a non profit entity) lost use of paypay for various reasons, so to tide us over I created a business profile for venmo. There is very little helpful information and trying to get answers from anyone is pretty much crap, but I create a business account that is linked to my personal account.

I then try to add the clubs tax information to this business profile. I run into issues and contact support for help. 4th time doing this and still not working. Finally get a new response telling me that I need to a) close down my business account, b) close down my personal account and c) create a new account.... Besides having to close down both account which is a huge PITA, how do I keep all the payments we have collected on the business account from hitting my personal taxes at the end of this year?

Oh and all of this has been over email, even though I have asked for a phone call.

I have a positive customer service story and wasn’t sure what thread to post it in…

I attended the Masters this year, for the first time. Bought a bunch of merch for friends and walked straight from the merch store to the nearby area where they’ll ship your merch to your home. Threw the receipt in the bag without looking at it.

When the package arrived at my house a few days later, I noticed on the receipt that they charged me twice for the same shirt. Not the end of the world, but still annoying, so I tried calling the Masters merch store at Augusta National. No surprise that I wasn’t able to get anyone on the phone…

So, I sent a letter to the “returns” address printed on the back of the receipt; I included a photo of the receipt, explained what happened, and asked if they’d be willing to send me either a refund or another shirt — whichever was easier.

I didn’t expect a response but figured no harm in trying. Low and behold, yesterday I received a package from Augusta National containing a Masters shirt.

 

[mancest]

I have a positive customer service story and wasn’t sure what thread to post it in…

I attended the Masters this year, for the first time. Bought a bunch of merch for friends and walked straight from the merch store to the nearby area where they’ll ship your merch to your home. Threw the receipt in the bag without looking at it.

When the package arrived at my house a few days later, I noticed on the receipt that they charged me twice for the same shirt. Not the end of the world, but still annoying, so I tried calling the Masters merch store at Augusta National. No surprise that I wasn’t able to get anyone on the phone…

So, I sent a letter to the “returns” address printed on the back of the receipt; I included a photo of the receipt, explained what happened, and asked if they’d be willing to send me either a refund or another shirt — whichever was easier.

I didn’t expect a response but figured no harm in trying. Low and behold, yesterday I received a package from Augusta National containing a Masters shirt.

There is still great customer service. Callaway usually leads the way, but not surprised that Augusta National does it right.

 

[moistmayonnaise]

Ahhhhhhh my wheelhouse.
I feel so bad for ‘most’ customer service reps.

context: I’ve spent several years in national/international contracting, outsourcing, and vendor management specific to customer service centers. I’ve opened and managed numerous centers in the US as well as internationally.

customer service has become a dollar-centric industry across most companies, as opposed to a customer-centric industry. By that I mean, most customer service leadership has never been in customer service, has no interest in customer service, and is looking for efficiency and cost-cutting measures. It’s a method to finding a quick buck at the sake of customers, and a gamble on retention and customer loyalty.

Key Performance Indicators that used to be based around Net Promoter Score, First Call Resolution, and other customer-centric initiatives, have been replaced by call handle time, and calls handled per hour/shift.
As leadership has shifted those goals over the years (and this has really exacerbated in the last 2 years), the customer service person you are dealing with is likely unable to give you the help you want, because their performance metrics (aka if they want to keep their job) most likely have nothing to do with your satisfaction.

it’s a sad reality I’ve seen develop personally and across many companies I’ve worked with over the last couple years, and ultimately why I took another job.

Was starting write this up. Customer service isn't a lost art, business just doesn't care about it. Once they have your money they no longer care and for the most part, do not really care if you never buy their product again. This is for general goods, not high end products.

 

[golfinnut]

Having entitled people yell at you all day is a tough thing to recruit quality candidates to.

This is so true.

 

[golfinnut]

Sub 70 has some of the best customer service I’ve ever encountered.

I agree with this. I had two pairs of pants have the zipper break. They replaced them both, no questions asked.

 

[JimMLINY]

Besides having to close down both account which is a huge PITA, how do I keep all the payments we have collected on the business account from hitting my personal taxes at the end of this year?

If I were you and I get a 2025 1099-K with those transactions on them I would set up a new schedule C to report gross receipts on Form 1099-K and then report a deduction for same amount for "Conduit expenditures" for the payments sent to club to make for 0 impact on taxable income.

 

[rhinosparky]

Here is a pet peeve for me. The other nite the bestest half says, let's go get ice cream. So I take her to Baskin Robins and we walk in order a couple of cones. I go to pay, and a screen pops up, how much to you want to tip? 10, 15, 20 percent? Why? For gods sake I drove here and walked in and carry out.

99% agree with your take. The 1% is that the employee should get paid well enough that a tip isn't required. But that is a whole different discussion.