Customer Service

2ndeffort on 17/09/2014 - 21:11

I am always reading posts on here about poor customer service, suspicions of people being ripped off etc. I have a 17 yo son and recently he saw a sign in the window of a local fish and chip shop looking for workers. We knocked up a CV and, long story short he just finished his 2 week trial period and has his 1st job. He is still studying for VCE and he does this on weekends and 2 nights a week for pocket money, very proud of him for getting out and working.

All this said he is still very nervous and afraid of making a mistake. Tonight he came home devastated, almost in tears, it appears that he messed up a telephone order. Somebody somewhere didn't get their dim-sims in their fish and chips order. They rang up the shop after they got home and unwrapped the order to find out the dimmies were missing. My son apologized profusely and offered to get them dimmies if they came back down. It appears that the person in question preferred instead to give my son a piece of their mind, shoutred at him, swore at him, accused him of ripping them off and generally left him devastated. He almost wants to throw the job in rather than go back. We've told him he needs to toughen up, take it with a grain of salt etc.

I guess my point is 2 fold:

Firstly it annoys me that some telephone warrior is out there bragging now that they caught a rip-off merchant and gave them a piece of their mind. My sone made a mistake because he is new to the job, who out there has never made a mistake? He want trying to rip anybody off, he makes the minimum wage for a 17 yo, he doesnt get any bonus if he cheats people out of orders, he has nothing to gain, why would he do this. Personally I would love to feed the missing dim sims to the person by using a backhoe.

Secondly it had me thinking that sometimes when we suspect skullduggery maybe it is just a genuine mistake, probably by an inexperienced kid trying their best. Maybe we all need to be a little bit more tolerant.

General Discussion

Comments

  • ilostnemo on 17/09/2014 - 21:24
    +8

    Welcome to customer service.

    Unfortunately offering the customer what they paid for isn't that great, as the customer is out of pocket with his time and fuel.

    If it was me I would of asked the owner if we could throw in a pineapple fritter or two, just so the customer feels he has a bonus.

    I won't tell him it will get better as I would be lying.

    Good on him, for getting out there. Tell him it's nothing personal, I'm sure he has had the same happen to him.
    Tell him to take it on the chin, and maybe buy a punching bag.

    • scrimshaw on 18/09/2014 - 03:35
      +3

      Emotional resillience is a required trait of a good customer service provider. A person with good emotional resillience is more likely to always look on the bright side of things and bounce back quicker after an encounter with an unhappy customer.

      Your kid should also realize that psychological resillience is something that you develop over time with experience and is not trait that you are born with. To be more precise resillience is kind of like a skill that you slowly pick up and perfect over time from working and dealing with all kinds of customers.

  • raymond y on 17/09/2014 - 21:56
    +2

    Some people are just pricks. End of story.

    On the other hand, there are many many genuine and sincere people in the world. Being 20 and having worked in retail, and now sales, for five years, you do see a lot. It opens your eyes to the world.

    Few will compliment good work while most will complain if it's poor.

    You can't please everyone, if he's doing his best, he's got something to be proud of.

    Personally I give him the thumbs up for getting out into the workforce and not living off mummy and daddy.

  • Shoppingisfun on 17/09/2014 - 22:06
    +7

    Good on your son for getting his first job and earning some pocket money.
    The skills he picks up now dealing with the public will serve him well for the rest of his life. My siblings and I all worked as checkout chicks/guys in our teens and in each of our careers now we deal with the public…we all agree that lessons learned dealing with the good, the bad and the just plain crazy are invaluable whatever field you end up in later in life.
    Good luck to him :)

    • blitz on 17/09/2014 - 22:10
      +1

      Absolutely right.

  • geek001 on 17/09/2014 - 22:27
    +3

    First of all, good on you getting your son out there working at 17. I remember I learnt a lot about life outside of school when I got my first job.

    Sounds like your son met one of the very unreasonable people out there. There are always a few out there. When I find myself dealing with unreasonable people, I find it useful for my own sanity to try and understand why the person is being unreasonable. Perhaps he was just having a bad day or maybe the missing dim sims caused him grief from others and he was just transferring the grief to your son.

    I am sure you would like to have a few "good words" with the unreasonable customer, but this will turn into a vicious circle that never ends. I am sure we have seen enough of these examples in Israel/Gaza.

    I have children too and I always teach them that when someone is angry at you, it is always important to understand why. Some people want you to fix the problem, some people just want to vent. Looks like your son has offered to fix the problem, so most likely the angry customer just wanted to vent. In this case, as "customer service", all you can really do is lend him your ear.

    If it makes you feel any better, I am never mean to customer service, because at the end of the day, their response is based on policies set by the boss, no point getting angry at the poor guy/gal for just doing what the boss tells them to do.

  • Nutrino on 18/09/2014 - 00:08
    +1

    You never know who's coming thru the the door to by things and how they will act, welcome to the real world. It's how you respond. Your son will gain life experience.

  • cwongtech on 18/09/2014 - 00:14
    +2

    Good work on getting your son out working! From here on, he will most likely learn to manage his money (and not ask for any pocket money from you :P)
    I would ask you to get him to put his studies first before work though, because this is a job, not a career :)

    Firstly it annoys me that some telephone warrior is out there bragging now that they caught a rip-off merchant and gave them a piece of their mind. My sone made a mistake because he is new to the job, who out there has never made a mistake? He want trying to rip anybody off, he makes the minimum wage for a 17 yo, he doesnt get any bonus if he cheats people out of orders, he has nothing to gain, why would he do this.

