Um, I think you need to visit this site:
http://www.customerssuck.com
I always just say, “Hey, no problem!” It’s like my way of saying, “hey, i’m glad to help!”
yeesh, people! Don’t nitpick!
Frankly, I’d be glad to get a ‘you’re welcome.’ When I say “thanks,” I usually get ‘No problem’ if there’s any response at all.
I work in a coffee shop (not evil Starbucks) and for me the exchange usually goes like this.
Me: Here is your latte, that will be $2.60 please.
Customer: OK (gives me money)
Me: Thank you (rings it up and makes change) Here is your change, have a nice day.
People very rarely say thank you, and if they do I usually say something like “I hope you enjoy it.”
When I am on the other side of the counter, I usually say thank you as the clerk or whatever hands me my change or my purchase. No matter what they say back, I just smile at them because I know their response was probably drilled into them during training anyway.
I’m not a clerk, rather a computer lab assistant so it’s still customer service related. Anyway, I try to avoid this situation by doing the following:
student: “Thanks for pressing CTRL ALT DEL.”
me: “Mmm-hmm.”
Usually most people seem okay with my humming as acknowledgement. I also throw in an occasional “no problem” but I have the feeling people might think I say that in a sarcastic manner.
I don’t mean to say that it is terribly rude. I suppose the reason it seems vaguely rude, in the retail or food service setting, at least, is that it does not acknowledge the mutuality of the exchange. I, the customer, am giving you my business, for which you should thank me. You, the retailer or waiter, are providing me with service, for which I should thank you.
In other situations, where there is no mutuality involved, I would not consider “you’re welcome” even mildly rude. E.g., If I stop to help someone change a flat, or give someone directions, and they thank me, the appropriate reply would be “You’re welcome!”
Here is how I do it in a social situation:
Me: “If you want, you can use two nested loops to do that.”
Friend in computer lab: “Cool. Thanks.”
Me: “Sure, no problem”
But in a store, it would be:
Cashier: “Here is your order. Thank you”
Me: “Thank you”
Well, perhaps the interpretation of “you’re welcome” may be changing, but clearly its original intent is very much in line with acknowledging the mutuality of the exchange - it seems to me that the original context (“Freely granted”) may speak to either the generosity of the speaker, or the fact that the previous “thank you” was considered generous, since the service is freely granted. IOW, “you didn’t need to thank me for that, we’re equal in this transaction”.
It seems kinda like splitting hairs, though.
What really gets me is how we react to such a fine distinction with indignation, as though somehow we are receiving less than we are entitled to (I think I’ve been guilty of this as well, so I’m not just wagging my finger at y’all). Plenty of comments here attest to the fact that both sides of the transaction are often put upon. When we get any decent reply, that we get caught up in the distinction instead of just generously acknowledging the attempt to be civil (regardless of its degree) bothers me…
Um, no offense, but if the WORST thing that happens to you is that a clerk says, “You’re welcome”, instead of “Thank you,” you’re doing pretty good.
I’m sorry, I just find this whole idea so ridiculous! “You’re welcome” has always been the appropriate, mannerly response to “Thank you.”
So, I can see what you’re saying, but I still see it as making a big fuss over nothing.
I can’t believe some customers would find “you’re welcome” a rude response to their “thank you.” When I worked as a cashier in a supermarket in the States I never heard anyone complain when I said it, and in fact most people tended to treat it positively.
On the other hand, I noticed that a lot of people, once they received their change, tended to put their heads down, mumbled something, then walked away. Usually I’d assume that the mumble was “Thank you,” but on one occasion after I responded to the mumble with “You’re welcome,” the customer shot back with “What? Is there something wrong?” Maybe that customer would have agreed “you’re welcome” was rude…if she’d realised what I was saying in the first place, I guess!
When I worked as a counter clerk, I tried to make it a point to say “thank you” instead of “you’re welcome”. But, you’re just so used to saying “you’re welcome” as a response to “thank you”, that sometimes it’s hard to make that transition into clerk mode so you can reply with “thank you”.
In days of yore when I worked in retail, my response to a customer’s “thank you” was invariably "You’re very welcome, and thank you." This seemed to hit all the bases.
But nobody ever actually trained me on how to answer a customer’s “thank you”–I came up with it all by myself. When faced with the situation a lot of people just fall back on the normal everyday “you’re welcome,” which is sort of ingrained. No rudeness is intended.
THe above is what I used to do in retail, and to a large extent carried on into Customer service ans inside sales.
Rude? I don’t think so. Not what you’d expect? probably not, tough.
-Sam
Hey, I’m not making any big fuss. I’m just pointing out that you hear “you’re welcome” less frequently these days, and I am trying to figure out why. My take is that people are making an effort to be even more polite by replying with “thank you”.
Not a big issue for me one way or the other. :::shrug:::
That, plus I grew up in the South, which may have made me hyper-sensitive on matters of etiquette.
I know this was a bitch thread about a year ago. Don’t say Thank you , if you hate hearing “Your welcome”. They only have your welcome left to say, when you already said thank you. Thank you. No, thank you. No,no, no, thank you.
To tell the truth, the retailer/clerk/cashier should be the first out of the gate with the “thank you”. After all, I don’t have to do business with them. Maybe that’s part of the annoyance - having someone in that position wait for me to thank them, when it should be the other way around. I appreciate their service and all, but they sort of owe that to me don’t they? I am a paying customer after all.
Still, I do always thank the service provider. I would just like for them to beat me to the punch a little more often.
Actually, I like MysterEcks’s solution: “You’re very welcome, and thank you!” Sure it’s a mouthful, but is does fairly reek of politeness.
Ahhhhh… the refreshing superiorty of the consumer.
Honestly, the clerk doesn’t owe you jack. The stockholders are the ones who should be kissing your feet. Remember, you’re talking to a schlub who’s probably making, what, eight bucks an hour? Don’t be shocked if guy doesn’t think he owes you anything. Maybe if it’s a salesclerk on commission, or a car salesman, they should shower you in slavish adulation. That, however, is the only example I can think of. It’s an exchange of goods. Complete, impersonal, perfect capitalism. You give them money, and they give you stuff. They get paid the same whether you buy a lot of stuff or a little bit of stuff (remember, wages have been dropping in relation to corporate profits for quite some time).
I suggest getting over it.
Oh yeah? Well, get over my refusal to get over it! 
(And yes, I am stealing another Doper’s line there. Sorry, I don’t remember whose…)
I recognize that the individual clerk has little (or nothing) for which to thank me. On the other hand, I am surprised that clerks are not trained (or perhaps even required) by the higher-ups to make expressions of gratitude, even if the clerk doesn’t feel it in his/her heart.
And yes, by the way, the consumer is treated as superior in rank by any retailer who wishes to stay in business. (“The customer is always right!” Right?)
::Doing the “I’m the consumer! I’m number one!” dance, and shoving a big foam finger in your face::
Oh…you did it! YOu said the NUMBER ONE PHRASE that pisses off us clerks. No, the CUSTOMER IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT!!!
Anyhoo, I’d like to say, 8 bucks an hour? I WISH! TRy 6.75, before taxes, on my feet for 8 hours at a time, one measly lunch and two breaks which, in order to obtain (which are my RIGHTS) I have to act like a total bitch to my supervisor usually, who’s too busy pulling a prima donna act.
Yeah, I owe you…sure!
ARGH!!
http://www.customerssuck.com
I cannot stress it enough!
Uh…perhaps this should be in the Pit now…
Besides, my friend has a saying:
“If the Customer was always right, then we’d be out of business!”