Everybody Has a Story to Tell
About Poor Customer Service.

Please Share Yours With Us.

When employees make fun of handicap people. My husband and two sons have a growth disorder and are shorter than people there age. They are around 4 feet, 11 inches. I have seen employees smirk at them and whisper among themselves. Even so rude to get other employees to take a look. They have stared at them and followed them down the aisles. When other people have done this I have handeled it by staring back at those people.When they see I know what they are doing they bow their heads and take off fast. I don"t get it they do it like no one is watching or knows what they are doing. I leave the store and I don"t go back. In smaller stores the employees have even gone to the window and watched us leave. My family are good looking men they don't look funny; they look like ever other human being like the rest of us do. The only problem is they are short. — Submitted by Shirley of New Hampshire, USA.

TopSkills' Response: We regret the humiliations endured by Shirley and her family. Sensitivity, compassion, and basic courtesies are shamefully lacking in some stores. Good employers train their employees in these skills. The rest harm themselves by allowing such rudeness. Any rudeness should be reported to management immediately to give them a chance to redeem themselves and correct their problems.

Annoyed employees. When a manager or sales associate acts like you have no clue what your talking about and its a big chore to help you. The customer is always right, and service providers should want to help out customers. Remember, its called "customer service." — Submitted by Heather P. of Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Condescending employees. There is a nearby groceries market that my girlfriend and I went to for more than 5 years. Almost every time we went there, the butcher/fisherman kept harassing my girlfriend, calling her "hey, beautiful". Then his co-workers (clerks, and even the security guard) called her "mamasita". This really annoys me because my girlfriend does not tell me right away until we got home. She contacted the local department of consumer affairs and they warned the market and its manager about the situation TWICE. Yet, those idiots are at it again. Does anyone know what to do about this situation? I welcome any suggestions or comments. — Submitted by Hien Nguyen of Harbor City, California, USA.

TopSkills' Response: We don't know of any sexual-harassment laws that apply to a business establishment harassing customers. Whether legal or not, this is very bad customer-relations behavior. If the offender and his manager have not responded to the local department of consumer affairs, they are not likely to respond to many other pressures except financial. Perhaps a boycott of the store would apply pressure they would understand. With word of mouth being the most credible form of advertising, perhaps letting all your friends and relatives know about this offensive behavior would be effective. Maybe a letter to the editor of a local newspaper would help. A local women's advocacy group might be able to help, too. Otherwise, finding another place to shop might be your only sure solution.

Not ready for business. The restaurant at a hotel I stayed in during a recent business trip was not open for business at 6:30 a.m. as announced on the sign. Customers were still fumbling around in the darkness at 6:40. The breakfast buffet was barely ready for customers at 6:30, the sausages were not cooked thoroughly, and the final items were brought out of the kitchen at 6:50. The solitary server was still setting tableware on the tables at 6:45. She barely acknowledged the presence of customers, and she did not offer anybody any services such as coffee refills. When she brought my check to my table at 7 a.m., she merely mumbled a few words to me. Most troubling, however, was the absence of any management personnel overseeing the restaurant operation to ensure timely service and customer satisfaction. This problem was the most serious of all, because it enabled and allowed all the others to exist. — Submitted by Bill Stack of Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.

Not having an advertised item in stock. I get so mad when I drive all the way to a store only to find they don't have the advertised items. Running out toward the end of the sale period is one thing, but never having the advertised item is false, deceptive and unforgivable. — Brenda Elmore, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.

Waiting on hold endlessly is annoying. I have too many things to do, and I don't appreciate having my time wasted. They should have more lines and more people answering phones. — Lisa Haddocks, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Listening to horrid rock music while on hold is unbearable. They should play something mainstream and soothing instead of that noise. — Bob Williams, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.

Loud, noisy music on the store's PA system is distracting. I can't concentrate on what I'm doing with that racket in the background. — Tom Arthur, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.>

Inattention. Cashiers and clerks irritate me when they don't greet me, look at me or acknowledge me. It's very rude and disrespectful. — Mark Edwards, London, England.

Extremely Bad Customers Service. To make it short, I will just say that my date and I were at Sammys Steak house in Huntsville, Alabama and my date ordered his steak mid-rare. The steak we received was mid-WELL. So the waiter said he would take care of it. The waiter never came back, but the irate owner did, screaming that it was mid-rare and that he SHOULD MAKE US PAY FOR IT!!!, because we cut into it and now he could not serve it to anyone else. He threaten to call the police on us because we said we were not paying for it. Anyway, I called the police to defuse the situation. . This annoyed me because of the statement made by the owner that he should make me pay for it. The steak was not cooked like we had ordered, then he had the nerve to tell us that he was going to call the police on us. Also, his statement that since we cut into the steak he could not serve it to anyone else. I am sure the health department would not approve of him taking food from one table and serving it to another... Heah!!!!! maybe thats what happened to me......maybe he never cooked one for me....maybe that was a steak that some one else had previously returned.....and that is why he was already irate when he reached my table............. hahahahah...I can finally laugh days later. —  Submitted by Angie Watson of Madison, Alabama, USA

Restaurant waiter/waitress good service/bad ending. My husband and I love it when we go to a restaurant and the waiter/waitress does everything perfect or almost perfect "UNTIL" it's time for the check! They are no where to be found. Don't they know that, that is the last impression they leave with the customer? Nine times out of ten, we won't leave as large a tip that were suppose to, even though they were great up until the end. Who wants to just sit there waiting after you've finished eating. Come on, don't you guys get it yet? I've never been a waitress, but common sinse tells you that. Or, will add something, when you come in, make sure you get them a drink, at least that will tide them over until they can wait on the customer for their order, then they don't feel like your ignoring them.. —  Submitted by Marilyn of Tolson, New Mexico, US

