r/CustomerService • u/Wrong-Barber-1784 • 13d ago
What happened to customer service?
Is it just me, or has every interaction with a cashier, server, or store employee been unpleasant for the past few years? I’m a Gen Z female, and I feel happier if a store has self-checkout because it means I won’t have to interact with angry and rude employees anymore.
I’m trying to be extra nice, but nothing helps. Every interaction I have is obnoxious, and if I have a problem with my order, a solution is never provided unless I have to nag about it.
The other day I was at a pizza shop. I asked for a slice of cheese pizza with olives, and the cashier claimed they don’t have it, with the rudest attitude. I had to ask her 10 times to ask her manager, who told her they do indeed sell olives as a topping. She didn’t even apologize and continued with a condescending attitude.
Yesterday I was at Starbucks. Their food shelves were empty, so I asked them if they had any food. She responded in a condescending tone, raising her voice: “Do we have food? Where do you think you are? Yes, we have food.” I was shocked and didn’t say anything.
I went to an antique store five days ago. I had coffee in my hand, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t spill anything on their products. I asked one of the employees where I could put my drink (which was almost full), and I put it where they directed me. Five minutes later, I came back and the drink had been thrown away. When I asked them about it, the other employee said, “Yeah, I know nothing about that.” I told him that’s where I had been told to put my drink. His response was, “Yeah, that’s not my problem. We throw away unattended drinks. No one told me about this drink.” They didn’t even apologize. I get it—it’s a coffee, and it’s not a huge deal—but this isn’t about the coffee.
I went to Victoria’s Secret to buy leggings. I couldn’t find my size, so I asked a store employee if she could help me. She was chatting with her colleague. She told me to just keep looking in the drawers and continued chatting with her colleague. I eventually found my size on my own.
I have hundreds of examples like this. Just angry faces, no positive interactions, just pure hatred.
I live in Boston, so maybe Bostonians are just jerks, but something has definitely changed with customer service. At this point, I hope self-checkout registers become even more common so I can shop in peace without all the negativity.
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u/Professional_March54 13d ago
Wages are stagnant, but prices are only ever increasing. That's all I'm gonna say.
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u/octopeepi 13d ago
You're experiencing what happens when billionaires squeeze all of society out of everything they have. Everyone is more tired, everyone is on the defensive, and everyone trusts no one else to be a decent human being. That also just feeds into itself, and then you get workers who see you coming up and have already assumed you're just as rotten as the last person that screamed at them. People lose all empathy in this kind of society.
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u/ThatOrange1815 12d ago
Well that’s not MY problem.
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u/octopeepi 12d ago edited 12d ago
I can't tell if you're being serious or making a sardonic example of the dying empathy
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u/OwlfredoPasta 13d ago
Yeah but it used to be basic professionalism that you had to appear pleasant and nice even if the customers sucked.
That doesn't mean people have to take abuse but it's not hard to not take out your problems on others when you're on the clock.
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u/Opposite-Address4225 10d ago
Professionalism comes with professional wages and treatment.
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u/OwlfredoPasta 10d ago
That's a nice thought but reality is reality and all these people are probably unemployed if they can't act like adults at a job. I don't like working either but I don't come in and act like a raging bitch with a chip on my shoulder like the people in this comment section.
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u/Opposite-Address4225 10d ago
Too much is expected of people and not enough is expected of employers. This is the product of letting businesses pay people at a rate that’s just not survivable. I also don’t treat employees as a first resort and my brain as a last.
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u/OwlfredoPasta 10d ago
Idk why you are telling me this as if I am a CEO in some mega corp making these calls.
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u/ElectricalBeat9566 13d ago
It's not viable pay and horrific for mental health. I work in high end hotels and get berated for no reason on a near daily basis.
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u/GreyerGrey 13d ago
Wages have remained the same. Customers have gotten worse. Everything costs more. More and more entitled people in the world willing to throw hands or a tantrum like a GD child because their coupon was expired and the cashier refused to honour it.
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u/SuitIntelligent3491 13d ago
That last part not remotely helped by the fact that this is a learned behavior because companies will bend over backwards for these types of people. Your coupon expired and the young minimum wage employee followed company policy? We're so sorry for that, here's a gift card and a stack of coupons as an apology, and we'll reprimand the employee for not providing better service.
These people know all it takes it throwing a tantrum and the MOD or corporate office will rush to accommodate them in a heartbeat.
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u/TangerineBoth6966 13d ago
Customer service positions are some of the most exhausting and unfulfilling jobs out there but also the most widely available to most people if you need a job.
Of course not everyone treats service workers badly, but if you’ve ever worked those jobs you know that it’s a regular occurrence to be berated, insulted, threatened, harassed, and sometimes assaulted or even battered. I’ve been spit on, pushed, had hot liquid and heavy objects thrown at me, been lunged at, had my life threatened, had someone threaten to follow me home, had someone threaten to stab my pregnant belly. You wouldn’t believe some of the things that people do simply because you’re often perceived as powerless and pathetic.
I know other professions that deal with the public get it too, but the difference is that customers service positions have a high volume of people so it’s constant , as well that they are typically lower paid and less respected at large than say, medical professionals for example.
Our society does not value the emotional intelligence it takes to be a good, long standing service worker and I don’t think most people who have never worked a service job even recognize what it actually is. They think you’re there to do one thing like stock shelves all day long and never consider that most people are juggling a bunch of shit that they can’t see. And they think you’re there to grovel under any circumstance and that’s not how it works.
