Dealing with the public as part of your job (2 Viewers)

[Anarchy99]

I am assuming that murdering potential customers is frowned upon in most states. But had this interaction this afternoon.

CUSTOMER: You came highly recommended. A couple of people told me not to even call anyone else.
ME: That's great. How can I help you?
CUSTOMER: I want this service. How much is that going to run?
ME: $X amount.
CUSTOMER: What does that include?
ME: That includes ABC, 123, LMNOP.
CUSTOMER: Wow. That's great. How much was that again?
ME: $X amount.
CUSTOMER: Great, Let's get started. Just making sure . . . the cost will be $X, right?
ME: Yes, sir.
(Lots or administrative stuff and information gone over to get things started and get the custom order written up.)
ME: Great. You're all set. I just need payment for $X amount.
CUSTOMER: I know you said $X amount several times. But I was thinking more like $X less 40%.
ME: We went over this, you agreed to $X and had me put everything together for that price. The price is $X.
CUSTOMER: Well, if I had known it would cost $X, I probably wouldn't have called you and may not have been interested. Let me think about it and get back to you.
(Wasted over an hour that I could easily have wasted posting here.)

 

[gianmarco]

Tell him you'll give him DEFGHIJK for free.

 

[Chemical X]

“Accidently” back over the customer with your vehicle.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Just about any young person would benefit from working in a public service job for a while. It would inspire them to stay in school until they are qualified enough for a job where they would no longer have to deal with the public.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

I hate the public. deal with them daily and in public hearings every month, and have done so for 24 years. Extremely ill-informed, yet they know your job and everyone elses.

 

[Jayrod]

Just about any young person would benefit from working in a public service job for a while. It would inspire them to stay in school until they are qualified enough for a job where they would no longer have to deal with the public.

I say the same thing about physical labor.

Climbed telephone poles in the Summer and nothing motivated me more to stay in school and get my degree than the memory of falling off of a telephone pole in the middle of nowhere on a 100 degree day.

 

[belljr]

Just about any young person would benefit from working in a public service job for a while. It would inspire them to stay in school until they are qualified enough for a job where they would no longer have to deal with the public.

I say the same thing about physical labor.

Climbed telephone poles in the Summer and nothing motivated me more to stay in school and get my degree than the memory of falling off of a telephone pole in the middle of nowhere on a 100 degree day.

I picked up road kill for part of a summer .....eek

 

[wlwiles]

People are awesome, but the general public sucks. And people that use "The Customer is Always Right" as a shield for their crappy behavior are some of the worst.

 

[El Floppo]

Tell him you'll give him DEFGHIJK for free.

tell him he'll get it PDQ

 

[DaVinci]

I already told you: I deal with the ******** customers so the engineers don't have to. I have people skills; I am good at dealing with people. Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Just about any young person would benefit from working in a public service job for a while. It would inspire them to stay in school until they are qualified enough for a job where they would no longer have to deal with the public.

I say the same thing about physical labor.

Climbed telephone poles in the Summer and nothing motivated me more to stay in school and get my degree than the memory of falling off of a telephone pole in the middle of nowhere on a 100 degree day.

A couple of months ago I saw somebody suggest that elite universities should place more weight on a summer job working the Customer Service desk at a big box store than on an unpaid internship. They weren't joking, and I agree with his point. This sort of thing is good for character-building purposes, but also it forces you to work with and around people who are not in the top quarter of the IQ distribution. I think people who do the prep school - unpaid internships - gap year at NGO - Ivy League pipeline come out with a grossly distorted view of what human beings are like.

 

[El Floppo]

Just about any young person would benefit from working in a public service job for a while. It would inspire them to stay in school until they are qualified enough for a job where they would no longer have to deal with the public.

I say the same thing about physical labor.

Climbed telephone poles in the Summer and nothing motivated me more to stay in school and get my degree than the memory of falling off of a telephone pole in the middle of nowhere on a 100 degree day.

A couple of months ago I saw somebody suggest that elite universities should place more weight on a summer job working the Customer Service desk at a big box store than on an unpaid internship. They weren't joking, and I agree with his point. This sort of thing is good for character-building purposes, but also it forces you to work with and around people who are not in the top quarter of the IQ distribution. I think people who do the prep school - unpaid internships - gap year at NGO - Ivy League pipeline come out with a grossly distorted view of what human beings are like.

my oldest (and my wife) are looking at all these things now... and hearing a lot about working for mcdonalds or similar instead of making copies at uncle joe's law firm for exactly those reasons.

