I work in a one man ticket office at a small rural railway station.
When a tree fell on the tracks and nothing was going through I had the usual procession of “so do you know when…” answered politely with “sorry, no idea” until I got Mr. I'm The One.
“So it's your fault I'm stuck here, what are you going to do about it?” Shouted in a room full of other people who knew they could either get a taxi or wait.
Sorry, my patience snapped.
I started hitting myself around the head, and yelling “oh you're so bad Ian, you went and uprooted that tree just so this guy couldn't get home, you deserve smacking you heartless bastard”.
Boy was I channelling my Basil Fawlty!
He looked at me aghast and walked away.
Luckily the situation resolved minutes later and the office emptied as the driver told everyone to get back on.
I thought little of it, a funny story to tell my wife, until he returned the following evening.
He apologised, he'd had a bad day, problems at work, yammer yammer, and he shouldn't have taken it out on me.
I also apologised, but he said it was the perfect way for me to react to get him off his high horse.
My best customer experience was at the Alaska gate in SNA years ago when the flight was cancelled. The customer ahead of me cursed out the agent and she put him on a later flight. He was cruel, so when I stepped up to the counter I said “I’m not with that guy.” The agent laughed and said she can get me home almost on time if I accept an upgrade to first class and take a flight with one stop. I did and she did.
That turns out to be a very American thing: we want to have a relationship with the companies we shop at. That's why our biggest threat is "I'm breaking up with you!" ("I'll never shop here again!"). And just like lost lovers, we often find ourselves humbly returning...(especially when we discover how few other fish there are in the sea).
The real problem customers are the ones who can only talk to YOU. In this whole building of people who do the same job YOU are the person. They will wait in line for YOU and if YOU aren't spending the whole day waiting for them too, it's just game over. Might as well just die then.
This is brilliant. So relatable. I worked in customer service most of my life. Started at age 16. So many memories. I never dreamed it would make great comic strip material. Well done! I love that snarky little customer service girl. She says what I only wished I could’ve said out loud.
I like Lowes, the employees there have just stop caring at all. I like their honesty. Yes there is one in each store that give you false hope that someone cares, but the next week there dead. Old people just don't seem to hang on like they use to.
But what if they're just there doing inventory or having a store meeting and it's not actually open? They probably shouldn't answer the phone then, but sometimes they DO.
If I have to give them my phone number or put another app on my phone, forget it.
From the other side of the counter, one time I helped catch a woman who was trying to buy an expensive purse with a stolen wallet and checkbook and pass herself off as the woman in the ID. It was during a Christmas campaign where we got stickers for every store credit card we got someone to sign up for, and whoever got the most stickers each week won a prize. My reward for stopping this criminal mastermind was a whole sheet of stickers.
You nailed it with the riff on store apps. Like just about all apps connected to a business, they are designed and written by people who never use them. As an app developer, I'm guilty of that myself, but by listening to my users' feedback over 3 years I managed to change my flagship app from a mediocre-at-best into a gold standard for my tiny niche market.
Store apps are a source of constant joy and frustration. Some work extremely well, while others make me wander in circles for a longer time period than I ever spend in the store. I think we’re at the point where the app experiences is more important than personal interaction.
i was a bank teller for many years and lemme tell ya, customer service in banking is tricky cuz the customer is rarely right and you have to let them down veeeeery gently when telling them so. 😄
Ilove when the popcorn bucket comes out! If you’re going to lose 15 minutes of your life - carry on. But, if it’s going to be a double feature- get the popcorn!!
My favorite was when I was working at Lowe’s. Invariably, at least once a week, I heard “Do you work here?”. Eventually I started answering with “No, I bought the vest off eBay and I’m shoplifting. Don’t tell anybody!”
I have always maintained that it should be mandatory in law, that the first job everyone gets should be as a front facing customer service person!
Everyone should learn just how rude, nasty, irrationally angry, ignorant and infuriating customers can be! And that stupid saying about the “customer is always right” should be removed from every service companies work rules.
With a career change from retail manager to salt water fishing guide, I became Captain of my own boat, and I make sure every guest understood that I AM the boss, the ONLY boss, and what I say goes. Oddly enough they all accept that as if being a ship captain makes me God.
I work in a one man ticket office at a small rural railway station.
When a tree fell on the tracks and nothing was going through I had the usual procession of “so do you know when…” answered politely with “sorry, no idea” until I got Mr. I'm The One.
“So it's your fault I'm stuck here, what are you going to do about it?” Shouted in a room full of other people who knew they could either get a taxi or wait.
Sorry, my patience snapped.
I started hitting myself around the head, and yelling “oh you're so bad Ian, you went and uprooted that tree just so this guy couldn't get home, you deserve smacking you heartless bastard”.
