Customer Service

[FreyaHawk]

I've been punched, kicked, spit on, called every horrible name a human being can come up with... I've had poop thrown at me, I've been threatened at knife point, I've had a woman complain because I helped her up off the floor after she fell.... Yep... Such is the oh so rewarding life of a registered nurse. >.<

Some of these things all happened in the same shift... Woo. Working at an inner city hospital is not 'fun', but I have seen some crazy stuff and had a few laughs.

I wonder why people think being a dick to their nurse is a good idea. Dude your life is in my hands... Gonna curse me out because you got into a bar fight had your eye obliterated and now you can't see... Yeah.. That's so MY fault >.<

[crazyD]

I'm in customer service! A pretty great customer service gig, though. It's business to business, which is really important. Supporting end users is always shitty. I get to work with some really intelligent people who work for some of the biggest companies in the world, get paid well for my work, and learn a lot every day. That said, I have been doing this for a long time, and have had a lot of shitty support jobs before I got here.

[PathMaster]

Originally Posted by Typhus

I dunno... after 3 years in retail, time in the food industry and now working as a security supervisor / director of security in shopping centers I genuinely think everyone should have to work either 6 months as a waiter/waitress or November/December in retail. Some people will still be asshats but it would give a lot of others some perspective.

My retail experience was probably a bit skewed, I worked for Borders where at least you knew the customer base was literate which is more than you can say for some places. Most of the time it was a really positive experience talking about books and connecting customers to things I read and enjoyed... and every once in a while (usually close to holidays or the end of summer) it got bad. But you did what you could and moved on to someone else you could help.

The best thing I learned was to always start the interaction with the customer from a really positive standpoint, if I was happy and kind and good then usually they fed off that and were good to me. Kill them with kindness, then plot their murder in the breakroom.


As for my new job... better than retail as I can ban people from the property but I now know how little common sense there really is to be had.

I agree. Everyone should work in retail for six months to a year. It will make most better understand everyone else around them. I started out in retail, at Barnes & Noble, and the customer's were a fair bit better than most, but we still had some doozies. And it was from the BN job that I learned something very simple and similar to your positive standpoint: smile. Smile when you deal with customers, even smile when you answer the phone. It does work, and that smile carries through well.

I am doing IT now, so it is all customer service. Which is fine, because I get the satisfaction of gratitude when I solve or fix something for a staff member.

[Doogie2K]

Originally Posted by FreyaHawk

I've been punched, kicked, spit on, called every horrible name a human being can come up with... I've had poop thrown at me, I've been threatened at knife point, I've had a woman complain because I helped her up off the floor after she fell.... Yep... Such is the oh so rewarding life of a registered nurse. >.<

Some of these things all happened in the same shift... Woo. Working at an inner city hospital is not 'fun', but I have seen some crazy stuff and had a few laughs.

I wonder why people think being a dick to their nurse is a good idea. Dude your life is in my hands... Gonna curse me out because you got into a bar fight had your eye obliterated and now you can't see... Yeah.. That's so MY fault >.<

Not gonna lie, I'd be super-tempted to throw the poop back.

I mean, you got gloves. You're good.

[Purple Santa]

Originally Posted by FreyaHawk

I've been punched, kicked, spit on, called every horrible name a human being can come up with... I've had poop thrown at me, I've been threatened at knife point, I've had a woman complain because I helped her up off the floor after she fell.... Yep... Such is the oh so rewarding life of a registered nurse. >.<

Some of these things all happened in the same shift... Woo. Working at an inner city hospital is not 'fun', but I have seen some crazy stuff and had a few laughs.

I wonder why people think being a dick to their nurse is a good idea. Dude your life is in my hands... Gonna curse me out because you got into a bar fight had your eye obliterated and now you can't see... Yeah.. That's so MY fault >.<

This deserves its own thread. The helping field and the "thank you" you get for the "helping". Like the time I restrained someone's child so they didn't assault them then was slapped because they ended up being involuntarily committed for 7 days in psych. ward. Hey yeah...yw

[Hawkzombie]

My wife is a trooper. If someone threw poop at me I'd probably poop on them.

And lord knows that's a portal right to the depths of hell in my ass.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by Hawkzombie

My wife is a trooper. If someone threw poop at me I'd probably poop on them.

And lord knows that's a portal right to the depths of hell in my ass.

No no. Your wife is a pooper.

Lawl.

It's late.

[Dark Prince]

It seems no matter how much you bend over backwards, sometimes bending the rules on that rare occasion, there were times I didn't even get a thank you or acknowledgement of what I did for them. That upsets me more than anything really.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Dark Prince

It seems no matter how much you bend over backwards, sometimes bending the rules on that rare occasion, there were times I didn't even get a thank you or acknowledgement of what I did for them. That upsets me more than anything really.

It's because it means more to you than it does to them. For them, it's a minor inconvenience that you have resolved and for you it could be something that eventually costs you your job. I've been there, and it's not fun. You'll dwell on it for days, weeks or months even while they won't even think about it beyond acknowledging to themselves "Whew, that is taken care of."

[Shieldmaiden]

Originally Posted by Purple Santa

This deserves its own thread. The helping field and the "thank you" you get for the "helping". Like the time I restrained someone's child so they didn't assault them then was slapped because they ended up being involuntarily committed for 7 days in psych. ward. Hey yeah...yw

Due to my combination of size and being generally calm and level-headed, I found myself being the go to guy for "unofficial security" in a bunch of the retail and bar jobs I had. If some junkie shoplifter needed minding while we waited for the police, I'd be called in. When I was working in a bar and we didn't have a bouncer working, but someone needed to be tossed out, they'd ask me. However, in the five years I was doing that kind of stuff, I was never assaulted. No-one even attempted to throw a punch.

Within three days of working in a primary school, I was attacked with a hockey stick.