<p>Sorry MommaJ, but the one who needs an attitude adjustment … is you. What you’re experiencing is ordinary 21st century life in America. It’s rude and unnecessary … but it’s also become the norm unfortunately. My mother was the quintessential polite, helpful person. I’m sure she’s spinning in her grave over what passes for “service” these days.</p>
<p>I do remember an interview in the early '70s when the [male] interviewer kept staring at my knees.</p>
<p>UCSD UCLA DAD: I visited my JCP with an issue and asked about the office. I was told flatly that there was none. And the “manager” available also told me that the days of a customer service desk or office were long gone. While there was a desk somewhere, it was not “open to the public.” And she did not have any authority to issue a refund for a problem item when I had no receipt and had not made the purchase recently. She told me that she managed the employees but that there was no management available to help me with my issue. This was at a large JCP at the mall. She gave me a i-800 number and also told me I could take it up online.</p>
<p>I attended a recruitment session for a job with the Census Bureau this week. Part of the process involved taking a test. There were 15 candidates in the room. Before we began the test, the person in charge asked us all to turn off or silence our cell phones.</p>
<p>One of the candidates sitting near me made a point of making “humorous” remarks about the information being given to us before we took the test. (The Census Bureau tends to use highly scripted materials in the interest of scrupulous fairness. And I must say, having been through several of their trainings, that if the trainer actually delivers the course as written it is idiot-proof and highly effective at transferring the needed skills and information. Unfortunately, some people–usually those with no training background–think they can improve upon the written materials and diverge from them. Chaos always ensues. But I digress.) The test was 30 minutes. I think I finished answering the questions in about 8-10 minutes. Like a normal person, I then began to recheck my answers. I’m sure many other people did the same thing. The humorist apparently finished in about 20 minutes. He made a big show of picking up his papers and getting up to give them to the Census employee. (“Look at me! I’m so smart!! I finished EARLY!!!”) She politely told him to remain seated and they would collect the papers when time was up (Duh!) After a minute, he got up, stepped a few feet away from the nearest person, and MADE A CELL PHONE CALL! Other people, people who presumably need this job, were still working. The Census employee tried to get his attention, to no avail. She was obviously torn between a desire to tell him to shut the hell up and a desire not to disrupt even further the concentration of those who were still working.</p>
<p>I simply could not believe it.</p>
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<p>Probably because he didn’t want to stare at your --ahems–?</p>
<p>I feel that it is our ages that make us less able to suffer fools or ill manners well. When you are young, you tend to be less self assured. When I was starting out in the hotel industry in the olden days 
it was the policy that all telexes had to be answered within 24 hours, even if it was to say your communication has been received and is being dealt with…At work, whilst I respond to all emails in the same manner because it was the way I was trained, others may or may not reply ever…and there is no concern shown. It is no wonder that the squeekey wheel gets the oil…it sometimes seems as there is no other way to be heard.</p>
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<p>My eyes??</p>
<p>10 chars</p>
<p>My son is a senior in college who has been applying for jobs, mostly online, since September. He was excited to get a rejection letter in April because it was one of the first actual RESPONSES he had gotten to all these resumes and cover letters - each one customized for the job he was applying for. AND he had sent follow up emails (usually there was no phone number provided).</p>
<p>Finally, he had 3 interviews in a week - 2 via phone, and one on-site. One phone interview went very well. They said he’d hear in “a few days”. After 8 days he sent them a follow-up email. Still no response. The on-site interview also went well, they said he’d hear in about a week. No response. He sent them another email yesterday. The other phone interview didn’t go well - they began quizzing him about probability, which he would be perfectly capable of doing if he hadn’t taken his last stats class 2 years ago. AND what they were asking him to do would surely have been done by a computer. That took up half the interview. At least they did him the courtesy a few days later of saying, “Thanks but no thanks.” </p>
<p>I used to be a phone rep for a financial services company. I knew the right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing and that senior management had never worked in a phone center. In an effort to save money, they constantly lowered the percentage of time we were allowed to be on “wrap” or “idle” status. There was no allowance made for the fact that some transactions our clients were asking us to process required filling out forms and submitting them for signatures. Others involved research. The best way to do this was to get the info from the client, hang up, go onto “wrap” status so I could fill out the form/do the research/complete the transaction, then put my phone back on “available” to take the next call. Management wanted to see lower wrap times, no matter what it took. So the decision was made: instead of hanging up to do the paperwork, put the client on HOLD (because HOLD time doesn’t count in WRAP stats), do the paperwork, then return to the client and complete the call. Did the work get done any faster? Nope. Did the clients appreciate waiting on hold while I finished the transaction? Nope. But it made our Wrap numbers lower, so it was the new standard. Somehow I was not surprised when clients began wandering away and I was eventually laid off…</p>
<p>Lafalum,</p>
