Maintaining customer service with difficult clients

[luckyme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juneplum she wasn't rude at all.. imo, you were rude to her.. and her job isn't to be polite.. especially when someone is being rude to her.

I totally disagree with this comment. It is her job to be polite. I am not weighing in on what happened in this situation but it is the responsibility of any customer service person to be polite to the person they are dealing with. How many times have I heard someone say that the customer is always right and treat them with respect, they are in reality (the customer) the one who is paying the c.s. paycheck. I am surprised that people are thanking you for this comment saying it is not ther c.s. responsibility persons job to be polite.:what:

/staff note - discussion split; original thread here

 

[Juneplum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckyme I totally disagree with this comment. It is her job to be polite. I am not weighing in on what happened in this situation but it is the responsibility of any customer service person to be polite to the person they are dealing with. How many times have I heard someone say that the customer is always right and treat them with respect, they are in reality (the customer) the one who is paying the c.s. paycheck. I am surprised that people are thanking you for this comment saying it is not ther c.s. responsibility persons job to be polite.:what:

right. it's that attitude that got the op in the position she's in to begin with. i don't know where on earth this idea that "i'm the customer, i pay your salary so i can treat u how i want and u HAVE to be nice to me" comes from

that's bs. of course cs reps should be polite with clients however it is a 2 way street. just because u r the client does not mean u should expect the cs rep to be polite when u the client are obviously being rude to them.

i can tell u, when clients are rude to my staff without reason, i nip it in the bud. of course i expect my staff to be warm and welcoming to my clients, BUT when the "self important i pay your salary" client starts disrespecting my staff, i don't tolerate that. cs is not an easy position, and rude customers make it even harder. the mac rep was very nice to the op and even apologized, but the op kept trying call her out (as someone said above) and blew it way out of proportion.. that was uncalled for imo.. treat someone the way you would like to be treated - that's how i see it.

 

[luckyme]

A I stated in my previous post, I am not going to give an opinion on this exact instance as that has been done by plenty of people already. I do feel though as if I am hiring a person to do a customer service job for my company, I would make sure to let them know that it is the companys policy to not be rude to people because in the end they would be affecting my business and potential earnings if they acted that artway to every customer. If the caller (or chat) person was being rude, at that point, I would tell them to let the person know they were being rude and that the call was going to be ending at that point. Now, I am not talking about the incident that started this thread but the thread that says it is not a customer service persons responsibility to be polite to people. I dont think people should be trashed on and walked on but instead of being rude in return, why not let the person know that if they are going to continue to be rude, that there call is going to be disconnected, instead of stooping to there level?

 

[Juneplum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckyme Now, I am not talking about the incident that started this thread but the thread that says it is not a customer service persons responsibility to be polite to people.

since that's my post u r referring to, i said it is not their job to be polite when someone is being rude to them. the mac rep was not rude at all.. i think she handled herself quite well despite the fact that the op WAS rude and copped the know it all attitude with her.. that's my opinion anyway.

 

[ms.marymac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juneplum right. it's that attitude that got the op in the position she's in to begin with. i don't know where on earth this idea that "i'm the customer, i pay your salary so i can treat u how i want and u HAVE to be nice to me" comes from that's bs. of course cs reps should be polite with clients however it is a 2 way street. just because u r the client does not mean u should expect the cs rep to be polite when u the client are obviously being rude to them. i can tell u, when clients are rude to my staff without reason, i nip it in the bud. of course i expect my staff to be warm and welcoming to my clients, BUT when the "self important i pay your salary" client starts disrespecting my staff, i don't tolerate that. cs is not an easy position, and rude customers make it even harder. the mac rep was very nice to the op and even apologized, but the op kept trying call her out (as someone said above) and blew it way out of proportion.. that was uncalled for imo.. treat someone the way you would like to be treated - that's how i see it.

