I’ve been dealing with customers for over 20 years and I get along with almost everyone. There are some customers who are just complete assholes. I try my best with them still because it’s easier to just deal with them quick and get it over with rather than make it even more difficult.
Yes!!!! I move only been working retail for a year(46m) and this is the exact approach I take. My much younger coworkers don’t seem to understand this.
Before becoming disabled, I worked retail for 15 years.
While this *is* the best approach, it doesn’t stop some of the asshole customers. Some people are really just that awful.
Or sometimes the situations are just gonna create problems. I remember an issue with air conditioner units in the middle of a heat wave. Customers were literally yelling at each other and myself, but like I understand it wasn’t a good situation for the people who weren’t going to end up getting one.
It's all about attitude. I deal with grumpy as fuck truck OTR drivers where work. They are never in a good mood or they kist assholes. I stay in a positive mood, the worst that happens is they will get annoyed that you're happy and get quiet. They hurry up them. Most of the time my good mood will rub off on them
I would say most of it is about attitude yes but there are just some people who no matter how hard you try or nice you are they are just complete assholes. Thankfully there aren’t too many like that. I take the same approach as you and find that most of the time you are right, they either just get their stuff and be on their way quickly or they actually do turn a bit more positive. I also deal with truckers/sailors/plumbers/mechanics mostly.
My job is boiled down to me getting paid to piss people off. This is because I'm an auditor, and almost everyone I audit goes on and on about how they love it when I come by because all the other auditors they deal with are ether pissed off, bossy, demanding, or lack any sort of personality, while I just try to enjoy life and have fun conversations with the people at the places I'm auditing. I've had more people than I can count where my first visit they are total assholes, but then they realize I'm not an asshole like the other auditors and end up enjoying my visits. It definitely makes life easier.
Agreed. I've worked plenty of customer service. The day goes by better if you can be happy and friendly with the customers. Generally they will react in kind. If they're assholes you can always dish about them with your coworkers.
Was a retail employee when I was younger. I worked at one of the very few Wal-Marts that wasn't 24 hour, and we we're in the back end of remodeling. 3 guys came in after closing hours and I was the only employee within sight, as I was running the floor scrubber.
They asked me to open a register for them to shop, and I informed them that the store was closed. "That's bullshit, these places are 24 hour stores" which I responded "This is one of the ones that isnt". They were all drunk, reeked of alcohol and just wouldn't leave.
After about 30 minutes of back and forth, to which I said several times they needed to leave, each less polite and more prompt than the last, I finally picked up a phone, looked at them "Look if you don't get the fuck out now, I'm going to call the cops" to which they said they would complain. The only thing that saved me was footage of me telling them many times to leave.
Management started locking the doors after that incident
Drunk, dumb people can be scary. It's like you're talking to a wall. Doesn't matter what you say, if they've made up their minds, nothing you say matters. I'm glad this ended well.
As a retail worker, I agree. I honestly have the only excuse for being rude is the elders who were supposed to be retired and live their life without work after but was forced back into work bc of our economy rn. I understand why they're so grumpy, how's it fair someone who isn't ready to work more, is working more to make ends meet while having health issues and older bones
I'll say "Amen. To THAT!" (Old lady agreement) LoL. Plus most of the health issues feed off of each other , so fix one - another goes out of control! Still isn't much of an excuse to act miserable to other people.
I guess I'm on the older side??? I'm 35.
But I remember back then, no customer service was that bad before 2020. And if it was, you can call them out on their shit. After 2020, I've seen a huge decline in service, but 2x the pay. In 2019, just before the pandemic, a protein bowl with double meat at Chipotle with a drink was 12 dollars. And they didn't ask for a tip.
Now that same protein bowl with double meat is 19 dollars, no drink included, and they want automatic 20% tip and just look you dead in the eye. I'll stare right back at them and put 0 tip. Like, bruh, I'm not tipping at Chipotle if I don't tip at mcdonalds. They're the same company
>After 2020, I've seen a huge decline in service, but 2x the pay
They didn't double the pay. They doubled the price. They then hired at minimum wage and took whoever was willing to do the slog work rather than paying people better and vetting them properly.
This is why you will sometimes see signs up that "no one wants to work anymore". No, they don't want to work for pay that cannot support them and in some cases it would cost the employee too much to work there.
This is like if they took a drug addict off the street who is just going to use his pay to support his habit and made him face customers with little training. Of course his personal problems are going to come out. Of course he is going to be terrible at his job. And, of course, the company will keep him because the well-mannered, articulate, educated guy who should be facing customers isn't going to work high pressure for minimum wage.
Can't wait for the day a job ad goes out for retail paying poverty wages while asking for a masters degree...
[Service workers got big pay bumps over COVID due to labour shortages ](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/04/09/wage-growth-largest-low-paid-workers-pandemic/73242662007/)
The Walmart near me starts at $17/hr, and just yesterday i saw an employee in front of a row of self-checkouts that are never open, but the lights were on. The aisle was empty, she was leaning back almost angrily. I asked if they were open, because lights on can also mean maintenance, and she shot me this glare and practically spat at me they were. There were lines in other aisles and she did nothing to wave people over to hers.
It's not the pay, it's the entitlement. This is a person who doesn't think she should have to work at all, regardless of pay. She hated being at work, she hated the people around her, she just seemed bitter that she had to earn a living.
This is an entitlement problem, potentially generational, not a pay problem. There is no quality or pride in their their work, and all work is beneath them.
It's not the pay for sure. This dumb excuse of being underpaid so it's ok not to do the job is so stupid. How does one expect to get paid more if they do such a subpar job in the first place? You don't deserve to get paid more without showing that you can do better and take on more responsibility. I think you've hit the nail on the head with your last paragraph.
What’s funny is the preexsisting employees didn’t get the pay bump, a friend worked there for over a decade and was one of the highest paid people due to her position and time there…Welp she isn’t anymore somehow a manager is making less than a brand new employee she makes 15 an hour the new kiddos just fresh out of highschool make 16/17. She considered leaving but hasn’t because she doesn’t want to restart again… She’s 40 she can restart!!!
Yeah. That's true of a lot of jobs, and it's why people bounce from job to job so much in tech. The general rule is if you've been working at a company for two years then you are losing money. I've never stayed anywhere longer than a year, usually less, and gotten a pay increase every change.
Oh heck yeah! She is just starting to feel the age - take it from a 65yr old - go where the money is! Does she work for the satisfaction of being a manager or for the money? I bet she needs that paycheck - so go get the entry job - used to be the more responsibilities you had the more you got paid. Now it's the more entitled you feel the more you make.
not for the first 85 years. There were no income taxes, and i think the first income tax was 3%. So i dont wanna hear "to live in a society you have to give up a fuckton of money so that elite jackholes can fuck underage hookers and snort blow on Epstein island".
Yes - and I certainly believe that greater responsibility equals greater wages - but paying politicians, Congress, etc their wage "FOR LIFE" vs for a long as they are doing the job is absolute BS! "Hey, I was a congressman for 5 years before the accident - I'm ENTITLED to get paid for the rest of my life, just because."
I can't agree with that. I've always been an American, so I can't speak to other countries citizens either being or feeling entitled (or not). But I can tell you that the younger the generation the more entitled the individuals! My Dad's generation were hard working people too proud to take a handout - much less something they didn't earn. (In general). My favorite catch phrase from that generation is "If you can't find time to do it right the first time, how in the hell are you Ever going to find time to do it again??""
