Seen on the TV this morning......

[crazydaisy]

ON GMTV news (in the UK), a customer survey reveals that many customers think shop staff are, amongst other things, rude, ignorant, and do not know about their products.
NO time for a link, as I'm on my lunch, but try looking at www.gm.tv. and you may find some more about it on there.
So, what do we reckon to that then?

[Gurndigarn]

So, what do we reckon to that then?

We reckon that most retail corporations should pay their staff better and put more of them on full time (with benefits), so that there would be less turnover and higher morale. We also think that they should have logically implemented policies that encourage management to remove and bar problem customers, without fear of reprisal or overturning, so that the customers who make staffs' lives miserable aren't there any more.

[Lulu]

we think that the customers that filled in that survey should be forced to work in a retail job for a fortnight on the lead up to Christmas. Let's see how long they last.

[IT Grunt]

Let's see how long they last.

10 seconds. Tops.

[air914]

Hmm to be completely fair, and for better, more honest statistics, they probably should have done the survey from the shop staff's point of view of what they think of the customers..... i.e. - if the customer is rude & ignorant, they should expect rude responses from the shop workers

[Demonoid Phenomenon]

Hey, you get what you give.
Karma is a bitch.

[Becks]

Hmm to be completely fair, and for better, more honest statistics, they probably should have done the survey from the shop staff's point of view of what they think of the customers

But "the customer is always right"!!!!!!!!!*

*I do not personally agree with that, just seeing it from SCs' and coporates points of view.

[Sliceanddice]

Oh please... people always complain. That survey means nothing to me.

[CancelMyService]

That survey is probably as accurate as any survey can be (as in probably not very).

Valid points were already made about companies not training/paying/treating their employees good enough for them to want to leap across the counter and start performing oral sex like SCs demand all workers do when they enter the store.

[coldcupofjoe]

leap across the counter and start performing oral sex (snip) when they enter the store.

I want to shop at that store...

[Boozy]

Warning: Rant ahead.

An Open Letter To Mr. "What Ever Happened to Customer Service":

I have no patience for people who do all their shopping at huge multinational corporate stores and then complain about the lack of customer service. These stores don't pay their employees well enough to stick around. These stores don't care about you. They care about volume.
You wanted to save a few pennies on groceries. You've done it. Your local mom-and-pop grocer, the one who was always willing to help you, to deliver in all weather, who paid their employees a living wage because they were like family, who trained their staff and themselves on the products to better serve their communities - these stores have now gone out of business. Because you decided to save a dime on that loaf of bread.
NOW you say you want customer service? Too bad. You no longer have that option. You've made your bed, now lie in it.

- Boozy

[draftermatt]

An Open Letter To Mr. "What Ever Happened to Customer Service":

No offense, but telling us does nothing. Write that guy, write the people who produced this segment.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

So, what do we reckon to that then?

I reckon that the respondents have large farm implements lodged up their asscracks.

Boozy is exactly right. People piss and moan that there's no customer service and that the big stores are putting all the mom & pops out of business. As far as I'm concerned, they have no right to complain, When given a choice between low low prices and minimal service, and higher prices but exceptional service, they all chose the low low prices. Now they have to live with it.

Sorry, but you can't have flea market prices and Saks Fifth Avenue service.

However, I will grant them something on the product knowledge thing. My store talks a good game about having employees knowledgeable on its products, but the only training we ever get on them is a big binder describing all thge products and their features. Employees are supposed to read the whole, but they can't do it while on the clock (too busy doing other things) and they can't take the binder to breakroom with them to study. So if customers want to know a lot of technical information about an item, we can't always help them, and people do want to know these things before they make a purchase of hundreds or thousands of dollars.

[Rapscallion]

Their forums are interesting (based on the same software as these, actually). There are either eleven or thirteen pages of comments, mostly from retail workers who have received the shitty end of the stick.

Not that I semi-plugged this site when I went there, of course... Wasn't me, your honour.

Rapscallion

[Boozy]

No offense, but telling us does nothing.

It makes me feel better to unload. That's something, isn't it?

(And isn't that what CS is here for?)