Mooted: Customer Service Is A Privilege, Not A Right

Great Debates
1

One of the many recurring themes on these message-boards seems to be that Customer Service is an inviolable right of everyone who deigns to enter a business establishment. The (equally) recurring theme is that customers a

Here’s the way I see it: The only thing you’re entitled to as a customer is the same civility that you’d extend to any other person that you didn’t know. The fact that money is changing hands does not entitle you, IMHO, to “Special” treatment.

Let me give you an IMHO example: You (Random Customer) are purchasing a $50 DVD player from a large store (say, K-Mart). For your $50, you are entitled to the DVD player, a receipt, a bag (if required), answers to a few basic questions (eg, “What sort of plugs can I use to connect this DVD player to my TV?”) and to be treated civilly by the salesperson. You are not entitled to demand the salesperson then tell you how to set up the DVD player when you get home, tell you what every single one of the buttons on the remote does, and provide troubleshooting for their home theatre system purchased at a different store.

The salesperson, of course, may choose to provide all or some of that information, but you as a customer should not expect it.

Now, if you were purchasing a $299 DVD recorder from Crazy Ivan’s Home Theatre Emporium (We Know Everything About Home Theatre!), then you could reasonably expect more than just “Here’s your DVD player, thanks for coming”. But from a run off the mill shop? As long as the salesperson isn’t actually being rude or deliberately ignoring you, where’s the problem?

This doesn’t preclude your right as a customer to go somewhere that the staff will lay out the red carpet for your arrival, play Eine Kleine Nachtmusic as you stroll through the door, and provide complimentary bar service* whilst you browse the store- my argument is that customers shouldn’t expect an inflated level of customer service from everywhere they go. As long as you got the product you wanted and the staff weren’t rude for you, you really shouldn’t have anything to complain about.

Your results may (and almost certainly do) vary- the floor is open, ladies and gents. Let’s hear your thoughts.

*Must be 18 (21 in the US) for Bar Service. Non-alcoholic drinks available upon request. Bar Service not available before 9am. Management supports the responsible service of alcohol. Don’t drink and drive.

2

It’s economics. Store owners want return business. If a clerk refuses to answer questions about how to set up that $50 DVD player, that customer is unlikely to return to that store to buy the $299 DVD recorder. However, if the service the $50 customer gets is exceptional, then they’ll more likely return when they’re looking for that $299 item (or that $5000 TV/stereo/XBox combo purchase).

3

I’m aware of that- that’s not the point I’m making. The point I’m arguing here is that customers shouldn’t expect that level of service for everything they buy, if that makes sense.

4

I had not noticed such a theme. Could you post some links to such threads?

5

If I buy a product, and it’s not working properly, my expectation (actually my hope) is that I will be able to contact somebody in a reasonably convenient manner (i.e. I won’t be put on “hold” for a long time); that I will get to speak to somebody who is reasonably competent both in speaking English and in understanding the problem; that the person will have the necessary authority to fix the problem; and that the person will in fact do so in a reasonable manner.

Is this a right? A privilege? I don’t know, but I do know that I have a right to complain if my expectations are not met.

6

You are treating quality of customer service as though it’s some absolute thing. Like here:

It could just as easily have read, "Let me give you an IMHO example: You (Random Customer) are purchasing a $50 DVD player from a large store (say, K-Mart). For your $50, you are entitled to the DVD player which may or may not work, and that bruising and the amount of shit on your neck be kept to a minimum. You are not entitled to demand the salesperson treat you civilly, stop insulting you, and keep their hands to themselves if you’re a woman. The salesperson, of course, may choose not to hit you or shit on your neck, but you as a customer should not expect it. "

Next you’ll be telling us that because Geek Squad doesn’t charge that much for in-home computer servicing, that girl shouldn’t complain that that guy’s cell phone was filming her in the shower.

Just because you are satisfied to be treated like you just washed up on shore because you want to pay $50 for a DVD player, does not mean the rest of us have to be satisfied with that level of service for that price.

7

I think you oversimplify.

Most, if not all, electrical products usually have full setting up and operating booklets packed in the box the goods come in.

However I’ll agree to an extant that some people want chapter and verse when purchasing something, the rest of us just get on with it and only complain if there is a fault

8

Martini , I’m not sure that the level of service that your theoretical store is providing is sufficient. Was the service courteus and prompt? Did your customer have to search out and tackle an associate? Did your associate provide relevant information and answer the questions that your customer had?

