Do people feel it is their right to be Rude to people in the customer service industries?

Question

I must say that I am amazed whenever I see people being rude to store staff or people involved in serving the general public. There seems to be a mentality in North America that it is your right as a customer to treat anyone serving you like s***. I see it all the time in my job (I am a pharmacist) and also observe it in other places when I am shopping or visiting a restaurant etc. Can anyone explain what is wrong with people that there is such little respect for each other? These are complete strangers that they are dealing with and sometimes the personal insults that fly at the service person is incredible. Most of the time the person serving is just trying to help and is abused verbally for their time and effort. Of course there are instances of bad service, but even these don't warrant the incredible aggression I have observed. Anyone else find this hard to take? I think society is sick at it's very core to allow this kind of thing to happen.

I mean, doesn't it make them look like totally ignorant idiots? Do they think that they are forgotten when they leave? They get the least amount of service possible due to the fact that the person serving them just wants to get them out. And next time they come in, no one wants to serve them....

Just a note to levyrat: I am positive it is nothing I do. I am not saying this from my own perspective, but from years of customers coming back to me and seeking me out when I move from one place to another to receive the service I provide. I greet each customer with a smile on my face and try my best to serve each person as if they were the most important person in the world. I know it is hard to believe that people serving you really want to help you, but it is my job to do so and the customer is the reason I get paid, so I take it very seriously.

Answer 1

I think everyone should be required to have three jobs: a telemarketing job, a waitressing job and a customer service position. Doing any of these would key you into how someone being nice or polite to you can make your day. I even will go so far to say that if everyone did all three of these jobs, the world would be a more peaceful, kind place.

For me, I have done all three for years, and you are right for saying that people are completely rude and unneccessarily so. I for one am never rude to the customer, as that is my job, but as a customer, I am never rude to the person helping me by doing their job. 9/10 if you are unhappy about something, the person helping you will do everything in their power (KEY WORDS: IN THEIR POWER) to fix it and make you happy. A reminder to everyone: we, who serve you, are people too and wouldn't mind a little bit of kindness or heaven forbid, polite gestures in return.

Thank you for posting this question. I hope it opens some eyes out there.

Answer 2

Customer service folks have a hard job because they are the public face of a company. When things go wrong, nobody's going to call the President or CEO and complain - they go to the store clerk. Unfortunately, the store clerk usually has no power, and while their job is to provide "service," all they can usually do is provide a sympathetic ear. Customers want a resolution, and they almost never get it. I agree that some customers are inexcusably rude and belligerent; obviously they've never learned that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. If you buddy up to the clerk, you'll have him/her on your side when the manager comes down to handle the situation.

On the other hand, there is a whole lot of terrible customer service out there today. I'm tired of calling a company or walking into a store and being greeted with a sullen "hello," if I'm greeted at all, or walking up to a register to check out and not being acknowledged at all. My favorite is when a clerk carries on a personal conversation, replete with expletives, with another clerk three aisles away while ringing up my purchase. Or when I point out that they scanned something wrong, and they sigh and start slamming my items around. Boy, that feels just great.

Answer 3

I feel your pain and frusteration entirly!! I worked in the service industry for more years than I care to count. You never really know how many jerks there are in the world untill you are in a position to serve them. I am saddend by the fact that people feel the need to walk around with the "I just ate poop for breakfast" look on their face. My only comment for those who feel the need to be a walking donkey butt is-I don't have to go home to them. I do my eight hours and go home.....and then teach my children the importance of being a nice person and treating other with kindness regardless of how their own day is going and what has befallen them. Chances are that when a person is a jerk like that their problem is more that the issue that they are bringing to the service persons attention, and that they were angry before the problem occured. Killing them with kindness also helps, I don't mean in a sarcasic way, but when they walk away they feel(if they are human and have feelings anyway) that maybe they were unjust in acting that way. I try my best to wear the service persons shoes (persay) before going off on them,,,,,if people thought befor acting I think that they would see the person that they are taking out their actions on is not the person that created the problem after all. This situation has many factors and I could be here all day trying to address them all, alas I have to go back to work. Thank you and have a nice day. p.s. would you like fries with that? :)

Answer 4

I try very hard to be pleasant to people in the service industry and I smile and say hello and ask them nicely for help when I require it. I know that there are times when I am very tired and stressed (when my children are ill and I have had very little sleep where I might snap at people, but I do try very hard to realize that I do this and try not to take it out on any one else). I also know that when a person in the service industry has been snapped at by someone else they tend to be very nasty to other customers as a result and I try not to take this attitude to heart (but then I also shop the same places all the time and have come to know many of these people and ask them how they are and how their children are, etc). But you also need to remember that this is the age of permissiveness and many parents do not care if their children grow up to treat others with respect and as a result they don't

Answer 5

No, its not the customer's right to be rude. Everyone should treat everyone else with the benefit of courtesy and respect for the job they are carrying out initially. Even when you do come across bad or lazy service, there are ways of handling it that do not have to end up in outright aggression.

But I saw a report on the TV tonight talking about road rage, office rage, and so on, and all these types of rage are on the increase, due apparently to the fast rate at which society is changing, and people being unable to handle it, and their frustration and anger is surfacing as rage and aggression in inappropriate circumstances. So I'm guessing 'service rage', if you want to call it that, is another symptom. Its not right, and you and your colleagues shouldn't have to put up with it, but I honestly do not know what the answer is to stop it.

Answer 6

I think the behaviour you observe happens for several reasons.

1) Some people know that they can get their way by being loud and obnoxious. You know, "The squeaky wheel gets the grease."

2) Some people have difficulty separating the source of their anger (the phone company overcharging on a bill, for example) from someone who represents that source (the person answering the phone at the phone company). Sometimes it's appropriate to get angry, but the person who answers the phone probably isn't the person who can give you what you want, so save it for upper management.

3) Some people are just *ssholes.

Answer 7

I think the mentality in America is that the customer is always right and the customer can treat employees of the business they visit and use anyway they want. I think Americans as a whole are turning into very rude mean people because of a lack of values.

Answer 8

1. Check to see if your body language is confrontational or approachable. Example: arms crossed, scowl on the face, abrupt speech are all perceived as negative approaches. While a pleasant (not creepy) smile is a more positive social attribute. 2. Even though it is annoying, make a tiny bit of small talk with the Rep. Say something like, "Thank God it's Friday finally... or it is so cold here today" . Keep it short and sweet, but it will warm them up to you. 3. Use the words that all of us Southerners are famous for, please, thank you, no thank you, yes mam, no mam... A show of respect never hurt anyone and it may just save you from their bad attitudes. Hope these helped.

Answer 9

I definitely agree with you. It's sad, but most people think that people in the service industry are in low paying jobs (which sometimes is true) and that they aren't very educated (definitely not true). I worked in retail for 6 years and was a manager, and i definitely witnessed my fair share of customers getting out of line. I know the old saying, the customer is always right, but in this day and age, so many people try to work the system and get away with stuff, its sad. I have even gone so far as tell customers that i am trying to help them but that i need them to allow me to help them (kind of a "help me help you" sort of situation) Most people don't understand that they aren't the only one who is giving out this attitude though, its almost all customers.

Answer 10

I do believe that it could be a way of showing power. I worked with the public for a long time. They thing because they are paying for your serves that they own you. I think everyone should have to for work the public for 1 year of their life,like between High school and college. I think it would change the rudeness level a lot.