Lack of greeting. I hate when I go into a store and the salespeople see you but do not greet you. When you approach them to ask them for help, some act like you are bothering them even though you don't do anything. I complained to the manager once about not being helped after I followed the sales clerk trying to ask her for help. She just looked at me and turned away. The manager told me to come back and give it one more chance. I came back the following week and 2 sales people saw me come into the store and looked at me but did not greet me or ask me for help. I stood right in front of one salesperson for 2 minutes trying to look for something and she ignored me. I was ignored and treated like I was invisible. I will never go into that store again. The manager suggested I give it one more chance, and when I came back to the same store, I was ignored again by two sales people. Sales people should at least greet the customer. —  Submitted by Cindy Lee of Houston, Texas, USA

Customers aren't always right. My biggest customer service peeve are the customers who assume they are always right. Being a customer service person, the customer assumes that if they yell, scream, and threaten to have us fired, we will jump through fire. This is not the case. If a request is reasonable, well thought out, and done without vulgarity, or threats, customer service people will do anything for the customer. Treating an employee like raw meat is disgusting and will get the customer nowhere. That is my peeve. All customer service people deserve to be treated with the same respect that the customer expects. — Submitted by "Anonymous."

Not willing to help. When the employees are working really hard and I ask them something stupid while they're lugging something heavy and they look at me like I'm an idiot because I asked them while they were obviously in the middle carrying three rugs and not in the position to help me. I'm one dumb customer. Because I'm a moron and should of waited until I found an associate who could help me. — Submitted by Tom Blanks of Queens, New York, USA

Inattention. I hate it when Customer Service people do not treat me like the princess that I am. I AM their MOST IMPORTANT customer and they will not help me push the cart around and what ever happened to my personal shopper. I will never shop at Wal-Mart again!!!. I should be pampered and waited on hand and foot, I thought Super Center meant Super Service!. — Submitted by Glenn 12345 of Podunkville, IA, USA

Lack of appreciation. I hate it when I purchase something from a business, and the clerk/salesperson says nothing at all after the transaction. It's very awkward. A simple "Thank you" is all I ask. — Submitted by Jenny of Dallas, Texas, USA

Bad-mouthing other customers. My husband and I were in line behind one customer at an otherwise deserted fast-food restaurant. The person in front of us ordered for a little league team, and we waited a reasonable amount of time without rancor. As we moved up for our turn, the cashier rolled her eyes at the disappearing customer and said, "This happens all the time. They come in and order 20 burgers as if we had nothing else to do!" My husband and I could hardly contain the laughter as we took our food into the spotlessly clean dining area. What could possibly be more important in her mind than the sale of 20 burgers at one shot? I guess she was champing at the bit to get out into the dining room and empty the trash . . . again. The poor girl obviously saw customers as infringing on her duties.

Bad management. A manager chewing out an employee in front of customers is humiliating and embarrassing -- to customers and the employee. It should never happen. I feel unwelcome in a place of business where this is done. — Robert Leons, Norwalk, Connecticut, USA.

I work in customer service. My problem is when members call me to ask how we paid their bills, but they don't have their information together, they're yelling at their kids in the background, they're chewing gum/food in my ear, and/or they're talking to someone else at the same time! We, as customer service representatives, deserve respect also.. We can focus on the problem and handle it quicker if the members would have everything they need upfront -- then they wouldn't have to complain about how long the call is taking. — Submitted by Tamara of Charlotte, NC, USA

After asking a restaurant host for seating four adults and an infant, she replied: "We can't put tables together." I responded: "When did I ask you to put tables together?" The first problem was that she didn't listen to my request. The second was that she jumped to conclusions and assumed something that did not apply. The third was that she responded to my request with a negative instead of a positive. She should have responded to my initial request with something like: "We can put his high chair at the end of the table," which is what she ended up saying anyway. — Submitted by Bill Stack of Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.

I hate it when a cashier rings up my entire order while chitchatting personal business on the telephone. Telling a telephoning customer about products, services and hours of business is all right. And I'll allow a working parent to quickly handle children issues. But I'm fed up with employees talking about nonessential nonsense while they're supposed to be waiting on customers. — Cathy Luttan, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.

Foul language annoys me. There's no excuse for using crude words and expressions when dealing with customers. Some of today's young people don't seem to know what's appropriate and what isn't. — Evan Schmidt, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Not responding to e-mail inquiries or responding many days later is ridiculous. It implies that you don't think we internet customers are important enough for you. If the internet is important enough for you to put a web site on it, then customers you get from that web site ought to be as important as customers who walk into your stores. I won't go to a store that treats me poorly on the internet. — Nelson Gravely, Rotterdam, Holland.

Don't you hate it when a restaurant server askes you what you need when your mouth is full of food, then stands there waiting for your answer? — Submitted by Bill Stack of Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.

Train your customer-service staff how to speak in positives instead of negatives. Instead of saying things like "We can't do such and such," tell customers what can be done. — Submitted by Bill Stack of Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.

Be sure your restaurant is open for business at the advertised time. This means more than the doors being unlocked. It means the food and servers are ready for customers. And be sure a manager is on duty to ensure customer satisfaction. Don't leave it to low-wage staff.

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