Post Pandemic Customer Service

Mackem DJ

Striker
Why is it so shit? Or is that just my perception?

Is it down to people being allowed to WFH or have companies lowered the bar? Or is it just that customers are actually becoming more intollerant (we frequently hear that abuse of shop workers is up % Post pandemic etc despite the fact we were clapping for supermarket workers at one point).

I’ve got a theory that as the pandemic hit, people were making allowances for customer service issues, many staff couldnt take calls whilst WFH, we had the Furloughed lot chilling in their gardens on 80% pay, people were anxious & many customers were probably just happy to be ‘safe’ & riding the pandemic out. It seems to me that a lot of organisations and businesses (including some that are customer facing on the high street) just can’t snap out of that mindset?
 


Why is it so shit? Or is that just my perception?

Is it down to people being allowed to WFH or have companies lowered the bar? Or is it just that customers are actually becoming more intollerant (we frequently hear that abuse of shop workers is up % Post pandemic etc despite the fact we were clapping for supermarket workers at one point).

I’ve got a theory that as the pandemic hit, people were making allowances for customer service issues, many staff couldnt take calls whilst WFH, we had the Furloughed lot chilling in their gardens on 80% pay, people were anxious & many customers were probably just happy to be ‘safe’ & riding the pandemic out. It seems to me that a lot of organisations and businesses (including some that are customer facing on the high street) just can’t snap out of that mindset?

More likely companies had people retiring / leaving because of Covid and they were difficult to be replaced. Now they could replace them then it's just 'accidently' forgot about since it's saving them money and they can get away with it.
 
I agree with you. Been awful customer service the last 18 months. Understandable of course, don't get me wrong.

Restaurants have been the worst. Multiple times now I've been turned away saying they're taking bookings only, when there's empty table after empty table. Not the kind of places I'd ever bother booking normally you know - just your basic chain restaurants you get in most shopping centres. Sorry, bookings only. Can only assume they just do not have the staff to cope with walk-ins.

Call centres have been fucked for the last two years. I am sick of hearing "due to unprecedented levels of demand"

Really? At 9am on a Tuesday morning? Fuck off.
 
I agree with you. Been awful customer service the last 18 months. Understandable of course, don't get me wrong.

Restaurants have been the worst. Multiple times now I've been turned away saying they're taking bookings only, when there's empty table after empty table. Not the kind of places I'd ever bother booking normally you know - just your basic chain restaurants you get in most shopping centres. Sorry, bookings only. Can only assume they just do not have the staff to cope with walk-ins.

Call centres have been fucked for the last two years. I am sick of hearing "due to unprecedented levels of demand"

Really? At 9am on a Tuesday morning? Fuck off.

You sometimes get that message and get put straight through ha
 
More likely companies had people retiring / leaving because of Covid and they were difficult to be replaced. Now they could replace them then it's just 'accidently' forgot about since it's saving them money and they can get away with it.
Yes this had been a big problem also. Our department now have 8 people doing the work of 10 people. For no more pay. It’s the same story in other directorates and with other companies.
 
I'm currently fighting a mattress shop after spending a grand on a Hypnos mattress with a 10 year warranty. Brief outline of events:

Delivered August 2021. It felt uncomfortable from the start but I thought it was just me getting used to it.
Rang twice in September as it still felt uncomfortable, but shop said it was a personal comfort issue and advised buying a topper.
Noticed the side had collapsed in October and there were visible dips in it. Emailed the shop with pictures and a technician came out. He ignored the side and took sagging measurements from areas with no sagging and said there was nothing wrong with it.
Complained further in November as bed was still sagging and uncomfortable. Shop booked technician 2.
Technician 2 arrived in December. He just pushed his hands on the surface a couple of times and lay on it. He said it was faulty to my face but then wrote a report for the shop saying no issues.
Complained again in January and was told to get my own independent inspection as the shop insisted there was nothing wrong with it.
Got my own inspection in February by an independent man recommended by Trading Standards. He took loads of measurements and photos including the collapsed side and the sagging. Shop disputed the report claiming he's not a qualified inspector as he doesn't work for a national recognised chain.
Sent further photos in taken myself showing how far the sides have now collapsed in (6 cm). Shop blamed me for excessive weight or prolonged sitting on the side or jumping on the bed (none are true) and said there is nothing they can do.
Emailed shop again offering to pay for a further technicians report from a firm of their choosing to settle the matter. Shop said the matter is already closed and told me not to contact them again.
Got a second inspection done anyway by the same company they used for the first technician. I've now got a report from them showing the same faults as my other report and explaining it unusable due to manufacturing defects.
Need to do a section 75 claim through my credit card or go to the small claims court to get my money back now.