<p>I had one particular school that I was applying to who called me 2 months after I submitted my application, but I wasn’t able to answer. I called the next day and left a message for the guy. Didn’t hear back for 4 or 5 days and then he called while I was at work again. ANOTHER 4 or 5 days then I got an email saying he’d call within a couple of days. He finally called back 3 weeks later to set up an interview. You better believe I took whatever interview time I could get! Then, interview day comes and I set aside the time to take the call. Had a window of an hour set aside for it and they didn’t call until about 10 minutes left in that window. After the interview, I heard nothing until today. The interview was around March 20 or so. I didn’t get an offer for a GA position, but I’ve been accepted into the grad program! Umm… I’ll pass for now-- I’ve taken a full-time job since they were so slow…</p>
<p>H & I discuss this often. Are people with whom we deal more stupid that previously or are we more easily annoyed? Probably both.</p>
<p>What really drives me nuts is when a company has policies which are just plain stupid, and/or employees who just cannot think. It’s like talking to a brick wall. I read a long time ago, “Don’t take a NO from a person who cannot say YES.” I really like that advice, but it’s becoming much more difficult to find the YES person.</p>
<p>Since I bought the lamps online (the two were sold together–a matched set in appearance and defects!), I think I’ll have an even harder job getting to someone who can say “yes”. The nearest JCP is 40 minutes away, so the question becomes whether a possibly fruitless trip would be worth the gas (!) and time. The email response I got flatly said my 90 day warranty had run out and then thanked me effusively for all the helpful feedback. </p>
<p>I haven’t intervened with D’s job hunting and attempt to volunteer, other than offering advice about interviewing and such. But I hate to see her become hardened cynic about people at such a young age!</p>
<p>My own job hunting was pre-internet, and the process was generally much more courteous and humane. I do remember being interviewed by a manager who complimented me on my qualifications and then admitted he didn’t have the budget to hire me and had just wanted to see what sort of candidates were out there. And for that I put on new pantihose!</p>
<p>I work for a professional association. There are 4 of us handling the business of over 8000 “customers.” We have determined a couple of things about the people who call us, the most enlightening of which is that they reduce time by one order of magnitude. If they say they did something last month, it was really last week. It they say last week, it was really yesterday. </p>
<p>My pet peeve is people who call and say that “something” is not on our Web site. They’ve looked and it’s not there. I don’t mind them saying that they can’t find something, but to tell me it’s not there drives me crazy. Using “something” is in red at the very top of the page. I just can’t bring myself to make it flash. They’d still miss it.</p>
<p>People return forms to us with the top half (where the name and contact info are found) cut off. It’s amazing how many can’t get their e-mail addresses right, like hotmail.org! They usually don’t say it wrong but will write it wrong. </p>
<p>What we do is usually quite simple and straightforward. This job has given me new appreciation for those in insurance, health car, accountants, etc. who deal with far more complex issues and procedures.</p>
<p>I know it’s easy for codgers like me to say that things were better back in the good ol’ days, but when it comes to customer service, I think they really were. I know this dates me, but I remember when I could call my bank, my store, my insurance company – and get an ACTUAL PERSON on the phone! A person who was located in North America! A person who did not take me through a script, but who listened and attempted to answer the question I was actually asking! No phone maze! No 30-minute queue!</p>
<p>My personal theory is two-pronged. First, technology has made it easier and easier to get rid of employees, boosting profits. While I’m waiting endlessly to ask a simple question, the hold music is usually interrupted by a cheery “Go to the website!” rather than use up human-being time. Even during the phone maze, they push you toward their automated phone options; the human option is always the last one they mention. My bank is chronically understaffed so there’s usually a long line. There’s someone who walks up and down the line (someone who COULD be manning a window!) and asks us what business we’re conducting – and then directs us to the ATM. Some banks actually charge you to see a teller. They clearly don’t want you having face time with an employee; the understaffing, I’m convinced, is a strategy to get you to give up in frustration and head for a machine.</p>
<p>Second, businesses which survived the recession by laying off employees are now looking around and thinking, “Hey! We used to have 100 people in the call center. Now we have 75 and we’re still standing. Now that times are getting a little better, we could either hire back the 25 – OR we could pocket the difference.” Guess which choice is favored by most CEOs of mega-corporations.</p>
<p>Lasma - I don’t know if this works for other companies or not but what I tell customers who get tripped up in our automated line (it’s actually very straight forward compared to most) is that if they get lost in there just say something… anything… and it will transfer them to someone. (keep it clean) This might just be how ours is set up… but say for example you said LASMA it would say “We’re sorry, we didn’t understand you. Let me transfer you to a customer service rep so they can help you with your request.” and then it takes you right over to someone. </p>
<p>Another thing people might want to check is if their insurance company, bank, investment firm, etc uses click to call technology on their website. Basically you go on the website and there will be a link that says have us call you. You enter your phone number and it will have someone from the company call you. You can even specify when you want your call - 1 minute, 5 minutes, etc. It’s all done electronically and bypasses any wait times. Some websites are more intuitive then others - ours will have someone from the departments website that you are on give you a call. If you are insured and viewing your account and do it, a customer service rep will call you. If you are looking at quotes and do it, a sales agent will call you, etc.</p>
