Where do I begin....

I have been on both sides of the fence in being the customer and the CSR (not for TMo, though) in both a retail and non-retail setting.  People may not think being in retail is not a traditional CS waiting by the phone for a call, but they are face to face with customers.  What I hate as a CSR is stupid customers, like who have no clue about what they want which makes you waste all sorts of time trying to figure it out.  How in the world do you do know SOMETHING about what you felt was so important that you left you home to spend money on?  As an example, I had someone ask me, "Hey, do you have that one movie with that one girl?"  AND THAT WAS IT!  WTF!??  My answer to that stupid question.  "Yes" in a Ed McMahan sort of voice. 

Now this is not the same as "I have this product and I want something to do _____ with it" which is what a CSR is for.

Now as a customer, I have similar issues with CSR's.  I cannot stand when the CSR I am speaking to can not speak clearly enough for me to understand.  If communicating effectively with people is the most important aspect of your job, how did you get that job if you cannot do that?  That would be like a pizza delivery driver with no transportation to deliver said pizzas.

I also can't stand when they have no knowledge of what my problem is and are merely reading from a script.  I cannot count the number of times I have called about a computer problem and even after I have stated all I have tried, the CSR tries to get me to do THE SAME THINGS!  Yeah, it will work now that you tell me in broken English to do the same stuff I already tried. 

A specific example of lack of knowledge in their CSRs is at GameStop a few months ago.  At my local one, I picked up a 3rd party optical cable for $10, w00t!  A week or so later, I went to other ones to find another at the same price but was met with ignorance when "optical cable" evoked looks of confusion and sounds of "uhhhh...."  and "errrrr..." which proceeded with offerings of A/V cables and even an S-video cable.  *sigh*  That's why if I am ever in those areas again I look for stuff myself.  When I got back to my regular store they apologized and laughed.

Another specific example of CSR behavior I cannot stand can be found at the local Attorney General's office.  I have custody of my 3 kids and the egg donor has nothing to do with them, but when I call it does not seem that way.  When a CSR picks up the phone and verifies info, she is very...I dunno how to describe it.  Rough?  Short?  Aggressive?  Snippy?  Whatever the single word for it, it is not pleasant.  However, as soon as she reads on her screen that I have custody of the kids, her voice literally softens up and is nice to me.  WTF IS THAT!???

The AG is really sexist too.  I know when I was filling out the paperwork against my ex, it had questions like, "Where does he hang out?"  and other stuff with "he" in the text.  I had to write in the 'S' in front of all of them and in the suggestion box at the end I put, "You should not always assume that a man is the one having to pay child support.  I am sure I am not the only male doing this."

I even got a little uppity with one of them because when I moved to Kansas City, I called to let them know of the new address and work number.  After I told her where I worked, she asked where the home office was and information for payroll and very eager to get this info.  Kind of like when you see in the movies where they are tracing a call and the caller does not want to hang up before getting every ounce of information.  When she asked about my payroll info, I said, "What do you need MY payroll for?  I am the custodial parent."  That was met with, "Oh?  Oh....yeah... I see that now.  I apologize"  and again the mood of the conversation changed.

Here's two examples of customer service:

