The direction CS has taken

[Rubystars]

I find it impossible to smile for 8 hours straight. I just don't have it in me. I'm not really a people person. At my first job, as a cashier, I found it stressful just to have to see so many people in one day. I eventually got used to it though.

I can be nice to people without constantly grinning though. I often have had a serious expression on my face while conducting transactions because I felt anything concerning the exhcange of money was a business transaction.

If I'm a bit sullen but I'm not abusive to you, I hope you wouldn't complain on me. I don't think it's justified to complain unless someone's saying something pointedly rude, such as "Is it going to take you all day to fish out those pennies grandma?" or "Wow, your hair looks like you went to the electrician, not the beautician, to get it done". I might think those things, but I would never actually say them.

Personally, I would only complain when an employee is doing something dangerous or was extremely rude.

I swear, I've just been sitting on a bench outside during my lunch break resting and people have come up to me and asked "What's wrong?" or "Why do you look so sad?" I've told them nothing, but not everyone seemed to believe me. My resting face probably reflected how tired I was.

[Ree]

There's a huge difference between someone who is a 'serious' person, and someone who treats customers with contempt.

I am pretty good at reading people, and I can usually tell the difference.

You can be a serious person who just looks and feels phony with a smile plastered on your face, but you can still be polite and courteous and make the customer feel that you actually do appreciate their business and at least make them want to come back there.

I know I often catch myself at work, walking around with a frown on my face, just because I tend to frown when I'm deep in thought or have a lot of stress going on. When I wait on my customers, though, I will smile and treat them with respect, and they don't feel as if they are an intrusion on my day (even if they are).

It's not always about the smile. It's more about the attitude.

[rahmota]

I'll agree with Ree there have been times when I've loved the way I was treated at a store by someone. The local gas station and supply stores I am a regular at know me by name and we actually talk when given a chance.

There have been times when its been a purely business transaction and neither side interacted more than a few simple polite instructions/information requests. But it didnt feel rude. It felt like they where doing their job and since I wasnt giving off the talk to me vibes they didnt bother. Or whatever. It didnt seem rude so I didnt see it as rude.

Then there have been times when i could tell that I was "bothering" the clerk by wanting to do some kind of shopping and they where only being nice/polite because they had to. Its in the eyes on that one. If the smile stops at the teeth or looks like one of those barbie doll tour guide smiles then its not exactly a real one.

And then there have been times wher I have just plain out been treated in a rude,insulting and demeaning manner by some store clerk/customer service rep or whatever. Those situations are not very beneficial to public relations.

Its all about what you give. You give good vibes to someone more than likely you'll get good vibes back. You get what you give. And I'm quite frankly glad the site isnt so anticustomer in its attitudes.

[Rubystars]

I actually had to learn how to smile. When I first began working I would have whatever I was feeling inside on my face. If I was tired, I'd look tired. If I was bored, I'd look bored. If I was a bit annoyed (by someone fishing around for change, for example, when they could just as easily hand me a bill) then it showed.

I would only smile if someone told an (actually funny, not lame) joke, or if I was happy about something.

I had no acting skills.

I was told I had to start smiling, and I just didn't know how. I would awkwardly begin to bear my teeth at people after saying hi, which obviously looked fake, and embarassed me, and didn't even look like a smile at all, just a grimace, but I didn't know how to do it naturally if I didn't feel it. This awkward grimace kept the managers off my back a little about the smiling thing though.

It was embarassing because I'd be in a meeting with a manager, and they'd tell me I needed to smile, and I'd tell them I didn't know how to smile at total strangers. Of course this sounded like an excuse, but it was just the truth. Then they'd say something funny and I would smile and laugh, and they'd say "See you do know how to do it!" I'd try to explain that it was different, but I don't think they quite understood.

I finally learned how to do it, but it took time. I actually had to pretend like I was about to laugh to get my whole face into the right position for a genuine-looking smile, replacing the "ha" with a "hi". It feels more natural now, and I learned how to act and hide most of my annoyance, etc.

This of course has also helped me in social situations. I used to never wear any kind of social mask, just showed all my emotions as they were, because I didn't know how to do anything else.

