How Was Your Customer Service?

What is wrong with people??

2012-12-07T13:13:00.000-05:00

This doesn't really have much to do with customer service. Well, maybe a little, since fellow human beings are supposed to be our customers. You know...the Golden Rule. Although quite cliche, that rule stands the test of time. It's a pretty good one....treat others as you would like to be treated. It actually works. Unfortunatley, I don't think that many people have time for that rule anymore. Maybe they don't believe in it. I was walking to the wine store to get something for Thanksgiving. The parking lot was pretty busy so I had to wait a little while. When I thought it was safe, I proceeded to walk across the lot to the store. All of a sudden, this big truck with a hemi-engine came out of nowhere and was headed right for me! Well, actually, I saw it. It was quite a ways away, though. I thought that I had time to cross. Little did I know! That truck that seemed like it was pretty far away to begin with, started speeding up when it saw me. I must have been worth a lot of points. Needless to say, it almost hit me. When I turned around to look at who was in the car, I got a pretty dirty look from the passenger. I was already irritated from almost getting run into by several shopping carts in the grocery store. I went right home and stayed there. What is wrong with people? What has made them have little regard for other human beings or the law for that matter?

Awesome Phone Conversation!

2012-10-27T14:31:00.001-04:00

I don't know about the rest of you, but Kelly and I are not wizards when it comes to websites and business. We are very intelligent at times! We are so intelligent that we actually ask for help when we need it, unlike most people. I spent the morning talking to a very nice person from a website company that had the best customer service ever. She was more than happy to assist me and never once did I feel like I was taking up too much of her time. I asked ever question that I could think of and she put me on hold a few times, but only to find out the answers to my questions. I think we both did a little bit of learning today!

We would love to hear from you about your customer service successes or failures. Feel free to comment. Enjoy your day!

Automated Systems....Uggh!

2012-10-19T09:41:00.000-04:00

Hi, everyone!
You have all probably had experience with automated systems, right? They are soooo frustrating! What happened to the days when we could talk to a live person easily? I admit that they can be easier sometimes. However, when you have an issue that can't be resolved without speaking with someone, though, getting a live person can make you want to scream! I called the customer service line for a credit card company today. Of course, I need to speak to a live person to resolve my issue. It was not easy, to say the least. After entering all kinds of different information like the last four of my card number, my zip code and so on, pushing all different numbers for my issue, and waiting on hold for the customer service representative, I was disconnected! The system, for some reason, could not complete my call. Why?! I called back. This time, I thought that I would outsmart the system and just opt to speak with a representative right away. This was going to be easier.....not! After doing almost the same thing, I was transferred to the same line that hung up on me. I was prepared to be disconnected again when all of a sudden, I got a real person. Oh wow! After I told her my dilemma, I expected to be transferred again (You never get the correct line.). I wasn't transferred, though. She took care of my issue in no time. I was so glad because I was getting a little testy. I was already unhappy because of the issue in the first place. Although my experience ended up being good, it was really frustrating to get there. Someone has to come up with a different way!

Saving those pennies...

2012-09-17T13:30:00.000-04:00

Most of us are feeling the crunch of the purse when it comes to buying huge items like cars, tv's, boats, etc. Even more of us pinch pennies when shopping at the grocery stores. Today I went to the grocery store across from where I work, looking to see what kind of deals they have there. I'll admit I was walking around for about 20 minutes because I was on break anyway. I checked out the meat section, cereals, pasta, and more. While looking through the meat department I asked an employee if there were any "specials" on meats or if there was a certain day of the week that the butchered meats were on sale. The guy said, "How am I supposed to know?" Curious. He was wearing a uniform for the same grocery store that I was in, he was behind the meat counter and he was putting meat on the shelves. I wonder why I thought he might know the answer. I just let him know that I would ask the manager instead. Then I apologized for interrupting his hard work. As I started to walk away he walked after me and then decided that he could help me after all and that he wasn't too busy. I politely declined and spoke to the manager instead.

Has this happened to anyone else? I am just trying to save some money and still get quality food items, but not at the expense of customer service. Let us know what you think! Comments are always welcomed.

We don't have that!