In the mean time, I'm sleeping on my sons old single mattress as it's more comfy that the expensive one.

If the shop had been helpful and exchanged it in the first place, I'd have been a happy customer and they'd have kept my money from the sale.

I don't want to name the shop just yet in case I do need to go to court with it.
 
As someone who works in hospitality, I'd like to put our side across...

We've had, like everyone, two years of hell. But also two years of uncertainty.

In the interim, even during the height of Covid, we've had to put up with customers not taking any notice of guidelines or regulation - regulations and guidelines put in place to protect us as well as the customer - and trying to grab/hug/kiss us, which we know is a danger.
We've had minimal PPE (if any), and from the moment masks and hand sanitising became non-mandatory they've gone out the window.

I work for a brewery that over the last year alone has mad near on £100m in profit, yet used Covid as an excuse to reduce the amount of staff on every single shift.
No, hospitality isn't the hardest or most important job, but we've had staffing levels cut to the bone, while also been thrown to the wolves initially in "eat out to help out" and then after the government went "fuck you, it's back to normal".

I'm a manager where I work, and have always prided myself on my customer service. Despite the persona I can come across as having on here, I do try to help people and do go that extra little bit to ensure our guests are looked after.

However, we're fucked off with the way the government and the companies have shafted us. We're also fucked off with the fact that staffing levels, for in a lot of cases no reason, have been cut to the bone, meaning things take longer - and no matter how much you try to explain it reasonably, people still think it's an outrage to wait more than a few moments for their oh so precious pint, and get incredibly rude - even when they can see it's two deep at the bar, and only two people on shift.

So our patience is thin. We're incredibly overworked, sold short by the breweries or companies we work for, and sold out by the Government with our safety and health seen as a side issue.

So when you get self centred old bastards moaning they have to wait for a pint, or an old Karen complaining her steak is taking too long, our patience is thin.

We are overworked, stressed, understaffed, and criminally underpaid. And so, as soon as someone starts acting flash, or getting an arse on because we don't have enough people on to cope (like that's our f***ing fault), do you really think we're gunna bend over backwards to help them like before?
If the breweries reputation suffers as a result, so fuck? My health didn't matter when they were just trying to make dough before.

We worked through the height of Covid, were then told to stop working but put on 80% of our wage, and not told once how secure our industry is or our jobs are.

We're exhausted, stressed, and at the moment even stacking shelves in Tesco seems a better option than the shit we take.

Most of this country were happy to send us like lambs to the slaughter a year ago so they could get a half price Nandos, and that hasn't been forgotten.

I can only speak for my industry, but I'd imagine that's across the board.

Were seen as unskilled and dispensable, yet still expect to cater to ever whim and request we have thrown at us. So with respect, the care and level of service previously given is not possible. Partly because we're hideously overworked and under-resourced, but also because we haven't forgotten how we've been treated throughout this.
 
As someone who works in hospitality, I'd like to put our side across...

We've had, like everyone, two years of hell. But also two years of uncertainty.

In the interim, even during the height of Covid, we've had to put up with customers not taking any notice of guidelines or regulation - regulations and guidelines put in place to protect us as well as the customer - and trying to grab/hug/kiss us, which we know is a danger.
We've had minimal PPE (if any), and from the moment masks and hand sanitising became non-mandatory they've gone out the window.

