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Are you a good customer or a bad one?

I tend to treat customer servie and sales people nice, having previously been on the other side for several years working in retail.

I especially treat barbers and waiters/waitresses nice - those are the last people you wanna tick off.
 
mlsusa said:
I doubt it'll catch on which would be a shame. I do feel if most restaurants start adopting this policy and do it right it'll improve the whole experience. I don't need the staff to kiss my ass. Actually I'd prefer that they don't. All I'm looking for is for them to be attentive and polite. And I think you get that by getting paid properly for what you do and knowing up front what to expect, as opposed to having to chase down a tip that may or may not come because it all depends on the people you're serving.
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The reason that it won't happen, is because more corporate chains and some small business owners won't want to actually pay their waiters. Right now, they make under 3 bucks an hour, so they're really not being paid anything.
 
I'm usually polite and it seems to have paid off; the local Subway often gives me free cookies :)

Sometimes you do get bad service even when you've done nothing wrong. Once I went to a drive-through, I was the only customer there, and it was pouring with rain. The speaker box is exposed but the window where you pay and pick up is covered. I drove up to the box and politely asked "may I order at the window?" and was shocked to get "no" back :eek:
 
For food service, I'm definitely a great customer. I used to work in a few restaurants in high school/early college years, so been there done that.

Retail/sales I might not be the greatest customer at times. I know what I want and I typically want to get in and out as quickly as possible. Unless it's something I don't know about, I don't need your assistance. I don't care about your add-ons, memberships, or rewards programs.
 
yg17 said:
Don't these people know the golden rule about eating out? Don't piss off the people who cook your food.
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My friend was, in younger years, once an assistant manager at a Kentucky Fried Chicken. He told me that whenever they get a nasty (bad attitude) customer, that customer was served the "special chicken".

Special chicken = the employees behind the counter would drop the pieces of chicken (e.g. drumsticks) on the kitchen floor and kick it around like a soccer ball. Then pick it up and box it, then serve it to the "bad customers". :D :D :D

Lesson in life: try not be an ****** customer. You will only regret it.
 
"Yes, you are a customer and, yes, they do work here. But it's actually not their job to deal with psychopaths. They aren't hostage negotiators, they're fast food workers."

Best quote of the whole article. :D
 
I never quite believe these kitchen stories, but if true I hope they get called out on that. Complaining about bad behavior and reacting in such a way would be....rather immature and ridiculous.


That said, being polite goes without saying, although I've to admit that I have a weak spot for incompetence. If they start to bother me and waste my time with blatantly misinformed stuff even I know more about just to sell me this or that, I guess I can get rather rude. Meaning I'll end the conversation quite abrupt. (i.e. buying Win8 Pro retail in a brick and mortar store was a pita)
 
I'm generally nice, or at last try to. I know most people are working schmucks like me. If they start giving me an attitude, I usually start bristling and being a bit less friendly. Most people seem to respond better when being polite and friendly.
 
I like to think I am a good customer. I've never made a scene or raised my voice in a store or on the phone. If I'm getting static from an employee, I'll either ask very pointed questions to guide them the way I want to go with the conversation, or I'll quickly end it and walk away.
 
I think I am a good customer. I was taught to respect people, no matter the situation. Yes things can upset me, but no use in taking it out on other people. If I am getting attitude, then I will ask to see the next higher up. Being polite will always get you further. If I had someone ranting at me, I would just walk away or let someone else deal with them.
 
SkyBell said:
As a person whom just got out of working fast food for 2+ years, that "lady" quoted in the article gave me horrible flashbacks. :eek: :p

It really is true:


At the McDonalds I worked at, there were a few regular customers whom we made absolutely certain received the wrong order, everytime they came through - because no matter how often we "screwed up", they just kept coming back and yelling in our faces. After a while, it became a game of seeing just how angry you could make them. :D
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I used to work at a Pizza Hut where the manager would mess with customers pizza who pissed him off. Once, he buried an anchovy way under all the toppings. The guy ended up showing up at the store and the manager ended up calling the police to get rid of the guy.

Then there was the time they poured jalapeño juice all over the top of a pizza and sent it through the oven.

Yes, they keep coming back even after all the screw ups and employees have GREAT memories, they tend to remember these customers.
 
vrDrew said:
The secret? Simply treat the people who are providing you with service as they would like to be treated: professionally and courteously. A smile and the little words "please" and "thank you" are the most powerful weapons you can carry.
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Hail yeah! I can't count the numbers of times I've been given a little bit extra (extra napkins, extra ketchup, extra fries and most importantly, extra friendly service) because a civil tongue. I have ran into bad service people before, no point going back for more abuse right?
 
twietee said:
I never quite believe these kitchen stories, but if true I hope they get called out on that. Complaining about bad behavior and reacting in such a way would be....rather immature and ridiculous.
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In high school I saw it happen a lot, when a customer treats staff like ****. They should be expected to be treated like **** back.
 
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