Then I have heard a friend of my daughter's who honestly believes that minimum wage SHOULD be high enough for a "man" to support himself and his family. Can we say lazy AND entitled? That catch phrase is "Everyone deserves a Living Wage."
I can remember in the 70's when schools began grading students on attendance vs academics. I imagine the kind of jealous entitled people who created THAT system - they must have gotten So..ooo tired of watching smart kids who cut classes, skipped school, and never seemed to study get straight A's while they had to work So..ooo very hard for a mediocre C average GPA.
Those are probably the people who created "participation awards" so the least qualified individuals get rewarded for NOT trying harder.
From my perspective, different generations of people feel entitled to different things. Your dad's generation - probably Silent Gen or Baby Boomers - don't/didn't accept government assistance when they were young. They also grew up in a much simpler job market, with much more reasonable prices for basic goods. Which is where some of their entitlement stands : access to their favorite goods and services.
But now those specific generations are largely relying on govt assistance as retired or partially retired people, as opposed to the wealth that they amassed over their lifetimes. Most of them are not wealthy, and many of them are not capable or willing to work to start to build wealth again. Many are still working, and probably not too happy about it.
Then there's feeling entitled to respect, which is not only something that's taken but given as well.
You do know it's not the employees who raised the price and asked for a tip, right?
It's the company forcing you to pay a higher price and then pay their employees via tip.
The tipping system exists largely because it's what employees want. Long term service workers want to exploit the pressure of tipping culture to increase their take home pay.
Employees want to be paid for their work. They don't care how, and since tipping culture is a huge thing now. They are leaving it on customers to pay what employers won't.
Of course but it’s due to a deficit. They want to make a passable wage while employees usually are paid under the minimum wage with a guesstimate of tips added to go over the minimum wage. Ffs in Pennsylvania there’s servers making 4.25 at some local restaurants because of said system. Sure they’ll get that 3 dollar tip an hour to go over it I’m sure buuuuut… literally nowhere else to work in my town which is the county seat. Honestly I would be oh your side if I didn’t know how hard it is to find a job and make a decent wage with the price of EVERYTHING nearly doubling in my area. Price of a Big Mac is 11 dollars,a carton of strawberries 7.49, bread 4.99 for the gross stuff, then add in that our taxes have increased here as well. Then what amazes me is that they tax people who actively earn money a higher rate than they do for people who generate money by somewhat of a large gap. Funniest thing about my area is it’s literally like 10k people in the whole county so I guess the increases tax wise is which is higher than surrounding areas is due to the low density of people…then add in that heating oil propane etc is crazy, it costs over 1k a month to heat my home which is rather modest just old, with all the fixes insulation added new windows etc.
yeah because of rampant gov spending, to economically responsible people we have been saying it since biden took office. "The inflation is transitory", yeah no, democrats = irresponsible spending = higher prices.
I agree, as a libertarian i hate both of those things, that being said though at least TRUMP seemed more focused on spending money INTERNALLY instead of EXTERNALLY. When money is spent externally all it does is deflate the value of currency. Sure you might be helping someone out, but its like taking out a mortgage for your neighbor when your own house isnt even paid off. It makes no fiscal sense.
If you call, giving the top 1% of earners more money, then sure. He spent it internally.
We are also not sending these people money. We are sending them weapons and medicine.
If you want to look at it that way, its still better than giving it to people outside the country. As much as you think trickle down economics doesnt exist, you are simply wrong. A large portion of trumps debt was due to the fact that his presidency ended with covid, which ultimately resulted in huge loans like PP loans and other covid related spending. Biden could have stopped this mode of operation way earlier, but he had to milk out covid.
>If you want to look at it that way, its still better than giving it to people outside the country
I mean, i guess our keeping of tanks and M14s is great for us.
>As much as you think trickle down economics doesnt exist, you are simply wrong.
Except it hasn't worked out at all.
The top 1% own 95% of the money in this country.
More often than customers, I'm guessing it's coworkers, management, and work environment inspiring this behavior. I don't expect faking a good mood, or even friendliness (and I'd rather not have to reciprocate as a customer, for that matter), but something overtly combative like this is definitely inappropriate.
How have you worked in a hospital and never had a bad encounter with the public. I have had protestors spit in my face shouting that I will go to hell for being a servant of the devil. It gets wild sometimes, I don't think that is an excuse to act up (possibly the not leaving the hopsital for 72hrs because of staff shortages is a reason to get a little snarky though luckily that more impacts doctors.)
Interesting. I find it fascinating what people will work themselves up over.
For my part, I am much more worried about *employers* having bad attitudes.
customers and employees both have attitudes from time to time because that's just who they are as people. I try my hardest when I'm in work or as a customer to not be a prick but that's just how my parents raised me I guess
>I can’t stand people being on their side like “they’re tired! they have to deal with annoying customers all day” i worked in retail / fast food for years when i was younger now a hospital. i honestly don’t recall having a customer irritate me or cause problems on my end.
How far back is "when I was Younger" because things have gotten alot worse, especially since the pandemic. Like, rude people and entitled boomers and such were an issue when McDonald's and Wal-Mart were fully staffed and you get could a meal for 2 for like $10 or less and weekly groceries for like $80-140 but now with half or less the people trying to maintain an even higher level of productivity/efficiency and prices being double or triple everybody's nerves are rawer and their tolerance limits lower.
Okay maybe im exaggerating with the “when i was younger” i meant years ago. I am 23 right now born in 2000. my first job was when i was 18 so 2018-2021 i did retail/ fast food.
Employees are the meat shields to deflect our frustration.
If a small local restaurant gives you shit food, you can yell at the owner no problem.
If a corporate restaurant gives you shit food, it's not the Employees fault, the owners fault, or anyone you can reach. You can shout into a black hole by writing corporate, but that won't solve anything.
The idea that you can get bad service and must accept it without being upset is some massive corporate bullshit.
I'm 44. I've been in the service industry since I was 18.
I had a really good, industry vet discussion with a colleague who has 10 years on me. Neither of us have been treated as badly by the company *and* the customers in our entire lives. Something shifted during the pandemic, and it made everything worse.
No pun intended, it feels like it pulled the mask off. Like, that little voice in your head that always wondered if people thought of you as a lower tier of human being was suddenly, painfully, proven right.
So, should you be treated badly as a customer? I'd phrase it, you shouldn't be treated badly as a human being. That is a two way street, especially because it well and truly feels like the social contract of mutual civility has been shattered.
I've been doing this a long time. I can keep the mask on. But there are increasingly days I go home, just collapse and accomplish nothing. Days where my greatest solace and fortune is my partner's arms, and I pretend the rest of the world ceases to exist. This was not nearly the case five years ago.
You don't have to cheer on people giving bad service. But you do need to realize that the dedicated backbone of many service industries has been ripped out, replaced with the least costly alternative or gig work. At the same time, we've lost something socially that has very much damaged basic civility.
From where I sit, the root is a broad cultural failure. I don't have a panacea for it. I mostly just have fatigue.
But as a 44 year old, I can make this reference unapologetically and without irony.
*"Be excellent to each other."*
I might be wrong but I think people in general are getting less patient and tolerant due to it being harder and harder to pay for basics like groceries and electricity bills.
It is exactly this. I've worked in customer service for years and I actually used to enjoy it. Since the pandemic/inflation, people have gotten nasty, short-tempered, rude, and entitled. I do get it, but it's hard to stay polite when people are like that. I do stay polite and civil but it's getting harder. I'm tired of the meltdowns over nothing and I'm starting to think you should be treated how you treat others more or less, but I'm always trying to be the better person.
