It's so frustrating - everywhere you go:  department stores, grocery stores, banks, hospitals, contractors... everywhere that offers some sort of public service with the possible exception of Disney World, customer service really sucks.  It's like nobody cares anymore.  Very rarely are you greeted with a smile, a hello, and a thank you after paying.  I find myself thanking cashiers before I leave - for what?  They should be thanking me!  And the other thing that drives me totally bonkers - if you ask somebody 2 questions, they give you 1 answer.  For example, I had my lawn treated by Lawn Doctor and called the office and left a message asking 2 separate, distinct questions.  They called back and left me a message and answered 1 question but completely ignored the other.  Now I have to waste my time calling them back again and asking the question again.  It's very frustrating.  And I don't even think they did it on purpose, they just don't care!

I have another theory, though, that goes beyond people not caring.  I think most people genuinely do want to do a good job.  I think everyone is just too busy to put the extra time and effort into a single customer/issue/question because they have too many other things to take care of.  So everybody ends up getting half-ass service because companies are too cheap to hire enough people to do the job, stretching everyone too thin and leaving most customers annoyed and unhappy.  It's like, as a culture, we have grown to accept that most companies do not offer good service, so we go with the least evil of the bunch.  It's sad...

Just venting...

Another example!  My boyfriend and I both needed new debit cards from our bank.  I call and ask for one.  The woman tells me she'll send it out, but to make sure I call to deactivate the old card when I get the new one.  I ask if I'll have the same # on the card, she says yes.  The card arrives, it's a different #!  Then my boyfriend calls (because I was not allowed to request a new card for him too... stupid!!)  and he is told that his current card will be deactivated immediately and it will take up to 10 days to receive the new one!  He questioned this and mentioned that I was told something different and the person he was speaking to said that I must have spoken to a brand manager who was able to override this process.  Also not true.  Just a small example but totally stupid and irritating that even such a simple process can be made difficult by careless, unknowledgeable employees who are unwilling to help.

ironically, as we become more free-market utopian, we're becoming afflicted with more and more things that allegedly afflicted the old authoritarian communist societies. read, spending most of your time interacting with cold, faceless bureaucracies (voice-activated phone call routing, anyone?), unavailability of upward mobility for most, reification of borders (wanna cross the gray curtain separating america from the rest of the world? prepare to be groped and/or irradiated! if you're fortunate enough not to be on a no-fly terrorist list already),  and maybe the most notorious is dealing with the communist civil servant/bureaucrat, who's completely indifferent to doing his job well because he has no prospects for advancement anyway. that most of these indifferent bureaucrats in america work for the private sector makes little difference. when you think about it, what could have more of that drab soviet flavor than wal*mart and the other featureless, joyless box stores that have carpet bombed the american landscape?

basically, in bending over backward trying to hard to avoid becoming like the USSR, we've become an awful lot like the USSR. an extreme private-sector society isn't that different from an extreme public-sector one.

Move to Az.  I hate Az but the one positive thing I can say about it is hat they have excellent custom service.  Every store I've been in there the people are so friendly and helpful!

Agreed Q, you'll get good service but you'll wait forever for it.  They are SLOW AS sheesh!

I agree with you, Billzy.  People don't take pride in their jobs anymore, that's the problem. 

It's like nobody cares anymore.

They dont!!!!

I agree..... People have gotton snotty and could care less and its sad :(

I have another theory, though, that goes beyond people not caring.  I think most people genuinely do want to do a good job.  I think everyone is just too busy to put the extra time and effort into a single customer/issue/question because they have too many other things to take care of.  So everybody ends up getting half-ass service because companies are too cheap to hire enough people to do the job, stretching everyone too thin and leaving most customers annoyed and unhappy.  It's like, as a culture, we have grown to accept that most companies do not offer good service, so we go with the least evil of the bunch.  It's sad...

Just venting...

Yeah, it does seem things have changed and people don't care anymore. Poeple are too busy, and together with advances in technology, people are so self-absorded (I'm guilty as well) and dare I say have a need to be entertained. Whether it's on the computer, the TV, listening to their ipod, texting all the time. We just don't "stop and smell the roses" anymore.
There are companies that provide good service. As Canadians we pride ourselves at being more polite than our neighbours to the south of us. I've experienced more rude behavior in my dealings with American customer service (maybe I'm not used to it??) than other countries.  But there is room for improvement everywhere, and the only person I can improve is myself.
Another word is "respect". There has been a loss of respect for others, and this reflects everywhere.
Where did we go wrong? Why is everyone so over-stressed?