I work for a brewery that over the last year alone has mad near on £100m in profit, yet used Covid as an excuse to reduce the amount of staff on every single shift.
No, hospitality isn't the hardest or most important job, but we've had staffing levels cut to the bone, while also been thrown to the wolves initially in "eat out to help out" and then after the government went "fuck you, it's back to normal".

I'm a manager where I work, and have always prided myself on my customer service. Despite the persona I can come across as having on here, I do try to help people and do go that extra little bit to ensure our guests are looked after.

However, we're fucked off with the way the government and the companies have shafted us. We're also fucked off with the fact that staffing levels, for in a lot of cases no reason, have been cut to the bone, meaning things take longer - and no matter how much you try to explain it reasonably, people still think it's an outrage to wait more than a few moments for their oh so precious pint, and get incredibly rude - even when they can see it's two deep at the bar, and only two people on shift.

So our patience is thin. We're incredibly overworked, sold short by the breweries or companies we work for, and sold out by the Government with our safety and health seen as a side issue.

So when you get self centred old bastards moaning they have to wait for a pint, or an old Karen complaining her steak is taking too long, our patience is thin.

We are overworked, stressed, understaffed, and criminally underpaid. And so, as soon as someone starts acting flash, or getting an arse on because we don't have enough people on to cope (like that's our f***ing fault), do you really think we're gunna bend over backwards to help them like before?
If the breweries reputation suffers as a result, so fuck? My health didn't matter when they were just trying to make dough before.

We worked through the height of Covid, were then told to stop working but put on 80% of our wage, and not told once how secure our industry is or our jobs are.

We're exhausted, stressed, and at the moment even stacking shelves in Tesco seems a better option than the shit we take.

Most of this country were happy to send us like lambs to the slaughter a year ago so they could get a half price Nandos, and that hasn't been forgotten.

I can only speak for my industry, but I'd imagine that's across the board.

Were seen as unskilled and dispensable, yet still expect to cater to ever whim and request we have thrown at us. So with respect, the care and level of service previously given is not possible. Partly because we're hideously overworked and under-resourced, but also because we haven't forgotten how we've been treated throughout this.
I’d have absolutely loved sitting around on 80% pay for 8 months out of 16 or so mind. As thousands of people did. There’s a lot of virtue signalling on the topic “i’d rather be working and being busy” but as someone who worked to almost 100% for the last 2 years i’d have loved nowt more tbh.
 
I’d have absolutely loved sitting around on 80% pay for 8 months out of 16 or so mind. As thousands of people did. There’s a lot of virtue signalling on the topic “i’d rather be working and being busy” but as someone who worked to almost 100% for the last 2 years i’d have loved nowt more tbh.
That's fine. But we were never told how secure our jobs and industry are; breweries, companies etc have used the pandemic as an excuse to screw us; we've been thrown to the wolves in terms of our health; people telling us our job is unimportant and we have no skill or intelligence because of what we do... And then want us to bend over backwards for them? Naff off.

Btw I know in twelve hours time I'm gonna have loads of replies saying to shut up and get on with it, im only in the pub game because I'm not intelligent enough to do something else, and other Tory nonsense.

But we still deserve respect and our health - AND our staffing levels and jobs - to be taken seriously. And they haven't been.
 
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As someone who works in hospitality, I'd like to put our side across...

We've had, like everyone, two years of hell. But also two years of uncertainty.

In the interim, even during the height of Covid, we've had to put up with customers not taking any notice of guidelines or regulation - regulations and guidelines put in place to protect us as well as the customer - and trying to grab/hug/kiss us, which we know is a danger.
We've had minimal PPE (if any), and from the moment masks and hand sanitising became non-mandatory they've gone out the window.

