Anonymous
Post 01/11/2025 00:03     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It's hard to deny that people are friendlier in other areas of the US. So many here are downright hostile and act like they hate their job.

Rudeness begets rudeness, though. I've witnessed customers acting horribly, too.

It’s not an act. They justifiably hate their jobs.


They hate most things. And after Covid feel even more entitled

Yes it’s outrageous the way these people feel entitled to a true living wage, decent working conditions, and dignity.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 23:32     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
It has gone really downhill overall. It is so hard to get a human being on the line, and then when you do, half of them don't have a clue how to fix your problem. Quest was ridiculous with fixing an issue.

However, there are some rare exceptions. I felt American Express (got someone with a cute Aussie accent) and LL Bean were so kind and helpful.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 23:21     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
Anonymous wrote:I've been in the DC area since the 80s and I have shared with everyone I know since then how awful customer service is here. It is NOT "since Covid."


Service workers in DMV might be especially surly because all around them are federal government workers making much more money for doing a really crappy job of managing the country.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 20:08     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Are any of us willing to pay more for better service?


Corporate profits are at record highs.


Probably in part due to ditching customer service.


The point being, customers shouldn't have to pay more for it.


I think customer service is considered unnecessary by many companies. They make a token effort but that’s it. The attitude seems to be “what are you going to do about it? We don’t care”.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 17:34     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I've been in the DC area since the 80s and I have shared with everyone I know since then how awful customer service is here. It is NOT "since Covid."


Yeah it's always been bad BUT it's HORRID now.


+1 Part of the liberal political dialogue was how unfair it was to "force" people back to work and how the lower-paid people were getting screwed. Plus the pandemic payouts to stay home for more than they could earn in their customer service jobs went on for far too long. This led to employees being even more disgruntled.

DC teachers are among the highest paid in the country, but their job satisfaction levels are among the lowest. Their culture is to wallow in feelings of disgruntlement and persecution. This leads to lower levels of job satisfaction.

Drill the message that people are getting screwed and they'll believe it.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 14:44     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It's hard to deny that people are friendlier in other areas of the US. So many here are downright hostile and act like they hate their job.

Rudeness begets rudeness, though. I've witnessed customers acting horribly, too.

It’s not an act. They justifiably hate their jobs.


They hate most things. And after Covid feel even more entitled
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 14:23     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
Anonymous wrote:If you hate how customer service is make time to let people know when you receive good service and how much it is appreciated.


Not OP here. I did let people know when I received good service but was disappointed once I noticed the service quality went down the hill after that. I guess there are people in the management who don’t want their staff to talk to chat either customers.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 14:04     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
Anonymous wrote:It's hard to deny that people are friendlier in other areas of the US. So many here are downright hostile and act like they hate their job.

Rudeness begets rudeness, though. I've witnessed customers acting horribly, too.

It’s not an act. They justifiably hate their jobs.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 13:48     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
If you hate how customer service is make time to let people know when you receive good service and how much it is appreciated.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 13:36     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
Anonymous wrote:From the pharmacy, to the doctors offices, to calling my ISP when the internet is down, What the actual crap has happened to any customer service? I don't mean being treated like the Queen of England I mean like people doing their basic job requirements. What has happened? HOW are they getting pay checks for not doing the work? If I just stopped my job I'd be fired pretty quickly.

If customers revolt, leave businesses will regular (not great, just basic) CS come back or is this permanent? How are these companies functioning? I just can't wrap my brain around this. Maybe this is mostly an issue where I live I don't know. It's so bad.


If you’re a patient at a concierge med practice and report you’ve been disrespected by a nurse or the doc, they will be ask you to leave. This is the DMV. These companies accommodate themselves.
The world is upside down.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 13:32     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
Anonymous wrote:People are robots now. They don’t really listen and aren’t curious to solve problems.

The medical front desk is the most bizarre to me. Why can they not be bothered to be friendly? Almost all of them act like it the most miserable job in the world. Is it?


Yes, it is. I did it after college before graduate school. Patients are angry at their insurance coverage but have zero understanding of their coverage. Doctors always run late because patients run over their allotted 15 minutes. Patients then get angry at the front staff about the doctor running late. Most doctors are high maintenance c**ts. Yes, this job and retail were the worst jobs ever!
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 13:30     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
Anonymous wrote:It's hard to deny that people are friendlier in other areas of the US. So many here are downright hostile and act like they hate their job.

Rudeness begets rudeness, though. I've witnessed customers acting horribly, too.


It's the surly, hostile attitude combined with incompetence here that gets me. I'm from NYC originally, I don't really need everyone to kiss my ass and pretend they're just delighted by my presence, but I do expect them to do their job and do it with some baseline level of efficiency.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 13:30     Subject: Re:What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
I have many good experiences as I try to treat them with respect and ask them how they are doing before asking for assistance. I always thank them whether issue is resolved or not if they make a good effort but can’t help. They often say stuff like “that means a lot to me thank you” … I agree with PP that many customer service reps are abused and disrespected. They are often paid very poorly.

They are people like us and need to be treated as people.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 13:28     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
I prefer ai chat bots over the Indian call center
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2025 13:25     Subject: What happened to basic Customer service? Is it gone forever?
I have seen terrible customer behavior (I’m another customer). People in customer service are so abused by customers these days. Customers have forgotten their role in the retail transaction.