A couple of months ago, I was barreled over by someone who clearly was in a rush. She knocked me down and my cell phone fell out of my grasp and shattered on the ground. It was 8:50 and I was in the mall parking lot, so I ran into the mall T-Mobile store. I was admittedly frantic cause I have no home phone and my daughter was at a friend's house. I explained that I needed a new phone so the clerks begin to look up my info and tell me that I have no credit or whatever it was called to get a discount off the phone. Fine, whatever. Just give me a phone. All I had on me was my Visa. The clerk tells me that their credit card machine was down and did I have another way to pay. Nope. I very seldom carry cash and I was out of checks. I tell them that I can run to the ATM and be back in just a few mins if they'll promise to wait. I said I realized it was very late and they were probably tired, but I really would be right back. They agreed and I dash down the mall like a madwoman to the ATM. I make it back to the store at 8:56, only to find the lights off and the clerks MIA. I call out and finally one of the clerks comes up and says they called the mgr and he gave them permission to close a few mins early, as they had not had any customers. What about me? As promised I came right back and I need a phone! Sorry ma'am but we've shut down for the night. Come back tomorrow. I pleaded with the clerk to no avail. I left the store frustrated and angry. And you know what? I haven't been back to that store since. I went home, logged onto my computer and emailed T-Mobile, the Better Business Bureau and every one of my friends to tell them about that experience. I even posted a note about it on myspace. In my opinion, the clerks knew before I left that they would not be open and they should've told me that. I would've been upset, sure, but less upset than I was after being lied to. The next morning, I went to the T-Mobile store by the Brown Bag and had a new phone within 15 mins. I was even more frantic and frustrated given what had happened at the other store and I'm sure the poor salesman/clerk could sense that. I tried my best not to snap at hime as I explained my dilemma. The clerk was super helpful and friendly. Turns out I did have a credit and was able to get my phone at a significant discount. He even apologized for the way the other store had treated me. He made my experience wonderful and almost completely made up for the previous night's events. I made sure to thank him and told his mgr about his excellent service.

The reps at the first store made me understand why people hate shopping in stores and make purchases online. The rep at the second store reminded me of why I like shopping in stores. He took a few extra mins with an extremely upset customer and diffused what could've been a bad situation. That's the type of customer service everyone should try to practice. Yes, we as customers should try our best not to take it out on the csr, but in return the csr should be courteous and respectful and most importantly, not lie to the customer.

well see, when you ask to speak to supervisor, we refer to that as an escalation. as csrs, it is our responsibility to descalate a customer, by trying to resolve the problem according to policy or informing the customer that a supervisor is just as bound to policy as we are. the problem with asking to speak to a supervisor is that our supervisors are usually busy with a thousand other things including resolving another customer's situation, a meeting with their own supervisors, or resolving employment issues such as payroll and the review of another employee's progress, that when we tell them we have someone on the phone who's issue is completely out of our hands, it just throws the entire situation into chaos. it is important for a customer to understand that we can help you, you just have to be patient with us.

I completely understand CSRs have to follow their script.  What gets me is when I request to speak to a supervisor because the CSR cannot handle my situation, they get pissy and either refuse to get me a manager or taint the manager before I get to state my case.  Lately though, I have had extremely good service from the CSRs I have had contact with.  Good job you guys!

well, im a customer care rep for the cell phone industry, namely t-mobile. many people do not understand the concept of our job, we are the first line of defense as far as when your having a problem with the product. if your not talking to us, then your talking to what we refer to as the "dealer" which in layman's terms is the store representative who will call US if he/she cannot resolve your issue for you. ive always tried to help the customer i deal with as much as possible, and if i cannot help you, then i can find someone who can help you. customers get mad at us because we're not capable of fulfilling a customer's request due to policy or procedure, saying we could do so we just dont want to ect ect. this is in fact not true, we just a specific way of doing something and if we dont do it the way its panned out to be, then we get heat from the bosses higher up. whenever you're about to get mad at a csr over the phone because they cannot give you what you want, please remember, its not the rep's fault, we're just following the policy that we were given. and we need our jobs just as much as anyone else does.

Customer Care over the phone is 8 out of 10 times unless, unless it is a very local company.  Most phone customer service is unless to the consumer/client, it is used to often by companies to put forth an illusion they care about their customers.  I recall talking to Auto Dealership owner in Houston about 10 years ago, he said he cared less about customer service, there were so many people in the Houston area, the would never run out of customers even if he cheated ever customer that he made a sale to.  I dislike doing business with individuals with this type of ethics, so I send him a letter of disengagement  with recommendations to CPA's that could provide him with the services I no longer would be providing and I felt the same way he did.   I wonder who cheated whom the most.   Most customer care outside of the area is rousted to oversea operates that believe if they have an American name, you will not know they are not America Citizens. And what is worst many companies now want to charge you for customer care.   Many people are shocked when I tell them I want to deal with someone I can reach out and touch.   I believe companies should be honest and stand behind their product or service.  I dislike even charities that hide behind a phone line or Internet email.