The big problem seems that customers have differing levels of what they find “good” service. Personally, I think that the service you described was just a bit below what I’d expect good service to be. I’m not a difficult consumer, but I DO expect to have a prompt offer of assistance, knowledgeable answers to reasonable questions, and a pleasant attitude while doing so.

Your store seems one step up from an automated facility where the humans are necessary supervision, rather than interactive associates there to help you in your purchase. I’d like a little more warmth from a store I bother to travel to and patronize. I could shop online if a few pat answers and a lukewarm attitude was all I expected in a purchase.

9

One day in about 1990 I felt rather good and decided to take a day off to buy a VCR

We had plenty of outlets in the city at the time, and I went through the lot.

Some had the impression that you took the thing home and worked out how to operate it, others had a mindset that I would not like to unravel. On the way back home I dropped into an old place that was really doing rental but pretending to sell. The guy set up the kit and said … that is not very easy… needless to say that I bought it.

If you can’t demo it then you should not be selling it

  • my sales line would be - pick up the remote, get it to do what you want, and if you want slow dirty movies then wait till your son is 13.
10

This is the sort of thing I’m talking about- what’s “Reasonable?” Simple questions about whether or not the DVD is multi-region compatible, what sort of plugs it has, and if it can play DVD-R discs are fine, but on a $50 item questions about what all the functions on the remote are, how much noise the unit makes when operating, and requests to take the unit out of the box, plug it in, and see it running* rapidly get to the point where eventually it’s costing more in the salesperson’s time than the GP on the product to explain everything about the product. That doesn’t mean they can say “Look, either buy the bloody thing or piss off”, but customers do need to realise that, when a store is busy, there’s only so much time the staff can devote to answering Everything You Wanted To Know About Cheap Widgets.

Online shopping hasn’t taken off here in Australia- for the most part, people still come into brick-and-mortar stores to buy things. That doesn’t mean salespeople can take the BUWAHAHAHA! FOOL! YOU MUST PROSTRATE YOURSELF BEFORE ME IN ORDER TO MAKE YOUR PURCHASES! attitude, though. Having said that, customers in the store should take priority over customers on the phone, and it is unreasonable, IMHO, to attempt to “shop by phone” at a business which does not advertise itself as offering that service. If the salespeople say they’re busy but would be more than happy to help you to come down to the store, it’s not because they’re being rude, it’s because they genuinely are too busy to spend 20 minutes on the phone with you explaining all the features and benefits of the WidgetMaster 9000 when there’s a queue of people at the counter looking at their watches and getting impatient. Also, many of the people who shop by phone are engaging in what someone in a previous thread called “Theft Of Services”- finding out everything about the product for free, then getting the product from someone who price matches and is closer to their house so they don’t have to drive as far.

*Most home entertainment places I’ve been to here have DVD players and VCRs sitting on a display shelf, and not plugged into TVs. A few select models are sometimes plugged in, but $50 basic models are usually in a stack somewhere and not plugged in and set up on display.

11

I think this is an Australian-American disconnect thing. I’m not sure salespeople in American stores are expected to know quite as much as your customers expect of you. I’ve seen your store rants before Martini, and there always sound just a little off to my American ears that I can’t quite wrap my head around how stores work in Australia.

  • Multi-region DVD players are incredibly rare in America, so I’m not sure that question would ever come up.

  • Whether a player has DVD-R functionality should be on the front of the box, which makes it an easy question.

  • And I don’t think anyone would expect a sales drone at K-Mart or Walmart to pull a DVD player off the shelf and set it up just for them in the store. I’m sure there are nutjobs out there that want this, but they are definitely the minority.

12

Actually it does. You see, I am giving you my hard-earned money. I can give anyone my money, however I am considering giving it to you. You should at the very least demonstrate that you want me there giving you money and that you are appreciative of my business.

For most shopping situations, the following level of customer service is expected:
-Polite and courteous
-Professional attitude
-Work quickly but accurately
-Knowledgeable about the products
-Not distracted by personal calls or other bullshit
-Attentive without being pushy or overbearing
The problem is that that a significant number of retail customer service jobs are performed by young kids and/or retards who are unemployable in higher paying jobs. They don’t want to be there and they have a sense of entitlement that they deserve money are are doing the business and it’s customers a service by simply showing up.

