(Un)memorable Moments in Customer Service

[KuyaDanny]

Reklamo time, boys and girls!

We all have our anecdotes about lousy customer service. Akala ko ba "the customer is always right?" Well, some people apparently don't think so.

How about sharing your own reklamo/gripe about customer service?

Names are not required. Pero kung gusto nyong sabihin ang pangalan ng tao, bahala kayo.

We can't promise to solve your problems but at least we can wish that your misfortune won't happen to others.

[KuyaDanny]

Allow me to get this ball rolling.

This happened about nine years ago, noong uso pa ang brownout na inaabot ng anim na oras sa maghapon.

Nagpa-develop ako ng film sa isang 1-hour processing place along Taft Avenue. Sabi sa akin bumalik daw ako in 3 hours (duh...?)

Para sigurado, I came back the day after. Siyempre, medyo excited makita ang mga pics - first month yata ng panganay ko (unang baby!)

Upon opening the envelope, napanganga na lang ako at medyo mangiyak-ngiyak...

Kulay blue ang baby ko! Waaaaaahhhh

Nireklamo ko sa tindera: "Miss, bakit naman naging asul ang anak ko?" Yung magaling na photo expert ang tumingin ng picture, and the verdict <;dyarannnnn!!!!>;...

"Sir, sira ho yung camera ninyo."

Aba, ********* ito, ah? Ni hindi nakikita ang camera ko sinisi kaagad. Hindi man lang inisip baka palpak ang trabaho nila.

Needless to say, ang tagal ng away namin doon.

Then, may dumating na ibang customer and, voila! asul din ang pamilya niya. You guessed it, sira din daw ang camera niya.

Ngayon dalawa na ang kaaway nung tindera. Buti na lang dumating yung may-ari (thank God), na siyang nagsabi na pag nag-brownout, lumalamig ang machine. Kailangan painitin muna para huwag maging asul ang mga tao.

Eh, di PALPAK nga sila.

Siguro nabawasan din nang ilang araw ang buhay ko dahil doon.


O, kayo naman.

[blue babe]

hah!!! i have soooo many horror stories... but the best i think involved this bank...

i did a consultancy job thing for some malaysian company. so they were going to remit my pay (in dollars) to any account in the philippines. syempre, wala naman ako dollars so i asked my tita if i can use her account. syempre, i was concerned na baka di ako bayaran, kaya i kept following it up.
one monday morning (take note, monday na monday, umagang umaga), i called again to inquire. yung hinahanap ko, wala. so someone else took the call. mejo masungit sya. pero sige lang.. pasensya. di naman ako war mood eh. so, while i was talking to her, sabi niya wait lang, titingnan daw niya yung computer niya. while tumitingin sya, nag ring yung cell ko. syempre, sinagot ko. i told her naman to hold on while i take the call (malay mo important. kaya ka nga nag cell, para matatawagan ka anytime diba?) anyways, it was just a friend making kamusta. so i told him na i'll talk to him later, i was on the phone.
di alam nung babaeng taga bank na i didn't take the phone away from my ear. kala niya siguro, binaba ko while taking the cell call. so,i heard her mutter : "bastus mo naman... ikaw tatawag sa kin tapos dadaldal ka lang sa cell."
aba... nainis ako. so i asked her "ano sabi mo?" aba! sinagot ako! ang bastus ko daw! syempre niratratan ko! tapos, kinausap niya yung office mates niya in a really loud voice "lukaret talaga to ah... siya na nga yung nambastos, siya pa nagalit!"
whoah!!! i blew my top. when she got back to the phone i asked her if my money came in, asked for her name and her department. that same day, i wrote a 3 page, single spaced, font 10, letter of complaint to the bank's president, the HR dept. head and her dept head. i threatened to send a copy to the PDI. talagang sinermonan ko sila. i told them na banking is service oriented. kung ganun ang personnel nila, wala silang future! if they're so desperate that they have to hire such uncouth persons, make sure na lang na wala sa customer service!!! grabe noh!!!
after that, i got a personal apolgy from the HR dept head. she kept calling me sa office... i swear.. umuusok pa rin ang tenga't ilong ko when i remember that incident.