Life was so much simpler, more stress-free 20, 30, 40 years ago. :-\\

Yeah, it does seem things have changed and people don't care anymore. Poeple are too busy, and together with advances in technology, people are so self-absorded (I'm guilty as well) and dare I say have a need to be entertained. Whether it's on the computer, the TV, listening to their ipod, texting all the time. We just don't "stop and smell the roses" anymore.
There are companies that provide good service. As Canadians we pride ourselves at being more polite than our neighbours to the south of us. I've experienced more rude behavior in my dealings with American customer service (maybe I'm not used to it??) than other countries.  But there is room for improvement everywhere, and the only person I can improve is myself.
Another word is "respect". There has been a loss of respect for others, and this reflects everywhere.
Where did we go wrong? Why is everyone so over-stressed?

Life was so much simpler, more stress-free 20, 30, 40 years ago. :-\\
there's an interesting article about, not exactly this, but about why the right is less compassionate than it used to be, but i tihnk it applies in general: it mostly has to do with suburbia, or so the article goes, and how people don't interact with other people in the suburbs the same way they do in the city or even the country. in the suburbs you can basically get by without ever talking to your neighbors, etc., and after a while of this we all start to forget what it's like to interact with other people at all.

there's an interesting article about, not exactly this, but about why the right is less compassionate than it used to be, but i tihnk it applies in general: it mostly has to do with suburbia, or so the article goes, and how people don't interact with other people in the suburbs the same way they do in the city or even the country. in the suburbs you can basically get by without ever talking to your neighbors, etc., and after a while of this we all start to forget what it's like to interact with other people at all.

http://www.motifake.com/image/demotivational-poster/0804/neighbours-demotivational-poster-1208124142.576
;)

I think it also depends on what part of the US you're in...I grew up in New York but I live in the South now.  People down here are more likely to talk to strangers and are generally more polite (you even hear kids calling adults "sir" and "ma'am". ).

Well, I wish I knew the answer, but maybe the more people there are in the world, the less we have to care about each other.

There will be 7 billion people officially in 2012 I think and the more people there are, the less attention you can give to everyone.

But then again, I could be wrong.

People don't take pride in their jobs anymore, that's the problem.

Right,people come to work for the "money" and not care about their job anymore,They figured my job's not important anymore so the money I make and the paycheck that comes to me is more important than the job itself.

As  a cartguy,I try to greet people with a smile every day and hand them a cart if needed but I figured I'm just gonna come to work for the money.

I think it also depends on what part of the US you're in...I grew up in New York but I live in the South now.  People down here are more likely to talk to strangers and are generally more polite (you even hear kids calling adults "sir" and "ma'am". ).



When I first moved to Vermont, I was surprised by the fact when I past people on the street, they say, "Hi." These last few weeks, Vermonters are really coming together for our neighbors. There is really a sense of community in this little state.



If the spirit of liberty should vanish in other parts of the Union, and support of our institutions should languish, it could all be replenished from the generous store held by the people of this brave little state of Vermont. 

                                          -Calvin Coolidge after the Flood of 1927. (Read in full http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_Little_State_of_Vermont_speech)



Cat

It's so frustrating - everywhere you go:  department stores, grocery stores, banks, hospitals, contractors... everywhere that offers some sort of public service with the possible exception of Disney World, customer service really sucks.  It's like nobody cares anymore.  


Why don't people care anymore?  You want the truth?  You can't handlcinematic reference fault (core dumped).

I can't answer for "people", but I don't care because...

"I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. Goddammit, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables, slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy *P00P* we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man; no purpose or place. We have no Great War, no Great Depression. Our Great War is a spiritual war. Our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised by television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars. But we won't; and we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."

98LeLZ2crZE

...and I know that's not the answer you wanted, but it's the closest answer I've ever seen to why nobody cares anymore.  Not the people who made it to the top of the pile, nor the people who never will, nor those of us still left in the rapidly-diminishing middle, cares, because none of us is paid enough (in our respective currencies of power, respect, or dollars) to care.  

But Fight Club, for anyone who didn't get the reference, is still an awesome movie.

I guess people stop caring because they stopped giving a crap about the job they have. If you enjoy the job,you'd be a much happier person but if every day you come to work angry then most likely you will be bitter.