I work for a brewery that over the last year alone has mad near on £100m in profit, yet used Covid as an excuse to reduce the amount of staff on every single shift.
No, hospitality isn't the hardest or most important job, but we've had staffing levels cut to the bone, while also been thrown to the wolves initially in "eat out to help out" and then after the government went "fuck you, it's back to normal".

I'm a manager where I work, and have always prided myself on my customer service. Despite the persona I can come across as having on here, I do try to help people and do go that extra little bit to ensure our guests are looked after.

However, we're fucked off with the way the government and the companies have shafted us. We're also fucked off with the fact that staffing levels, for in a lot of cases no reason, have been cut to the bone, meaning things take longer - and no matter how much you try to explain it reasonably, people still think it's an outrage to wait more than a few moments for their oh so precious pint, and get incredibly rude - even when they can see it's two deep at the bar, and only two people on shift.

So our patience is thin. We're incredibly overworked, sold short by the breweries or companies we work for, and sold out by the Government with our safety and health seen as a side issue.

So when you get self centred old bastards moaning they have to wait for a pint, or an old Karen complaining her steak is taking too long, our patience is thin.

We are overworked, stressed, understaffed, and criminally underpaid. And so, as soon as someone starts acting flash, or getting an arse on because we don't have enough people on to cope (like that's our f***ing fault), do you really think we're gunna bend over backwards to help them like before?
If the breweries reputation suffers as a result, so fuck? My health didn't matter when they were just trying to make dough before.

We worked through the height of Covid, were then told to stop working but put on 80% of our wage, and not told once how secure our industry is or our jobs are.

We're exhausted, stressed, and at the moment even stacking shelves in Tesco seems a better option than the shit we take.

Most of this country were happy to send us like lambs to the slaughter a year ago so they could get a half price Nandos, and that hasn't been forgotten.

I can only speak for my industry, but I'd imagine that's across the board.

Were seen as unskilled and dispensable, yet still expect to cater to ever whim and request we have thrown at us. So with respect, the care and level of service previously given is not possible. Partly because we're hideously overworked and under-resourced, but also because we haven't forgotten how we've been treated throughout this.
Great post
Now, where the fooks me pint?
 
That's fine. But we were never told how secure our jobs and industry are; breweries, companies etc have used the pandemic as an excuse to screw us; we've been thrown to the wolves in terms of our health; people telling us our job is unimportant and we have no skill or intelligence because of what we do... And then want us to bend over backwards for them? Naff off.

Btw I know in twelve hours time I'm gonna have loads of replies saying to shut up and get on with it, im only in the pub game because I'm not intelligent enough to do something else, and other Tory nonsense.

But we still deserve respect and our health - AND our staffing levels and jobs - to be taken seriously. And they haven't been.
I have sympathy with you as it has been an awful time for public-facing staff but if your customers feel like they are being treated badly then it's no surprise when they kick-off, after all they are paying for a service, I'm not talking about the arseholes who think the World revolves around them I'm talking about customers who want to buy what you sell.
In the last 2 years I've had poor customer service twice, the first time was a pub lunch and we got ignored, the waitress was clearly in a bad mood, we won't ever go back, I did speak to the manager when he asked had we enjoyed our meal and told him no, I wouldn't be drawn into why. The second time was at a Supermarket where the staff were talking to each other while I stood waiting, I walked out leaving my shopping on the belt. Again I won't be back.
 
I have sympathy with you as it has been an awful time for public-facing staff but if your customers feel like they are being treated badly then it's no surprise when they kick-off, after all they are paying for a service, I'm not talking about the arseholes who think the World revolves around them I'm talking about customers who want to buy what you sell.
In the last 2 years I've had poor customer service twice, the first time was a pub lunch and we got ignored, the waitress was clearly in a bad mood, we won't ever go back, I did speak to the manager when he asked had we enjoyed our meal and told him no, I wouldn't be drawn into why. The second time was at a Supermarket where the staff were talking to each other while I stood waiting, I walked out leaving my shopping on the belt. Again I won't be back.
Mate I'm not gonna excuse every single bit of bad service. I get the hump when I go into a pub and I get shit service (albeit I do empathise because I work in the industry) and I do pull my staff when they fall short of expectations.

