I have travelled in the U.S. quite extensively and I find the people as a whole extremely helpful and friendly, but…
In the service industry (clerks, fast-food joints, etc), people in these jobs have a “I hate this job, I hate myself and I especially hate you” attitude and they are determined to share it with you.
It’s at it’s worst in the big cities.
Do others see this?
Yes. It’s not quite universal, but it’s far too common.
I’ve travelled everywhere and the U.S. is probably the worst. Now that the economy is souring, though, people will actually have to compete for a job and at least act like they give a damn to keep it. For that alone, I would be thankful. The best service I think I’ve gotten was in Europe. They seem to treat people very well and makes dining out a nice experience.
I would disagree that this is a particularly American phenomenon – it seems to be more or less universal, and probably will be until we start paying these people better.
Who here can say that you’d really love your job if you were being paid minimum wage? If an employee doesn’t feel valued, he won’t value the job.
“I’d pay you less if I could, but it’s illegal.”
In restaurants where tipping is expected, service is usually good of course. But not like it is in Germany where waiters consider their work a “craft”. We sort of denigrate that sort of service labor here, that’s part of the problem.
Actually, where I live, since the economy is not as good as it is elsewhere in America - most service workers don’t have that attitude, since there are a lot of people out there who could use their job too.
And it cuts both ways. When I worked in service jobs, most people were very courteous - but occasionally there were people who took the maxim “The customer is always right” way too far. There are a dedicated few who actually devote themselves to making life miserable for people who work with the public.
In Taipei ten years ago the overwhelming service climate was “why are you here in my store bugging me when I’m trying to take a nap, can’t you see that, you idiot?”
Up until this thread I thought it was understood that the US has more friendly service than most of the rest of the world. I believe the europeans make fun of us for our “fake smiles” and over-solicitousness (“Can I get you anything else?”) We also offer free refills on soft drinks and coffee, whereas in other countries you will be charged for each additional glass/cup.
Obviously it depends on the business. Fast food is definitely not the place to look for motivated workers with high morale.
I can’t say I’ve seen this in big cities or anywhere else, but I have no doubt it exists, fueled by the omnipresent, “It’s just a job, man.”
In small towns, the attitude seems to be, “I’m going to get out of this hellhole if it’s the last thing I do.”
To which parts of Germany/Europe do you refer? Germany is notorious for it’s bad service. We used to play a game when we were out in Germany called “spot the German/non-German”. If the service in a restaurant or store was good we would ask where they came from and the reply was inevitably not Germany.
I once needed to catch a flight in Frankfurt to get to Geneva. The charming person at the Lufthansa counter told me, “I’ll sell you the ticket, but you’ll never make this flight.” This was without checking on the flight, or anything like this. I was then told to “run to the gate”. Of course I got to the shuttle bus and waited 20 minutes because the flight was anyway delayed but the ticket agent couldn’t be bothered to check. In my experience most German shops have this phenomena, as do other places in Europe. Of course there are exceptions, and this generally doesn’t extend to owner/operators, of whom there seem to be more of in Germany. Not to say that service in the US can’t be pathetic at times.
Hrm. I’ve been up and down the east coast fo the USA (I live in FL now). I’ve been in the small places and the big places. The middle of nowhere, and downtown in the big cities. I would definately have to say that service is a two way street. Now, -sure- i’ve had total assholes/bitches serve me/bring me my happy meal but for the most part i’d say the way people treat you is a reflection of how you treat them and vice versa. That’s just a human thing. As far as most fast food joints go, What are you expecting from these kids? As long as they aren’t rude, they give me a smile, and don’t spit on my whopper - I consider that good service for the shite wages they make.
Yeah, we DO make fun of that sometimes.
And you know what? It’s bullshit. I LOVED it when I was in the US. I don’t care if their motivation is a big tip, nor do I care that their enthousiasm is fake. All I know is I’m getting good service, a fact for which I’m more than willing to pay.
Trust me, customer care in most European countries is far, far behind American levels. And I for one think this is one particular area where we Europeans ought to look to the New World as an example instead of being snotty about something we’re not all that used to: decent service.