13

Our customers expect us to know everything about every product in the store. This is patently unreasonable and not physically possible (we have over 1000 different products in the store at any given time), and we spend an inordinate amount of time explaining to people that the questions they’re asking or the knowledge they’re after is just too technical/specific/esoteric and that they’ll need to consult a properly accredited technicial/look it up on the internet/check with the manufacturer. We all try to have an understanding of the vast majority of products in the store (we have to, for obvious reasons), but as the 3IC said to a bloke the other week “Mate, if I knew how to fix your TV, I’d be making $50 an hour as a Technician instead of working here selling them.”

All new DVD players in Australia are required to be multi-region. I’m told there was a High Court ruling on this a few years back, but I’ve never gotten around to looking it up, though. FWIW, I’ve never come across a DVD player here that wasn’t multi-region, but having said that, the only reason anyone is likely to want a Multi-Region DVD player is to play Region 1 discs… not an issue in the US or Canada. :slight_smile:

Indeed it is- I was using it as an example the “Here’s a question! And Another one! And yet another one! And another question!” thing we seem to get a lot of, especially in relation to cheap products. Expensive stuff isn’t as much of a problem, oddly enough, because (in my experience) people wanting $2000 worth of TV have already done their homework and have a pretty good idea what they want.

A disturbingly large minority, believe me.

14

Appreciative in what sense? In some stores (not ours), they’re busy/popular enough that they don’t care- if you don’t buy it, someone else will.

No arguments here.

Maybe in the US, but I can’t say it’s an attitude I’ve encountered much here, although I’m sure it exists.

15

You’re expecting service to be provided by a competant professional, while the general state of retail today is that customers will not pay for that sales professional if the place next door has a lower price because they pay half the wage for some chump to run a register.

16

There are tons of people who work with the public because they need a job, not because they’re good at working with the public. A great many of these people make the best of it anyway and do a fine job, considering how little that job is valued in terms of actual pay vs customer expectations. You want to be treated like a queen, you either gotta establish the First Soverign State of Her Majesty the Target Shopper, or you gotta think about whether you’re demanding something for effectively nothing. People don’t want the stuff in the store to cost as much as it would have to in order for your average floor worker to be paid anything like smilin’ money. And the idea that you can get the same quality labor for any price because they should just be thrilled to be serving you out of the goodness of their hearts, well…I wouldn’t buy that if it were on sale.

All that said, sure it can be a pain in the ass when Radio Shack is your only option and you have to face down some 22-going-on-13 date rapist who has never in his entire life heard the word “adapter” before and needs you to write it down so he can show the other guys. It’s just not a violation of your god-given right to free labor, because that doesn’t exist. They work to the level they’re paid, and they’re pretty much only paid enough to show up and not actually take a crap right on the display case. Most, however, do make an effort anyway, and the kind of person who hyperfocuses on the bad eggs is either falling for confirmation bias, or causing the problem themselves with an attitude of assholish entitlement.

17

I’d tend to agree with the OP.

If you go to McDonalds, you expect reasonably polite, reasonably prompt service at the counter or window. You expect them to get the right food in your bag/on your tray.

You don’t expect the kind of service that you’d get at a 5-star restaurant - no one’s going to come by and check to see if you need anything, that you’re happy with your food, bring you drink refills, bus your table as you eat, offer you dessert options, etc. etc. etc.

While Mickey’s will make custom orders, it’s often a crapshoot. I’d expect a top-notch restaurant to jump to and accomodate my request (within reason, of course).

It’s the same thing here - if you go to a big box store, you’re going to McDonalds. Don’t expect five-star service.

If you want that kind of service, go to a smaller store that specializes in service.

You get what you pay for - it’s simple as that, really.

18

Customer Service is a service, period. This service is often sold alongside the item you buy, but not always. It’s quality can vary just like the quality of the product, and induce you to buy more or less of it as a result.

19

Well, good for them. Unfortunately you have it backwards though. CUSTOMERS are a privilege not a right. Most stores cannot continue providing poor customer service and hope to stay busy and popular for very long.

20

That’s exactly right. It’s not a “right” OR a “privilege,” it’s merely something that is basically sold to you, or maybe more like a component of a sale. Retailers and customers basically come to a tacit agreement on how much customer service is appropriate to offer, considering the goods that are being sold, and the price they are being sold at. When people complain about customer service, but continue going to the store where they received it, it is probably because something else compells them to go there despite their disappointment with the service…usually low prices. Tiffany could not get away with offering the same customer service as Wal-Mart, but not because Tiffany’s customers have more of a “right” to good CS, but because the Tiffany customer knows that the CS is part of what they are paying for. At Wal-Mart, the customer knows they are sacrificing good CS for low prices, which is worth it to those consumers, and for those goods.