My letter to good housekeeping

[BlaqueKatt]

in response to this article-telling people to yell and scream and make a scene to get what they want.

I would love to thank you for this article, as I didn't have a difficult enough time at my job as a Customer service Rep for a well known cellular phone provider. Maybe instead of telling people to act like children throwing temper tantrums, and to speak nicely to the staff and have them explain the reasons behind the fees(which usually the person getting yelled at DOES NOT have the power/authority to waive/credit). At least 10 of the 60 calls I take a day has some full grown adult acting like a spoiled two-year-old child yelling and screaming at me for things I have no control over. Things like going over their minutes, taxes for their area, a feature they added and never used. Most of these can be resolved in a peaceful manner going over the bill and the charges, but when you start out yelling and screaming at me, treating me as less than human, because of the job that's paying my way through college, I am not going to go out of my way to help you.

Maybe you should be reminding people of the old saying "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar"

Yes I realise store employees, customer service reps, hotel desk agents, and waitstaff are most certainly beneath you in stature and only live to serve and are as worthy of respect as a slave, but we are human. Ask yourself how you would feel if we treated you the way you treat us? We take abuse day in and day out because we are working our way through school, or our husband left us with 3 kids for his secretary. Do not take it out on us, we do our job and expect to be treated as human. As a matter of fact there are several websites where we make fun of you. There is a name in the service industry for people that act like this article is telling people to act: That name is "Entitlement Whore"-that is what we call you when you yell at us-because usually your attitude is that you are entitled to something, because you're special, and the rules don't apply to you. Society wants everyone to be treated the same, then when we do you all want to be the exception.

Stop the yelling, we're human too,
BlaqueKatt

Yes I no longer work there-but it was accurate other than that

Wanna make a scene in Good Housekeeping's inbox?? WRITE TO THEM HERE: gheditor@goodhousekeeping.com, and cc GHletters@goodhousekeeping.com

[Soulstealer]

You told them we call them entitlement whores? Damn it Katt, don't show them how to break our code.

All kidding aside, good letter and covered all the points we hate about SCs.

[tropicsgoddess]

Well said, Blaque Katt!!!

[powerboy]

I wish that the banks would not allow you to take out the money that you do not have.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

To the Prisses at Good Housekeeping magazine:

Thank you very much for that informative article. We phone slaves and desk jockeys love it when our superiors who don't work in customer service let us customer service workers know that we exist solely to be screamed at by folks who more than likely didn't read their forms or contracts before signing.

Especially since we are only trying to do our jobs as mandated by our employers and don't have the authority to just make these "hidden" fees go away.

In conclusion, screw you and the entitlement train you rode in on.

Much sunshine and rainbows and unicorns and cupcakes,
Irv

[smileyeagle1021]

Wanna make a scene in Good Housekeeping's inbox?? WRITE TO THEM HERE: gheditor@goodhousekeeping.com, and cc GHletters@goodhousekeeping.com

I just sent in my email

re: don't get hooked by hidden fees

I have heard a lot of bad advice over the years, but that article takes the cake. You do bring up some good points on making sure you read and clarify everything on a contract before agreeing to anything and when necessary use government intervention, because I'm sure there are people who aren't aware that those government programs exist. That said any redeeming quality your article had was ruined by the paragraph about "make a scene". Do you realize you just told your readers to act like two year old children? That is exactly how children act, don't get what they want, throw a tantrum and "make a scene". You talk about the guy that is proud that he has belittled hotel employees over fees that they did not come up with, you people should be ashamed of yourselves. I can't speak to anyone at your editorial offices upbringing, but my parents raised me that you showed respect for all people, even the "lowly" CSRs who are normally doing everything in their power to help you. If growing up I acted like you are encouraging people to act I would have received a beating that I would still remember... but I guess common courtesy and good parenting don't exist anymore.
Though while we're on the topic, as some who works customer service while going through college may I give some advice that will actually work? First off, the person on the other side of the phone or desk is just as much a human as you are, has a family much like you do, and believe it or not have hopes and dreams that may not be different than your own. Keep that in mind and things will go smoother. Also, the person you are talking to did not write any of the policies, and in all honesty, they probably don't like whatever policy you are complaining about any more than you do, but if any of us want to keep our jobs we need to support it. Another thing to keep in mind, if the person says they aren't the right person to talk to, they are in fact telling you the truth, please do listen to them when they try to point you in the right direction. A good example would be your example of resort fees. The desk clerk has no control over them, if they start referring you to a corporate guest relations department it is because they know that is the department that can actually keep track of how people think about that fee and whether or not the company should reconsider it... quite frankly, if after that time you refuse to take their advice they are well within their rights to ask you to leave, either of your own free will or escorted out by security or the police, their job is to provide what help they can, not be your punching bag. And the best advice I can give is advice your article did briefly mention but not stress the importance of enough, always read the fine print and if there is something you don't understand do NOT hesitate to call customer service to ask for clarification, we would much rather answer your question before you do something you will later regret than deal with you once you've made that mistake.