2012-09-06T20:23:00.001-04:00

I am just returning from a training function for work. While at the hotel on Tuesday evening, my roomie told me that she found a coffee/ice cream place within walking distance. I was thrilled and craving a oreo cookie coolatta! I marched over to the business and upon walking inside was greeted not by the staff, but by the wet floor where I almost fell on my butt. Not awesome. I made it to the counter and placed my order for the oreo cookie coolata. The cashier says, "Oh we don't have that". I look at the signs all over the store and on the front windows that show this product and then look back at her. I asked if they were out of it or if the machine was broken. The cashier then tells me that they just don't have it there. Ugh. I am so upset because I really wanted one. I then remember that this place has ice cream. I order some ice cream, again to be told that they don't have any. It was almost as if they stole uniforms and signs from a retailer and are pretending to be the same company. I was completely heartbroken and left with a mocha caramel something. Definitely not impressed!

Has this ever happened to you? I wonder what Kelly would have done if she had been with me. Let us know about your adventures!

Education Ally

2012-09-01T08:15:00.000-04:00

I called my finance counselor at my university yesterday. My normal counselor was not in so I talked to Brandy. She was absolutley awesome! I asked her my questions which she answered very thoroughly and made sure my financial aid application was sent promptly to the certificaton department. She even took it upon herself to put in a request for someone to call me about starting my Master's degree. That is something that is usually the job of my academic counselor. I talked with her for about 20 minutes about her experiences about the financial aid process and being so close to my degree. She probably didn't have time time to do any of that, but she did it anyway. I told her that I was getting really tired. She told me to hang in there and that it would be here before I knew it. I felt really comfortable and like I was talking to someone who really understood what I was going through. Now that was excellent customer service! All of my counselors at University of Phoenix are awesome! Thank you Shane, Darlene, and Brandy!

Sunday Getaway

2012-08-29T07:20:00.001-04:00

Kelly and I ran away last Sunday! We really needed to. Atlantic City and the ocean called to us and we drove there to walk on the beach and get our toes wet. What can make any trip more complete than that? Stopping at the rest stops along the way can! Here you will find screaming kids, unresponsive parents and disgruntled workers. Yay! At one particular stop we picked up some pizza, since we are vegetarians there isn't much of a selection anyway. We then stopped at another stand to get a drink. The worker was too busy with both hands stuck in the ice compartment. When I leaned over a bit to ask for help I realized that he was texting on his phone. That's a new one, pretending to scoop ice so you can text. Is it really that serious of a message? He just looked at me and then said, "Yeah"? So I said, "Uh yeah, we would like something to drink, please." That was his only function at work. He was the drink guy. It consisted of scooping ice into a cup and adding a beverage, that's it. Must have been too hard to do on a Sunday. Where do they find these people?

Has anyone else had an experience like this at a rest stop? We all know it gets extremely busy, but being rude or void isn't going to make the day better. What do you think? Feel free to comment or share your own story. We hope to hear from you!

Family Vacation

2012-08-19T11:30:00.001-04:00

As Kelly mentioned, we took a much needed trip to see her family in Michigan. Along the way we realized that people seemed to be much nicer. Why is that? Why would being farther up north make people nicer? We enjoyed the nice weather, the nice people, and the nice food. It is too bad that the nice experience didn't last very long. On the way home we stopped into a place to eat. There were & of us at the time. We all stepped into line and looked over the menu and prepared to order. The woman behind the counter began barking at us saying, "I can help someone here!"

Wow really, we all see you there so give us a second to swallow and then we can talk. We all just looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and then started to order, one by one. She was really pushy and rushed us all. Kevin, Kelly's brother, was last to oder and he had never eaten at this place before and didn't have the menu memorized. He also didn't know how the process went. The woman behind the counter kept saying, "I can help you here, I can help you here." I honestly wanted to just tell her to forget it and leave all of the food that we had already ordered sitting there to waste. This was on our way back towards PA, figures!

What do you all think? Have you had this kind of experience? Tell us about it! We hope to hear from you soon.

Michigan Trip

2012-08-15T20:15:00.001-04:00

We recently went to Michigan for vacation. The people were awesome! When we went into a business, they said hi and talked with us. They told us to have a good night, even. The employees at Bob Evans in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan were wonderful! They even took a picture of our group. It seemed like the further south we got, though, the ruder people were. We stopped at a hotel in North Lima, Ohio on the way back. They were extremely rude to us. When we walked in to register, the lady at the desk, although she was facing us at the desk, did not even look at us, let alone say anything. We just stood there and waited for her to do whatever she was doing. It was not until my son walked in that she asked if she could help. She asked him, though. Needless to say, we will never stay there again. Would it have been so hard to say "One moment. I'll be right with you."?