 

[John Maddens Lunchbox]

To quote George Carlin
“imagine how stupid the average person is then realize half of all people are stupider than that”

 

[Ilov80s]

All my job is is dealing with the public. Teaching is not easy, I promise.

 

[TLEF316]

See this in my job as well. (commercial insurance) Lots of people think that once you've spent enough time on them, you'll give them anything they want last minute just so the time you spent doesn't become a pointless sunk cost.

And sadly.....if the payoff is big enough, they're often right. Lots of "well, we're already wasted 2 weeks working on this, lets just cut 15% off the price to close" in my world. Better to get the credit for writing the big deal even if you know its under-funded up front (you can always raise rates down the road if the claims put you in the red)

 

[jvdesigns2002]

I’ve said this in this forum many times. Dealing with the public is not easy. There is a reason why a lot of customer service/sales positions are unfilled. I’ve been in an industry where I’ve been dealing with the public for nearly 30 years. Over the past 5-10 years it has gotten progressively tougher (and especially so from the pandemic to the current time). Most people are very nice to deal with and work with—but there are lots of people out there that are just miserable. I definitely empathize with the OP and can understand his frustration.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

I’ve been considering opening a business for a few years…

Plumbing = Too “messy”
Electrician = Could die
HVAC = perfect!

Whats stopping me? I don’t want to deal with customers.

 

[snellman]

I am the Service Manager at an Auto dealership and the public has changed since the pandemic. They are a lot more demanding now and crabbier in general.

Me: "I am sorry sir, I can't get your car in for a week because my schedule is full"
Cust: "That is not good enough, I need my car now!"
Me: Ok sir, who would you like me to bump back in my schedule because you are "more important" than they are? I will give you their phone number and you can call them and explain to them that you are more important and therefore will get your car fixed before they do.

 

[Hastur]

Backround:
Retail work - Many, many, many years
Waiting tables - 5 years

The public is ok for the most part. There are some clods who think it is their mission in life to be jerks though. It's an ego trip. As soon as you realize they are small minded individuals whose parents didn't show them enough love as a child, dealing with those fools becomes much easier.

 

[northern exposure]

I am the Service Manager at an Auto dealership and the public has changed since the pandemic. They are a lot more demanding now and crabbier in general.

Me: "I am sorry sir, I can't get your car in for a week because my schedule is full"
Cust: "That is not good enough, I need my car now!"
Me: Ok sir, who would you like me to bump back in my schedule because you are "more important" than they are? I will give you their phone number and you can call them and explain to them that you are more important and therefore will get your car fixed before they do.

The problem is some places do follow the "squeaky wheel gets the grease. He who yells loudest, wins" principle. So these customers try this approach everywhere.
The last time I had my car in for servicing, I made an appointment a week ahead of time and told them I would wait for my vehicle. They said it would be ready by Noon.
As I'm sitting in the waiting area I hear Mr. Loud come in and start yelling because he needs his car fixed today! He bought his vehicle and his wife's vehicle at this dealership, etc. They tell Mr. Loud not to worry they'll get it done. A short while later my Service Tech comes to find me and says my vehicle won't be ready by Noon now. I ask does it need more work or what's the reason? All she would say is "something came up" and now my vehicle will be ready by the end of the day. They offer me an Uber ride to wherever I need to go. But, I tell them I need my vehicle for the afternoon because I have to make sales calls. They tell me there is nothing they can do and I can take my vehicle to another dealership if I like, but end of day is the best they can offer me.

So, do you think Mr.Loud will continue this type of behavior in the future?

 

[massraider]

The public is ok for the most part.

I think the public is OK for the most part, because for the most part most interactions with the public go well. They get what they expect.

When things go wrong (whatever that entails in your industry) are people understanding and patient 'for the most part'? A mistake, a delay, something that tries your patience, is the public's first instinct to be understanding?

Evidence in my little corner of the world is no, not really.

 

[Anarchy99]

Bumping this thread because I am tearing my hair out dealing with the public. I do project-based work for individuals (basically job coaching, resume writing, and all things work search related). The typical project from start to finish last 2 weeks. I spell out everything to the customer at the beginning . . . the costs, the timeline, the process, and the deliverables on my end and what is required of them on their end.

