Selamat Malam! Or shall it be Selamat Pagi? I read from last Sunday’s Lifestyle section where this reporter was shopping in England when she found out that she could not use her credit card. When she called the bank in question, she was told that she was late in paying her bills, thus her card was suspended. Besides, she had maxed out her card.
That got her really riled as she had been in England for quite some time due to work, so wanted to settle her payment when she returned the following week. Besides, she had always paid her bills promptly. Plus she had to incur a lot of expenses due to her work.
When she tried to explain all these to the customer service officer, she was told rather rudely that no excuses were accepted and cards will be suspended the moment a customer defaulted payment or the credit limit had been reached.
So the reporter asked for a temporary extension on her credit limit as she still needed to incur more expenses due to her work, to which she was rebuffed. She was told curtly that no extension was allowed and no allowances would be made for anyone.
The reporter then lost her cool and told the customer service officer that that was no way to treat a paying customer. She had always paid her bills promptly, and she only needed this one favour from them and she would pay the extra the moment she returned, yet they were so rude to her. Then she added that she would cancel her services with them and would spread the word among her friends.
A while later, the manager of the bank called and gave a nice apology, saying that her credit limit had been increased by two times, and her card had been reactivated and she would have no problems using it while still in England. She was subdued, but reflected on why customers need to turn nasty before a good service could be rendered.
A similar thing happened to my friend. She just came back from a business trip and had to go for a meeting immediately upon returning. She was a few days late in her credit card payment since she was away. While in the middle of the meeting, the customer service officer called and asked her to pay her bills. She told the officer that she was in a meeting and could not talk to her.
Ten minutes later, her phonerang vibrated again. It was the same customer service officer who urged her to pay her bill or else her card would be terminated henceforth. My friend was so shaking mad that she asked for the name of the officer and said she would like to speak to the manager. The officer then promptly muttered an apology and hung up.
A while later, the manager called and asked what happened. My friend told the manager that the girl was very rude as she kept pestering her even though she was told she was in a meeting. My friend then explained the whole situation to the manager, with which she got the manager’s profuse apologies and allowed to delay payment. The girl then later rang up and apologised too.
I have another friend who recently got her phone g-masked, but was unhappy as it was badly done. So she emailed them her feedback and got a complimentary voucher for a free re-wrapping session.
Must customers turn really mean and nasty before the service providers can be nice to them? Or is it when people are nice, everyone thinks they can ride over them, but only when people are nasty that they show they are not to be trifled with? But this problem seems only prevalent here. I was chatting with my Indonesian friend the other day and he told me that on his most recent trip to Jakarta few months back, he loved to go shopping as the shop assistants were really warm and friendly and made him feel really welcomed and important.
It is the same in China, Australia, Japan, Canada. The sales assistants go all out to make you feel good. How many shops can you find locally that will give you the same feeling? Sometimes when there is a customer, the sales assistants stand talking to each other and totally ignore the customer even if he / she had stood there for a few minutes.
Yes, customers should be nice and make the service providers’ lives easier, but it should be a give and take situation. Customer service officers should also serve with a smile and act professionally. It is tough to have nasty customers, but that does not give anyone the excuse to be nasty back.
Besides, being in the service industry, the job is to make the customers happy and satisfied. Although it is not true that customers are always right, but the customer service officers should also sometimes examine their own tone and behaviour before blaming the customer for being unreasonable and nasty.
That got her really riled as she had been in England for quite some time due to work, so wanted to settle her payment when she returned the following week. Besides, she had always paid her bills promptly. Plus she had to incur a lot of expenses due to her work.
When she tried to explain all these to the customer service officer, she was told rather rudely that no excuses were accepted and cards will be suspended the moment a customer defaulted payment or the credit limit had been reached.
So the reporter asked for a temporary extension on her credit limit as she still needed to incur more expenses due to her work, to which she was rebuffed. She was told curtly that no extension was allowed and no allowances would be made for anyone.
The reporter then lost her cool and told the customer service officer that that was no way to treat a paying customer. She had always paid her bills promptly, and she only needed this one favour from them and she would pay the extra the moment she returned, yet they were so rude to her. Then she added that she would cancel her services with them and would spread the word among her friends.
A while later, the manager of the bank called and gave a nice apology, saying that her credit limit had been increased by two times, and her card had been reactivated and she would have no problems using it while still in England. She was subdued, but reflected on why customers need to turn nasty before a good service could be rendered.
A similar thing happened to my friend. She just came back from a business trip and had to go for a meeting immediately upon returning. She was a few days late in her credit card payment since she was away. While in the middle of the meeting, the customer service officer called and asked her to pay her bills. She told the officer that she was in a meeting and could not talk to her.
Ten minutes later, her phone
A while later, the manager called and asked what happened. My friend told the manager that the girl was very rude as she kept pestering her even though she was told she was in a meeting. My friend then explained the whole situation to the manager, with which she got the manager’s profuse apologies and allowed to delay payment. The girl then later rang up and apologised too.
I have another friend who recently got her phone g-masked, but was unhappy as it was badly done. So she emailed them her feedback and got a complimentary voucher for a free re-wrapping session.
Must customers turn really mean and nasty before the service providers can be nice to them? Or is it when people are nice, everyone thinks they can ride over them, but only when people are nasty that they show they are not to be trifled with? But this problem seems only prevalent here. I was chatting with my Indonesian friend the other day and he told me that on his most recent trip to Jakarta few months back, he loved to go shopping as the shop assistants were really warm and friendly and made him feel really welcomed and important.
It is the same in China, Australia, Japan, Canada. The sales assistants go all out to make you feel good. How many shops can you find locally that will give you the same feeling? Sometimes when there is a customer, the sales assistants stand talking to each other and totally ignore the customer even if he / she had stood there for a few minutes.
Yes, customers should be nice and make the service providers’ lives easier, but it should be a give and take situation. Customer service officers should also serve with a smile and act professionally. It is tough to have nasty customers, but that does not give anyone the excuse to be nasty back.
Besides, being in the service industry, the job is to make the customers happy and satisfied. Although it is not true that customers are always right, but the customer service officers should also sometimes examine their own tone and behaviour before blaming the customer for being unreasonable and nasty.
4 comments:
this is where the saying "Taking for granted" when the customer act nice to them...
And yes, it's true that Indonesian shop customer service are much much more nicer without being pushy. But they are only nice if you are nice to them. If you act almighty, I think they won't service you with an open heart
Hmm...
Just as I was commenting on the service of a certain restaurant...
sorry but i disagree with what you wrote..as much as i agree that service in singapore is truely torrid..it boils down to our culture..we are all so willing to accept good service..but who is willing to give it? i mean, i am sure we can associate with friends or colleagues who complain about horrible service then the next moment, the phone rings and they talk rudely to the caller..it's ironic and sad but it's happening everywhere..we all want to take and take but not give..
as for the customer service officers you mentioned, i feel that it's their job to apply the rules..sure you may say that rules can be flexible but if you put yourself in their shoes, they too have to work within their own job limits..in the end, if you noticed, each time it is the manager who issued the apology and cleared matters..for the simple reason that the manager is the one with the authority..
while service quality is seriously lacking here in singapore..let us not be too quick to pass judgement onto others based on a isolated instances..if not then, we are not much better than those who provide lousy service to us..
Sen : I agree. That's why I also mentioned that customers must be nice also.
Ole Wolvie : Yup, read that, another example of the "poor" service found here.
Addy : Gd point. But I have come across nasty service of my own accord, more than gd services, so I guess perhaps in our culture people still need to learn a lot more rather than just take things for granted.
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