Business & Finance Customer service

[Bunk Moreland]

I read this article and it struck a chord with me. Pommy hotel operator whinging about the service in our hotels.

http://www.theage.com.au/travel/the...r-pans-australian-service-20130221-2ete3.html

Now I know the natural reaction is to just tell this whinging pom to piss off back to the old dart, but if you read it I reckon he actually has a few good points. Particularly this bit...

"And they've forgotten about service," he said. "You can't say to a guest who is maybe hungry and jet-lagged that 'breakfast service is over'. You should be giving your guest what they want. That is the meaning of hospitality and it seems to be getting lost."

****ing amen to that. I really agree with this, and I find it’s not just hotels, it’s across all service industries.

The concepts of “customer service” and “the customer is always right” seem to have disappeared. Most service businesses are now not run with a view to – shock horror - service, but are process-driven – “this is what we offer, and we don’t go outside these rules we have which suit us”.

It’s everywhere, and very annoying. Most service businesses act like they’re doing you a favour, when the reality is very much the other way around.

I don’t know if it’s particularly an Australian issue, I’ve travelled a fair bit but never really been in one country long enough to form a decent opinion of the whole culture. But I have seen similar things in other countries too.

How do you find the “customer service” you encounter these days? Has this bloke got a point?

 

[MarcusP2]

'Customer is always right' shouldn't be a thing. That said, particularly in luxury hotels, there should be a certain expectation of service.

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

The customer is never right. The customer is an idiot

 

[Off The Couch]

What is this customer service you speak of

If I'm not pushing buttons listening to my options, then I'm standing waiting for the two young lasses to finish discussing their plans for the weekend before they can attend to what I require.

I'm old and remember when the customer was always right but that has gone right out the window and I now cop on a regular basis the attitude 'who gives a shit what you want or what you think' - is it due to lack of training, is it the way companies treat their employees or could it come down to how we treat those standing opposite us. I work on treating every person as to how I expect to be treated but let me tell you that can get very, very difficult after a while because the sense of entitlement that seems to pervade everything these days is enough to drive even the calmest of people to the edge of rage in a matter of minutes, so maybe it's time we all took a good hard look at ourselves rather than just laying the blame at the people who are serving us.

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

I am excellent at Customer Service though. I treat the customer as king, even if they, more often then not, treat me like shit.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

'Customer is always right' shouldn't be a thing. That said, particularly in luxury hotels, there should be a certain expectation of service.

It’s not to be interpreted literally, obviously.

Say the customer wants to walk out of a store with $100 of free stock. Well no, the customer is not always right.

But translated, it means the customer’s interests come first. They’re supporting the business. A fact that is seemingly lost on many businesses these days.

 

[Caesar]

I don't think it's that bad. Customer service is always going to be better in countries where people in hospitality are paid a low minimum wage and rely on tips. I'm reasonably comfortable with the tradeoff we have in Australia though.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I am excellent at Customer Service though. I treat the customer as king, even if they, more often then not, treat me like shit.

I really don’t think this is the case. I worked for years serving the public, and there’s no way I was treated like shit “more often than not”.

Genuinely rude and difficult customers are actually in the minority imo.

I think what happens is the bad ones stick in your craw, and thus you project that onto everybody like it’s what happens every time. Most are reasonable and just want the basic level of service that they’re paying for.

If you do genuinely treat the customer like a king, then kudos.

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

Okay I was probably being a bit outrageous, but common decency and manners is slowly on the way out. I find that young kids in the shop are the best, with their pleases and thankyous.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I don't think it's that bad. Customer service is always going to be better in countries where people in hospitality are paid a low minimum wage and rely on tips. I'm reasonably comfortable with the tradeoff we have in Australia though.

True... but the issue being, much bad service nowadays isn’t simply a result of the attitude of the person who’s facing you, who’ll obviously be motivated by tips etc.

Much of it is the result of ridiculous restrictions, systems and processes that businesses place on staff, which doesn’t allow them to be flexible at all in the face of the customer, or actually use their brains. The “breakfast service is closed” example rings true.

 

[MarcusP2]

Or the one that's going in the comments- 'You can't check in until 2pm' even if the room is empty and cleaned already or there is another empty room you can go into.

 

[Caesar]

Or the one that's going in the comments- 'You can't check in until 2pm' even if the room is empty and cleaned already or there is another empty room you can go into.

Really? I don't think I've ever been to a hotel where they've enforced the check-in time when the room is ready to occupy.

 

[MarcusP2]

I don't go to hotels often. That's just what some fellow is whinging about in the comments to the article.

 

[Off The Couch]

Really? I don't think I've ever been to a hotel where they've enforced the check-in time when the room is ready to occupy.

Nor I, in fact I would have to go as far as saying that for mine the service in hotels is quite good - rarely have I encountered anyone that is rude and in fact go out of their way to make the experience a good one.