Coworkers are Customers Too

2012-07-31T05:51:00.002-04:00

Coworkers should be considered customers too. After all, you work with them everyday. You probably spend more time with them than your own family. You can provide good customer service for your coworkers by being a team player. I know that the team player is overly stressed today. Being a team player is important, though. Your coworkers will be more inclined to help you when you need it if you go out of your way to help them. Because you have to work with them everyday, wouldn't you like to have a good working relationship? It's a little uncomfortable to work with someone that you don't get along with. The customers of your business will be better off as well as businesses with a team run smoother. What do you think? Tell us your ideas!

No more questions for you!

2012-07-27T12:17:00.001-04:00

I seem to have all of the luck in the world when it comes to rude customer service over the phone. Kelly seems to get the face to face rudeness, but I get it over the phone often. I called regarding an issue with some sales tax for business reasons. I talked with a nice lady and told her my issue and she directed me to a website that would help me out. I thanked her and tried the site. There was something that I was missing and wasn't sure how to proceed so I called that same number. This time I was talking to a man and explained that same situation to him and he gave me another telephone number to call. I asked if the people who I was to call next would be able to help me with the entire process regarding the sales tax. His response was, " Well, you have to call them and ask them now, won't you?" As I started to ask another question, he again said that I would have to call the other number and then promptly hung up on me!

What is the issue today with the horrible customer service? Not to mention the horrible phone manners. I didn't even get a good bye, or thanks for calling. Even a simple explanation similar to, "I'm sorry I do not have that information, maybe the people at the next line can assist you better. I mean really, is it that hard?

What do you think? We would love to hear from all of you about your customer service experiences, good or bad.

Aggressive Drivers?!

2012-07-27T07:48:00.000-04:00

Although this does not have much to do with customer service, I felt the need to share it with you. Angie and I both commute to our jobs every day. She drives about 40 minutes. I drive an hour. I just cannot believe what some drivers will do. I'm really surprised that there are not more crashes. Maybe they just happen before I get there. People seem to be in such a hurry to get somewhere. They weave in an out of traffic, pass on the left, and cut people off. Many times, I see them down the road at the same intersection with me. They didn't save much time, but put everybody else's lives at risk. I think the thing that bothers me the most is the the tailgating. That is really dangerous! It especially bothers me when you can't go any faster due to the 25 cars in front of you. I am guilty of tailgating too once in a while. That drive is so routine that it's easy to catch yourself doing it. I'm talking about the people that are so close to your bumper that you can't see their headlights. What is also just as bad is people who slam on their breaks when they see someone behind them who is tailgating. What is that supposed to do? Make it easier for that person to rear end you and cause a crash? I have seen people use their hazard lights when this happens. That is a better idea, except people look at you like you're crazy. I think the best idea is to just move over and let that person go 100 miles per hour. I have been in quite a few traffic jams due to crashes. I then see people drive over the median and even back up on the entrance ramp! We need to have personal planes to take to work. That might be worse, though! Has anyone else had these experiences?

Breakfast Game

2012-07-22T11:47:00.001-04:00

I just have to tell you about our experience at Dunkin Donuts today. We went to get some breakfast. My daugter's boyfriend gave us instructions to order bacon and cheese on a glazed donut. That's his new concoction. Of course, the looks on their faces were priceless! We had the entire crew trying to figure out what we wanted..lol. They were all awesome! They were smiling and playing along with the game. They ended up giving us bacon and cheese separate from the glazed donut so he could put it together. They even gave us a knife to cut the donut in half. I was smiling and laughing too. Way to go Dunkin employees....you rock!

Professionalism vs Intimidation

2012-07-21T17:02:00.001-04:00

Today I took my son to take his testing for his driver permit. I hate going into that place. I always feel intimidated. Sometimes, they are just rude. Why is cracking a smile not allowed? Anyway, we went in after waiting in a line that extended outside. At least I got to see the Chinese restaurant that had been closed down for health reasons. Yikes! After we registered and our number was called, we went up to the desk with our documentation. Everything that he said seemed like a one word command. I don't work there for a living. I don't know what I am supposed to do. He wasn't really rude just seemed annoyed. We were probably about the 5000th transaction that he had done that week. Maybe that's why he seemed so annoyed. Maybe it isn't that they all think that they are better than everyone else, just that their jobs are that routine. As we were standing there, I watched the guy next to us treat a couple that spoke broken English really badly. I really tried to be pleasant, even though I went in there expecting to be treated rudely. He did crack a smile right before we left. I almost missed it!

