Customer Service - NF

[Tinman]

Is it just me or has the customer service industry gone down the tubes? I know this is a rant but I'm still upset over the service i received at a Tim Hortons's this morning. I just fired a letter off to their head office. I went through the Drive thru ordered my steep tea, yes, i drink Tea. The guy said they were out, so I asked if they were making more. He said the machine was broken, no big deal right? But then he forgot to shut off his head set and said, "did he not F ing hear me the first time", I had my 2 kids in the car, 5 and 2, and let me tell ya, i have a nice gash on the inside of my mouth from biting it. Then i get to the window, no please, no thank you, no sorry about the Tea. I know, they don't get paid a lot, fine, but when i was there age as a carry out boy at the local grocery store, i was making a lot less than the 8 or nine bucks they are. I never swore at a customer, always said please or thank you. AHHHHHHH

 

Thanks For the audience folks, i feel better

 

Denis

[Big Cliff]

Good that you fired off a letter, did you get the kid's name? I think I'd have gone through the door and asked to speak to the manager!

[Tinman]

i would have but i was so mad at that point i would have said a whole bunch of stuff that would have put me in his level.

[forrest]

Service people are often irritated, some are also 'slow'.

 

If he said "Sorry, the steep tea machine is broken" instead of "we are out" I think it would have been OK for him to complain silently.

But, the skill of translating from brain to mouth seems to be a dying art (?) so the guys 'slowness' led to a situation where he thought he was clear but was not. Happens all time.

 

The swearing thing.....who knows. Maybe he was not brought up right.

This scenario is not isolated to the service industry. Complaining is the right thing to do.

 

forrest

[douG]

When I worked at the grocery story, some little old lady asked if she could have half a head of lettuce. I told her that I would ask the manager, and would be right back. I went to the back of the store and said to my boss that some weirdo wanted half a head of lettuce. As I say this, my boss is pointing over my shoulder - she had followed me! I quickly said, 'And this nice lady here would like the other half'.

[Roy]

Doug, you've been watching too many beer commercials.

[Guest lundboy]

Good Luck with the complaint letter.

 

I had a big issue at the TH in Keswick, where they "ran out of small buns" to make the small sandwiches at 11:54AM!

 

My wife and I wanted two small combos. They forced me to try and take to large and pay for two large. I said I will take one large and get two drinks (pay extra for the second drink), and get 20 timbits.

 

The person serving was the supervisor. She got a timbits box, literally threw timpbits in it, and put it on the counter. I opened it and counted, there were only 19. I said that it was short, she grabbed the box, counted them, turned around and grabbed another and threw it in the box, then slammed it down in front of me and said "you can count it again if you like".

 

I was furious! I fired off a letter to the head office when I got home to complain about the "Bun Scam" and the horrible treatment by this employee, I even had her name. I received a letter back basically saying that they pride themselves on good service and that they would have a talk with the district manager of that branch. Not even a sorry!

 

That was as far as it went.

 

So good luck!

[Tinman]

thats sorta what i figured with the big companies

[Dano]

Yea, cant stand the Hortons, stopped going there years ago after getting tired of them consistantly messing up orders etc. Went back a couple weeks ago (a friend I was with went in) and asked for one of their new roast beef sandwiches (the one they are pushing in the current commercials) and they said they had none. Guess nothing has changed, but the sheep still line up....

Edited April 27, 2008 by Dano

[Canuck2fan]

When I worked at the grocery story, some little old lady asked if she could have half a head of lettuce. I told her that I would ask the manager, and would be right back. I went to the back of the store and said to my boss that some weirdo wanted half a head of lettuce. As I say this, my boss is pointing over my shoulder - she had followed me! I quickly said, 'And this nice lady here would like the other half'.

 

C'mon douG tell us the rest of the story.... it goes like this. The manager goes you are a smart fella. How about you take a promotion? We have an opening for an assistant manager in Flin Flon Manitoba. Flin Flon you snort I can't go there there is nothing but ho's and hockey players there....