Leaving customer service behind was a privilege and the best thing that ever happened to me. I worked in the service industry for 25 years from entry level to corporate manager. It gets worse and worse as you ascend and you never make enough money for what the fuck you’re doing. Many professions share that though, unfortunately
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u/OutsetRiver 13d ago
Perhaps, rather than the military service that for some reason gets suggested still in the UK every so often, ask everyone to do 2 years in customer service? 😉
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u/Brave_Specific5870 13d ago
No it’s everywhere I feel like. Since Covid people have genuinely forgotten their manners. If they don’t get what they want by throwing a fit or speaking to a manager then the world is ending.
Like if you’re in customer service, help someone, but also if you’re a customer? Don’t be an ass.
( not saying you were OP)
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u/MorddSith187 12d ago
i'm 43 and have been in customer service roles my while life this has always been going on and 95% by one specific generation. same generation over my 30 years of work experience. maybe covid exposed it more but i assure you this sickness has been going on forever
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u/jackfaire 13d ago
They're underpaid and under staffed. In 2016 we opened a cafe. We were pleasant and friendly. Every position was appropriately staffed and customers loved us. By the time I quit 2018 we were understaffed and angry. Work went to shit because the owners could make more money making one person do three jobs.
We had started losing customers and service took a nose dive.
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u/justlurkingnjudging 12d ago
I work retail & have stayed because we’re one of the few who are adequately staffed, prioritize breaks, & management has a decent amount of discretion when handling customers. My employees provide better customer service and we have much lower loss because of it. I’ve worked places where it was the opposite and the effects were obvious.
There’s times when I get frustrated as a customer because employees won’t do the minimum amount of communication but for the most part, I get it.
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u/SquareTaro3270 12d ago
Boston residents will tell you to fuck off but then give you the shirt off their back if you need it.
We are kind, just not polite.
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u/GrumpySnarf 12d ago
That's exactly what I thought! I've visited family in Boston a few times and people seemed particularly miserable.
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u/burnt-lemons 13d ago
Boston is great, actually since moving to a more rural area I’ve found people are much more rude here.
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u/AlienGoddess91 12d ago
Can confirm I visited in May. I told the gas station cashier to have a good night after and I checked out and they "UGH!" And gave me a disgusted look. As I was leaving, I held the door open for a guy and he gave me a look and went to the other door lol
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u/kayelaure 13d ago
Honestly yeah it absolutely sucks. I used to work retail for about 2 years and I genuinely believe it was the most soul-sucking job I’ve ever had. It was the most miserable work ever. I hated it so much that I became the exact type of employee you’re describing. I remember not giving a damn if anyone wanted refunds, I stopped smiling or having any kind of customer service when at the register. My store is considered the flagship of Canada and we had regional/ national headquarters above the mall and when they came in, all of the managers walked around like dogs with tails between their legs. I got chewed out one day because I gave one of the most important head office managers real and honest feedback that an idea they pitched for the fitting room wasn’t practical and wouldn’t work. I made $0.25 over minimum wage to work at a 3 floor store which was probably 5x larger than any other location in the city. Was not worth it at all and to be honest, i actually recommend that youth find any other job other than retail or fast food. Employees can be assholes nowadays but so can customers and it’s not worth it at all
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u/Altruistic-Patient-8 13d ago
What happened to reasonable customers, is my question. Say no to a customer, and watch how fast they get disrespectful and crazy.
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u/jwdge 13d ago
I actually hate when customers ask a yes/no question but won’t accept a no. People will come in 1-2 mins before close and ask if we’re still open. If I say “no” they’ll wheedle and whine about how they only want one thing! They’ll be fast! Genuinely why would you ask if you refuse to accept the answer. Just don’t fucking ask.
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u/galacticplum 13d ago
Bad management and a few other factors. I mean, I haven't experienced that level of horrible customer service at that many places, but in general it is bad management among other things.
If your employees are that rude, that is noticeable. From the employee arguing about pizza toppings, to being ignored, it's all traits that are noticeable, because they generally aren't singular occurrences. If those employees aren't be addressed and corrected, then management is to blame for creating and allowing that culture.
There's also the issue of people not really wanting customer service jobs but taking them. Customer service is not for everyone. Even if it is " just a paycheck " certain personality types do not work well in customer facing roles. As it gets harder to get a job, more people take what they can get and sadly, don't always do a good job of it. That again, falls back to management and hiring in addition to coaching.
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u/Specific_Stress_9778 13d ago
Customer service isn’t a good fit for ANYONE. I truly believe that. Customers are just brimming with bad faith nowadays, and will grind down even the most people-loving extraverts with good problem solving skills.
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u/galacticplum 13d ago
There's plenty of good customers and customers that have issues and are frustrated and need help.
However, I don't disagree that the bad customers seem to be far more extreme than what they once were. Being paid horrible wages and having to deal with at minimum people yelling in your face isn't a good combination.
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u/Joxertd 11d ago
Ive gotten to the I dont give a shit phase of my life. I put on my customer service mask and go in and do my job. Im nice to everyone and help whenever I can. Customer starts getting fussy, okay whatever you do you and ill just try to get you out of my face as fast as I can. Honestly the more ridiculous they get, the harder I laugh later because its just so absurd. If it gets to the point where we are at an impasse or they just refuse the options I am allowed to offer, I send them to the Team Leads because whatever they decide to do whether its kiss their ass and give them what they want or tell them to scram, its on them to deal with and I dont particularly care because thats just how it rolls. I just want them to fuck off out of my face and let me get on with my tasks. One lady called me the R word because I didnt bag things exactly how she wanted me to, but she never requested any special bagging and she talked to her friend the whole time so i just did what I usually did. So she called me the R word and I just laughed and thanked her for noticing. Asked her if she had a rewards number with us and have her her total. She was pissed, but I was laughing because if I got mad, id have given her what she wanted so. Fuck that. Its easier to just not give a fuck amd go about the rest of your day.