All I'm trying to get across is why sometimes our customer service might not be up to the level it was pre covid
 
It might just be me but I seem to be unable to speak to anyone when I ring them. I’ve sent 3 letters or emails to different companies and had zero reply. Im fairly sure all were binned. Ringing the council to speak to someone “ah you cant reach them by phone sorry”.

After the furloughed workers returned to their jobs last year many seemed bitter at finally having to return to work, walking around sullen barely in 2nd gear.

I was in a bank yesterday. Waited 30 minutes to withdraw some ££. One window open. 2 shut. About 8 employees just pottering on in the background or in little side rooms with 7 customers in a queue. I asked how busy does it need to be before someone else helps “oh we only have 1 open now”. And these people would be the first to cry when yet another bank goes to wall. Crackers.
 
It might just be me but I seem to be unable to speak to anyone when I ring them. I’ve sent 3 letters or emails to different companies and had zero reply. Im fairly sure all were binned. Ringing the council to speak to someone “ah you cant reach them by phone sorry”.

After the furloughed workers returned to their jobs last year many seemed bitter at finally having to return to work, walking around sullen barely in 2nd gear.

I was in a bank yesterday. Waited 30 minutes to withdraw some ££. One window open. 2 shut. About 8 employees just pottering on in the background or in little side rooms with 7 customers in a queue. I asked how busy does it need to be before someone else helps “oh we only have 1 open now”. And these people would be the first to cry when yet another bank goes to wall. Crackers.
Honestly mate - as I say, I can't speak for other industries - it's not bitterness at being back at work.

I hated furlough. I know what you say about wanting that time off, and I completely get it. But I personally hated it.

It was a great novelty at first. Paid time off? Get in!

But my work is my social life. My best friend moved away just before Covid, I'm single (albeit I spent the second lockdown with my ex who I'm unashamed to say I was head over heels in love with, but I also think that was a big reason in us not making it), and I'm mates with every single person I work with, there's not a single regular I don't get on with (I'm on the way home from a regulars stag do right now, and only leaving because I start at 9am tomorrow), and as much as the job stresses me out, I love it. I work for two people that I genuinely adore as human beings and have been wonderful with me and my mental health, but it was horrid. I spent the whole first lockdown coked off my tits, and the whole second one stoned just to alleviate the boredom and loneliness. And again, while it's a small sample size, I'd say the vast majority of people I work with also couldn't wait to get back.

As I say, there is no excuse whatsoever for poor customer service for ordinary people. I know I can come across a wanker on here but I genuinely do think I'm a good person, there's a reason the regulars love me, and I frequently go above and beyond for customers, hence me being promoted twice since coming back. Let me make it clear - there no excuse for having a bad attitude simply because you're having a bad day, or things at home aren't great.

But please, try and keep in mind our position. We've been openly shafted by the Government, shafted by our companies, and are under more stress than ever. I mention my great relationship with my boss, but whilst cutting staff isn't his decision, he STILL expects everything done to the same standard, in the same timeframe, with half the staff on. It's sooo stressful, it's exhausting, we're stressed... The cost of living is rising and rising, but we haven't had a payrise in three years. Meanwhile, the Brewery are making enormous profit, cutting staff, and even closing some of our pubs.

So as I say, when we hear a bit of attitude (in NO WAY saying you give attitude btw), or even just when it's busy, we're short-staffed and being screwed, our patience is low..
Is it the customers fault? Most of the time, no. But we're only human


All of us get short or arsey when we're stressed.
I'd honestly, honestly say that right now, hospitality - and probably retail - is THE worst sector to work in at the moment.
Btw, please don't think I'm looking for sympathy here. I'm genuinely not. I'm just trying to explain what it's like working a customer facing job at the moment
 
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