Why has customer service become so bad in the United States?

Question

In many situations it seems to be not only bad, but virtually non-existent. I dont understand how businesses survive like this.

Neiman Marcus gets people to pay hundreds of dollars more for their retailed items than they would at other stores..You know why? Because of something called SERVICE.

Answer 1

As long as profitability is tied to strictly dollar and cents companies will be looking to phase out services they feel are not profit making. Customer Service departments fall in this category.

Labor is always a companies biggest expense. This is why system automation is growing leaps and bounds. With it comes decreased customer service because systems can't be as responsive as a live human being. To save money customer service function are being out sourced over seas for less money with less qualified personal.

Corporation are considered to be living breathing entities but they are not self determining like human being that actually have feelings. The corporate structures are becoming more and more like machines without concerns for the well being of human life. As more dollars flow to these corporate monsters the wider the gap between the rich and the poor.

Answer 2

The poor quality of customer service from U.S. companies is shocking and getting worse. I've thought about this a lot. Part of it has to do with the mistaken notion that customer service does not generate income like sales does. Part of it has to do with how well they can avoid human interaction. People who don't see you face to face and fear your reaction can do all kinds of stupid things. The Internet has created distance as has telephone customer service and outsourcing to other countries where they really feel you can't touch them or complain properly.

Answer 3

Well, answer to that question I'm not quite sure mate. I now live in South Beach/Miami and tip is included - so customer service is NILL - they get paid tip anyway and it is normally non-negotiable. That's crap... Speaking of, I went to a restaurant even in Ft. Lauderdale where tip is not included and got treated like shyyte. They didn't have two things that I wanted, when after 45 minutes our food finally arrived, they hadn't brought the appetizers and when we told them they said "well do you want them anyway?" but refused to comp them, so obviously not... it was amazing - no tip on a $200 bill. hah........... :-D i feel yo' pain.

Answer 4

It's easier to keep a customer than find a new one.Business' need to realize that.And whoever invented the automated customer service phone system should be tortured endlessly...

Answer 5

You always have a choice - to buy or not to buy. Bad customer service should be report; however, I don't find that it is as widespread as you insinuate.

Answer 6

outsourcing thats why...