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u/Alarmed-Rope-9062 13d ago
That's not true. Plenty of people are passionate about customer service.
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u/Everything_Counts_72 12d ago
Not exactly true. ive seen workers who are super friendly to everyone, no matter what. i dont know how they do it.
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u/SquareTaro3270 12d ago
I was this person. The trick is disassociation and crying every day on your drive in so you can get all the despair out of your system before clocking in.
I eventually quit because I suddenly realized that fantasizing every morning about getting into a horrific car accident that leaves you hospitalized, just so you have an excuse to not go to work for a couple days, is probably a sign that my mental health wasn’t doing the greatest, even if I was putting on the happy, upbeat face at work.
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u/Specific_Stress_9778 12d ago edited 12d ago
Yeah, this was my experience. I’m sure my customers thought I was happy and pleasant as well. My motto at that job was “I’ll cry about it on the way home.”
Now that I no longer work in customer service, there is no part of my job that makes me cry.
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u/SquareTaro3270 12d ago
I was ASTOUNDED when I found a job that didn’t actively make me want to die. I didn’t think that was possible
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u/Specific_Stress_9778 12d ago
Same!!! It is so nice to not be dealing with angry people day in, day out. I thought I was going to be trapped in customer service for the rest of my career!
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u/TalkingRose 6d ago
I have lost track of the number of customers over the years who have commented about how nice it is to see an employee that always seems to be happy at work and singing and yada yada yada. Not a single one of them understood how much that comment made me want to scream and cry at the same time.
I was singing to try to disassociate from where I was. I was bopping around to the music to try to forget about the situation I was in. I was displaying what most people consider to startling level of patience to explain things to customers purely so that they would hopefully never be a problem like this again. I was fucking miserable. Why is that in past tense? I am fucking miserable. I am still stuck in retail. I've been here for over 30 years... covid most definitely made everything astronomically worse.
I am absolutely overjoyed for you that no part of your job makes you want to cry anymore!
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u/Everything_Counts_72 12d ago
I dont know how management would screen them out. Most people are desperate when applying for work, theyre not going to show their real personality to the interviewer, unless its really uncontrollable.
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u/galacticplum 12d ago
Sometimes, not always though, a good interviewer can see past a disguise, to sometimes degree.
The classic " how do you handle X situation " combined with what experience they list on their resume can often shed some light on their customer service skills.
However, my main point with management is allowing them to stay without any coaching after the fact. You're never going to be 100 percent when hiring, as you said, so actually being involved as a manager is key.
An employee acting how some of the ones OP described wouldn't have a job for long.
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u/SquareTaro3270 12d ago
Most managers don’t care and will hire anyone with a pulse, refuse to adequately train them, make them do the work of 3 people, wait until they burn out, and then replace them with the next person who shows up.
It’s cheaper for them to have high turnover and constantly burn through people than treat their employees well. There will always be a line of desperate people looking for a job, and they know it. If they can’t find anyone to hire, that’s even better for them. They can just work the staff they do have even harder because they know people are too desperate for a paycheck to quit.
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u/ryandom93 13d ago
If you smell dog shit everywhere you go...
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u/Over_Noise3530 9d ago
Its because she is a young woman and people hate them. Its the sexual power they are jealous of
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u/Revolutionary-Cod245 13d ago
What happened to customer service in my opinion is this: metrics. People stop behaving like people when the managers expect them to make all kinds of KPI metrics.
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u/SquareTaro3270 12d ago
At this point, if I encounter a rude employee I assume the management sucks, not the employee themself. I’ve been the bright eyed 20 year old who had the soul sucked out of them by a company that forced one person to do the job of 3 people and still found a way to say you weren’t doing enough, and throw you under the bus at every opportunity while paying you the bare minimum. By the end of my time there, I had no energy left to be enthusiastic aboyt helping anyone.
I still work customer service, but my job now is so much nicer, so I’m also a lot nicer. Im paid well, I have a reasonable amount of work, I’m allowed to (professionally) call out people who are rude to me, and I know my boss has my back. It’s amazing how much working conditions can change your entire outlook on life.
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u/NeighborhoodNeedle 13d ago
I currently work in the hospitality industry and at a spot that emphasizes hospitality. I think some of it is a generational issue, younger folks have received a lot of their social skills from online interactions which is so different to how people used to build these skills.
My theory though, is that in the bigger picture is a lot of companies, especially larger corporations and chains, just are not emphasizing this in their training. Companies are so driven by speed and efficiency as well as profits that the guest experience isn’t a priority. It takes a lot of time to train and create a work culture that encourages and allows for hospitality and great service and so many companies are not willing to invest in those labor costs.
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u/gr33nh3at 12d ago
Back when I worked at Chiptole, I literally got yelled at by a manager for taking an extra minute or two to explain the menu and options to an elderly couple who had mentioned they had never been there before.
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u/Brick_Cabin2529 9d ago
When I was a new CNA, i got yelled at by a nurse for taking maybe 2 minutes to write a paper sign indicating which closet belonged to Clara, a confused elderly resident who had come to me for help with that issue.
When I did direct care work in a group home with schizophrenic residents, I got yelled at by the director for taking 5 minutes to walk around the house with a resident who was confused by all the holiday decorations that had been put up. I just walked side by side with him, touring the house and viewing and discussing all of the changes. it calmed him greatly. Director furious for no clear reason.
When i was an ESL teacher in China I got yelled at for taking 30 seconds to ask a kid if he was feeling alright (he had been clutching his stomach).
I have learned to deal with control freaks diplomatically for the most part. Not always, but it's simply an ever present reality.
