I worked in a convenience store for six months about three years ago and while I was by no means the exemplary employee, I never (okay, well, rarely) did the sort of thing that the OP is complaining about.
Customer service isn’t dead, that clerk was just an asshole.
Just because you’ve had bad experiences does not mean every retail clerk is a trailer trash asshole with no brain, and as a retail clerk with a great amount of pride in her job and who really tries to give the best service she can, I fucking resent that.
I’m just saying that’s the stance most of these workers seem to take. And it doesn’t affect them personally if you stop coming to their gas station, they know plenty more will still patronize, regardless of service.
I don’t know if it is better than nothing. If I had a kid or two in daycare, I can’t see working at a convenience store just to make literally a few bucks.
My main point is that I get why they resent their jobs. Until I’ve walked in their shoes, I won’t presume to tell them how to behave towards their customers. And I’m sure they get their fair share of people who look down their noses at them while paying $103.00 to fill up their SUV. All they’ve got is passive aggression, and I assume it makes them feel a little better than saying “Yes sir,” “Thank you sir,” to the jerk who thinks you’re trash because you work at the VP.
If I’m not mistaken, I think what he’s asking is…Why would you expend the extra energy necessary to go out of your way to be rude? I too can understand why an employee under those conditions wouldn’t exert one iota more than necessary, but to voluntarily engage in all sorts of behaviour DESIGNED to be rude…it sorta seems to defeat the purpose of not giving good customer service.
Which, to my knowledge, is to not extend oneself beyond that which is the absolute minimum amount of energy to do the job.
If a clerk is going to all sorts of trouble to be not just unhelpful, but rude, snide and trickster-y, then they’re expending just as much energy as they would have had they been nice and as helpful as possible.
True, the rudeness is negative energy, but still, what would it profit the person to go out of their way to be rude?
I can however very much understand why they’d be rude BACK to some customers. Not everyone who has been forced to take this sort of job is a single digit IQ springerite. Some are college students, educated folks who are between jobs or need to have a second job and so on. So someone treating you as if you’re an idiot, when you are in fact likely just as educated and intelligent as they are would be a good excuse imho.
I work in customer service and would like to put in my two cents.
There are good customers and there are difficult customers - my job is to make them all thankful they shopped at my company’s store. AFter all, if they didn’t, I wouldn’t have a job.
I have had less than exemplary customer service and have always brought it to someone’s attention at a higher level, particularly if it was enough to make me not go back.
The person who owns the store wants to make money - they do not make money when customers leave and don’t come back. But they also don’t know you won’t come back if you don’t tell them. So, if I may make a suggestion, next time, please make the effort to let the owner/manager know that you are not satisfied. I guarantee it’s important to them.
Solid rant. I get pissy about this; frankly, I’ve never been of the opinion that the customer is always right, and if I had been, I would have been disabused by the crazy ranting sociopaths who came through my line at the grocery store. Even so, I was unfailingly polite (and anyone who reads what I write here can tell that this is not one of my fundamental personality traits.) If you’re too busy chatting on your phone to deal with your customers, your ass needs to get fired. That’s absolutely fucking ridiculous. Talk on the phone on your own time; while you’re getting paid, your time belongs to the company.
Excuse me, but the proper term is “babymama”. She was talking about her ex’s babymama’s syphilis.
-Excalibre, master of the Queen’s English.
Interesting fact: The Queen has never referred to Diana by her name, instead strictly calling her “Charles’ babymama.”
Because they’re pissed off. They have to stand on their feet for hours at a time and deal with hundreds of transactions for a very low wage. They see all kinds of people and put up with all kinds of attitudes. So when you walk in the door and make them jump through their hoop to ring up the next transaction they would just as soon not heve you around in the first place and maybe if they let you know that you would quit bothering them.
I worked in a convenience store when I was a teenager. While I didn’t enjoy it, I found it to be tolerable. For me, the customers were the good part of the deal. I got to meet all kinds of nice people, ugly people, pretty girls, grouchy people, etc and found it very entertaining. The bad parts of the deal were waring a tie, the nightly cleanup, mixing the fucking slushy drink for the dispenser, neighborhood kids who tried to create as much mischief as they could and the occaisional obnoxious drunk. Other than that I got paid to hang out and chat with people. No backbreaking work in the extreme heat or cold and , due to my store’s location, not much concern over crime.
Well, I was just saying how I’d do it if I worked at one of those places. And I’d do it to amuse myself, and to pass the time. The rolling of the eyes comes naturally, so that wouldn’t require much effort. And I wouldn’t pull the wrong cigarette/lottery ticket trick unless the person was annoying or something. And as far as making them hit the button one million times before I turn on the pump, well, I don’t know, I guess I’d do that just because I’m an asshole.