Boy was I channelling my Basil Fawlty!
He looked at me aghast and walked away.
Luckily the situation resolved minutes later and the office emptied as the driver told everyone to get back on.
I thought little of it, a funny story to tell my wife, until he returned the following evening.
He apologised, he'd had a bad day, problems at work, yammer yammer, and he shouldn't have taken it out on me.
I also apologised, but he said it was the perfect way for me to react to get him off his high horse.
Never seen him since.
That’s a fantastic story. The guy even apologized.
Now I need to watch Fawlty Towers again. You channeled Basil perfectly.
My best customer experience was at the Alaska gate in SNA years ago when the flight was cancelled. The customer ahead of me cursed out the agent and she put him on a later flight. He was cruel, so when I stepped up to the counter I said “I’m not with that guy.” The agent laughed and said she can get me home almost on time if I accept an upgrade to first class and take a flight with one stop. I did and she did.
That’s the most satisfying one I’ve heard yet.
That turns out to be a very American thing: we want to have a relationship with the companies we shop at. That's why our biggest threat is "I'm breaking up with you!" ("I'll never shop here again!"). And just like lost lovers, we often find ourselves humbly returning...(especially when we discover how few other fish there are in the sea).
That’s a very insightful analogy!
The real problem customers are the ones who can only talk to YOU. In this whole building of people who do the same job YOU are the person. They will wait in line for YOU and if YOU aren't spending the whole day waiting for them too, it's just game over. Might as well just die then.
Reporting from the front lines!
This is brilliant. So relatable. I worked in customer service most of my life. Started at age 16. So many memories. I never dreamed it would make great comic strip material. Well done! I love that snarky little customer service girl. She says what I only wished I could’ve said out loud.
Thank you so much. That is Tabby’s superpower (as well as the person she is based on).
That just about condenses my 35 years in retail.🤣👏
I like Lowes, the employees there have just stop caring at all. I like their honesty. Yes there is one in each store that give you false hope that someone cares, but the next week there dead. Old people just don't seem to hang on like they use to.
But what if they're just there doing inventory or having a store meeting and it's not actually open? They probably shouldn't answer the phone then, but sometimes they DO.
If I have to give them my phone number or put another app on my phone, forget it.
From the other side of the counter, one time I helped catch a woman who was trying to buy an expensive purse with a stolen wallet and checkbook and pass herself off as the woman in the ID. It was during a Christmas campaign where we got stickers for every store credit card we got someone to sign up for, and whoever got the most stickers each week won a prize. My reward for stopping this criminal mastermind was a whole sheet of stickers.
Companies are so generous, aren’t they? Any employee answering customer phone calls during inventory shall be confined to the freezers.
You nailed it with the riff on store apps. Like just about all apps connected to a business, they are designed and written by people who never use them. As an app developer, I'm guilty of that myself, but by listening to my users' feedback over 3 years I managed to change my flagship app from a mediocre-at-best into a gold standard for my tiny niche market.
Store apps are a source of constant joy and frustration. Some work extremely well, while others make me wander in circles for a longer time period than I ever spend in the store. I think we’re at the point where the app experiences is more important than personal interaction.
i was a bank teller for many years and lemme tell ya, customer service in banking is tricky cuz the customer is rarely right and you have to let them down veeeeery gently when telling them so. 😄
The power of service fees and math defeats most humans.
My 40+ years in banking concurs 100% with you.
hail, fellow survivor! well met! 👋😎
Ilove when the popcorn bucket comes out! If you’re going to lose 15 minutes of your life - carry on. But, if it’s going to be a double feature- get the popcorn!!
My favorite was when I was working at Lowe’s. Invariably, at least once a week, I heard “Do you work here?”. Eventually I started answering with “No, I bought the vest off eBay and I’m shoplifting. Don’t tell anybody!”
I laughed my ass off! I work customer service over the phone but so much was applicable and humorous.
I have always maintained that it should be mandatory in law, that the first job everyone gets should be as a front facing customer service person!
Everyone should learn just how rude, nasty, irrationally angry, ignorant and infuriating customers can be! And that stupid saying about the “customer is always right” should be removed from every service companies work rules.
With a career change from retail manager to salt water fishing guide, I became Captain of my own boat, and I make sure every guest understood that I AM the boss, the ONLY boss, and what I say goes. Oddly enough they all accept that as if being a ship captain makes me God.
I worked mainly in retail and these are great! Spot on!
Interesting. I have called a store to see if they were open and gotten Security and given the store hours.
Then there’s the Walmart method. They just don’t answer the phone. Of course, they also have the handy automated message.