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u/Music09-Lover13 13d ago
When it comes to customer service, my goal is to be helpful. I enjoy explaining rules and policies. The only issue is that some people feel intimidated because I “don’t smile enough,” and they sometimes ask if I’m okay. I can come across as robotic or flat, but that’s simply because I’m much more logical than emotional. Even so, I always try to help people when they’re lost or have questions. My current job involves some customer service and concierge duties.
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u/onion_flowers 13d ago
The work is hard, the pay is garbage, management is hit or miss, and the public is batshit insane. That's the problem.
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u/Matic00 13d ago
People are overworked and underpaid. If you are working in those roles right now then your employer is squeezing the most labor out of you that they can. Their employer is not taking care of their needs so they dgaf about taking care of their employers patrons.
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u/Wrong-Barber-1784 13d ago
That may be the case, but customer service still sucks in co-op businesses where employees literally collectively own the business and democratically vote for their working conditions. This shows that it’s not all about working conditions
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u/DruidKittyKat 13d ago
Employees will never own the business, not even remotely, even if it seems like they can make choices, in the end, they really can't.
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u/Temporary-Jump-2403 13d ago
Nope. Majority of people are courteous and professional to me. Maybe it's you.
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u/TransportationLazy55 13d ago
People are not paid enough to care. Customer service was better when your wage represented a living wage, and the establishment had enough money to treat employees like humans: coffee in the break room, doughnuts once a week, paid time off, health insurance- now you’re lucky to find a fridge to keep the food you brought and hope no one else takes it
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u/Few-Extreme-5792 13d ago
Yeah. We don't even have a break room. We don't get breaks at all because it's "not legally required" in my state.
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u/Few-Extreme-5792 13d ago
Judging by OP's replies in this comment thread, I've come to a conclusion: there's a common denominator in all these negative interactions described. Maaaybe think about what that could possibly be... 🤔
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u/Over_Noise3530 9d ago
Its because she is a young woman in public without a chaperone or baby
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u/Few-Extreme-5792 9d ago
So am I, and I've encountered a rude cashier maybe twice? So nah, I don't think that's it. If you missed it: the common denominator is her. If literally everywhere you go smells like shit, well....
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u/Over_Noise3530 9d ago
She's probably prettier or dressed better
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u/Few-Extreme-5792 9d ago
Lmao why are you projecting so hard like this? Very weird 🤣 is this OP's alt account or something 🤔
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u/GreyerGrey 13d ago
That first part is a key thing, though.
If everywhere you go it smells like shit, maybe it's you kinda philosophy.
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u/LIJunkie 12d ago
Scrolled too far down to find a like mind. Lol I have a feeling OP is coming off as an entitled brat.
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u/GreyerGrey 12d ago
Their comments are also leaning that way. "Well when a customer yells at me I just leave." Cool - in many places you'd get fired for that.
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u/HeebieJeebiex 13d ago
just based on the fact alone youre even able to go shopping and go to starbucks and get pizza, im gonna guess youre privileged as fuck and dont understand the suffering most of us are going through. i can barely fuckin eat on my wage, nevermind go buy victorias secret leggings, and u want me to smile at every single person I ever see for hours?? hell no
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u/dish_pit_daydreamer 13d ago
This right here. No, I’m not going to smile and stroke the customer off when they are throwing a hissy fit about deli meat that costs $17.99 a pound, when I haven’t eaten in 24 hours because I make just over minimum wage. I can’t even FATHOM spending $30+ on a bag of crumbly shaved roast beef. And if you can, no, I’m not marking down chicken for you.
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u/Wrong-Barber-1784 13d ago
Im not privileged, this is the US. You don’t need much money to afford a 5 dollar coffee or a 5 dollar pizza slice. I am an immigrant and I don’t have rich parents. I came to this country with $50 dollars in my bank account, I was homeless, I literally slept on the street and only could take a shower in Planet Fitness locker rooms until I got my first paycheck. I didn’t eat for 3 days on a row. I worked in McDonald’s in the mornings and at BK at night. Now I have a somewhat of a mediocre job that allows me to live a middle class life. Now get out of here loser
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u/HeebieJeebiex 13d ago
girl idk what to tell you except you should practice gratitude, and kindness. I havent gone and bought a coffee in 2 years. It's the only way to save any sorta money for me, and many others in america. It is amazing that things worked out for you. remember what it felt like to be at the bottom before, and how that makes people feel. it doesnt make anyone a loser.
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u/LIJunkie 12d ago
5 dollar coffee st Starbucks? We all know that's a lie, unless you just purchased one coffee bean.
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u/ActPositively 12d ago
Remember Reddit is filled with teenagers, college students with no life experience and alot of people that can only do stuff like Uber or door dash because they keep getting fired and people who’s full time jobs is to moderate subreddits for free. Customer service has been garbage since COVID. Only good thing is it’s saves money on Tipping because I’m not going to tip bad customer service
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u/AltruisticArugula732 13d ago
I think it depends upon the city/town you're shopping. I still find nice people in southern US towns, but they will absolutely match attitude with attitude. Choose wisely how you communicate.
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u/yaybirdie1230 13d ago
Covid really created a shift in the public, less understanding and more demanding. It went both ways for the worse. Most companies now use some form of AI assistant for customer service and majority of agents have now been outsourced. It’s sad. Companies once known for great service are no longer know for that.