I guess people stop caring because they stopped giving a crap about the job they have. If you enjoy the job,you'd be a much happier person but if every day you come to work angry then most likely you will be bitter.

Are you telling us, or reminding yourself?  ;)

Are you telling us, or reminding yourself?  ;)


I'm telling you.

I can sympathise with you Mr. Billzy and I thought bad customer service was primarily a British thing. I went into my local Co-Op (grocery store) and they ask me two stupid questions. "Would you like a bag with those?" and "Do you want your reciepts?"  ::)

I have even had the misfortune of intruding on two check-out operators having a chin-wag while putting my groceries through. The very idea I was inconveniencing someone by getting them to do their job.

Because maybe they hate their job? You ever have a disprespectful cashier sometimes where the cashier is ringing you up and he/she's checking his twitter/facebook or checking his cellphone,It's been happening a lot,maybe they don't care about their customers.

Because maybe they hate their job? You ever have a dispesectful cashier sometimes where the cashier is ringing you up and he/she's checking his twitter/facebook or checking his cellphone,It's been happening a lot,maybe they don't care about their customers.


Checking Facebook/Twitter while serving you, Howard? That's pretty disgusting, lol. I would have definitely have a word with the manager.

Checking Facebook/Twitter while serving you, Howard? That's pretty disgusting, lol. I would have definitely have a word with the manager.


that's why supermarkets should hire people that do their job,not slacking off. ::)

Because maybe they hate their job? You ever have a disprespectful cashier sometimes where the cashier is ringing you up and he/she's checking his twitter/facebook or checking his cellphone,It's been happening a lot,maybe they don't care about their customers.


I had that happen to me at a dollar store.  The clerk was texting her friend the whole time she was checking me out.  I got to the parking lot and called the manager immediately.  I thought it was very rude.  I hope the manager said something to her.  She told me she would anyway.

I had that happen to me at a dollar store.  The clerk was texting her friend the whole time she was checking me out.  I got to the parking lot and called the manager immediately.  I thought it was very rude.  I hope the manager said something to her.  She told me she would anyway.


Why are cashiers so bitter and angry lately,some of them don't want to work,they just want to slack off.  ::)

Ask the cart guy.

Had several hair stylists talk to each other the whole time they did my hair.  I guess I wasn't interesting enough to listen to them tell me their evening's plans.  :-\\

Had several hair stylists talk to each other the whole time they did my hair.  I guess I wasn't interesting enough to listen to them tell me their evening's plans.   :-\\



I prefer when that happens. I can never find anything interesting to say to my stylists.

I prefer when that happens. I can never find anything interesting to say to my stylists.




Me neither, so I rarely get my hair done anymore.  Unless I go to the beauty school where it's cheap and they haven't learned the aloofness that professionals have.  ;D

Ask the cart guy.


I may not care as much as I used to but at least I try to maintain a smile to the customers at all times.

Had several hair stylists talk to each other the whole time they did my hair.  I guess I wasn't interesting enough to listen to them tell me their evening's plans.   :-\\


That's pretty rude.  ::)

Had several hair stylists talk to each other the whole time they did my hair.  I guess I wasn't interesting enough to listen to them tell me their evening's plans.  :-\\


I got a pedicure at a place run by Vietnamese women.  They spent the whole time chatting with each other in their own language.  It really made the other lady  getting a pedicure and me feel uncomfortable.  I don't think it was the chatting so much as the sideways glances while chatting.

I got a pedicure at a place run by Vietnamese women.  They spent the whole time chatting with each other in their own language.  It really made the other lady  getting a pedicure and me feel uncomfortable.  I don't think it was the chatting so much as the sideways glances while chatting.



yes....they were talking about the two of you!

I got a pedicure at a place run by Vietnamese women.  They spent the whole time chatting with each other in their own language.  It really made the other lady  getting a pedicure and me feel uncomfortable.  I don't think it was the chatting so much as the sideways glances while chatting.
How about starting to learn Vietnamese as a second language?

How about starting to learn Vietnamese as a second language?


That's an option.

I got a pedicure at a place run by Vietnamese women.  They spent the whole time chatting with each other in their own language.  It really made the other lady  getting a pedicure and me feel uncomfortable.  I don't think it was the chatting so much as the sideways glances while chatting.