That's exactly how I feel. Nobody should have to deal with some of the things service people have to deal with. I agree it doesn't solve anything to be rude back, but they can at least politely discontinue the service until the customer calms down or find another associate to help. I've seen (and heard about) customers SCREAMING, calling the other girls b****s, throwing things and snatching my co-worker's arms. That is unacceptable. It's one thing to be upset, but to act like a lunatic? In that case the customer is most definately NOT right. If they are that crazy they should be asked to leave.

 

[luckyme]

So I am wondering how this became a thread that was supposed to have been started by me when this was originally about the 30th post in another thread? With a nice new title and everything.

 

[lara]

Quote:

Originally Posted by luckyme So I am wondering how this became a thread that was supposed to have been started by me when this was originally about the 30th post in another thread? With a nice new title and everything.

It's at the bottom.

Quote:

/staff note - discussion split; original thread here Last edited by Janice : 08-25-2006 at 06:26 AM.

 

[Another Janice!]

I wanted to hit that "Thanks" button like 9 more times JunePlum!!

 

[Dizzy]

There is a fine line between a customer being understandably angry at a situation and the customer overstepping their boundaries. The idea that the "customer is always right because they pay the rep's salary" is the type of idea that is wholly wrong. By that way of thinking it's as if the customer feels that they are "above" the rep just because they "pay their salary." I'm sorry, but in my 3 years working in customer service I have never once had a customer sign my paycheck, nor hand me money outright. It all boils down to treat others how you want to be treated- those who work in retail deal with some of the shadiest people in the community, shouldn't they have a right to respectfully and tactfully defend themselves verbally?

 

[luckyme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lara It's at the bottom.

OK, THanks, That was not there last night when I first saw all of this. My message is going to be easily taken out of context since someone has went and pulled this out of the middle of nowhere. It scares me now to post my opinions of this Forum knowing that it can be taken out of the middle of a thread and put just anywhere that a Mod seems fit to put it as a new thread.

I think what I was saying through the original post, which is not with all this now, is that it was originally stated that it is not the job of a customer service person to be polite and I was stated that it definitely is. I dont think they should be abused verbally in anyway and should end the call or chat if someone is being rude but to turn around and be rude back is only going to aggravate the situation and end up having the caller contact the manager and the whole the is going to get out of hand.

I have worked in customer service in the past and we were told that if a customer is getting out of hand, to let them know that you are going to discontinue the conversation with them if they are going to continue to be rude to you and then do so if they dont quit. I agree that they should not put up with BS but I think it is stupid to play the mind game with the thinking "2 can play this game".

 

[Lalli]

I dont like the attitude of customers saying "you're getting paid because of me" no im not im getting paid because i work for a company and im not here to be intimidated and insulted. the OP was rude to the cs girl on live chat and her attitude was appaling and the cs girl even apologized, people like the op annoy me when they make a mistake and blame someone else.

my pt job is as a cashier, i often get rude customers, is it my fault their credit card was declined? is it my fault they broke something and expect to get away without paying? is it my fault they just think its ok to expect me to be perfect? no its not. if i make a mistake i will apologize but rude ppl like that annoy me and make it hell for everyone else.

 

[Beauty Mark]

Customer service workers walk a fine line. I've worked it and it sucks at times, because in normal situations, I'd cuss some of those people out. Some people have really unrealistic demands or are so horrible to you about things beyond your control. Some people just instigate fights with you for no reason (like the post listed.)

Working with the public does require being polite and knowing how to conduct yourself. Being polite doesn't mean letting the customer walk all over you and treat you like shit. When people scream at me about things I didn't do or that I can't fix, I've often ended calmly saying, "I'm sorry I can't be of service to you" or something like that. If you're working in a store, you can't scream at the customer. You'll turn heads and no one will care if you were right or wrong. They'll just note you're the clerk who screamed at a customer. To me, ending the conversation before it gets uglier is the most polite thing to do. You save your dignity and if the customer is smart, you save theirs.