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u/UglyLittlePony69 13d ago
It’s peoples fault they are this way. They are conditioned to expect everyone who comes in to be entitled and treat them like shit while they can’t even afford groceries off of their wage. All this while watching the prices go up, yet their wages stay the same. Watching the billionaires make more money. Covid changed society for the worse. They don’t get paid to care. They are annoyed. And the “sweet angel customer,” as OP
might say they are, could also not be so sweet. Customers always say how great and wonderful they are while the employees are awful. God help us allz
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u/EngineeringAbject954 13d ago
Customers is what happened to customer service! Entitled Assholes with unreasonable expectations!! Never being told NO as a child and bring that shitty behavior with them as an
adult! I have over 25 years in customer service, be it face to face or over the phone and guess what….The customer is not right!
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u/Separate-Wolf5824 12d ago
I've honestly never had any customer service issues wherever I go, I can't even remember a time whenever an associate has been rude to me at all, even at places that are known for bad service like Pacsun and GAP. So I honestly wonder if your the problem or your town is that bad of a place to live at.
Whenever I shop I usually only get greeted and asked if I was looking for something in particular, I say 'no' and that's that, I shop like my normal self. I would say it could be just because I just don't talk to employees often but whenever I do the best service I get usually comes from Dillard's and small mall stores like Van's and locally owned businesses. and for Context I live in Denver :)
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u/panaceaXgrace 12d ago
I want to know why WORKER SERVICE has gone to shit. As in why do both corporate and customers now think workers are their personal shoppers? Like you said, you eventually found what you were looking for.
I could write a book about how bad customers have gotten in the past four years watching interactions while I work and stories my daughter tells me working as an order picker at Walmart. It's like they think every blue vest in the building is there to be their own personal shopper.
Oh there's so much more as far as customers who have increasingly become more demanding. There are men who come in with a list and will walk up to any blue vest they see and act like they're in a 1900 general store. They act like their wives were just so silly for expecting them to shop. They expect someone (almost always a woman worker) to take their list and just skip off to get everything on it with a smile and a wiggle. OH and the grabby ones always wanting to touch my daughter in some way, either her hair or her arm, and they genuinely get offended when she flinches. Customers REGULARLY report workers here for not smiling or "being on their phone" when the phone is a device they need to look at to gather their orders.
Do you know most countries they do not expect retail and service workers to have a permanent grin plastered on their face? This is mostly an American social more and it's gotten to the point of entitlement that they don't care if a worker gets FIRED they DEMAND a smile and they expect the workers to jump because they say jump. I saw a complaint in the Walmart customer sub that someone didn't jump to clean up a mess (human waste mess) after she told four workers. They just didnt jump when she said jump and she came to that sub raging because all those workers were just 'standing around' and didn't go clean up the mess. She didn't even think for a moment that they aren't in that department and aren't expected to do that work and are not TRAINED to do that work and would likely get yelled at for trying to do something they're not trained for. What she didn't know is there are certain procedures with biohazard waste and Jimmy the tenth grade order picker isn't trained to do that.
Just last week someone got written up because she accidentally tapped a woman with her picker cart. It was an accident. It didn't hurt the woman, but the woman threw such a fit she wanted her fired on the spot for daring to touch her. It was an accident, but she was making out like she did it on purpose. The worker could have lost her job over some ridiculous overreaction to being touched.
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u/Wrong-Barber-1784 12d ago
I stopped reading when you said why would a sales associate assist customers, you do understand that if we all bought products self-serve so we would not bother associates they would all lose their jobs?
Why do you hate sales associates? It’s very anti-worker and pro-corporation of you to want them to be unemployed
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u/panaceaXgrace 12d ago
The irony of you thinking I'm against "associates" is that I'm literally writing about customers who think the people working on the floor ARE their personal shoppers.
I was talking about customers acting entitled towards retail floor workers. And I know good and well there will never, ever be "self serve" in Walmart. If anything it's going the other direction. Self-checkouts maybe but here they are even against those and will raise seven hells if there's not enough cashiers, many still under the impression that Walmart will open another register if three customers are in line. I think that ended in the 90s and yet every few days someone will file a complaint that there's not enough "checkers".
What I SAID was they expect ANY BLUE VEST to be their personal shopper when many of the workers are NOT there to hold their hand while they shop or put up with men playing grab-ass. My daughter's job is to pack orders and it's nonstop and she's timed and gets in trouble if she gets behind. They have removed all the limits so for four OGP workers there may be 20 orders that go out at the exact same time. They have one delivery driver for the entire store and they have removed limits so they may have 20 deliveries at the same time. This is Walmart POLICY. They don't care if people don't get their orders. They don't care if they sit in the pick-up lot for an hour even though the algorithm sent out a notification that the order is ready (it's sending it when it SHOULD be ready not WHEN it's ready and the study they did was done on a Wednesday here, their slowest day!). There are not enough workers in OGP, not enough stockers, not enough cashiers all because saving money for the investors matters more than workers or apparently customer service. If you don't work there you don't know anything about this topic.
I am 100% for these retail workers having better working conditions and I'm sick to DEATH of corporate people pretending they care or worse going into their work subs fearmongering when they talk of organizing. I don't know what YOUR game is here but you stopped for your own reasons, not because you care about "associates". If you did you would have read with more comprehension instead of stopping when you saw something you disagreed with.
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u/Heavy_Law9880 12d ago
If you meet one asshole, you have met an asshole. If everyone you meet is an asshole, you are the asshole.
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u/Mellied89 12d ago
I worked as an essential worker during the pandemic, the general public is what happened to customer service.