    He screwed up, plain and simple, he's a human. Next time, offer to throw in some free goodies as a cherry on top for what the customer missed out on and something to distract the raging bull.

    I am employed in retail at the moment though not actively working (Uni workload), but when I got my first customer complaint, I was devastated. From being the happy chap that really wanted to help customers, I became a "Okay I'll give you only what you need" type, and didn't really want to go above and beyond my duties to make those who I served, happy.

    All this said he is still very nervous and afraid of making a mistake.

    This is a life lesson for your son, the world isn't full of sunshine and daisies, you will get people who just LOVE to be a pain in the ass, and those who are genuinely a pleasure to serve. You can't choose your customers, but they can choose you :(

  • Ughhh on 18/09/2014 - 00:43
    +1

    My son apologized profusely and offered to get them dimmies if they came back down.

    Unless the customer ordered a lot of dimmies and/or live next door, they're most likely not gonna want to drive back down. I guess this is where experience and problem solving skills come handy!

    Also with customer complaints, keep note of any regular complainers, some complain with the intention of getting free food, even if their order was perfect.

  • Cheeper on 18/09/2014 - 02:32
    +1

    Your son has had his first taste of the real world outside his fluffy warm safe home. Tell him this will happen often and such is life.
    In all walks of life we meet rude, aggressive, deceitful people, that is just how it is.

    The problem is learning to accept that they DO exist and that will have an impact on his life for the rest of his days.

    Kids today are far too sheltered and real life comes as a real shock to them when it happens.
    They are sometimes called the cotton wool kids for that very reason.

    Tell him to be like a teflon coated tennis ball…. keep rolling and let nothing stick :-)

  • kasumi on 18/09/2014 - 09:04
    +2

    I agree with what everyone has said, but let your son know that he's doing a great job and not to get too disheartened. I worked at my parents shop since I was 15 and you do gain a lot of experience and need to think quick. Tell him if it happens next time, tell the customer that they get a store credit for the item then next time they come. Take their name, phone number, date and item not received and stick it somewhere (and tell the owner/full time staff). Tell them to mention it when they order again. That way, if they don't want to come back to pick up the dimmies, you've kinda placated them and created some good will, and they don't feel ripped off. Obviously, get him to ask his boss if it's ok to do this first (it was easier for me as it was my parents shop to do this)

    I've always said I'll send my kids to maccas/colesworth at 16. I think it's an invaluable life experience

  • rack on 18/09/2014 - 10:06
    +1

    Sorry to hear about the experience your son faced. The customer should not have sworn at your son or even shouted. BUT i also understand where the customer was coming from. I have been on the other side many times. One day i simply lost it.

    Several times been to Aporto drivethrough and many times they have forgot to pack the sauce with the order. Has anyone tried their chicken without sauce? It's horrendous.

    Several time been to KFC drivethrough and once again something or the other is always missing. Pieces of chicken, upsized chips that you've paid for. Gravy or mash missing which absolutely ruins the entire meal.

    When you call up to complaint they offer you the item missing but who goes back to pickup a mash or a chips. No you end up having to buy more things to get your free thing.

    I've never complained because i wanted free food but i wanted them to get back on track and it's humiliating being offered just the item missing.

    One component of the meal missing ruins the entire experience of the meal especially like Aporto chicken in uneatable without the sauce or KFC chips is better served with gravy.

    And also don't ever ask the drivethrough customer to come back and pick their item up. These people are usually in a hurry grabbing a quick meal on the way and are expecting to go home and enjoy the meal with their family. Asking them to come back is like putting salt on wound.

  • goosegog on 18/09/2014 - 11:17
    +2

    I was so sorry to hear this situation - poor soul. However it is a bit of " welcome to the real world "- he will learn to toughen up but hopefully maintain his obvious good upbringing standards of being a good person with integrity & caring.

    Personally I always make a point of telling people in charge i.e. bosses or managers when good service has been received from their staff as compliments probably don't happen enough.
    Should there be a complaint always be polite but insistant to solve the situation & finish with a " Thank you for your help"

    Dealing with the public is a stressful occupation so to help brighten a persons day a simple smile,please & thank you from the customer, costs nothing.I don't work in the industry but always try to apply these simple manners in all walks of life & it is appreciated.

  • stephi on 18/09/2014 - 14:38
    +1

    Have you asked him how his boss reacted to the "missing" dim sims? If he got a grilling from him/her as well then it would make going back that bit more awkward. I broke 3 wine glasses in 1 shift polishing them and thought I'd get the sack (1st day!), but boss was good and told me to polish lighter!

  • mjuice7 on 19/09/2014 - 18:14
    +2

    good on your son for having the get up & go to go out & earn. you should be proud for him. it is an unfortunate fact of life but turds abound everywhere. usually these turds have never been on the other side of the counter serving fellow turds like themselves.

  • 2ndeffort on 19/09/2014 - 23:52

    Great feedback guys, all very relevant. Thankfully my son had another shift last night and all good, seems to have gotten over it. Apparently the opther teenage kid on the fryer slipped him a note at the time that said simply 'chill out dude'. They all seem to have been pretty good about it at his work. Maybe, as you've all said this is one of those hard lessons worth learning earlier rather than later.

    Oh and his focus is definitely on VCE, but having a part-time job and his own money will teach him lessons he wont learn in school, indeed this whole episode has probably been one of the first!!

    • Tal_Shiar on 20/09/2014 - 00:59

      i don't know if it is a good or a bad thing, but where I work, it's almost considered an initiation to have a customer chuck a wobbly on you for something. In some ways it's probably a shock and hard to handle initially, but after a while he will be stronger in the workplace because of it!

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