[KuyaDanny]

Mga cashier na walang barya!

Don't you just hate it when, after waiting in line for 20 minutes *just to pay*, you hand over your hard-earned cash to the kahera and after saying goodbye to your money, you are rudely awakened by...

"Sir, wala ho ba kayong barya?"

Sino ba sa atin ang cashier dito?

Sukli na lang nga hindi pa pagbutihan.

[wAgKaNgMaKuLiT]

hahahaha...

wawa naman kayo... buti pa ako, di pa nakaka experience ng ganon...

[CiGaWeTte]

Argh!!! my experienced happened in my skOol canteen... itz not that bigat naman but itz hella irritating!!!!
kse one time i was waiting in line for the breaded chicken thingie and when i finally got there, the lady placed a poor excuse for a chicken breast on my tray... so i jokingly sed "miss, wala na bang mas lalaki pa dito?" and she snapped back at me "EDI WAG KANG BUMILI!!!!" (dAaAmn.. how rude can u get) wala... yun lang... juz wanted 2 share

[jepoy]

I remember one time na tumawag ako sa Department of Motor Vehicles para magpa-rehistro ng kotse, at sus! Sobra ang bastos ng mga operaytor! Ganito ang usapan namin..

*ring*
operator: You have reached the Department of Motor Vehicles..
jepoy: Hi! Hello.. how are you today, me? bery pine thank....
operator: ..for your convenience, please have your driver's license number and social security number ready at all times.
jepoy: .. aba may pagka bastos 'tong operaytor na 'toh ah, siya na nga ang kinakamusta eh.. okey m'am, my drayber license is ready.
operator: For english, please press one..
jepoy: m'am, i am knowing of the english language, it's okey po, i do not need to press one..
operator: ...for spanish, press two...
jepoy: Aba loko talaga 'to ah. M'am, i was absent for my ispanish class opten, i hab no abla espanyol, but i can ispeak the english language to you very well.. m'am?!
operator:.. for english, please press one..
jepoy: ay ang kulit ng nanay mo! I said olready that i can enlish to you in an excellent way, don't you think?!
operator:.. for spanish, please press two..
jepoy: dats it!!!.. siyet!!!!.. i am piss out!!! I want to ispeak to your supervisor now!!! at this moment in taym!!!
operator: .. if you need assistance, please stay on the line and someone will be right with you..
jepoy: Are you insulting me?!! Are you deaf?!!! I said i want to ispeak to you supervisor, not you "assistance manager"!!! Ay bwisit!!! *bagsak phone*

[KuyaDanny]

Kgayong binanggit ni jepoy ang kanyang experience,

I nominate all the customer-service-by-telephone services. Yung maraming pinipindot (make a selection, etc), hintay, hintay, hintay.

Tugtog, tugtog, tugtog.

Tapos...mapuputol ang line!

[clawed_out]

kuya danny,

para bang katulad nung sa Globe? 7301000

& yung tech support ng pacific...i forgot the phone num. of that company eh...

& pati yang barya issue na yan...

pati yung mga saleslady dyan sa megamall(particularly yang dept. store ng sm)...kwentuhan lang ng kwentuhan ni ayaw kang asikasuhin, tapos pag hindi ka naka damit ng maayos (yung japorms ba)
eh di ka eentertainin bagkos ay susundan ka na para kang shop lifter.... kainis yun no!

[bing2x]

LOL!! kuyadanny

anyways, mine is not really a customer service story.. it's the annoying telemarketer's who calls you at home making special offers on their credit cards, long distance rates, etc.. at marunong pa silang mag-tyempo - dinner time or pag natutulog ka.. that's why i just let machine answer.

[Mister Dean]

Not to be the devil's advocate, but can we turn it around? Sometimes, we as customers can be pretty rude also.

Frankly, I'm always a victim of rude service (siguro dahil ang pangit ko, nyek), but sometimes the customer can get pretty irritating. I personally hate those people who ride the jeepneys and pay with P100 bills, claiming "walang barya." For God's sake, the ride is P3! Do they expect a jeepney driver to have P97 in change at the start of the morning? Di ba?

