Another sign customer service is deceased

I know this will come as no shock to anyone, but the concept of “customer service” is not one that todays employees seem to be aware of. The “customer is NEVER right” anymore. For example: why the hell are convience store clerks allowed to talk on the phone for hours at a time? I know its not the greatest job in the world to be stuck behind a counter for 8 hours a day. You’re selling 40s and cheap smokes to smelly alcoholics and idiots who buy lottery tickets with 200 pennies I feel for you, truly I do. But this is the job you took. Allow me to reiterate that word: JOB. It means you are getting PAID to ring up my items and accept my form of payment. . . all of this requires a certain level of communication. I need you to acknowledge my existence…maybe even (gasp) listen to what I’m saying and nod in understanding.

When I paid for $10 in gas and you didn’t punch it into the computer, the pump did not stop at $10.00. Oh no. Instead it goes over by twenty cents because I (in my eternal optimism) assumed you had actually done your job. So now I have to come back into the store and give you two more dimes in thanks for your idiocy. Sure, you could have done your job, but you were too busy chatting away with your girlfriend about your ex’s babies mamas syphilis.

This particular disease (cellphoneitis not syphilis) is not limited to just one store. For it was another night and another location and another bored rude clerk who gave me incorrect change back on my purchase. I paid with a twenty. She gave me change for a ten. Then she turned her back on me and walked away. All the time droning on and on into the cell phone seemingly super-glued to her vacuous head. “Hey!” I exclaimed, arms waving, leaping up and down trying to get her attention. Unfortunately for me her priorities appear to be in this order: #1 - not let any pesky customers deter her from her riveting conversation on the latest stunning plot turn on “All My Young and Restless Children are in the General Hospital”. #2 - Smoke her cigarette and chomp on her gum at the same time (an amazing feat for someone with such obvious low mental acuity). #3- stare numbly at some spot on the ceiling. When finally after doing everything (short of firing a flare gun) to get her to return to the counter she decides to pretend to do her job again. She glares suspiciously at me as I explain her monetary mistake. “Are you SURE you gave me a twenty??” she inquires.Why yes my lady of the cell phone snub, I am sure…and you would be too if you were doing your freaking JOB. After getting the ten dollars that was owed to me five minutes earlier I smile and politely say “thanks and have a good day!” For this insult I get back a snort, an eye roll and her back turned on me again. Such a ray of sunshine! Such a classic case of perfect customer service! Such a witch with a capital “B”!

So please all those clerks out there who may be reading this - I implore you. Get yourselves a notebook. In it write down the five hours a day you need to ramble on and on pointlessly with your trailer trash significant others. Please try to plan these epic chat sessions in some hours when you are NOT supposed to be working. Trust me, it will help all of us go a little longer before we snap and seek a rifle and a high tower. Specifically a high tower with a great view of your cell phone.

I don’t expect anything in the way of service at convenience stores, which is why I pay at the pump and buy my cigarettes at the grocery store. They aren’t paid enough to be nice to me, and if I was them, I’d probably be a lot ruder.

No one takes a job like that because they want it, they take it because it’s their only choice. It’s probably hard to smile and act like you give a rat’s ass when you don’t even make a living wage.

Dude, you over-pumped by TWENTY CENTS?
That’s… hardly believeable.
I don’t think I’ve ver even over-pumped by FIVE cents.
Were you drunk?

To what end?

Over the past few years, I have made it a practice to name the bill with which I am paying at convenience stores, fast food places, etc.:

McDs: “5.25”

Me: (handing over a $20 bill) “Out of 20”

Does the trick.

I’m an asshole, so I’m sure snide commentary would creep in, and I’d also stand there and make people push the button a million times before I turned the pump on. hee hee. Then I’d always hand them the wrong kind of lottery ticket or cigarettes, and then for the lottery people, I’d stand there and sigh and roll my eyes while they scratch them off at the counter.

Then I’d go out for extended cigarette breaks and do drugs, 'cause if I’m working at a convenience store, I’m definitely going to need drugs. I’d then come back in and be geeked out and talk people’s heads off to the point that they don’t really even know quite what to say back to me.

I’d chat and gossip with my co-workers while reading Soap Opera Digest and any other good magazines we had on hand. And I’d eat Hostess all day (when I wasn’t tweaking) and drink a shit ton of Diet Coke, on the house, of course.

I’m sure I can think of more if you’d like. :smiley:

(Actually, I think I just described every convenience store clerk in the tri-state area.)

Indygrrl – again, to what end? I am asking in all seriousness.

If that kind of activity is typical in your area, our convenience store clerks are truly amazing. That kind of stuff is rare around here. It’ll happen now and again, but it’s highly uncommon.

Have I led a sheltered life? I’ve never heard of a gas pump that shuts off automatically when it hits a dollar amount. If you pre-pay the cashier for an amount, I always thought it was your responsibility to only pump that amount and if it took more or less, you went back in to settle up.

Am I wrong?