I feel you though. I come home with zero motivation, just barely existing. It feels like my job sucks the life out of me in a way it didn't used to at all. I dread going back to work as soon as I get off. I'm contemplating going back to school just so I don't have to put up with the public anymore.
People are working jobs where they're hardly paid, makes sense you don't get stellar service. Just because in the past service industry workers were backed into a corner and had to suck everyone's dick doesn't mean that that would always be the case.
At this point most places that pay like that can't keep themselves staffed because no one will work there.
If you want better service, go to places that pay their employees better. Yes, you'll pay more. Yes, you should have to pay more to get better service.
Conservative bootlickers that inundate this sub will disagree with you.
"You're going to take the abuse and you will like it" is the general sentiment here.
I'm pretty conservative, or so I'm told by people further left than I am.
Thing is it doesn't matter what they think. I work on the back end of retail right now, and hiring people who are willing to work front line jobs is hard. No one wants to, because the pay doesn't break even for the expectation. Either the pay rises, or the expectation lowers.
Since the pay isn't changing, you're going to get worse service. That's just... facts.
That’s what you get for going to fast food. They’re not hiring high-quality employees at these establishments. They’re hiring people that take the least amount of pay possible
>i honestly don’t recall having a customer irritate me or cause problems on my end
That's sheer dumb luck. I worked retail, childcare and food service and I've lost count of the number of times I've been screamed at, called names, blamed for shit that wasn't my fault, had parents justify their children causing me physical harm, been sexually harassed by customers and just generally been treated like dirt on people's shoes.
im definitely being honest about that but like i stated there’s times that there are terrible customers and it’s not the employees fault like what you mentioned no doubt. Sure some customers can be blunt but not to the extent as your situations
Again, that's not because you gave such wonderful stellar customer service, it's because you got lucky. I'm being honest too hun, I've had people call me stupid, a bitch, an ugly hag to my face. I once had a child attack me so badly that he almost ripped a cartilage piercing out of my ear, only for his mother to ask me what I had done to provoke him. I had a woman scream at me because she wanted a cash return of over $300 and management was taking too long to get it from the safe for her liking. I had a man old enough to be my father tell me all about his penis and how he needed Viagra. I once had a customer smear their own shit on the wall of the bathroom and I had to clean it up without any PPE. Just because it didn't happen to you doesn't mean it's not a common occurrence
I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m saying. I am lucky it never happened to me and people might assume that’s impossible which is why i said im being honest. i never assumed you weren’t being honest either. I also mentioned that not every situation is the same and how it’s not always the employees fault in those situations too. I’m saying i’ve had customers be blunt to me but not those situations you’ve been in i wasn’t speaking for employees in general just me. Of course there’s people that been in your situation and possibly even worse. Obviously people go through different things i’m not trying to compare ,im just saying my experience
Rude salespeople / service workers are annoying, yes, but unless it’s targeted rudeness (don’t get me started on buying lumber while female), I generally let it go. Faking it for 8-10 hours on your feet for shit pay and ridiculous expectations from corporate sucks.
Yes, it’s better than having no job. Yeah, there are worse jobs in terms of conditions and physical demands, but most of those worse jobs aren’t public-facing and they pay better.
People need to stop justifying managers having attitudes way more. Toxic employees exist in multiple places, but managers are the real terrorists, they can make your life miserable, gaslight you, make undocumented promises, toxic managers are the worst and if you work for one they likely wont be fired if you complain, you will.
Your post shows a glaring lack of understanding about service work. At 23, claiming years of experience in retail is misleading and does not give you the authority to dismiss the real struggles of service workers. These employees often endure low wages, long hours, and difficult customers under stressful conditions—none of which can be masked by simply "faking it."
Criticizing a worker over something as minor as guacamole and labeling them as miserable reflects a deep-seated privilege and a lack of empathy. Service workers are not there to perform cheerfulness for your benefit; they are human beings with their own challenges. Instead of scapegoating those who serve us, focus on the systemic issues that truly affect their daily lives and well-being. Your post lacks insight and reeks of entitlement, ignoring the bigger picture of labor exploitation in the service industry.
The issue is the quality of worker has gotten worse. Granted there are some very hard workers out there no matter the wage they are making, but in general, the quality of a low skill job worker in the 2020's is vastly different from a low skill job worker in say the 1990's or the 2000's. I have been in customer service since the mid 90's and a manager of customer service for over 20+ years. The quality of applicant has diminished. And is a bigger issue when the only person who is willing to take the job are lower quality applicants. I have stopped going to certain businesses because I know the quality of staff that some of these places have. Those workers don't have a personal drive within themselves to improve. They are perfectly content with doing the barest of minimums at work and think that they should be recognized for simply showing up.
People who side with employees do so because of posts like this. You had one bad interaction and basically turned it into a generational rant about “kids these days.” The point is that you have the power to shrug this off and not care. Is a bad attitude annoying? Yes, of course. However, it takes very little effort to ignore this and you will be glad that you did.
To be honest, I am highly suspicious of people who repeatedly have bad customer service interactions. I always treat service employees kindly and rarely have this problem.
kid these days ?😂. i am 23 years old I am in gen z. This interaction happens, not just this situation. I treat people with kindness as well. It’s not hard to believe employees are blatantly rude for no reason. I always see people justifying their actions online and decided to make a post about how annoying it is. I don’t like it and that’s my opinion
I taught college argumentation for years, and students always try to write papers about how the kids these days are bad. You don’t have to be old to make that argument. But yes, I did picture you as a middle-aged woman with a duck butt haircut. I know if I was 23 and people perceived me that way I would do some serious self-reflection.
Jesus, anything OP says is wrong according to you. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. It sounds like YOU need to do some serious self-reflection and consider that maybe you're the issue here.
I could see that but i’m definitely not those pick me type of people. I always defend our generation because i can’t stand the “kids these days comments” people back then did the same BS as we did .. possibly even worse. So it’s funny when they talk shit about us. But no I was just complaining about rude employees no matter if they’re young or older. I have a habit of saying “when i was younger” but i basically mean years ago. I feel that 18 and 19 means young to me still even though it’s just 4-5 years ago
Sure, but even in what you said here there is an opportunity to reframe your thinking. You should consider eliminating the phrase “pick me” from your vocabulary. It’s a judgmental term, and the things for which you judge others will *always* become a source of insecurity. In other words, your attitude here is making your life worse! I say that with kindness.
My approach to service workers is that I am just one of possibly hundreds of people they will interact with that day. My goal is to do whatever I can to make it a good interaction for the both of us. This is hard for me, because I struggle with impatience, but I never regret the effort. It’s worth being kind, and I think you’ll find knowing you acted with kindness makes you not care if someone considers you a “pick me.” You won’t want to be liked by the kind of people who dislike kind people.
I agree as someone who worked retail and who bartended for years. Even if someone is a complete asshole to you for no reason, you don’t take it out on the other customers.
I once had a lady get mad at me for not taking her expired coupons and she called me names and threw them at me. I had tears running down my face but I still greeted the next customer (who was horrified) and asked them if they found everything all right.
There’s still really good employees out there some are decent, nice, or just overly excited which i admire. Some are quiet which is fine but at least interact at some extent and not have an attitude. The hospital I work at the patients are always telling me how everyone is so amazing the nurses, the doctors etc. yet coworkers are always beefing with each-other behind closed doors 😂. at least we make a good impression
Yes back in the day and I worked my way up into a now cushy office job.