 

The manager goes beet red and says I will have you know my wife comes from Flin Flon... Without missing a beat you reply.... REALLY and what position did she play left or right wing?

[forrest]

Good Luck with the complaint letter.

 

I had a big issue at the TH in Keswick, where they "ran out of small buns" to make the small sandwiches at 11:54AM!

 

My wife and I wanted two small combos. They forced me to try and take to large and pay for two large. I said I will take one large and get two drinks (pay extra for the second drink), and get 20 timbits.

 

The person serving was the supervisor. She got a timbits box, literally threw timpbits in it, and put it on the counter. I opened it and counted, there were only 19. I said that it was short, she grabbed the box, counted them, turned around and grabbed another and threw it in the box, then slammed it down in front of me and said "you can count it again if you like".

 

I was furious! I fired off a letter to the head office when I got home to complain about the "Bun Scam" and the horrible treatment by this employee, I even had her name. I received a letter back basically saying that they pride themselves on good service and that they would have a talk with the district manager of that branch. Not even a sorry!

 

That was as far as it went.

 

So good luck!

 

 

I think I would have found their Bull response even more infuriating....I changed my mind. Next time, for Tim Hortons, go in and politely make the offender feel like a knob.

 

I did have a complaint about ambulance service, the Ontario Government conducted interviews, checked facts and records. Came back that hte ambulance guys did screw up, so did the 911 person and the 911 process.

 

Ambulance guys were certainly corrected (a letter would have went in their file).

The 911 operators error in judgment was made apparent to them.

The 911 process for handling that type of call had the hole in it patched.

 

 

It felt good to know that a mistake(s) resulted in learning.

 

forrest

[muskymike]

I think this is the way the entire consumer industry is going, or seems to be a trend. No matter where you go on as a consumer, you get treated like you dont mean anything. No one cares about their job and the attitudes reflect it. Mind you there are still some places albeit few and far between, that do know what customer service is, but these are mainly private small businesses.

 

There is no such thing as "Hello, Bye, Have a nice Day, Can I help you with something, Thank You etc." I think it starts from Management all the way down to standard reps. There is no training, nothing enforced by management and no one is afraid to loose their jobs anymore.

 

Tinman, i would be irate if I were you. Keep with it and keep pushing for some sort of action, he should have never said that on Drive-Thru and you should have never heard it, or your kids for that matter.

 

Good Luck and I hope you see some results.

[Tinman]

Thanks mike! In last while i have only been to one place where the sevice has actually made me say Wow, i was called sir, and my wife maam, by a gentleman older than me. Answered all my questions and found what we needed, it was at the Cody Party world on Merivale in Ottawa. I would recommend them to anyone for party supplies

[Canuck2fan]

I think this is the way the entire consumer industry is going, or seems to be a trend. No matter where you go on as a consumer, you get treated like you dont mean anything. No one cares about their job and the attitudes reflect it. Mind you there are still some places albeit few and far between, that do know what customer service is, but these are mainly private small businesses.

 

There is no such thing as "Hello, Bye, Have a nice Day, Can I help you with something, Thank You etc." I think it starts from Management all the way down to standard reps. There is no training, nothing enforced by management and no one is afraid to loose their jobs anymore.

 

Tinman, i would be irate if I were you. Keep with it and keep pushing for some sort of action, he should have never said that on Drive-Thru and you should have never heard it, or your kids for that matter.

 

Good Luck and I hope you see some results.

 

I disagree that in general civility has gone by the wayside.... I HAD to shop in 5 different stores yesterday for I have the joy of attending 5 different birthday parties today.... In every store I was asked how I was, if I found everything I wanted and told thank you or have a nice day. By the same token though when I approached the cashier and I was asked how I was today. I said I am OK and how about you? Sometimes you have to be polite to be treated politely.... After I was thanked I said thank you and told them to have a nice day. Niceities are a two way street. Treat service people how you would like to be treated and most of them reciprocate and when then don't in my case I can usually show them not being polite is not good for their peace of mind either. I know more ways to ruin a rude cashier's day than they could even dream of to ruin mine.... LOL

[BillM]

I've had a few people forget to turn their mic off after I've ordered. Most of the time it's nothing, but there have been a few off colour comments. I usually just yell back into the speaker "Hey smartass your MIC IS STILL ON!!!"