[hijack] Reminds me of my very first job at the tender age of 16. It was at a Hardee’s, then very much a southern USA FF place but now seen all over the US. At that time Burger King ( my pet name, Booger King :D) was doing the “have it your way” thing. I made up a jingle for Hardee’s. “You get pickles, you get lettuce, special orders do upset us! Who gives a shit what you want you get it our way.” <sigh> It never caught on though. [/hijack]
LOL
Swampbear, can I steal that line for a song? Just the “You get pickles, you get lettuce, special orders do upset us” part…?
Brok
Be my guest Broc. I stole it from BK 
if you think service industry in the US has problems you’ve obviously never travelled in any post-communist countries. There is a certain sector of the working population – IME older folks who grew up under the communist regime – who have not the slightest interest in assisting you in making a purchase. For example, refusing to come to the register and ring you up.
It hasn’t been my experience that service is generally poor here in the the Northeast except in NYC. I lived in Queens for many years and found doing business in stores, banks, less expensive restaurants, fast food places and delis to be a nightmare. Thinks like being ordered to pick up the change a Duane Reede cashier dropped come to mind. God, I hate NY!
Coldfire has it right, especially in Eastern Europe. The U.S. has a “customer is always right” ethic. It’s rudimentary in some places, it fails in some places, it’s just plain bullshit in some places - everyone has examples of bad customer service. But the baseline is loads better here than anywhere else.
Think about it:
Your food order is cooked wrong, you can send it back. Heck, in some restaurants if you don’t like what you ordered you can send it back. For free. Sometimes for a free meal!
If you buy something, and decide that you don’t want it, you can bring it back to the store with a receipt (and sometimes without) and they will somehow refund your money, give you a store credit, or otherwise resolve your problems. Not at Jim Ellis motors, but generally elsewhere this is the case. If it’s not the case, you are told up front, in explicit terms, in writing that all sales are final.
I know there are exceptions to both of the above examples, but really, guys, that is REVOLUTIONARY. In a lot of places around the world, life just ain’t that way. I bought a beautiful antique garnet ring from a store when I lived in Prague. That same day, one of the small stones fell out. I went back to the store to ask them not to refund my money or take the ring back, but to find out who refurbishes and repairs jewelry for them so I could get it repaired. I had my receipt, the ring, the box with the store’ name on it, and they pretended that I had not bought the item there, that they didn’t speak English, that they didn’t understand my Czech - anything to not have to deal with it.
You can walk into restaurants in Europe and if the waiter does not feel like waiting on you just then he will ignore you.
If your dinner is more than 1.5 hours late, and you want to leave without eating it because you will miss your movie, you will not only have to pay for the meal but YOU are the asshole for complaining and wanting to leave.
My wife works in the service industry (she answers customer-support phone calls), so I see it every day.
To ba fair, a large part of her attitude comes because she goes through eight hours of taking sh*t from some amazingly rude customers. Not a day goes by for her where she doesn’t deal with someone who yells at her, threatens to sue her, threatens to report her to a supervisor, insults her lineage, and generally treat her like dirt just because she has to give them some bad news (“What do you mean I have to pay my bill by the start of the month??? I’ll pay it when I’m good and ready!”). So yeah, she gets an attitude – but I must admit, it’s not entirely unwarranted.
Wouldn’t surprise me a bit if a big reason the guy at McDonalds looks annoyed is because he had to deal with a lunch-hour rush of a dozen irate customers…
There was an episode of the old Northern Exposure where Shelly went across the border into Canada and the sales clerk, while completely polite, wouldn’t lift a finger to help without being asked. So clearly, there is a cultural difference in the concept of “service.”
In the U.S., customer service is at the bottom of the rung. If you’re good at it, you soon get promoted into sales, where you have a chance at a better wage, or you get enough experience to move to a field you’re more interested in. If you aren’t good at it, chances are you’ll make life hell for your customers before you move to something else.
That said, American customers can be extremely impatient, if not completely rude. But it’s hard to be a courteous customer when I waited for my order for 10 minutes at one fast food restaurant and had another screw up my order in the same day.
Here in Texas, we have generally pretty good service, which can be spotty in the bigger cities. What’s amazing is that there are still places in west Texas where that good service and smile are not a put on. Actually, I’ve had very good experiences in places where the reputation precedes for being unfriendly, like NYC and Paris.
Otherwise, I’m with rjung. Since I cannot stand rude, impatient, unreasonable customers, I’ve decided to try not to be one myself, to be less demanding, particularly with respect to time.