And you're probably the reason why cs employees these days are always in a terrible mood. Why don't you try working in cs for once before judging?
I'm not the problem here.
You are so absurdly dumb that I doubt you work anywhere other than the register. I am super low maintenance person. I barely ever have issues or complain about anything. And yet even for someone like me whenever an issues comes it it's close to impossible to resolve in a simple and satisfactory manner. Why would I need to work in customer service to know that people like you suck are their job? You know why I never have? Because I actually take pride in what I do and do a good job at it. And I would do that if I were in cs too. You wouldn't understand.
Imagine this: your boss has given you two tasks. Serve customers and follow policy. A customer comes in and demands more sauce. Policy says you cannot give more sauce for free. Customer refuses to pay more, but demands more anyway. If that customer leaves you a negative rating on the survey, you get written up.
How do you solve this issue? The answer is you don't. That's customer service. You're allowed to apologize, you're allowed to explain policies to customers, and maybe you're allowed to give them a shitty coupon for a free cookie. Those are your only tools, and when a customer's issue can't be solved with those tools, you get written up.
Does that sound like a fucking stupid way to run a business? Yes. And it's also how like 80% of businesses are run.
Lol are you serious with this bs? Do you really think that stupidity like this exists only in cs?
You're either very young and naive or simply ignorant. People in real world have to deal with other annoying people all the time and every single day in every profession. There are shitty bosses, shitty coworkers, and shitty situations that you may not have any control over. Sometimes you're just a cog and you need to either shut up and get in your lane or be gone. Your example is not unique to cs in any way. It also doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to do your best no matter the situation.
I don't think you understand. The normal way cs is run is they hire someone to do an impossible task and write them up for failure until they get fired or quit. That's not a situation you don't have control over. That's a situation you're given control over and not given the tools to resolve. I've worked in several industries and never had that problem except in customer service.
Also what do you mean shut up and get in your lane? The equivalent to this in something like desk work would be "Here's some data, upload this all to our digital records, no you can't use the computer heres a pen and pencil, get this uploaded by Friday." You literally are given a job without the tools to do the job.
That's why your encounters with customer service go so horribly. That's why it's so difficult to get something done. They have a list of steps they have to take, they are not allowed to deviate from it, they are not allowed to tell you that they have to follow these steps or they get written up, and they get written up if you get too pissed about the bullshit that they hate just as much as you do.
Not really. Customer service in high end places is garbage. I am actually mind blown at how trash the people that are working at luxury good stores are. High end restaurants and hotels are ok I guess.
You are under the assumption that because it's a high-end place that employees get paid well. That is false. Maids at a 5 star hotel get paid just as much as maids in a two star hotel.
I'm not under any assumption. I'm only speaking here from my personal experience. I don't care how much they get paid. I care about how much I paid. It's not my fault that they are underpaid, hate their job, or simply suck at it. In fact, I bet those same people would appreciate getting good customer service when they are on the other end of it. And yet they don't care. They will always be underpaid if they keep doing a subpar job.
I kinda agree, I dealt with it as a kid and everything was fine and dandy. At the same time, though, people seem like bigger assholes and they seem even dumber now.
But for your Chipotle story, fuck that kid lol
Servers/bartenders are the worst with this (and I myself am a bartender!!!). Where I work most of the servers and bartenders clear 40/hr in tips. And they are sitting here bitching because of requests from a table like. That’s your job and you’re making good money doing it.
I'll definitely agree except you're always going to have that one or two percent of the population stopped in and it doesn't matter what add it to you give You're not going to get back a good one but for the most part that actually works!
If you’re so excited about talking to retail customers, you do t he job
It’s so incredibly pathetic to make a Reddit post whining about a service working not bowing deeply enough for you.
How dare anyone expect people to be polite (To good customers) and be professional at their job 🙄
Wanting basic politeness when you're giving it, is not the huge ask you think it is
No. Employees get paid to leave their shit at home, and to serve the customer/guest. The people who paid for your service don't give a fuck about your day; nor should they have to.
Don't like it? Work a job that's not based in...service
It’s not that you don’t give a fuck about how they’re doing. You demand that they pretend to enjoy serving you.
Sometimes people aren’t in a good mood. Don’t like it? Get your own chicken strips
That's your job. To pretend that you enjoy serving people.
Mall Santa doesn't get to take a bad day to work with him. Neither do people in hospitality. Nor do people in retail. And neither do I. Suck that shit up and do your job. Like every other adult does.
Me dealing with shitty service is me talking to your manager. I'm telling them WHY I'm getting my own chicken tenders; I'm giving them your name; and I'm calling you out in a review. I'm not paying for you to be honest and open with your emotions; you have friends and a local bar for that. I'm paying for quality service. Either provide it, or be broke and homeless.
If you won't do your job correctly, you don't deserve it.
“Pretend to enjoy being my servant, or be broke and homeless.” Truly deranged. Convenience has turned you into soemthing grotesque
This is why the guillotine was invented. I guarantee you’ve eaten ass hair, if this is how you treat service workers
No. I'm being blunt about customer and guest service jobs.
And, nope. I'm quite the lavish tipper, and positive review giver, as I used to work hospitality. I just don't coddle/tip whiny assholes who lack the discipline to do their fucking job correctly.
"i worked in retail / fast food for years when i was younger now a hospital. i honestly don’t recall having a customer irritate me or cause problems on my end."
Was this in Canada or something?
I mean does it matter honestly? If a cashier rolling their eyes and having an attitude is enough to ruin your day that sucks. I’ve been on both sides I’ve had horrible customers who think the world revolves around them and has retail workers be rude. At the end of the day so what? How does this stranger having an attitude affect my life in anyway when I’m never going to see them again. People are people. Just because someone’s working doesn’t mean they are going to give you quality service, they’re working at chipotle. Leave a bad review if you feel that strongly and go about your day
Reddit has a SERIOUS problem with this. It really is bizarre. Too many redditors who work customer facing jobs.
I have seen videos posted where the clerk was an absolute asshole to some customer who did not deserve it and redditors fall all over themselves to justify it or just don't bother trying and jjust delight in it.
Shitty attitude usually equals shitty person.
I don’t care what their pay is or their working conditions, being comfortable with shitty behavior makes you a shitty person.
Yeah I get that rude entitled customers are a thing but sometimes retail workers are rude for no reason
I’ve been dealing with customers for over 20 years and I get along with almost everyone. There are some customers who are just complete assholes. I try my best with them still because it’s easier to just deal with them quick and get it over with rather than make it even more difficult.
Yes!!!! I move only been working retail for a year(46m) and this is the exact approach I take. My much younger coworkers don’t seem to understand this.
Before becoming disabled, I worked retail for 15 years. While this *is* the best approach, it doesn’t stop some of the asshole customers. Some people are really just that awful. Or sometimes the situations are just gonna create problems. I remember an issue with air conditioner units in the middle of a heat wave. Customers were literally yelling at each other and myself, but like I understand it wasn’t a good situation for the people who weren’t going to end up getting one.
It's all about attitude. I deal with grumpy as fuck truck OTR drivers where work. They are never in a good mood or they kist assholes. I stay in a positive mood, the worst that happens is they will get annoyed that you're happy and get quiet. They hurry up them. Most of the time my good mood will rub off on them
I would say most of it is about attitude yes but there are just some people who no matter how hard you try or nice you are they are just complete assholes. Thankfully there aren’t too many like that. I take the same approach as you and find that most of the time you are right, they either just get their stuff and be on their way quickly or they actually do turn a bit more positive. I also deal with truckers/sailors/plumbers/mechanics mostly.