I guess I don’t understand your question, because that really is how I’d behave if I had to take a job as a convenience store clerk. To the end that I’d probably start drinking Boone’s Farm while on the job and end up getting fired. Then I’d go down the road and get a job at another one until I got fired, so on and so forth.

Subtract several IQ points and that is basically what we have working at any given convenience store in Indianapolis. I’d be foolish to expect any more from them.

I guess it may depend on where you live. Here… if I go in and prepay $10.00, the cashier enters that amount and the pump will automatically stop when it reaches $10.00.

Huh? Do you still have to crank a pumphandle to get gas where you live or something?

I haven’t had to do what you describe in more than a decade-probably closer to two decades if you want to be totally honest.

Sam

Actually, I try to use stations that have a pay-at-the-pump option when possible, which is about 99.9% of the time. On the rare occasion that I’ve had to prepay inside the store, I’ve never noticed that the pump stopped at a dollar amount, I’d just give the girl an estimate of how much I think I’d take and come back in to settle up if it took more/less. ::shrug::

Like I said, I don’t know of a single pump in California that won’t stop at $20 if you say “gimme $20 on pump 3”. AFAIK, there is no guesstimating on gas and you can’t say “I think I need $20 on 3, but I might need $30 and I’ll come in to pay for that when I’m done”.

This was done to prevent people from doing the above and running off with an extra $10 in gasoline.

Sam

The question is this “why would you, personally, act like that? Because you could?”

OK, but I thought you were speaking for yourself, not for a hypothetical “typical convenience store worker”. I assure you, things are different elsewhere regarding convenience store personnel. Lucky us, I suppose.

I would do it because if I found myself in a shithole of a job, making minimum wage, it would be enough to drive me to act like that. I can empathize with how those workers must feel, and I don’t get angry when they are rude or weird or don’t do a great job. I wouldn’t either. It wouldn’t be worth the effort. And though I don’t do drugs or drink on the job now, I might if I had to work at Village Pantry. That may sound like a caracature of a worker, but it’s reality around here.

Again, why would you give a rat’s ass about a job that doesn’t even pay you a living wage?

Fortnately, I have a degree and some halfway decent work experience, so I might be able to stay one step ahead so I’m never forced to take a job like that.

If you look at my location, you will notice that I do not live in a small town. I mention this because I don’t want to give the impression that what I am about to say is some odd rural phenomenon.

When I see these rants, I am always more than a little confused simply because bad customer service is just not a part of my life. I am not saying that it does not exist, but I am saying that I think that I have a trick or two to pass on that may help.

I would probably credit the excellent customer service that I get to a couple of main factors. One is that I am a good customer, and two is that I always shop at the same places. These go hand in hand.

If you always buy your gas at a particular station, groceries at a particular store and so forth it is inevitable that the folks that work there get to know you a bit. At that point, it is more difficult to be rude.

Couple that with being a good customer (this is, IMHO, simply a matter of being efficient (check made out ahead of time, coupons out ahead of time, not taking 20 items into the 10 or less lane etc.), as well as treating the folks that are helping you as people and not functions), and you pretty much have the stage set for success.

Another thing that I will do is to defend the CSR folks if another customer is being rude to them. This can take the form of taking the other customer to task for their behavior, or preemptively going to a manager and explaining what happened (in case rude customer bitches). Believe me, this is not forgotten.

I guess that what I am saying is that bad customer service goes both ways. People, in spite of some evidence to the contrary, are pretty smart. They will not do any more work than they have to. Given that most CSR jobs are pretty low tier, with little room for improvement, there really is not much motivation to give good service. Why should I be perky and attentive to a customer if I am going to get paid the same as I will if I just grunt and take their money while talking to someone that I am actually interested in on the phone?

We are getting what we pay for, service wise. The difference, I think, is that the way that I am as a customer motivates folks on an interpersonal level and generally makes the entire interaction better for all concerned.

Try saying “Out of 20”, and giving them a Ten. I’ve had that pulled on me. After that, I paid more attention when someone said “Out of” anything.

Back when I was working at the video store, one night I was working with Jeff, and we were talking about this very thing. As I was saying that I hate it when store clerks are too wrapped up their conversations to pay attention to customers, a customer walked up and asked if a particular movie was in. Without breaking stride, I replied “ExCUSE me, we are TRYing to have a converSATION here!” It couldn’t have been more perfect. Just one of the many classic moments in the history of Arborway Video.

Indygrrl, it’s not too much to ask even a minimum wage worker to pay attention and stay off the phone for a few hours. And it’s not impossible. I did it. Probably most people here did it. And we have a right to get pissed at clerks who won’t do it.

Because it is better than nothing?

When I am “treated badly” at a store, I do not go back. I can be stubborn. Sometimes it means driving an extra 10 miles, but if I get treated like shit I see no reason to support the business with my business.

Right, that’s exactly the idea – to get them to look at the bill and acknowledge that the customer is aware of what bill they are handing over. Ideally, both parties will be aware of what the bill is before it changes hands.