Hey, beth, I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear. Green Bean has now told me twice that I am ranting, and since I can’t deal with customers, I shouldn’t be in customer service. I was simply trying to clarify the point of the thread. No worries.
Well, Green Bean, I look at it from another angle. As a f’rinstance, Kyla says, “Please don’t walk away in the middle of a transaction because you suddenly remembered a book you wanted to get. Finish the transaction and then go get the book. I’m sorry if you have to write another check, but it is very inconvenient to leave the register mid-transaction.” That may annoy her, as you point out, but it also annoys me, the guy who’s standing in line behind the dummy who continues shopping in mid-transaction. The cashier either has to wait for the customer (irritating everyone else in line) or void the transaction (irritating the dummy who was “just gone for a minute!”).
I think your point that customer service is paramount is well-taken, but customers who do dumb things force the staff to spend extra time helping them, while the rest of us wait in line.
I actually went through the checkout at a local supermarket recently, and had an item that didn’t scan. The cashier looked at it and said, “How about 99 cents?” Turns out that, when an item doesn’t scan, the store gives the cashiers discretion to charge some reasonable price that the customer is satisfied with, rather than calling for a time-consuming price check. Now that’s customer service.
It’s not that we’re trying to deprive starving people. But we close at 1 am on regular nights. We don’t get to go home until all the dishes are washed and the store is clean. By the time we finish up, we’re ready to go home. Saving food just in case a customer comes through wanting it is kinda ridiculous. Besides, I’ve seen food get pretty gross by the end of the night. Chances are, you don’t want it.
Green Bean, did you even read Kyla’s post, or did you just scroll through looking for excuses to show off your superior customer service skills?
For heaven’s sake read her post again. She’s quite clearly talking specifically about customers who insult her for not being able to guess a book by its color, or for not having read it, or because the store isn’t as sectionalized as they think it should be. Customers who insult her, did you miss that part completely??? If that’s your idea of a “good customer”, I shudder to imagine the customer you’d consider “bad”.
My sympathies, Kyla. Sounds like you have enough to deal with at work without also being made to feel like a lousy employee just because you don’t like being treated rudely by the people you’re doing your best to help.