Follow that advice and not the advice in the article and you will get much further,
smileyeagle

[Saydrah]

Dear Editor,



The name of your magazine is "Good Housekeeping," so it's worth noting that most people learned household management skills like cleaning, cooking, managing family finances, and coping with daily stresses from their mothers first.There's another thing I learned from my mother, and that's the Golden Rule: "Treat others how you would like to be treated."



I am very disappointed to see Good Housekeeping magazine publishing an article that advises precisely the opposite. The recent article, "Don't Get Hooked by Hidden Fees," tells customers to behave badly in order to save a few bucks. At the end of the article, the author throws in the only good advice found in the entire piece: Find out what fees may be charged to you, and under what circumstances, before opening a bank account or booking a hotel reservation. The first page and three-quarters should have been deleted before publication, leaving only this good advice.



I've got some advice of my own for Good Housekeeping readers: If your mother would be ashamed to see her adult child do something, don't do it. If you made a scene and held up a line as a toddler, you'd get a time-out or a spanking. Sometimes I think adults who do so, including the author of "Don't Get Hooked by Hidden Fees," ought to receive the same.

[BlaqueKatt]

yay I knew there were better letter writers than myself on here. I figured you guys(along with the Customer suck livejournal community) will get the point across.

[Sandman]

I would love to see what their response it to all the letters they will get, especially from the people who work in retail who subscribe to it. Maybe writing letters to all the stores who sell that magazine would help them change what they put in their magazines.

I can see it now "Magazine pulled from shelves after said magazine told subscribers to act like two year olds"

[rvdammit]

Perhaps a roadtrip to their offices ahnd "make a scene" at the receptionist about the article?

[Evil Queen]

Perhaps a roadtrip to their offices ahnd "make a scene" at the receptionist about the article?

I'll be happy to join ya. Road trip!

[smileyeagle1021]

I'll be happy to join ya. Road trip!

yup road trip, I'll arrange the hotels

[Evil Queen]

yup road trip, I'll arrange the hotels

Knowing you? I don't think so! I'll take care of the hotel arrangements, thanks. You can pick out the places we eat at though.

[smileyeagle1021]

Knowing you? I don't think so! I'll take care of the hotel arrangements, thanks. You can pick out the places we eat at though.

sure, what city is it in, I'll use the MACRO Connect site to find us some good eats.

[TealJellyfish]

My Letter Below. I say we all write in. Getting flooded with letters might make them realize that they said something incredibly stupid!


To Whom It May Concern:

I am absolutely appalled by your article “How to Avoid Hidden Fees”

I have worked in customer service for several years and working with customers who scream, yell, throw a tantrum and generally behave like a two year who didn’t get a treat is one of the daily perils that Customer Service Reps face. This while we are actually there to help the customer (that is why they pay us after all) and are doing this job to pay our bills, get through school, feed ourselves and sometimes our children and have a roof over our head. It should not be part of our job description to field abuse and threats from customers who can’t take the time to be civil.

There are dozens of websites related to “Customer Satisfaction” that advise just what you did. Behave badly and the “hidden” fees (which are right on your bill, in your contract and likely on the companies’ website) will disappear. God forbid that we expect our customers to act like the adults they claim to be and actually treat us with the respect that all human beings are entitled to.

There are also websites dedicated to the staff of the service industry. There are multitudes of tales of mistreated, abuse and even physical violence against Customer Service Reps and Retail staff. Thousands of tales of people behaving as you have advocated and the effects on the staff who have to put up with this behavior!

How about writing an article on having good manners and treating people as you want to be treated. I notice that the article was published in the “Good Family” Section of your Magazine. My family has always had the respect to treat others as they want to be treated, whether they are at work or in public and if my Mother caught me acting in the way you advise she would be ashamed of me!

Wicked Lexi