<p>Tango - the "it’s not on your website’ is one of my pet peeves too. I actually used to get a few customers every day calling me about something “not on our website” or “not in our literature”. I’d give them the information that they needed but then tell them for future reference it’s on page whatever in their literature or ask them if they’d like me to show them where it’s at on the website so they can see it in writing. Then you get the “oh, I must have missed that…” We actually just recently redesigned our website and I haven’t had a single “not on our website” phone call since. I think the new one is much more intuitive on where to find things. Glad to know that other places have picked up on peoples time frames too. I had someone one time who called all mad was like “I called three weeks ago and the girl said she was mailing me something and it’s not here yet… is this how it’s going to be dealing with you people?” and then you bring up their record and see that they actually called two days ago. I’ve also had people call me at work and ask me to remove them from our companies mailing list… and then refuse to give me their name or address. Finally I just blurt out “if you want me to take you off our mailing list you have to tell me who you are.” and then they hang up. Sometimes I wonder…</p>
<p>It’s a combination of things – fewer employees overwhelmed by each doing the work of 4 people, the frustration of automatic responses (the poor kid on the other end of the phone is probably threatened with firing if he/she goes 'off script), and our own feeling that we could do it better…and have done it better in the past (I’ve worked retail, customer service…yes, even phones). Dealing with rude customers riled by all this frustration creates unhappy employees who are even less willing to be helpful – when being helpful only slows things down and then the employee gets chapped by the boss. </p>
<p>Complain by snailmail. Companies always assume that if one person is unhappy, 10 others are as well but haven’t bothered to write. Find the name of the company president (he/she’s usually on the website, smiling while they have boilerplate about how ‘your business is why we are here!’). </p>
<p>I noticed a couple of years ago that the number of signs there are in a place of business proclaiming ‘we appreciate your business’…the fewer people there are around to actually help you. Obviously the company chose to buy signs instead of hiring. Ever go into a store during the week and see no one working? There’s two sales clerks – one is folding merchandise all the way at the back and the other is on break. I have left merchandise and the store, walking out because the lines were too long for the one cashier or I just couldn’t find anyone to ring me up. So they lose my sale, lose whatever profit I might have given, and things degrade even further. </p>
<p>Until corporations start hiring <em>and</em> training again, to create smooth operations at all levels, it isn’t going to get better.</p>
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<p>Yup. When I worked in a phone center for a mutual fund company, they would randomly pull 2 calls per rep each week, listen to them and grade them. Only about 1/2 of our grade depended on whether we actually answered the question right or processed the transaction correctly! The other half had to do with “script.” We were graded from 1 (failing) to 5 (superior). What would get us a 1? Answering the question wrong, failing to process the transaction, not using “please” EVERY time we asked the customer for something, not using “thank you” EVERY time the customer gave us the answer, and failing to ask if there was anything else they needed, offer continuing service AND thank them for calling at the end of the call (Is there anything else I can do for you? In that case, thank you for calling MyMutualFunds and if you need help in the future please call us again.) Only it wasn’t supposed to sound like a script, so we were supposed to use our own phrases at the end, but cover all 3 points. </p>
<p>Yes, a single missed “please” or “thank you” would earn us a 1 - even on a 10 minute phone call with a super-complicated problem where we managed to help the customer out and the customer was clearly very happy with our response. </p>
<p>I think at my firm it came down to senior management not having customer service experience and wanting to quantify everything. *** So they looked for stuff that was easy to measure, instead of stuff that MATTERED. ***</p>
<p>In the end, our clients figured it out and left us, and the day I was laid off from that job turned out to be one of the best turning points of my life.</p>
<p>There have always been plenty of dunderheads.
However, until rather recently, many of them worked for family-owned businesses run by people with a stake not only in the business, but also in the community. Even the people who ran a Sears store or a big regional firm typically had formative experiences associated with a rich family and community life. These experiences included daily sit-down family meals, weekly church or synagogue attendance, in-home elder care, socializing with the same neighbors for many years, and so forth.</p>
<p>All this has taken a couple generations to unravel.</p>
<p>I had a friend who was selected for an interview after on-campus recruiting. The company paid for her to fly in for the on-site interview and paid for her hotel stay. She never received an answer from that interview. Knowing that she wasn’t selected but mildly annoyed at their lack of response, she called. She was informed that they had no record of her interview! They tried but could never find her in their “system”.</p>
<p>Someone actually brought up the generational thing in a meeting the other day… they were saying how older people who grew up talking things out in person and whatnot tend to have better customer service oriented skills whereas younger people who usually communicate by text or e-mail sometimes tend to lack service type social skills. I don’t know how much truth there is to that but I thought it was interesting.</p>
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<p>This.</p>
<p>My pet peeve is customer service people who say, “It’s on our website.” Yes, it is, but not in a place people can find it. Do you think customers have the time to click every button on every page in the website?</p>
<p>User interface design is hard, and a lot of companies get it wrong.</p>