Customer service is DEAD.

I fully realize I'm an asshole

 

I am too! Though, I prefer to be called a dick.

 

I sincerely attempt to not flip my asshole switch. As I age it gets easier not to. Someone hinted at minimal expectations earlier. Perhaps I need to pivot to this "New Normal" posture and minimize my exposure. I've been saving a ton of cash the last year as restaurants struggle. Let them die. Rewarding poor services, conditions, or attitudes is NOT and will never be in my wheelhouse. See... I can be an asshole and be polite.

 

“Karen’s” have been around since the dawn of time. It’s only recently that they’ve figured out how to utilize the loudest platform ever known to mankind to disrupt the cash flow of any business they choose. It’s a damned shame online opinions hold so much sway.

 

Instead of just snark, I'll make a meaningful contribution to this thread. I've been in law enforcement for 22 years. I've dealt with a number of assholes, and an even larger number of very good people. One of the most arrogant and entitled people I've ever dealt with was a Colonel in an unnamed military branch.

I have not found there to be any generational trend to being an asshole. I have seen a trend to parents who are assholes often have kids who are assholes, but not exclusively. Nor vice versa.

My two oldest daughters both work in the food service industry. I hear horror stories from them all the time about how customers act. A 30 something mom recently used the F word to my 17 year old as they were trying to resolve an issue.

Be a good person. Have grace. Treat others the way you would want to be treated.

 

$14-15 per hour why should I tip! Yeah..."but we get paid so little we rely on tips". Find another career. What I cant stand is go to coffee or tea shops they take my order then turn the tablet over and ask would you like to tip. So I gota tip for ordering now?

 

What the hell does that supposed to mean?>!


jk...

 

I worked at Burger King when I was a kid. The job sucks, but it's not particularly skilled or difficult labor. Being on your feet all day sucks, getting to deal with entitled customers sucks, but I always worked hard. Nothing I made ever turned out like these pics.

Take pride in your work, even if your job sucks.

 

I always wondered why other kids worked fast food and crappy minimum wage jobs like that when landscaping paid better and was more rewarding/ fulfilling. But I hate people so customer service would be hell for me.

 

Minimum wage in Alberta is $15 per hour.

 

do u still tip the stripper even tho customer svc wasnt great? asking for a friend

 

Just the tip....nothing else

 

I think that converts to about $.03 American.

 

I still tip. I have a friend who makes closer to $25/hour (meat cutter), his girlfriend makes around $17/ hour if I recall correctly, they live in a house his dad owns (not sure if he pays rent or not), he's always driven used vehicles (most of which were hand me down GMs from his dad until he got tired of doing repairs and bought a Toyota) and he still can't afford things like cable TV or dress clothes.

 

This is when I really value living in a small ski town here in CO, that culture of really appreciating customer service/business practices is still alive for the most part. but yeah, down the hill in Denver nobody gives a shit.

 

Rural Kentucky has mostly modest, hard working people. We are not without our problems, and disagreements. Most have that southern hospitality too. We also have this.


Here is the same image that I edited. Please let me know what you prefer.
Original, or edit.


Figuring out the shot.

Figured out shot.




Same house. Three different angles. One photo of Moo-Moos.

12:30 a.m.


The moon just after Moonrise as seen through the trees of an illuminated yard on tranquility base road.

Shot of the sky when looking up the driveway.

Figuring out the best settings for this one was tricky.

I figured it out.

Figured it out.


Editing in clarity in original post, a link, and a picture from this frosty morning around 31°F.


There are more photos by much more skilled photographers than me in this Photo of the Day thread.

 

A slippery slope to be sure. Do we promote, and expect shoddy service from these types of stores based on the perceived wage? I guess someone who feels that unskilled worker is in a bad place can accept whatever condition he or she purchases and tip very heavily in a plea to social gesturing. Most don't. Most simply jaw jack about it. Point being there has to be a break point that's reasonable. You know... Back when things were simpler. We kicked people out in the 70s too. We also strived to make a difference at $3.35 an hour.

 

Beautiful. Lucky man.

 

Stop it... I had the wife locked in to Tennessee and she hates the cold, don't derail me. Haha

 

I should have clarified that I do tip if the service is excellent at a real restaurant. I have an issue with the kid flipping burgers at McDs making 50% of what an experienced jman tradesman gets. The last two female welders we've had both quit because they could make more money serving tables than welding due to the $15/hr + tips. Servers aren't hurting for money.

Your friend and his gf are making a combined $42/hr. Assuming they both work 40hrs a week, that's pretty good for a household. The Woman and I combined are less than that and we own a house and have two good used vehicles in the driveway with a little money left over for savings and a few luxuries on occassion. I don't judge but it seems to me as though your friends either have spending habits that need to be addressed or they live in a very high cost of living area. If he's actually not paying rent and can't afford to live, then there's some deep issues there imho.

