Customer service nightmares have become a daily occurrence instead of an occasional one. Between rude workers and incorrect orders, most people wonder what the reason for the madness is — at least, that’s what one man is wondering.
An elder millennial took to the internet to complain about the terrible service he has noticed, specifically from teenage workers. He insisted there was a steep decline in good customer service since he worked as a teen.
The man recounted some awful experiences he’s had with customer service: a worker got his coffee order wrong even after confirming it three times, and he was treated as an inconvenience when attempting to return an item at a store.
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He nostalgically recalled that when he worked as a teen, he always put in his best effort, but he cannot seem to find that same work ethic today.
“What’s changed? Why is there a lack of care now? Do these kids not need a job? Are they not afraid of consequences?” he asked.
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A 2023 survey by Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business found Americans are fed up with bad customer service. A whopping 74% of consumers reported having customer service issues, up from 66% in 2020 and 56% in 2017.
In an interview with Fox Businesscustomer service expert Tenumah Cluster explained that the reason customer service is often so bad is that workers aren’t being paid enough while simultaneously being overburdened.
“If you think that the company you’re doing business with is treating you badly, wait till I tell you about how they treat their service employees,” Tenumah said.
Companies treat their workers with little to no dignity. They expect employees to be proficient in their jobs without investing in proper training. That is why Tenumah stressed that frustration should never be directed at the employees themselves but rather at the business choosing cost-cutting measures to provide a terrible experience for employees and consumers alike.
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In response to this man’s grievances, one commenter who recently worked in a few entry-level positions wrote, “I can’t tell if it’s just store managers or it goes higher up, but the training is virtually nonexistent.”
“I got hired alongside a mix of younger people,” they continued, “and they stuck a phone in our hands and told us to use the apps to figure things out for ourselves. If we ask questions, they try to scold us for bothering them.”
Employees aren’t being provided with proper training, forcing them to do the best they can with whatever’s thrown at them, all while some angry customer is giving them trouble.
The service industry is certainly not for the faint of heart, but asking untrained teens to navigate the minefield of angry customers for very little compensation is a recipe for disaster.
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A study from 2019 found that the emotional labor employees perform when keeping calm in the face of rude customers inevitably leads to job burnout and turnover.
But the real question is, with everything working against these service workers, why would they even try?
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Now, this isn’t to say that if an employee treats you awfully, you should just take it; if that happens, then, of course, report the incident.
It’s just to remind you that in today’s world, more often than not, workers are being mistreated by the companies they work for and not even being provided proper compensation. That kid taking your order is also doing their best, even if it may not seem like it.
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Sahlah Syeda is a writer for YourTango who covers entertainment, news, and human interest topics.