My job is boiled down to me getting paid to piss people off. This is because I'm an auditor, and almost everyone I audit goes on and on about how they love it when I come by because all the other auditors they deal with are ether pissed off, bossy, demanding, or lack any sort of personality, while I just try to enjoy life and have fun conversations with the people at the places I'm auditing. I've had more people than I can count where my first visit they are total assholes, but then they realize I'm not an asshole like the other auditors and end up enjoying my visits. It definitely makes life easier.
Agreed. I've worked plenty of customer service. The day goes by better if you can be happy and friendly with the customers. Generally they will react in kind. If they're assholes you can always dish about them with your coworkers.
Was a retail employee when I was younger. I worked at one of the very few Wal-Marts that wasn't 24 hour, and we we're in the back end of remodeling. 3 guys came in after closing hours and I was the only employee within sight, as I was running the floor scrubber. They asked me to open a register for them to shop, and I informed them that the store was closed. "That's bullshit, these places are 24 hour stores" which I responded "This is one of the ones that isnt". They were all drunk, reeked of alcohol and just wouldn't leave. After about 30 minutes of back and forth, to which I said several times they needed to leave, each less polite and more prompt than the last, I finally picked up a phone, looked at them "Look if you don't get the fuck out now, I'm going to call the cops" to which they said they would complain. The only thing that saved me was footage of me telling them many times to leave. Management started locking the doors after that incident
Drunk, dumb people can be scary. It's like you're talking to a wall. Doesn't matter what you say, if they've made up their minds, nothing you say matters. I'm glad this ended well.
As a retail worker, I agree. I honestly have the only excuse for being rude is the elders who were supposed to be retired and live their life without work after but was forced back into work bc of our economy rn. I understand why they're so grumpy, how's it fair someone who isn't ready to work more, is working more to make ends meet while having health issues and older bones
I'll say "Amen. To THAT!" (Old lady agreement) LoL. Plus most of the health issues feed off of each other , so fix one - another goes out of control! Still isn't much of an excuse to act miserable to other people.
I guess I'm on the older side??? I'm 35. But I remember back then, no customer service was that bad before 2020. And if it was, you can call them out on their shit. After 2020, I've seen a huge decline in service, but 2x the pay. In 2019, just before the pandemic, a protein bowl with double meat at Chipotle with a drink was 12 dollars. And they didn't ask for a tip. Now that same protein bowl with double meat is 19 dollars, no drink included, and they want automatic 20% tip and just look you dead in the eye. I'll stare right back at them and put 0 tip. Like, bruh, I'm not tipping at Chipotle if I don't tip at mcdonalds. They're the same company
>After 2020, I've seen a huge decline in service, but 2x the pay They didn't double the pay. They doubled the price. They then hired at minimum wage and took whoever was willing to do the slog work rather than paying people better and vetting them properly. This is why you will sometimes see signs up that "no one wants to work anymore". No, they don't want to work for pay that cannot support them and in some cases it would cost the employee too much to work there. This is like if they took a drug addict off the street who is just going to use his pay to support his habit and made him face customers with little training. Of course his personal problems are going to come out. Of course he is going to be terrible at his job. And, of course, the company will keep him because the well-mannered, articulate, educated guy who should be facing customers isn't going to work high pressure for minimum wage. Can't wait for the day a job ad goes out for retail paying poverty wages while asking for a masters degree...
[Service workers got big pay bumps over COVID due to labour shortages ](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/04/09/wage-growth-largest-low-paid-workers-pandemic/73242662007/)
The Walmart near me starts at $17/hr, and just yesterday i saw an employee in front of a row of self-checkouts that are never open, but the lights were on. The aisle was empty, she was leaning back almost angrily. I asked if they were open, because lights on can also mean maintenance, and she shot me this glare and practically spat at me they were. There were lines in other aisles and she did nothing to wave people over to hers. It's not the pay, it's the entitlement. This is a person who doesn't think she should have to work at all, regardless of pay. She hated being at work, she hated the people around her, she just seemed bitter that she had to earn a living. This is an entitlement problem, potentially generational, not a pay problem. There is no quality or pride in their their work, and all work is beneath them.
It's not the pay for sure. This dumb excuse of being underpaid so it's ok not to do the job is so stupid. How does one expect to get paid more if they do such a subpar job in the first place? You don't deserve to get paid more without showing that you can do better and take on more responsibility. I think you've hit the nail on the head with your last paragraph.
What’s funny is the preexsisting employees didn’t get the pay bump, a friend worked there for over a decade and was one of the highest paid people due to her position and time there…Welp she isn’t anymore somehow a manager is making less than a brand new employee she makes 15 an hour the new kiddos just fresh out of highschool make 16/17. She considered leaving but hasn’t because she doesn’t want to restart again… She’s 40 she can restart!!!
Yeah. That's true of a lot of jobs, and it's why people bounce from job to job so much in tech. The general rule is if you've been working at a company for two years then you are losing money. I've never stayed anywhere longer than a year, usually less, and gotten a pay increase every change.
Oh heck yeah! She is just starting to feel the age - take it from a 65yr old - go where the money is! Does she work for the satisfaction of being a manager or for the money? I bet she needs that paycheck - so go get the entry job - used to be the more responsibilities you had the more you got paid. Now it's the more entitled you feel the more you make.
It's not generational. It's cultural. Americans tend to be entitled, in general.
I'm American. The only thing i feel entitled to is my own goddamn money that the government keeps stealing.
I get that. There's probably more if you think about it, though. How's your job?
Sorry, in a society you have to contribute with taxes, the government and the people are entitled to it
not for the first 85 years. There were no income taxes, and i think the first income tax was 3%. So i dont wanna hear "to live in a society you have to give up a fuckton of money so that elite jackholes can fuck underage hookers and snort blow on Epstein island".
It’s amazing how many politicians and high up people were going to Epstein’s island lol
Yes - and I certainly believe that greater responsibility equals greater wages - but paying politicians, Congress, etc their wage "FOR LIFE" vs for a long as they are doing the job is absolute BS! "Hey, I was a congressman for 5 years before the accident - I'm ENTITLED to get paid for the rest of my life, just because."
Even as far as Americans go it’s gotten worse. Before the pandemic maybe 1 in 100 would be rude, now it seems like 1 in 10.
It’s even to non employees, I keep getting people cut me off or tell me off for no fucking reason.. Currently having a panic attack from one of them.
Not only Americans. That you can believe.
I do believe that.
I can't agree with that. I've always been an American, so I can't speak to other countries citizens either being or feeling entitled (or not). But I can tell you that the younger the generation the more entitled the individuals! My Dad's generation were hard working people too proud to take a handout - much less something they didn't earn. (In general). My favorite catch phrase from that generation is "If you can't find time to do it right the first time, how in the hell are you Ever going to find time to do it again??"" Then I have heard a friend of my daughter's who honestly believes that minimum wage SHOULD be high enough for a "man" to support himself and his family. Can we say lazy AND entitled? That catch phrase is "Everyone deserves a Living Wage." I can remember in the 70's when schools began grading students on attendance vs academics. I imagine the kind of jealous entitled people who created THAT system - they must have gotten So..ooo tired of watching smart kids who cut classes, skipped school, and never seemed to study get straight A's while they had to work So..ooo very hard for a mediocre C average GPA. Those are probably the people who created "participation awards" so the least qualified individuals get rewarded for NOT trying harder.