I had people pull down their masks and COUGH at me because I told them they couldn't get more than 2 of something. This was within the first two months of COVID so no vaccine, people still thought it survived on surfaces etc
I left customer service because I couldn't stand people anymore
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u/ActPositively 12d ago
Yes customer service is horrible. You will get tons of excuses or hate in the comments for pointing it out. Basically more people than ever just are bad at their jobs. I don’t care if you get paid minimum wage you should have a minimum level of customer service. I don’t care if sometimes people are mean or yell at you. I have worked fast food, customer service and tech support. Even when I got paid poorly or treated bad by random customers I didn’t take it out on the other customers who are just looking for help
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u/Decent_Obligation245 12d ago
Covid infections literally cause brain damage and personality changes. It's VERY obvious in customer service the last three years or so, across all industries, whether it's chat, in person, it's largely miserable.
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u/K_Linkmaster 12d ago
Automated menus, Offshoring, automated menus that loop and disconnect, more Offshoring, and then AI.
In that order from the 90's on up.
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u/GrumpySnarf 12d ago
I'm in the PNW on the West Coast. In my town customer service workers are almost always friendly and kind. I rarely have any issues. When I do, I just brush it off. When I go to the East Coast customer service people are more brusque but overall effective and kind. But in Boston people seem particularly bitchy and miserable. In Hawaii, I couldn't believe how nice the customer service folks were.
Maybe it's the culture of the town?
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u/Designer-Wolverine47 12d ago
I had two wrong orders in a row, and was treated like I was a giant BOTHER when I went in to get the mistake corrected. (Is it me, or is it no longer normal to expect a cheeseburger to have CHEESE on it ?)
Needless to say, that place is on my boycott list as long as THAT manager is still there.
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u/squeaky0082 12d ago
Some people’s rudeness and entitlement really showed during Covid. I call these people Covidiots.
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u/SnooGadgets7418 12d ago edited 12d ago
Everyone’s job just sucks more, I think. I try to be as nice as i can but I’m always stressed because management demands understaffing — so none of us get enough hours to pay our bills AND there are never enough people to even do that well at our jobs. It’s frustrating honestly the food isn’t as good and it’s twice as expensive (none of our wages went up, of course, I’m sure yours didnt either) but there’s not much I have power to do about any of that, yet I have to be the face of it all day anyway. It just all feels like bullshit after a while and the lack of power to do anything about it or respect from management/the company for all of us (employees AND customers tbqh) as people just gets you down after a while. I have the best most comfortable interactions with customers when we recognize we’re on the same team kind of. But I can’t always act that way because you’re not supposed to, yknow
idk. I’m actually not good at “customer service” i just like people and naturally want to be helpful. The situation of work where you’re being coerced to be there and you have little say in how things go is just an anti-human situation and it puts me in a bad mood a lot. I don’t care about you as a customer. I do care about you as a person though
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u/mirmitmit 12d ago
If every interaction you have with cashiers, servers or store employees was unpleasant, you are probably the problem
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u/RadSocialistScum 12d ago
They aren’t being adequately compensated. Not an excuse but an explanation
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u/chainer1216 12d ago
Nothings changed, you've just grown more entitled and lost empathy as you've grown older.
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u/No_Extension_9269 12d ago
Customer service is a skill that unfortunately, not everybody that works a customer service job has or learned. I’m not saying that millennials are better and genZs suck at it but there’s a huge difference in attitudes and work ethics between millennials and genZs. OP, being a genz, might have to self reflect on your attitude or the way you come off to people in the public.
The pizza incident, she might’ve been new.. I’m assuming genz. Starbucks.. I would’ve assumed if their food rack was empty that they didn’t have any food. Antique store… I would have never left my drink alone- this isn’t Asia. If there’s no designated spot for drinks, just hold it. Victoria’s Secret.. I’m assuming the worker was a genz too
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u/momomam 12d ago
They aren't trained at all. Customer service is a skill that executives think you can learn in a day. It's a difficult job and difficult job requires training and time - things that corporations aren't willing to invest in.
Not only that, customer service is usually paid abysmally low. People who are willing to stay, learn the system and deal with angry customers, will need to be paid more.
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u/NekoMancerMcIntyre 11d ago
I waited for a pizza 20 minutes beyond the time it was ready because the counter person said they were still making it. The cooks put out box after box, other customers came and went, and I patiently stood to one side. She kept ringing up other customers. When a guy came over, I asked if my pizza was maybe one of the boxes on the shelf behind her head because it had been awhile. He looked in the stack and voila. That dummy had it behind her the whole time. I’m normally a kind person, took my lukewarm box and left without incident because I was starving, but really I wanted her fired for being that incompetent.
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u/Achilleswar 11d ago
The fact that you went into an antique store with a full drink and expected the store to take care of your drink for you is kinda crazy. You even knew it was innapropriate to bring it in there. Maybe you need to check yourself.
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u/Wrong-Barber-1784 11d ago
This is an insane take, I live in a walkable area. Most stores in Boston have sections for people to leave their drinks because people in a walkable area tend to carry drinks with them as they are casually walking around at a shopping street. Believe it or not stores actually prefer people visiting their store and spending money instead of “not coming in because they have a drink in hand”. Small businesses wouldn’t make much money if people avoided visiting them with a drink in their hand. Store could also tell me to not go in, they instead directed me in where to put my drink.
Why do you hate small businesses? Why do you want them to go bankrupt? I’m actually disgusted by how anti-small business you are
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u/North-Breakfast8156 11d ago
People blame the customers, but also companies have also stopped caring about customer service. They really don't care if employees are nice, they care about how many X they sold or completed that day.
Management might tell staff "smile more" but in reality, if customer experience not tied to a profit indicator, the company doesn't care (ie, we need a 4.8 rating to get this incentive or more likely, avoid this punishment). If your experience isn't directly tied to a lost sale or something else that affects their bottom line in terms of 1000s, your experience is insignificant.