 

[Simple Jack]

Customer service isn't particularly good and 2 things come to mind.

1. Beancounters are generally running business these days and they basically ignore that a happy customer is a returning customer. They can't directly quantify it so it is ignored in favour of any cost cutting measures (generally training and wages) that can be found. See Gary Kelly for a rare contrary example.

2. You get what you pay for. Retail (generally what is being talked about ITT I presume) wages whilst high compared to other places in the world are low by Australian standards (and fair enough for an unskilled position), and there is usually little real chance for career advancement (uni students etc just trying to pay the bills) so you are probably on the whole going to be dealing with an unmotivated workforce who aren't going to be brilliant.

I would think that many BF users would have worked in retail at one time or another and for me personally, I don't there would be many jobs I would rather not do. I would have to be offered 300k to even consider it as a career and even then so I'd have to really think about it.

I will say though it is really great when you do get the odd person who you can tell really loves their job. They make the whole experience so much better.

 

[rocker_oz33]

Customer service is not really what it used to be even at pharmacys when you used to get some posh b!tch to help you,but these days you get some tattoo&pierced goth.I think with cut backs etc the customer service is not as high as it used to be.
To the OP at hotels good qualitiy ones you you expect preety good service.

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

Worst service....JB Hi Fi. Every hispter bitch on the register is a solid 9, tatted to shit, and rude as ferk.

I feel bad when I shop, because they must huff and puff through my purchase I don't like unhappy people...im a nice fellow

Oh and their TV salesmen think they are gods gift. Good Guys always better and nicer.

 

[Upgrayedd]

Good Guys always better and nicer.

The first and possibly the last time you will hear this in a sentance.

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

The first and possibly the last time you will hear this in a sentance.

haha very smart

Seriously, they are. The only time good guys, such as myself, come first

 

[radiojake]

I work at a medical clinic on reception - I come across some interesting people. Lots of people get frustrated when their appointments are running behind... They never get angry at the doctor but always take it out on us, who actually have no say in how late a doctor is running..
.
alot of the girls who I work with a rather slack b!tches.. they tend to have a rather poor attitude when they want... Not saying this happens all the time, but they are certainly prone to it. I get embarrassed sometimes by them just because I am behind the same counter as them...

Today I had a patient come in who I had helped out a lot last week over the phone. She had seen a doctor earlier in the day, then rang back a couple hours later saying she needed a certificate for work outlining what restrictions she would be on... I managed to get that organised for her and faxed it to her work...

A couple of hours later she rang back asking to get it changed because the doctor had written something to the affect of her driving is adversely affected (bad shoulder) - so now her work was not letting her drive home! So she rang back again at the worst possible, busy time asking to get the doctor to ammend it again to say something to the affect of 'can drive for 30 mins' or something so her work would let her leave...

well it took a while because it was so busy but I managed to get the doctor to edit the certificate again and sent it off so she could drive home from work. It wasn't particularly hard work, but it was a pain in the ass at the time because of how busy it was and how hard it is to get doctors to change sh*t like that all the time...

Anyway, today I was working again and she happened to be in for another appointment and she had got me a $50 coles voucher to say thanks for all my help the previous week! I couldn't believe it! It was certainly a nice change from most patients abusing me because their appts are running 45 mins late...

This is the only customer service job I have ever had - I think I see the worst of people because often they are sick and having to wait a long time. But then again, we are completely bulk billing so sometimes I feel the urge to punch them in the face and remind them that 'patient' is a noun and an instruction... I have yet to do that though.. maybe when I quit...

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

tldr version?

 

[radiojake]

tldr version?

Actually had a nice patient who brought in a $50 coles voucher for me today at work after I helped her out last week...

 

[Off The Couch]

radiojake - I was once told 'I hope you od on smack and die, you ****ing miserable bitch' because I couldn't get them into rehab the same day.
Working in the health sector brings you face to face with some very, very interesting clients and I wouldn't swap it for anything

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

Actually had a nice patient who brought in a $50 coles voucher for me today at work after I helped her out last week...

Nice. It sometimes pays to be nice.

I posted this once before, but I found $100 on the floor at work and handed it to the front desk. The guy who dropped it returned, got me to come to the front and cried in front of everyone about how great I was and that no honest people are around like that. He offered me $50 but i said hell no.

That was pretty nice (Y)

 

[DrVanNostrand]

Worst service....JB Hi Fi. Every hispter bitch on the register is a solid 9, tatted to shit, and rude as ferk.

I feel bad when I shop, because they must huff and puff through my purchase I don't like unhappy people...im a nice fellow

Oh and their TV salesmen think they are gods gift. Good Guys always better and nicer.

This is every JB in Brisbane, other states too??! But it tends to get balanced out by the 50yo hippies in the music section.

Scored a comp'ed flight and a $300 voucher from an airline for overcharging my credit card the other day, so no complaints from me on the customer service front.