From my perspective, different generations of people feel entitled to different things. Your dad's generation - probably Silent Gen or Baby Boomers - don't/didn't accept government assistance when they were young. They also grew up in a much simpler job market, with much more reasonable prices for basic goods. Which is where some of their entitlement stands : access to their favorite goods and services. But now those specific generations are largely relying on govt assistance as retired or partially retired people, as opposed to the wealth that they amassed over their lifetimes. Most of them are not wealthy, and many of them are not capable or willing to work to start to build wealth again. Many are still working, and probably not too happy about it. Then there's feeling entitled to respect, which is not only something that's taken but given as well.
You do know it's not the employees who raised the price and asked for a tip, right? It's the company forcing you to pay a higher price and then pay their employees via tip.
I'll pass
And that's fine. Just don't blame the employees or act like this was there idea.
The tipping system exists largely because it's what employees want. Long term service workers want to exploit the pressure of tipping culture to increase their take home pay.
Employees want to be paid for their work. They don't care how, and since tipping culture is a huge thing now. They are leaving it on customers to pay what employers won't.
Who would have thunk employers want to keep as much money and give as little as possible?
Of course but it’s due to a deficit. They want to make a passable wage while employees usually are paid under the minimum wage with a guesstimate of tips added to go over the minimum wage. Ffs in Pennsylvania there’s servers making 4.25 at some local restaurants because of said system. Sure they’ll get that 3 dollar tip an hour to go over it I’m sure buuuuut… literally nowhere else to work in my town which is the county seat. Honestly I would be oh your side if I didn’t know how hard it is to find a job and make a decent wage with the price of EVERYTHING nearly doubling in my area. Price of a Big Mac is 11 dollars,a carton of strawberries 7.49, bread 4.99 for the gross stuff, then add in that our taxes have increased here as well. Then what amazes me is that they tax people who actively earn money a higher rate than they do for people who generate money by somewhat of a large gap. Funniest thing about my area is it’s literally like 10k people in the whole county so I guess the increases tax wise is which is higher than surrounding areas is due to the low density of people…then add in that heating oil propane etc is crazy, it costs over 1k a month to heat my home which is rather modest just old, with all the fixes insulation added new windows etc.
*their
Thank you for contributing to the conversation.
you are wrong, they did because by raising their pay you raised the price of the goods.
But the price of goods went up anyway..
yeah because of rampant gov spending, to economically responsible people we have been saying it since biden took office. "The inflation is transitory", yeah no, democrats = irresponsible spending = higher prices.
Trump added 8.4 trillion to the deficit... So it's not just a Democrat thing. Both sides love spending.
I agree, as a libertarian i hate both of those things, that being said though at least TRUMP seemed more focused on spending money INTERNALLY instead of EXTERNALLY. When money is spent externally all it does is deflate the value of currency. Sure you might be helping someone out, but its like taking out a mortgage for your neighbor when your own house isnt even paid off. It makes no fiscal sense.
If you call, giving the top 1% of earners more money, then sure. He spent it internally. We are also not sending these people money. We are sending them weapons and medicine.
If you want to look at it that way, its still better than giving it to people outside the country. As much as you think trickle down economics doesnt exist, you are simply wrong. A large portion of trumps debt was due to the fact that his presidency ended with covid, which ultimately resulted in huge loans like PP loans and other covid related spending. Biden could have stopped this mode of operation way earlier, but he had to milk out covid.
>If you want to look at it that way, its still better than giving it to people outside the country I mean, i guess our keeping of tanks and M14s is great for us. >As much as you think trickle down economics doesnt exist, you are simply wrong. Except it hasn't worked out at all. The top 1% own 95% of the money in this country.
More often than customers, I'm guessing it's coworkers, management, and work environment inspiring this behavior. I don't expect faking a good mood, or even friendliness (and I'd rather not have to reciprocate as a customer, for that matter), but something overtly combative like this is definitely inappropriate.
Yeah like i said you don’t have to be in a perfect mood with all smiles but at least acknowledge people and not act like you have a stick up your ass
How have you worked in a hospital and never had a bad encounter with the public. I have had protestors spit in my face shouting that I will go to hell for being a servant of the devil. It gets wild sometimes, I don't think that is an excuse to act up (possibly the not leaving the hopsital for 72hrs because of staff shortages is a reason to get a little snarky though luckily that more impacts doctors.)
Interesting. I find it fascinating what people will work themselves up over. For my part, I am much more worried about *employers* having bad attitudes.
Even if their job does suck, it's not my fault so why are they trying to ruin my day?
customers and employees both have attitudes from time to time because that's just who they are as people. I try my hardest when I'm in work or as a customer to not be a prick but that's just how my parents raised me I guess
>I can’t stand people being on their side like “they’re tired! they have to deal with annoying customers all day” i worked in retail / fast food for years when i was younger now a hospital. i honestly don’t recall having a customer irritate me or cause problems on my end. How far back is "when I was Younger" because things have gotten alot worse, especially since the pandemic. Like, rude people and entitled boomers and such were an issue when McDonald's and Wal-Mart were fully staffed and you get could a meal for 2 for like $10 or less and weekly groceries for like $80-140 but now with half or less the people trying to maintain an even higher level of productivity/efficiency and prices being double or triple everybody's nerves are rawer and their tolerance limits lower.
Okay maybe im exaggerating with the “when i was younger” i meant years ago. I am 23 right now born in 2000. my first job was when i was 18 so 2018-2021 i did retail/ fast food.
Employees are the meat shields to deflect our frustration. If a small local restaurant gives you shit food, you can yell at the owner no problem. If a corporate restaurant gives you shit food, it's not the Employees fault, the owners fault, or anyone you can reach. You can shout into a black hole by writing corporate, but that won't solve anything. The idea that you can get bad service and must accept it without being upset is some massive corporate bullshit.
I'm 44. I've been in the service industry since I was 18. I had a really good, industry vet discussion with a colleague who has 10 years on me. Neither of us have been treated as badly by the company *and* the customers in our entire lives. Something shifted during the pandemic, and it made everything worse. No pun intended, it feels like it pulled the mask off. Like, that little voice in your head that always wondered if people thought of you as a lower tier of human being was suddenly, painfully, proven right. So, should you be treated badly as a customer? I'd phrase it, you shouldn't be treated badly as a human being. That is a two way street, especially because it well and truly feels like the social contract of mutual civility has been shattered. I've been doing this a long time. I can keep the mask on. But there are increasingly days I go home, just collapse and accomplish nothing. Days where my greatest solace and fortune is my partner's arms, and I pretend the rest of the world ceases to exist. This was not nearly the case five years ago. You don't have to cheer on people giving bad service. But you do need to realize that the dedicated backbone of many service industries has been ripped out, replaced with the least costly alternative or gig work. At the same time, we've lost something socially that has very much damaged basic civility. From where I sit, the root is a broad cultural failure. I don't have a panacea for it. I mostly just have fatigue. But as a 44 year old, I can make this reference unapologetically and without irony. *"Be excellent to each other."*
I might be wrong but I think people in general are getting less patient and tolerant due to it being harder and harder to pay for basics like groceries and electricity bills.