Reminds me of this funny scene from Seinfeld. Couldn't locate a better clip.  :-\\

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrOnhuDfBrU

Reminds me of this funny scene from Seinfeld. Couldn't locate a better clip.  :-\\

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrOnhuDfBrU



I remember that scene,Frank was pretty funny.  ;D

yes....they were talking about the two of you!



;D


How about starting to learn Vietnamese as a second language?


That would be funny. ;D

;D

That would be funny. ;D


Or at least learn a couple key phrases and make them think you know what they are saying  :P

Ask the cart guy.


http://www.chiditarod.org/sites/www.chiditarod.org/files/images/shopping-cart-man-skyline.gif

A new Superhero

What I want to know is this...when did it become acceptable to take your cell phone with you on the job, not talking about office workers or people that don't have to deal with customers face to face, but those people that do deal with customers face to face (cashier, department store workers, cart guys  ::), etc.).

I think those should be left in a locker or in your car...it's not like there isn't a phone in the place you work, if there an emergency someone could call the store to get in touch with you. 

I was in Walgreens one day and the cashier was talking on his cell phone the entire time he was ringing up my stuff.

I can sympathise with you Mr. Billzy and I thought bad customer service was primarily a British thing. I went into my local Co-Op (grocery store) and they ask me two stupid questions. "Would you like a bag with those?" and "Do you want your reciepts?"  ::)



Oh I have a similar story...in the front cooler there were single bottles of soda, I got one and put it in my cart and when I was checking out the one soda rang up as a 6-pack (I guess it was just the way the bar code was in the comouter) so I told the girl that I was just getting the one not 6 and she looked at me and actually asked..."So, you don't want to pay for the 6-pack?".  ::)

What I want to know is this...when did it become acceptable to take your cell phone with you on the job, not talking about office workers or people that don't have to deal with customers face to face, but those people that do deal with customers face to face (cashier, department store workers, cart guys  ::), etc.).

I think those should be left in a locker or in your car...it's not like there isn't a phone in the place you work, if there an emergency someone could call the store to get in touch with you. 

I was in Walgreens one day and the cashier was talking on his cell phone the entire time he was ringing up my stuff.


Carol I try to leave my cell phone in my locker,It distracts me if my phone goes off so I keep it in my bookbag for later,If someone wants to talk to me it can be saved for when you get home.

Reminds me of this funny scene from Seinfeld. Couldn't locate a better clip.  :-\\

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrOnhuDfBrU


Ha ha, Despite feeling that Jerry Stiller is a one-trick-pony I enjoyed him in 'King of Queens' as Arthur Spooner.

Oh I have a similar story...in the front cooler there were single bottles of soda, I got one and put it in my cart and when I was checking out the one soda rang up as a 6-pack (I guess it was just the way the bar code was in the comouter) so I told the girl that I was just getting the one not 6 and she looked at me and actually asked..."So, you don't want to pay for the 6-pack?".   ::)


Unbelievable. I'm surprised the check-out girl didn't ask whether you wanted the soda in the bottle or poured into the bag, lol.

People don't care as much as they used to is because of the work,maybe the hours or maybe it's the bosses,Who here thinks so? ???

People don't care as much as they used to is because of the work,maybe the hours or maybe it's the bosses,Who here thinks so? ???


I think some of it comes from some parents not instilling a good work ethic in their children.  When I was a teen I had to work if I wanted money for gas or going out with my friends, I went to work and did my best, even if the job was exactly what I wanted.  My parents would have killed me if I go fired from my job.  If I wasn't happy I would look for another job BEFORE I quit.  If I was scheduled to work, I worked.  If I wanted to go out with friends, I would put in for the night off or go out after.  If I stayed out late on a Friday, I went to work tired on Saturday morning.

You would not believe what my husband deals with everyday, lots kids (and some adults) don't care.  They call in "sick" all the time, doesn't matter who they're screwing over in the process.  They walk out, never to be seen again (except to pick up their last check) and I don't know how many they've had to fire in the last few months.

If people would stop expecting everything to be handed to them and actualy worked towards a goal maybe they would actually care more.

I dunno if this is making any sense. 

It makes sense carol. There are diffent attitudes and, for lack of a better term, "values" now.

Less and less kids are taught about responsibilty. Everything is about instant gratification.
It sux.

