I'm gonna second OpMegs on the yelling bit.
I mean, we all know it's rude to shout. What's less obvious is that it's not instrumentally rational either, in terms of getting your point across. I've not done retail or service as such, but in my peon job in radio, I often effectively worked as such at on-site events...and had the experience of fielding quite a few outside calls at my desk as well.
Someone starts yelling at you, you get annoyed in return, you're just like, enh, deal with the idiot, smile and nod, whatever, that guy's such a bitch. Doesn't do much.
I guess it can actually freak out the person you run off on, but that's not exactly better either. I've tried - and managed, I think - to be calm when makin' a complaint ever since one particular incident at an airport. I lost my temper with this guy at the check-in desk. And then he stopped, his eyes going really wide behind his glasses, and in this soft quivering tone said: "...you don't have to shout."
I swear, that guy could give a puppy dog a run for its money. But it did make me feel absolutely awful, so I apologised at once. =P
True, you need to insist on your rights. There's a lot of customers that insist on being treated like kings, that's true, but it's equally true there's a whole lot of companies that'll treat regular customers like crap. I find that calm but firm works well - certainly did just a couple weeks ago when I had to butt heads with a local CD store.
Because we can't all be this guy (linked news article)
(Short version:- British Airways tried to bump a couple of 14-year-old girls off a flight - after they'd checked in. On their way home, it should be stressed. They didn't knock the adult that was travelling with 'em off the plane, but seriously, he couldn't abandon them. The airline didn't offer much compensation - initially just £20 each in vouchers from the airline shop. So you have a very angry father... who was indeed an Economy Class passenger at the time, but when he's not on vacation, the man's a CEO... =P)
-- Acyl
I mean, we all know it's rude to shout. What's less obvious is that it's not instrumentally rational either, in terms of getting your point across. I've not done retail or service as such, but in my peon job in radio, I often effectively worked as such at on-site events...and had the experience of fielding quite a few outside calls at my desk as well.
Someone starts yelling at you, you get annoyed in return, you're just like, enh, deal with the idiot, smile and nod, whatever, that guy's such a bitch. Doesn't do much.
I guess it can actually freak out the person you run off on, but that's not exactly better either. I've tried - and managed, I think - to be calm when makin' a complaint ever since one particular incident at an airport. I lost my temper with this guy at the check-in desk. And then he stopped, his eyes going really wide behind his glasses, and in this soft quivering tone said: "...you don't have to shout."
I swear, that guy could give a puppy dog a run for its money. But it did make me feel absolutely awful, so I apologised at once. =P
True, you need to insist on your rights. There's a lot of customers that insist on being treated like kings, that's true, but it's equally true there's a whole lot of companies that'll treat regular customers like crap. I find that calm but firm works well - certainly did just a couple weeks ago when I had to butt heads with a local CD store.
Because we can't all be this guy (linked news article)
(Short version:- British Airways tried to bump a couple of 14-year-old girls off a flight - after they'd checked in. On their way home, it should be stressed. They didn't knock the adult that was travelling with 'em off the plane, but seriously, he couldn't abandon them. The airline didn't offer much compensation - initially just £20 each in vouchers from the airline shop. So you have a very angry father... who was indeed an Economy Class passenger at the time, but when he's not on vacation, the man's a CEO... =P)
-- Acyl