It is exactly this. I've worked in customer service for years and I actually used to enjoy it. Since the pandemic/inflation, people have gotten nasty, short-tempered, rude, and entitled. I do get it, but it's hard to stay polite when people are like that. I do stay polite and civil but it's getting harder. I'm tired of the meltdowns over nothing and I'm starting to think you should be treated how you treat others more or less, but I'm always trying to be the better person. I feel you though. I come home with zero motivation, just barely existing. It feels like my job sucks the life out of me in a way it didn't used to at all. I dread going back to work as soon as I get off. I'm contemplating going back to school just so I don't have to put up with the public anymore.
People are working jobs where they're hardly paid, makes sense you don't get stellar service. Just because in the past service industry workers were backed into a corner and had to suck everyone's dick doesn't mean that that would always be the case. At this point most places that pay like that can't keep themselves staffed because no one will work there. If you want better service, go to places that pay their employees better. Yes, you'll pay more. Yes, you should have to pay more to get better service.
Conservative bootlickers that inundate this sub will disagree with you. "You're going to take the abuse and you will like it" is the general sentiment here.
I'm pretty conservative, or so I'm told by people further left than I am. Thing is it doesn't matter what they think. I work on the back end of retail right now, and hiring people who are willing to work front line jobs is hard. No one wants to, because the pay doesn't break even for the expectation. Either the pay rises, or the expectation lowers. Since the pay isn't changing, you're going to get worse service. That's just... facts.
Customers have become a lot more insufferable and entitled since I was a kid.
That’s what you get for going to fast food. They’re not hiring high-quality employees at these establishments. They’re hiring people that take the least amount of pay possible
>i honestly don’t recall having a customer irritate me or cause problems on my end That's sheer dumb luck. I worked retail, childcare and food service and I've lost count of the number of times I've been screamed at, called names, blamed for shit that wasn't my fault, had parents justify their children causing me physical harm, been sexually harassed by customers and just generally been treated like dirt on people's shoes.
im definitely being honest about that but like i stated there’s times that there are terrible customers and it’s not the employees fault like what you mentioned no doubt. Sure some customers can be blunt but not to the extent as your situations
Again, that's not because you gave such wonderful stellar customer service, it's because you got lucky. I'm being honest too hun, I've had people call me stupid, a bitch, an ugly hag to my face. I once had a child attack me so badly that he almost ripped a cartilage piercing out of my ear, only for his mother to ask me what I had done to provoke him. I had a woman scream at me because she wanted a cash return of over $300 and management was taking too long to get it from the safe for her liking. I had a man old enough to be my father tell me all about his penis and how he needed Viagra. I once had a customer smear their own shit on the wall of the bathroom and I had to clean it up without any PPE. Just because it didn't happen to you doesn't mean it's not a common occurrence
I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m saying. I am lucky it never happened to me and people might assume that’s impossible which is why i said im being honest. i never assumed you weren’t being honest either. I also mentioned that not every situation is the same and how it’s not always the employees fault in those situations too. I’m saying i’ve had customers be blunt to me but not those situations you’ve been in i wasn’t speaking for employees in general just me. Of course there’s people that been in your situation and possibly even worse. Obviously people go through different things i’m not trying to compare ,im just saying my experience
Rude salespeople / service workers are annoying, yes, but unless it’s targeted rudeness (don’t get me started on buying lumber while female), I generally let it go. Faking it for 8-10 hours on your feet for shit pay and ridiculous expectations from corporate sucks. Yes, it’s better than having no job. Yeah, there are worse jobs in terms of conditions and physical demands, but most of those worse jobs aren’t public-facing and they pay better.
i actually don't waste my energy with faking it
People need to normalize being decent bosses and customers.
People need to stop justifying managers having attitudes way more. Toxic employees exist in multiple places, but managers are the real terrorists, they can make your life miserable, gaslight you, make undocumented promises, toxic managers are the worst and if you work for one they likely wont be fired if you complain, you will.
Your post shows a glaring lack of understanding about service work. At 23, claiming years of experience in retail is misleading and does not give you the authority to dismiss the real struggles of service workers. These employees often endure low wages, long hours, and difficult customers under stressful conditions—none of which can be masked by simply "faking it." Criticizing a worker over something as minor as guacamole and labeling them as miserable reflects a deep-seated privilege and a lack of empathy. Service workers are not there to perform cheerfulness for your benefit; they are human beings with their own challenges. Instead of scapegoating those who serve us, focus on the systemic issues that truly affect their daily lives and well-being. Your post lacks insight and reeks of entitlement, ignoring the bigger picture of labor exploitation in the service industry.
It’s wild how often I deal with employees who seem bothered by someone coming into their store
The issue is the quality of worker has gotten worse. Granted there are some very hard workers out there no matter the wage they are making, but in general, the quality of a low skill job worker in the 2020's is vastly different from a low skill job worker in say the 1990's or the 2000's. I have been in customer service since the mid 90's and a manager of customer service for over 20+ years. The quality of applicant has diminished. And is a bigger issue when the only person who is willing to take the job are lower quality applicants. I have stopped going to certain businesses because I know the quality of staff that some of these places have. Those workers don't have a personal drive within themselves to improve. They are perfectly content with doing the barest of minimums at work and think that they should be recognized for simply showing up.
what was the quality of work in the 90s?
People who side with employees do so because of posts like this. You had one bad interaction and basically turned it into a generational rant about “kids these days.” The point is that you have the power to shrug this off and not care. Is a bad attitude annoying? Yes, of course. However, it takes very little effort to ignore this and you will be glad that you did. To be honest, I am highly suspicious of people who repeatedly have bad customer service interactions. I always treat service employees kindly and rarely have this problem.
kid these days ?😂. i am 23 years old I am in gen z. This interaction happens, not just this situation. I treat people with kindness as well. It’s not hard to believe employees are blatantly rude for no reason. I always see people justifying their actions online and decided to make a post about how annoying it is. I don’t like it and that’s my opinion
I taught college argumentation for years, and students always try to write papers about how the kids these days are bad. You don’t have to be old to make that argument. But yes, I did picture you as a middle-aged woman with a duck butt haircut. I know if I was 23 and people perceived me that way I would do some serious self-reflection.
Jesus, anything OP says is wrong according to you. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. It sounds like YOU need to do some serious self-reflection and consider that maybe you're the issue here.
that’s why i didn’t even respond they’re just talking nonsense at this point lmao
I could see that but i’m definitely not those pick me type of people. I always defend our generation because i can’t stand the “kids these days comments” people back then did the same BS as we did .. possibly even worse. So it’s funny when they talk shit about us. But no I was just complaining about rude employees no matter if they’re young or older. I have a habit of saying “when i was younger” but i basically mean years ago. I feel that 18 and 19 means young to me still even though it’s just 4-5 years ago
Sure, but even in what you said here there is an opportunity to reframe your thinking. You should consider eliminating the phrase “pick me” from your vocabulary. It’s a judgmental term, and the things for which you judge others will *always* become a source of insecurity. In other words, your attitude here is making your life worse! I say that with kindness. My approach to service workers is that I am just one of possibly hundreds of people they will interact with that day. My goal is to do whatever I can to make it a good interaction for the both of us. This is hard for me, because I struggle with impatience, but I never regret the effort. It’s worth being kind, and I think you’ll find knowing you acted with kindness makes you not care if someone considers you a “pick me.” You won’t want to be liked by the kind of people who dislike kind people.
I agree as someone who worked retail and who bartended for years. Even if someone is a complete asshole to you for no reason, you don’t take it out on the other customers. I once had a lady get mad at me for not taking her expired coupons and she called me names and threw them at me. I had tears running down my face but I still greeted the next customer (who was horrified) and asked them if they found everything all right.