I think some of it comes from some parents not instilling a good work ethic in their children.  When I was a teen I had to work if I wanted money for gas or going out with my friends, I went to work and did my best, even if the job was exactly what I wanted.  My parents would have killed me if I go fired from my job.  If I wasn't happy I would look for another job BEFORE I quit.  If I was scheduled to work, I worked.  If I wanted to go out with friends, I would put in for the night off or go out after.  If I stayed out late on a Friday, I went to work tired on Saturday morning.

You would not believe what my husband deals with everyday, lots kids (and some adults) don't care.  They call in "sick" all the time, doesn't matter who they're screwing over in the process.  They walk out, never to be seen again (except to pick up their last check) and I don't know how many they've had to fire in the last few months.

If people would stop expecting everything to be handed to them and actualy worked towards a goal maybe they would actually care more.

I dunno if this is making any sense. 


I agree Carol,people these days complain about work but yet they still work wherever they are for years,workers know they're depressed but yet they continue to keep upbeat.

I think some of it comes from some parents not instilling a good work ethic in their children.  When I was a teen I had to work if I wanted money for gas or going out with my friends, I went to work and did my best, even if the job was exactly what I wanted.  My parents would have killed me if I go fired from my job.  If I wasn't happy I would look for another job BEFORE I quit.  If I was scheduled to work, I worked.  If I wanted to go out with friends, I would put in for the night off or go out after.  If I stayed out late on a Friday, I went to work tired on Saturday morning.

You would not believe what my husband deals with everyday, lots kids (and some adults) don't care.  They call in "sick" all the time, doesn't matter who they're screwing over in the process.  They walk out, never to be seen again (except to pick up their last check) and I don't know how many they've had to fire in the last few months.

If people would stop expecting everything to be handed to them and actualy worked towards a goal maybe they would actually care more.

I dunno if this is making any sense. 


Sounds like some of my employees.  "Oh, I am scheduled to work 8 hrs a day and only work 5?  Why would that make you mad?"  I have one girl that thinks it is perfectly normal to be "sick" enough to not come to work every pay period (two weeks).  They actually get mad and feel picked on when they get written up for not working their hours.  Forget the fact that if we don't get the work done, we lose customers.  We lose customers, we lose our jobs.  The customers don't take "I'm sick" for an excuse to not get their work done.  I love being a supervisor, but sometimes I wish I wasn't so I could give them my real opinion.  I have to be nice and what I want to say isn't.  Selfish idiot isn't something I am allowed to say. ;D

I think some of it comes from some parents not instilling a good work ethic in their children.  When I was a teen I had to work if I wanted money for gas or going out with my friends, I went to work and did my best, even if the job was exactly what I wanted.  My parents would have killed me if I go fired from my job.  If I wasn't happy I would look for another job BEFORE I quit.  If I was scheduled to work, I worked.  If I wanted to go out with friends, I would put in for the night off or go out after.  If I stayed out late on a Friday, I went to work tired on Saturday morning.

You would not believe what my husband deals with everyday, lots kids (and some adults) don't care.  They call in "sick" all the time, doesn't matter who they're screwing over in the process.  They walk out, never to be seen again (except to pick up their last check) and I don't know how many they've had to fire in the last few months.

If people would stop expecting everything to be handed to them and actualy worked towards a goal maybe they would actually care more.

I dunno if this is making any sense.  


It makes perfect sense. I work in a relatively 'easy' job (no real stress, no nagging customers, no crippling deadlines and a break every hour...) yet a lot of colleagues of mine still have this idea that the company owes them a living. A few months ago, two ladies at work were moaning that they didn't get their half-hour extra off when they wanted to after doing flexi-time. I checked the contract and nowhere does it say when you can have it whether it is at the start or end of shift. They tried to drag me into what I thought was a petty situation and, for once, I supported the company on the issue understanding their situation (after, ironically, staying behind after work to discuss the issue with my manager).

Since then, because I objectively looked at the facts and didn't stick up for them one of the two women barely talks to me two months on... *shrugs*

We have workers over at Pathmark always complain about their schedule,the work and the hours,never satisfied with anything,they're hardly in their "happy medium",like they say.

We have workers over at Pathmark always complain about their schedule,the work and the hours,never satisfied with anything,they're hardly in their "happy medium",like they say.


Ok, we get it.  People at Pathmark complain about their jobs.  If you said it once, you said it 15 times.  Please don't add a comment like this again... :(

Ok, we get it.  People at Pathmark complain about their jobs.  If you said it once, you said it 1500 times. 

Fixed

Fixed


;D