 

Perfect example of customer service. My wife went to an ear nose and throat specialist last year to see about a constant ear problem. The front desk seemed very distracted when she called them to set up the appointment, they were having a hard time finding a date to schedule.

We went in there about a week later, I hung out in the lobby while my wife went in. I heard the ladies at the front desk taking a call and saw them making faces at each other while the customer was talking. The ladies were really being childish, they were late 20s to mid 30s I would guess. The doctor was decent my wife thought, I wasn't too impressed with him.

Fast forward, my wife called them last week for a visit, same thing, they couldn't seem to find an empty slot on the calendar. She went in today and just texted me that a patient walked in and was surprised to find that these ladies scheduled her visit for today with a doctor who she normally doesn't see, and failed to tell her that doctor is in Oxnard. This office is in Thousand Oaks, about 25 miles away. She says they didn't even say sorry, their response was the patient didn't say which office she wanted to visit!

 

Agreed that I only tip at sit down restaurants or at independent local places with counter service that I like and would prefer remain in business. Anyone who would give up a career like welding to wait tables obviously doesn't have a calling to be a welder so let them go.

You're right that my friends definitely have issues, though the fact that they can't even work 40 hours a week is a contributing factor. The retail giant they work for (like many others, I understand) makes sure to schedule its employees for less than 40 hours a week so they don't have to pay benefits. Which just makes me wonder what value, if any, my friend is getting from his union. Their hourly wage is high enough that they've essentially priced themselves out of getting overtime or working holidays so they get to do extra work the day before the holiday instead.

I'm not entirely sure what my friend spends his money on besides food/ eating out and movies/ video games but he said he had to cancel his cable and he was looking for a cheap streaming service instead.

 

Sounds like the receptionists where my wife works!

 

The cable thing could simply be the fact that cable is a ripoff in Canada. Netflix and PrimeVideo combined are cheaper with better content than even the lowest cable package. Hell, Prime even streams Global News and Thursday night NFL football now. We dropped cable years ago and never looked back.

I have a friend simar to yours in that he makes a fair wage for his industry but the employer schedules him for 32 hours per week to keep from paying benefits. It sucks, but such is life. My friend ended up picking up an extra shift or two a week as a part timer with another company and now averages 44 hours per week of work and buys an Alberta Blue Cross plan to cover dental and prescription meds. Sometimes that's what you gotta do to get ahead.

Most guys I work with either have part time jobs or do sideline gigs to bring in extra money. I have a feeling the days of families making it on income from a single job which is kept until retirement are long gone. I hit 7 years with my company today. That's almost unheard of in my industry and only 3 or 4 people are above me in tenure now.

 

Can confirm KY and WV are riddled with great customer service and helping hands.

And VERY cheap real estate vs CA.

VERY
CHEAP

 

And the thing is....it's not just limited to customer service - or it is, depending on if doctors are included in this.

Had some shoulder issues a few years back. I did CrossFit at the time, but stayed away from the goofier stuff (e.g., kipping pull-ups). Important note - the shoulder issues PRE-DATED CrossFit.

Went to the doctor who said "CrossFit caused these issues." I told him the issues pre-dated CrossFit, and his exact response was

"Well, if it made the shoulder issues worse...then CrossFit caused the shoulder issues."

 

@Kung there are so many reasons that I don't have a primary doctor. That is one of them. Most of the time I am better at diagnosing than they are, which scares me. I have had several instances of this.

 

You beat me to it

I was a teenager when I first saw that movie and thought Pink was an asshole. Now I agree with him and if service is bad you're lucky to get a dollar. If service is good though you're getting more than 15%. I have walked away from a few tables and bars leaving nothing.

 

That's the scary part; that was a *specialist* doc. My PCP (primary care provider) is great. But you're not wrong.

Back in 2015 I noticed that my wife was just sort of....sad, depressed. But I ALSO noticed her fingernails looked 'wavy' (like a baby Ruffles chip). I did some research and right the hell away I found a webpage talking about hyperparathyroidism. (It's when the parathyroid(s) go nuts and call for a crapload of calcium in your body.)

I tried to get her an appointment and her doctor *REFUSED* to request a PTH (parathyroid hormone) test. Swapped doctors, and in the meantime, we called an endocrinologist and essentially told them we'd go sit in their office and REFUSE to leave until she was seen.

They were angry with me...UNTIL they saw her and we told her our thoughts. His exact words were "Sometimes you have to fight for your care, and you were 100% right to do so. We'll take care of you."

Turns out she did INDEED have hyperparathyroidism. We got in to see literally the world's foremost doctor (Dr. Norman out of Tampa General Hospital) on this surgery, and she had it back in June 2015.

THE NEXT DAY she felt 100% better. She can stay up late now, she's got more energy, no more depression, etc. I had issues dealing with it for awhile...all I could think of is that someone was f***king with *MY* wife's health. I was so angry I couldn't see straight for a while.