After my daughter took her driving test a little while ago, I asked the examiner that works at the same place why he was so intimidating. His reply was that he had to be professional and he could not portray the idea that driving was a joke. I told him that being pleasant is not saying that driving is a joke and that he probably intimidates many of his examinees. I went on to say that he can be professional and still be pleasant. I also told him that they probably all get really nervous and that is why they fail. I think that there is a joke around town about him. I ended up shaking his hand after our conversation. I don't think that did any good, though. Has anyone else had a problem with DMV's?

Random Acts of Kindness

2012-07-17T09:42:00.001-04:00

I wanted to add this in to our blog because Kelly and I are so excited to hear that there are still people in this world that try to help others and expect nothing in return. A normal day at my job in retail consists of rude customer service equally due to the rude staff and rude customers. Kelly and I are all for the customers being treated with the most respect, however, we do know that people are down right just rude. Let's be honest. How many of you smile or say good morning to a random stranger? How many of you respond to a random stranger who does this to you? What is so wrong these days that you can't say hello and smile?

This random act of kindness stands out to us both because I can relate to the woman involved and because Kelly and I love the Pay It Forward mentality. Here is the short but sweet story. A cashier at my job pulled me to the side to tell me that she had a woman at the register that wanted to get cash off of her EBT card to use for the rent, which she was behind in and would be getting evicted because of it. There didn't appear to be enough money on this card or she didn't have the ability to recieve cash back from the card. The woman broke down and stated that she is forced with the decision to feed her kids or sell the food that she can buy with the card in exchange for money for the rent.

The gentleman behind her asked how much she needed. She began to cry harder and told him that she just couldn't take any money from someone. After calming her down, the gentleman asked again. The woman said, "I only need $40, but because I am always late and falling behind I am going to get evicted". The gentleman and his wife looked at each other and smiled, then exclaimed that she was not getting evicted today. They handed her $40 and told her to use that card to buy her kids some food and then pay the rent. After refusing to take the money several more times, they demanded for the woman to take the money.

She eventually took the money into her hands and cried out to them that she didn't know how she could ever repay them. The couple both smiled and said that they had been blessed and repayment wasn't needed. They were satisfied that they were help her and her children out. The gentleman only asked one thing of the woman. She asked what could she do for them. He told her that when she was back on her feet again and was able to offer help to someone else, all they wanted her to do was to Pay It Forward! Isn't that the best thing you have heard? Once it was all done the woman, the cashier, and a few others in line were all in tears!

What do you all think about that? Do you have any stories to share?

Is this going to hurt?

2012-07-17T08:00:00.001-04:00

As Kelly mentioned, I had an interesting yet rude encounter over the phone with a scheduler at an office for a specialist. I have symptoms of carpal tunnel and finally after much waiting am trying to do something about it. I went to see my family doctor and then they refer me to a place that I'm told will call me to schedule an appointment. After playing phone tag a few times, I finally reach someone and tell them who I am, and the reason for my call. The woman on the other end sharply asks for my birthday to confirm who I am, then says ok we have a date in August @ 2pm. I say sure that will work for me and I begin to write it down. The woman then says, "Ok see you then." and starts to hang up.

I ask her not to go since I had some questions. I mean really, I don't know the whole process, but have been told that they are sticking needles into my wrist and sending electrodes or something into them. I imagine it will hurt....won't it? The woman sighs deeply and says that no one else seems to have a problem with it. I calmly said, "Well, I am not everyone, I am me and am already having pain." The woman says to me that it won't hurt and I can go back to work afterwards and starts to hang up again. I again stop her and ask, "Where are you located? She sighs again and says that she will send a packet with the information on it to me. At this point she feels that it is ok to verify my address. Shouldn't she have done that before trying to hang up on me the first time?

Ugh. What do you all think about this? If I tell you to come to an appointment where I will jam needles into your body and shock you, wouldn't you be a little concerned? I think I will definitely have a follow up to this post after actually having the appointment. So for now TO BE CONTINUED..........