At least I don’t deny it. 
I’ve walked in their shoes. Neither I nor my co-workers behaved as you say you would do. Let us all hope for the sake of Indianapolis convenience store shoppers that you never do walk in their shoes.
Oh, I forgot, I’d blare Motorhead and all variety of heavy metal as loudly as possible while I was working. And I’d bang my head around and also play air guitar at appropriate moments. (I do that now at my desk, but I can’t turn it up very loud and my head banging and such are lost on everyone because they can’t see through my cube).
But, I’d also wear tube tops, so that could be a good thing for customers.
(fight my ignorance)
Since I pay at the pump 100% of the time, I was wondering how those who pre-pay ever get a full tank of gas??
Yeah, I have also. I currently work as a shift manager for a large gym chain. Most clients are pretty nice, but there are a few that are jerks AND idiots to boot.
I just smile and say either “yes sir/ma’am” or “I’m sorry, that’s against policy” lather rinse repeat as necessary.
I refuse to get into some ridiculous “ornery off” with anyone. Takes too much energy, in my mind, I’m ignoring them, but my mouth is making niceties.
This takes the least amount of energy necessary to deal with the morons and seeing them either calm down, or get even more insane because they can’t suck me into their negative energy is worth it.
It isn’t about whether or not you give a rat’s ass about your job. It’s about whether or not to give a rat’s ass about how you treat other people, both inside or outside of the workplace. Being rude to innocent people not excusable.
Ok, this is off topic, but since I’ve been following the thread I’ve read this post a couple of times.
I get that you don’t want to get into a verbal battle with someone who is being irrational, that makes perfect sense. But when you say “in my mind, I’m ignoring them,” that’s just the kind of thing that people can sense.
I’ve had a small battle of wills with a woman at my daughter’s school regarding where I am to park to take her in, etc. Long story short, my daughter is special needs, I have to walk her to class, lady was getting pissy because of where I had parked, however, I had parked there all year and suddenly she was telling me I had to park quite a ways away from the building.
She’s one of those people who hides behind a smile whilst being nasty to someone. I can’t take that. If I’m upset, it’s going to come out. I told her (and not like a moron) my situation, and she refused, with a smile, to help accommodate us. I wasn’t trying to suck her into anything, but yeah, the situation was growing ever-more negative as the days passed.
I went over her head to the principal and now I park where I need to park, so I won.
She was just pulling a power play on me and trying to get me to do what she wanted. It’s that smiling in someone’s face when they’re upset that I find disrespectful. She also spoke to me in the same tone she probably uses on Kindergartners. Argh. That shit is so frustrating. She simply refused to speak to me like an adult.
I guess it’s differences in personalities, but I’d rather handle a conflict with my true feelings than put on any kind of a fake smile. It’s disingenuous and insulting to the person you’re dealing with.
/sorry to hijack
Oh, it is a fine wage. It just isn’t a long-term career. Unless the clerks act like you describe, in which case they will have problems getting any job, much less a job at a “living wage”.
Just called a Village Pantry in downtown Indy, and they told me the starting pay is $6.50 /hr. If you consider that a fine wage, you’re crazy. That might be enough play money for a high school kid who lives at home, but for an adult with responsibilities, no fucking way.
They’re lucky to have anyone working there.
I pay at the pump now, too, but back in the day I would prepay. You go in and give them your credit card, tell them you want to fill up, and go do it. Then you come back in and they swipe your card. Or you give them approximately how much money you need to fill up - (you know about how much it takes, right?) Then go get your change.
Total pain in the ass. I love pay-at-the-pump. I can start the gas pumping, go in and get coffee, and when I come out, my gas is finished pumping and I go on my merry way!
I did that once. I wound up having to send the ARCO people installments for the nozzle I yanked out of the pump when I drove off.
:eek:
I completely agree. Further, I make a point of letting management know when I’m especially pleased with the service. I will wait in line at customer service to give praise, I will fill out comment cards. I know it absolutely made my day when I got positive feedback from management. It’s nice when the customer says something nice to you about the service, but so much more satisfying to have the boss hear it.
A little positive reinforcement always gave me a little extra incentive to go that extra mile.
/Ms Cyros
I have an 11-gallon tank. When I get down to about a quarter-tank, I go in, give the clerk a $20 and say I’m going to fill it up on pump 2 (or whatever) and proceed to fill it up. Then I go back in and get my change. Not so hard to understand.