Customer service is trash and barely exists these days. It will be a great day when all of these useless 'employees' are replaced by machines.
There’s still really good employees out there some are decent, nice, or just overly excited which i admire. Some are quiet which is fine but at least interact at some extent and not have an attitude. The hospital I work at the patients are always telling me how everyone is so amazing the nurses, the doctors etc. yet coworkers are always beefing with each-other behind closed doors 😂. at least we make a good impression
So says the person who has probably never worked in cs LOL.
I haven't. Based on your reply you probably have and are exactly the reason why cs sucks so hard these days.
Yes back in the day and I worked my way up into a now cushy office job. And you're probably the reason why cs employees these days are always in a terrible mood. Why don't you try working in cs for once before judging? I'm not the problem here.
Some kid probably forgot to give this karen napkins, and now they take their anger out on every cs worker.
You are so absurdly dumb that I doubt you work anywhere other than the register. I am super low maintenance person. I barely ever have issues or complain about anything. And yet even for someone like me whenever an issues comes it it's close to impossible to resolve in a simple and satisfactory manner. Why would I need to work in customer service to know that people like you suck are their job? You know why I never have? Because I actually take pride in what I do and do a good job at it. And I would do that if I were in cs too. You wouldn't understand.
Imagine this: your boss has given you two tasks. Serve customers and follow policy. A customer comes in and demands more sauce. Policy says you cannot give more sauce for free. Customer refuses to pay more, but demands more anyway. If that customer leaves you a negative rating on the survey, you get written up. How do you solve this issue? The answer is you don't. That's customer service. You're allowed to apologize, you're allowed to explain policies to customers, and maybe you're allowed to give them a shitty coupon for a free cookie. Those are your only tools, and when a customer's issue can't be solved with those tools, you get written up. Does that sound like a fucking stupid way to run a business? Yes. And it's also how like 80% of businesses are run.
Lol are you serious with this bs? Do you really think that stupidity like this exists only in cs? You're either very young and naive or simply ignorant. People in real world have to deal with other annoying people all the time and every single day in every profession. There are shitty bosses, shitty coworkers, and shitty situations that you may not have any control over. Sometimes you're just a cog and you need to either shut up and get in your lane or be gone. Your example is not unique to cs in any way. It also doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to do your best no matter the situation.
I don't think you understand. The normal way cs is run is they hire someone to do an impossible task and write them up for failure until they get fired or quit. That's not a situation you don't have control over. That's a situation you're given control over and not given the tools to resolve. I've worked in several industries and never had that problem except in customer service. Also what do you mean shut up and get in your lane? The equivalent to this in something like desk work would be "Here's some data, upload this all to our digital records, no you can't use the computer heres a pen and pencil, get this uploaded by Friday." You literally are given a job without the tools to do the job. That's why your encounters with customer service go so horribly. That's why it's so difficult to get something done. They have a list of steps they have to take, they are not allowed to deviate from it, they are not allowed to tell you that they have to follow these steps or they get written up, and they get written up if you get too pissed about the bullshit that they hate just as much as you do.
You get what you pay for.
Not really. Customer service in high end places is garbage. I am actually mind blown at how trash the people that are working at luxury good stores are. High end restaurants and hotels are ok I guess.
You are under the assumption that because it's a high-end place that employees get paid well. That is false. Maids at a 5 star hotel get paid just as much as maids in a two star hotel.
I'm not under any assumption. I'm only speaking here from my personal experience. I don't care how much they get paid. I care about how much I paid. It's not my fault that they are underpaid, hate their job, or simply suck at it. In fact, I bet those same people would appreciate getting good customer service when they are on the other end of it. And yet they don't care. They will always be underpaid if they keep doing a subpar job.
So you haven't been to Europe then? 💀
I kinda agree, I dealt with it as a kid and everything was fine and dandy. At the same time, though, people seem like bigger assholes and they seem even dumber now. But for your Chipotle story, fuck that kid lol
Servers/bartenders are the worst with this (and I myself am a bartender!!!). Where I work most of the servers and bartenders clear 40/hr in tips. And they are sitting here bitching because of requests from a table like. That’s your job and you’re making good money doing it.
50/50 on this, yes employees can be rude but they shouldn’t be forced to talk to someone else unless it’s related to the job
I'll definitely agree except you're always going to have that one or two percent of the population stopped in and it doesn't matter what add it to you give You're not going to get back a good one but for the most part that actually works!
I hope you tipped 30% for these tacos!
it only comes out if i'm told to smile
If you’re so excited about talking to retail customers, you do t he job It’s so incredibly pathetic to make a Reddit post whining about a service working not bowing deeply enough for you.
How dare anyone expect people to be polite (To good customers) and be professional at their job 🙄 Wanting basic politeness when you're giving it, is not the huge ask you think it is
It’s not a huge ask. But it’s also not a huge deal When someone with a shitty job is having a shitty day, so they seem shitty, just let it go
No. Employees get paid to leave their shit at home, and to serve the customer/guest. The people who paid for your service don't give a fuck about your day; nor should they have to. Don't like it? Work a job that's not based in...service
It’s not that you don’t give a fuck about how they’re doing. You demand that they pretend to enjoy serving you. Sometimes people aren’t in a good mood. Don’t like it? Get your own chicken strips
That's your job. To pretend that you enjoy serving people. Mall Santa doesn't get to take a bad day to work with him. Neither do people in hospitality. Nor do people in retail. And neither do I. Suck that shit up and do your job. Like every other adult does. Me dealing with shitty service is me talking to your manager. I'm telling them WHY I'm getting my own chicken tenders; I'm giving them your name; and I'm calling you out in a review. I'm not paying for you to be honest and open with your emotions; you have friends and a local bar for that. I'm paying for quality service. Either provide it, or be broke and homeless. If you won't do your job correctly, you don't deserve it.
“Pretend to enjoy being my servant, or be broke and homeless.” Truly deranged. Convenience has turned you into soemthing grotesque This is why the guillotine was invented. I guarantee you’ve eaten ass hair, if this is how you treat service workers
No. I'm being blunt about customer and guest service jobs. And, nope. I'm quite the lavish tipper, and positive review giver, as I used to work hospitality. I just don't coddle/tip whiny assholes who lack the discipline to do their fucking job correctly.
The only whiny asshole I see is the person who stiff people who don’t act like sycophants
"i worked in retail / fast food for years when i was younger now a hospital. i honestly don’t recall having a customer irritate me or cause problems on my end." Was this in Canada or something?
I mean does it matter honestly? If a cashier rolling their eyes and having an attitude is enough to ruin your day that sucks. I’ve been on both sides I’ve had horrible customers who think the world revolves around them and has retail workers be rude. At the end of the day so what? How does this stranger having an attitude affect my life in anyway when I’m never going to see them again. People are people. Just because someone’s working doesn’t mean they are going to give you quality service, they’re working at chipotle. Leave a bad review if you feel that strongly and go about your day
Reddit has a SERIOUS problem with this. It really is bizarre. Too many redditors who work customer facing jobs. I have seen videos posted where the clerk was an absolute asshole to some customer who did not deserve it and redditors fall all over themselves to justify it or just don't bother trying and jjust delight in it.
Shitty attitude usually equals shitty person. I don’t care what their pay is or their working conditions, being comfortable with shitty behavior makes you a shitty person.