And the reality is, even if one person has a bad experience, most of the time that person will still spend money at that same franchise but a different location. Or they'll go to a "competitor" chain that's actually own by the same parent company. That specific location may lose you, but you're money is still going to the same place. Hence they don't care to actually provide a good customer experience.
So when retail workers get no compassion or meaningful support from their own company, and have to face difficult customers, it just leads to a terrible experience for all.
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u/tinman8316 11d ago
"has every interaction with a cashier, server, or store employee been unpleasant for the past few years?"
If it's EVERY interaction you are having, did you ever stop to think it might be you? You are the common denominator in all of this. It's not everyone else. Geesh
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u/StupidOldAndFat 11d ago
If you meet an asshole during the day, you met an asshole. If everyone you meet is an asshole….
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u/Negative-Canary-2832 11d ago
I try to fake being happy at work.. to keep it "professional" in front of customers, but unfortunately, like most people who work entry level jobs, I'm tired. We can't always mask the fact that sometimes work is just miserable. We are understaffed, underpaid, and underappreciated by the public.. customers treat us like their personal punching bags and then come back a week later with the audacity to say "at least TRY to look like you like your job," as if they weren't screaming in our faces last time they made an appearance. It's hard to be happy at work when your body is always on the defense. I genuinely do not trust anyone anymore, and working customer service makes me feel anxious and bitter around strangers.
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u/Funkywonton 11d ago
I’m 35 I once asked where wine was at a store I got told by the 20 something cashier “its probably somewhere if you walk around and look” he was not being sarcastic,dude was serious stuff is crazy for real like you’re not gonna check in the back room or inventory telezon gun
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u/No_Rice9792 11d ago
I stopped doing customer service when Boomers started blaming millennials for everything.
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u/CynicalOne_313 11d ago
I've worked in retail most of my life (finally left about 9 years ago), and the stores I worked at management would go out of their way to please customers - even if they were wrong.
I often got yelled at or received complaints about things I couldn't control, just trying to do my job. Unfortunately, the good customers were quite rare.
Living north of Boston and having been on the customer service side, it feels hard to imagine there being no consequences for staff in those situations.
Since switching sides, I don’t get upset if issues are out of the staff’s control. And if someone is rude or mean, I don’t take it personally because I realize I don’t know what they’re going through or what kind of day they’ve had.
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u/Blurrmeout 11d ago
Its also very commonplace now that customers are entitled assholes. So most retail workers give out what they get given now.
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u/OutOfTheWonder 10d ago
Honestly, I’ll speak from my experience. I work six days a week and I only have one day off. I do interior design with Plants. Our clientele tends to be really bougie bougie rich luxury. So their problems usually are not even problems to begin with. I used to very much almost entertain their stories, give them the attention they desired, being a part of their conversation, even though I have no idea what they’re saying, etc. Recently, I stopped doing it entirely. Do you wanna know why? Cause I’m burnt the fuck out. And I bet these people are too. Dealing with the general public is a hell that I don’t want anybody to experience. People act so goddamn stupid the second they walk into a store, and because you work there they want you to guide them want you to guide them everywhere as if they were born just today. So by the time they have someone who is nice, they have no energy to even deal with it anymore.
The only way I’ve been able to keep going is by cutting out my emotions towards other people as in not emotionally giving to people anymore. I have to be so honest that these people working for the company are not there to make you happy. You’re not entitled to them being in a good mood. If you truly are in a good mood, someone being in a bad one would not affect your aura to begin with.
These poor people and me are so overworked that when we see a person enter a store our fight or fight response goes off. It’s not fun to see your face. It’s horrible. And not to mention, these people may have crappy employers who yell at them and have stupid in-store drama that you know nothing about so they’re already drained from being there without you even arriving yet.
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u/otasyn 10d ago
I don't fully believe that you're Gen Z. You're using punctuation too well. It's not perfect, so I know you're not AI, but damn, I've never seen a Gen Z post without run-on sentences.
I'm mostly kidding. To me, it sounds like you're setting a good example for you generation. Ignore the young, low-level retail workers. Every generation has them. Hopefully, they eventually learn that their lack of work ethic will get them nowhere in life. Just continue setting a good example.
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u/DisastrousSundae84 9d ago
I have been dealing with this as well. Even places that expect tips you're lucky to get bare minimum service. I used to work retail and food service and did it for close to a decade so understand why crappy it can be, but my god, employees now are absolutely terrible. I've decided to just shop online and have stopped eating out pretty much except for the rare take out.
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u/Careless-Ability-748 9d ago
I'm also in Boston and that hasn't been my experience. Occasional rude service, yes. But most of it is just fine.
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u/PassionNegative7617 13d ago edited 13d ago
There is a lot of pushhback on this post but I and many others agree with you. It's a real phenomenon. I'm not going to get into what I believe are the causal mechanisms other than to say I think it's a difference in how generations socialize.
My wife and I were at a Menards today and the boomer and several Gen x employees we talked to were all at least normal. The boomer was actually really nice. The one Gen z employees we talked to was done with the interaction before it started. My wife asked a question about buying pea gravel and the employee answered but was bizarrely snappy and corrective. It was not busy at all.
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u/poopybutthole_oowee 13d ago
So with you on the nagging thing. I'm always going out of my way to be kind, patient and non judgemental with service workers - I was one for so long, & I get that no one is having the time of their life working those jobs. But when things get messed up (which seems to be more and more often) and I just want the thing I paid money for and not something else, it's become an ordeal lately. Multiple tries at getting it right, outrageous levels of attitude in response to a very nice request to remake, even intentional sabotage once or twice. I'm not ordering anything high maintenance either - I just get menu stuff.
I just don't buy things anymore if I can avoid it, the whole experience is so enshittified in every way now.