After I learned how to do this, I had fewer problems, but honestly I still don't think people needed to complain on me even before I learned how to fake smiling. I was always nice to them in the sense that I never insulted them, I didn't abuse their groceries, I never tried to short change them, etc.

I couldn't believe people were complaining over a simple thing like not smiling, when I did say hi to them and didn't say anything overtly offensive (like the examples I gave in my other post). I think I understand better now why they did it, but back then I just didn't understand. That's one reason I try now to ignore it if someone seems like they're in a bad mood. Maybe they just don't know how to smile.

[Will-Mun]

I've read this thread, and I just have to say...I don't see it. I don't see the rampant customer love, employee bashing insanity. What I see is a bit of civility growing in CS.

I'm another OLD member, better part of a decade. I agree that CS was a lot more, whats the word, firm with it's attitude towards customers. But you have to realize thats a BAD thing... If everyone blindly agreed to what people said, you start to become zealots... Just a mass of people filled with hate, it's not a pretty picture.

I like it that people on the boards realize that customers are PEOPLE, even when we don't get the same treatment from them... They make mistakes, and we sometimes do press into the 'asking for it' level, I know I have once or twice. We don't necessarily go against the poster, but we do realize that the customer in question is not automatically a scumbag.

I think the idea that we all understand it's not always the customer pushes people to become more responsible with their posting, to look back on the situation and ask themselves if they're overreacting, if they might had sunk to the customer's level. It allows us to look at our own mistakes and actually become better at our job, not for the sake of the company, but for the sake of our own satisfaction so we can get through the day.

I have been sort of kind of away for the past month or so. I've been around, skimming the boards a bit, but I've been busy with real life stuff, so I don't know what the deal is with the Comcast Hammer Lady, or why people would EVER think a woman with a hammer is righteous for causing property damage, no matter how screwed over she was by a company...

But thats their opinion, and they do have a right to that. Thats why CS HAS a message board, so we as a community of people can come together and discuss and debate over the subjects that matter to us. It's fun to debate a topic, to put your opinion against someone else's, to say why thats good, and why thats bad, until hopefully people can come to an understanding and respect the other's belief.

Zealousy is something I would hate this board to come to, I don't respect Zealots in any way shape or form... Employees have enough Zealots on both sides, corporate and customer alike, I don't want to turn into one.

[AFPheonix]

I had no acting skills.

I do think that's something that makes for a great CSR. My coworkers laugh at me because I'll be ranting about something in one breath, and by the time I get to the drive-through phone and pick it up, I sound like a perky cheerleader. But, it keeps the customer engaged and I'm less likely to get hollered at,
Actually, that's pretty much my entire CS philosophy: what do I have to do to avoid getting yelled at? And that's typically what I tell people when I train them.
That includes being friendly and polite with customers, listening and not interrupting when they have an issue, being precise and preventing problems before they even happen, etc.
Now sometimes, it IS worth it to me to take some hollering at point blank range, but only if I'm fairly sure that my actions, which are innocuous enough to not get me in trouble, are the tipping point to get a pain in the ass customer to go elsewhere. In those cases, I'm happy to be the whipping girl.

[Luna]

I've been on CS for a little over 6 years now. Wow. Now that I think about it - wow.

There are times under the old ownership that I would not post for a couple months b/c things were let to run haywire and the entire site was at war with each other. It was horrible.

I am a very liberal woman. But some boundaries are nice. I love coming to CS. I feel like I'm a part of taking care of a huge family. I like that there are no adverts. I like that no one is screaming about how they are a paid member so they shouldn't have to do what I asked them to do as a Mod b/c they paid! (Yes, this happened plenty of times).

I like that Raps has set up a systems where the site members can feel free to ask why. They can come here and say, Yo - this is weird. I liked this? Why'd it change? Can we have this? I like that we as Mods can say, well - this is why and truly honestly discuss things to make the place more fun for everyone.

It'll never be perfect. People's views and values are too widespread to ensure 100% tranquility amongst the masses. However, I think it's damn good.

I wish more people would come here to voice their opinions on stuff though.