Two Stories

2012-07-13T07:55:00.000-04:00

We have a couple of stories for you today. I went to the grocery store for my daily morning routine of buying my lunch and a little something for breakfast. When I left the self check out, the girl, who I had never seen before, didn't even aknowledge that I had been here. I told my partner that she must be new. All the other employees are nice to me because I'm a regular. She said that everyone should be treated like a regular. She was right. That phrase is still ringing in my mind. Everyone should be treated like a regular.
The other story happened to her. She made an appointment with a specialty doctor. Of course, Angie had questions. She had never been there before. Most of them were simple questions like "Where are you located? and Is this going to hurt?" The woman proceeded to answer in a tone that sounded really annoyed. She said in a condescending voice that she would send a packet, which would explain everything. Angie kept trying to ask more questions as the woman was trying to hang up and was getting impatient with her. I'll let her tell you the rest later...

Mean Grocery Manager

2012-07-08T20:38:00.000-04:00

Every time I go to the grocery store lately, I end up waiting in line for what seems like forever. They never have enough lanes open to handle the traffic. It's always busy in there and even more so on weekends and holidays. The last time I went in, there were only two lanes open and the self check out lanes. The lines for all of those lanes were winding down the isles. The only thing that made it better is that our cashier was really nice. I didn't want to go through the self check out and chose to use a regular lane. We probably would have been waiting just as long, anyway. The reason why I didn't want to use the self check out is because the manager was running it. She treats her employees horribly and customers almost as bad. I did the same thing another time. She couldn't figure out why. It doesn't seem like the concept of treating employees or even customers nicely so employees will be more productive and customers will come back has really caught on in this area. Is it like this everywhere else or just here?

Morning Routine

2012-06-27T18:42:00.000-04:00

I made my morning stop at the grocery store today before work. Apparently, there are some new employees that don't know me. I have been stopping every morning before work for over 2 years. The ones that know me say hi and smile. I guess since the new employees don't know me, they figure they don't have to be nice. I try to smile at them when I walk in, but I get the usual head turn and they look at the floor. In fact, even the other customers are like that! People today are just so unhappy. Why? Is it the economy? Our fast paced lives that we need to keep up with technology? How long does it take to smile and say hi, though? I admit that I'm not always the happiest person. I try to be nice to everyone, though. You never know when and under what circumstances you'll see that person again. You might just make someone's day if you take the time to be nice!

Call from Work

2012-06-20T14:53:00.003-04:00

The other day while at work I realized that I needed to order some supplies for my perimeter doors. I located the phone number from one of the tags and counted up how many tags that I would need. Keeping in mind that I changed these tags often I was trying to order more, so that I didn't need to order so soon again. I dialed the number, identifed myself and asked for the person in charge of ordering for my particular area. While I expected to be put on hold or transfered, I waited for a few seconds, until I heard, "He isn't here". This was followed by a "click". Yes, she did hang up on me.

I sat for a moment holding the phone to my ear and asking if anyone was still there. I really could not believe that she hung up on me. I slowly dialed the number again and made sure to do so carefully. Perhaps I had dialed the phone number and maybe I wasn't the only one who called there. I didn't know, but wanted to find out for sure. As the same voice answered, I identified myself as the person who just called. I waited for a reply, but heard none. I again asked if the person whom covers my area was in and if not did he have a voicemail or email that I could obtain to place my order. The girl replied, "I said he isn't here". She then hung up on me again!

I called a third time, and this time was ready to throw polite out of the window. Instead, no one answered the phone. It also did not get picked up by an answering machine. So, here I am a few days later, still without tags and still not knowing who is my contact. In fact, I tried calling again today, but to no avail. How rude is that?

A-

Grocery Visit #1

2012-06-17T11:00:00.000-04:00

Have you ever walked into the grocery store to find the employees giving you the "not another customer" look? Even worse, as you are going through the checkout, the cashier does not say a word until the end when you are told how much you owe! What happened to "Hi. How are you today?" and Have a nice day."? Rude customer service can happen anywhere, even the medical field. My latest experience at a doctor's office was horrible! I walked up to the check in window, looked at the sign in sheet and asked if there was a more private way to sign in. The woman at the window said that I had to sign in or I would not be seen. I wasn't telling her that I was not going to sign in, just that I would like a more private way. I didn't want everyone knowing that I was there. At another appointment at the same office, they proceeded to take me back after I had been waiting for a half an hour. I got the head nudge to get onto the scale. Once that was done and I was in the room, the same person gave me short commands while taking my vitals.....blood pressure, reason you are here, temperature, etc. I was beginning to think that she was unable to speak. I scheduled my next visit at the other office only to find that she was working at that office on that day! Is it so hard to be nice? Furthermore, do they really expect someone to use their services or shop in their store if they treat people so rudely? I would love to hear the experiences of others!