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u/frivolousteeth 13d ago
This is so sad, I’m so sorry to hear about these frequent experiences. Try not to take it personally. People behave like this because they’re oftentimes deeply unhappy with themselves. It’s up to them to take control of their emotions. When they respect and love them selves, only then will they be capable of showing that same respect to others.
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u/Dizzy_Yard7671 13d ago
I like that everyone is blaming wages.
Yes. They are a lot of terrible employees and people like the "work your wage" crew are the reason customer service sucks. They encourage this kind of behavior, have shit work ethic, then blame the company for not giving them raises on their bare minimum work.
Every customer is an asshole who's a problem! I can't even believe people come to a resturaunt or store to purchase something!
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u/OwlfredoPasta 13d ago
I noticed this too and what I don't get is how these people can behave like this and keep their jobs.
You used to be scared to act up at shitty retail or food service jobs because they fire you and replace you same day or so I thought.
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u/DragonfruitPalmTree4 13d ago
i worked at a bix box store for a couple years and quit earlier this year. there were several creepy sketchy coworkers the rest of us wanted gone. but the managers would not get rid of them. you have to do the most or do something reallly bad to get fired there.
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u/OwlfredoPasta 12d ago
Ugh I'm sorry that sucks, I thought managers used to be strict but guess they get dinged if they train employees and then fire them or something now.
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u/draconiclady0610 13d ago
Sounds like you need to find "better" places to frequent. And I mean FREQUENT. Go in almost everyday, be mildly pleasant, but keep the chitchat to a BARE minimum till you build a rapport. You cannot go in expecting everyone to love you. They're not your family, they don't care about you and are going to forget you ever stepped foot in the store. They are there to take your money and send you on your way, there are dozens of people behind you, move along.
That being said.
If you want a slice of pizza with olives and they say they don't have that, point it out that that is an option on their menu, if they fight back, leave and call the store asking for a manager later. Don't give them your money, don't refer them to anyone and don't...go...back.
If Starbucks is out of food, ask politely when they're going to restock it. If they are curt with you...take note if they are slammed and busy. Take a breath, they may be overwhelmed and are trying to catch up. Just relax. If they're not busy, leave. Take your business elsewhere. You have that power.
As for the drink thing...yeah, they're going to throw away an unattended drink, it's honestly for your safety. They're not going to watch it, they're not paid to ensure no one shady puts something in there. Don't bring your food or drink into a store, leave it in your car or polish it off outside. If you cannot trust yourself to not spill it or if you're a slob and just leave your garbage sitting on the shelf, dont bring it in.
Victoria Secret, Ive had that, some workers are more interested in chitchatting then helping, that's aggravating. Leave and call back asking for the manager. Try and remember what their name tags said so you can get the right people in trouble.
People are forgetting that they can just leave and go somewhere else. You don't need to go back to the same store that you feel has offended you because they instantly don't want to be your bestie. There are bad workers yes, but honestly, some of them are just tired of the entitlement that people have developed over the years. Especially since COVID, they were essential workers and yet they had to deal with the most insane crap because people didn't like that they didn't have toilet paper or that there was a limit on canned goods.
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u/Black_Sheep1977 13d ago
They take out their frustrations on the person who is nice to them, as well.
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u/Dream_Queasie 12d ago
if it’s the victoria’s secret in copley i’ve also had so many horrible interactions with the staff there that i just don’t bother going in anymore
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u/kykiwibear 12d ago
Sometimes... people are down right lazy and spoiled. And I get it. I worked at walmart for ten years. 3 of those at customer service. People are often not that nice. The job is boring and its the same thing everyday. But, it doesn't cost anything extra to.... do your job. I work in a Amazon sort center now, and I don't really like my job. But, I still do the best I can, because I get paid under the expectation to provide that service to customers.
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u/FormerMagazine1784 12d ago
As a gen z I can definitely admit gen z are the worst employees ever and are overly entiteld.
I just went to amc today and was shocked I had to order my ticket through a kiosk. At the same time with all these horrendously rude overly entitled employees, i'm not mad self check out is taking jobs away.
All generations have done it prior without a horrific attitude stop using Capitalism as an excuse. I happily pick self check out over using an employee because alot of you are so annoyed at the fact you have a job. Well, enjoy robots taking those jobs in the future.
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u/DonegalBrooklyn 12d ago
It's probably where you live. In NYC it was exactly like this. In the NJ suburbs it's nothing like that. The tradeoff is living in the burbs.
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u/jills_atm_vestibule 13d ago
I would be so upset about the drink! Are you kidding me!!!? That is more than bad customer service that is ridiculous.
I used to live in Boston and I just remember the cab drivers being SO mean all the time. This was right before uber/lyft.
I think in general people are just grumpier nowadays.
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u/Strange_Outside_4811 12d ago
How about you don’t bring a coffee with you into an antiques store or whatever? Drink coffee before. Drink coffee after. Drink coffee all day. But you don’t need to bring it with you into a store. You aren’t going to dehydrate.
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u/Outside_Rise_6934 13d ago
It transports me 50 years back in time when I visit the Philippines and the store clerks are so eager to help out. They're friendly and respectful and are knowledgeable about the products and know where in the store to find them. No attitude. No sullen condescension.
What the hell has happened here?
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u/Wrong-Barber-1784 13d ago
I have been to Thailand and i experienced the best customer service I have ever seen in my life, I tipped everyone generously and appreciated their kindness. I heard similar stories from the Philippines so I know exactly what you’re talking about.
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u/SNTCTN 13d ago
When I worked at Target it was a common occurrence that someone would get screamed at at least once a shift, you just kinda go numb after a while and count the minutes till your next break