 

Red faces and apologies are usually awaiting me at the window, lol

 

BTW, Steeped Tea is done, their machine wasn't broken, Tim Horton's isn't carrying it anymore.

[Guest lundboy]

Wow and you still ate or drank your order?

 

You are a very Brave guy....

Edited April 27, 2008 by lundboy

[Tinman]

BTW, Steeped Tea is done, their machine wasn't broken, Tim Horton's isn't carrying it anymore.

 

even telling me that would have been better

[shane]

I'm not a big fan of Tim Hortons but I do go in my local one a couple times a week just because it's right there. There is an older lady that works there regularly that is the sweetest, most polite person you could ever meet. She calls everyone 'dear' and always 'please and thankyou' and (almost) always smiling. I don't know how she does it considering how rude a lot of the customers are.

 

Also, it seems like Tim Hortons is the very bottom of the job world. One time I overheard two young staff girls talking and the one girl says "God, I hope I get that job at 7/11"

 

 

Oh yeah..................steeped tea (snicker, snicker, snicker)

Edited April 27, 2008 by fireball

[Tinman]

One time I overheard two young staff girls talking and the one girl says "God, I hope I get that job at 7/11"

 

 

I guess that is bad! I worked one summer at a fish store, i had cats follow me home.

[bassfighter]

In the United States, you will get rewarded for your complaint. Many of my friend got theirs as well. They apologized, will get your address and other info on the phone, and mentioned you will be expecting food voucher on the mail soon.

 

My Dennis restaurant Problem - I got tickets valued at $40. my meal that had problem was only $12

 

My Ihop problem- We got $30 meal voucher

 

Dennis kid eat free meal on birthday.- my son always fills out a form and get one from mail.

 

I try my best to drink other coffee brand, Timmis is making too much money , and their coffee at times seemed tasteless, if you take out the sugar and creme. Compare the taste to Starbuck coffee , it seemed to give you more coffee taste.

 

Will the employee at Calgary Timmis do better now that their pay is $15+

 

Joshua

[Guest lundboy]

Will the employee at Calgary Timmis do better now that their pay is $15+

 

Nope, I know someone that works at a Calgary TH. They only get paid that much because the cost of living is so high. He has to rent a 2 bedroom apartment with 4 other guys to be able to afford the rent. And it took them 4 months to get a place.

 

The $15/hr works out to be the equiv of the $8/hr minimum here in Ontario.

[Joey]

C'mon douG tell us the rest of the story.... it goes like this. The manager goes you are a smart fella. How about you take a promotion? We have an opening for an assistant manager in Flin Flon Manitoba. Flin Flon you snort I can't go there there is nothing but ho's and hockey players there....

 

The manager goes beet red and says I will have you know my wife comes from Flin Flon... Without missing a beat you reply.... REALLY and what position did she play left or right wing?

 

 

Now that right there is funny, except I lived in Flin Flon for a few years and I Didn't play hockey

 

Joey

[Cory]

Good reason to avoid drive thru's.....at least you get to deal with people face to face.

 

And you can always dump your coffee (tea) on them by mistake if they piss you off.

Edited April 27, 2008 by Cory

[Canuck2fan]

Now that right there is funny, except I lived in Flin Flon for a few years and I Didn't play hockey

 

Joey

 

 

Sorry Joey.... and I picked Flin Flon to avoid such a problem on here.... The joke is usually about Sudbury but we have a lot of people on here from there so I didn't want to hurt anyones feelings.... Just goes to show it is a small world after all

[Joey]

Sorry Joey.... and I picked Flin Flon to avoid such a problem on here.... The joke is usually about Sudbury but we have a lot of people on here from there so I didn't want to hurt anyones feelings.... Just goes to show it is a small world after all

 

Hahahahaha, sokay, I wasn't born there. There was some mighty fine fishing up there tho

 

Joey