[clone]

When I was bagong salta sa U.S, I got upset with the telephone operator. The conversation went something like this:

Op: "Hello, AT&T, may I help you?"
Me: "I want to make a far, far away call."
Op: "Oh, you mean long-distance call?"
Me" "Yes! It is collect over the seas."
Op: "You mean collect 'overseas' call?"
Me: "Yes!"
Op: "Whom do you wish to speak to?"
Me: "Mr. Abaquel"
Op: "Please spell that name for me."
Me: "Capital A, as in big apple.
.... B, as in boy.
.... A, as in small apple.
.... Q, as in Cuba.
.... U, as in Europe.
.... E, as in Illinois.
.... L, as in elephant.

Then she suddenly hung up. HOW RUDE! I still can't imagine why she did that. Can you?

[KuyaDanny]

Of course, Mister Dean, we must be considerate in those cases such as the jeepney drivers in the morning.

But what I cannot forgive are store owners who clean out the cash registers in the evening, leaving nothing at all for change the next day.

Or cashiers who change shifts in the middle of the day. When they do that, they take away all the cash in the drawer, for "control" reasons, leaving the next cashier to deal with the problem of no change.

[clawed_out]

aray mister dean tinamaan ako doon ah! lol!
pero kidding aside, yung sa akin sa fx naman nangyari... i was on my way to school boarding that FX taxi, i gave the driver my bayad (500) eh tanghali na yun..mga 11:30 so i'm expecting na he has a change for that & wala talaga akong barya that time...alam mo pinagawa sa akin...pinark nya yung fx nya (since i was the last passanger left inside) sa tapat ng jollibee & i was expecting na pababaryahan nya, & ginulat ako ng sabihing, eto pera mo bumili ka dyan at tska mo ako bayaran... well wala akong nagawa, napa iling nalang ako ...kainis...sinunod ko siya.... grrrrrrr! see how drivers can get rude sometimes?

clone: LOL!

[KuyaDanny]

And speaking of kuwentuhan, next time you go out, whether to a fastfood place, a supermarket, or a department store, notice how the employees would rather talk to each other than to you.

I would probably be more understanding if the customer did nothing but complain. But it happens even if you're placing an order, or (my God!) PAYING! (Hey, guys...I'm giving you money...would you rather talk to each other or take my money?)

[Yoshi]

To cut a very long story short, may napalayas na kaming Parker saleslady sa National Bookstore dahil mataray siya. After we told the manager that she was rude, she came to us and cried her heart out and begged for her forgiveness. Pinatawad naman siya at kinausap namin yung manager, pero the next day, wala na siya sa National.

[KuyaDanny]

Gee, Yoshi, you can be ruthless sometimes.

If it were up to me, though, I'd get rid of the manager. Oftentimes they let these newbie salesclerks loose on the floor without any training, and never bother to check up on how they are doing.

[KuyaDanny]

Here's another one - just this morning.

Call somebody at the store, and if he seh/happens to be unavailable, the reply you'll get might be something like this: "Wala pa ho siya, tawag na lang kayo ulit."

Aba, bastos na, tamad pa.

The better thing to do, from a customer service point of view, is to offer to take a message or to have the unavailable person call you back.

When someone uses this trick on you, my suggestion is for you to say (in the rudest tone you can muster): "Hindi! Customer ako at siya ang dapat tumawag sa akin." The other party will be too shocked to react and you'll get a callback. Works for me everytime.

[PePe_LePew]

KuyaDanny: Gosh! never thought of doing that. Magawa kaya next time.
Anyway, I was supposed to make a deposit at my former bank a few years back. My mom's the one usually doing the transactions kaya I'm not familiar with the place. So there I was, a scrawny kid looking for help in a bank. And boy, the tellers were a lot of help! Especially the one who introduced me to the guards to show me the door! ANG BASTOS NILA!!! It got me so mad that I got my dad to withdraw all the money in all the accounts that we have in the bank. It's fun to see the manager suck up after, and boy does she have some yummy cookies!

[This message has been edited by PePe_LePew (edited 02-12-2000).]

[blue babe]

pepe:
wahahaha... buti nga dun sa bank!! its about time these "customer oriented" establishments realize that all their clients, prospectives included, and even young people, ought to be treated with a little more respect...