The issue becomes when customers don't do their part. I need to interact with people and schedule calls, appointments, and follow-up. Way too many people blow off calls, don't respond to emails, and otherwise muck up the timeline. Their kid was sick, their dog needed surgery, a pipe burst, they had a last-minute meeting, a work crisis, a lobotomy, whatever. That turns into work trips, vacations, and general "sorry, been really busy" excuses. The customers all need to provide me with information and data points for me to complete their projects.

The most recent example is someone that needed to get me additional information to finish his project. That was promised the next day. It took him 5 weeks to get back to me. By that point, I was absorbed in many other projects. He expected to be first in the queue, but it wasn't my fault he went walkabout and popped up again out of the blue. I finished his project on the date I said it would be done, but he refused it saying it took too long, and he had already disputed the charge on his credit card.

Another issue is people that refuse to close out their projects. They have a never-ending string of questions, changes, and requirements. Many folks suffer from whataboutism. Won't a company want to see XYZ information? What about topics 18, 19, and 20? I think we should highlight those. What about my job from 1987 that last 6 months? Why did you drop that off? Someone on TikTok said I should do things differently than you did. Then they solicit feedback and opinions from people that have nothing to do with the industry they work in. Sort of like getting the opinion of someone that doesn't follow sports at all and asking them who you should start questions for your fantasy team or claim off of the waiver wire. Your sister works as a hairdresser and is a high school dropout, yet she has expert advice and opinions on what a Director of Cybersecurity should list on a resume.

The third bad outcome are people that go dark after I deliver their materials. I provide them what they paid for, follow-up 3 times to see if they need anything else, and then assume they are happy and satisfied. Then 3 months later they complain I never finished their project. Sometimes they dispute their charges alleging fraud. Sometimes they leave nasty reviews on social media. Sometimes they play hardball and want additional services included for free as retribution for the long delay THAT THEY CAUSED. I've even had people use what I developed for them, get great new jobs, and THEN issue chargebacks to their credit cards after getting a $50,000 raise.

All these types of things chew up my time, drag out projects, mess with my sanity, and impede my ability to complete projects for people that stick with the program and do what they need to do. Just because John Doe calls me after a month, that doesn't mean I can speak with him that exact moment and drop everything because now he needs something completed in an hour.

I am open to suggestions on how to handle these types of situations. These used to pop up once in a while. Now it seems like 3/4 of my customers turn into headaches and nightmares . . . and I don't have any way of knowing how people will be to work with until I actually start working with them.

 

[Gally]

I am open to suggestions on how to handle these types of situations. These used to pop up once in a while. Now it seems like 3/4 of my customers turn into headaches and nightmares . . . and I don't have any way of knowing how people will be to work with until I actually start working with them.

My guess is that this is the way that people have morphed in society today and it will only get worse. It's all centered around selfishness. Almost all of the issues you outlined are about the customer doing what the customer wants on the customer's timeline and then blaming you because you didn't do what they wanted you to do at the time or way they wanted it done...........even though you told them exactly what you were going to do and they initially agreed.

I would guess in your field there are a lot of different ways things can be done or ways to do it. So there is a lot of info on the subject so the customer can get the answers they want from somewhere else and try and force them on you.

I don't know a solution to this. I think it is going to continue and probably get worse. I would be totally frustrated having to deal with that crap all the time.

 

[Max Power]

I am open to suggestions on how to handle these types of situations. These used to pop up once in a while. Now it seems like 3/4 of my customers turn into headaches and nightmares . . . and I don't have any way of knowing how people will be to work with until I actually start working with them.

My guess is that this is the way that people have morphed in society today and it will only get worse. It's all centered around selfishness. Almost all of the issues you outlined are about the customer doing what the customer wants on the customer's timeline and then blaming you because you didn't do what they wanted you to do at the time or way they wanted it done...........even though you told them exactly what you were going to do and they initially agreed.

I would guess in your field there are a lot of different ways things can be done or ways to do it. So there is a lot of info on the subject so the customer can get the answers they want from somewhere else and try and force them on you.

I don't know a solution to this. I think it is going to continue and probably get worse. I would be totally frustrated having to deal with that crap all the time.

I tend to agree with the bolded. I don't have a lot of interaction with the public, but it's only been getting worse. I work recruiting/hiring/training for the DoD. There is a lot of entitlement from day 1 and seemingly a lack of accountability as well. Things are definitely headed in the wrong direction.

I recently hired someone to work second shift after it was spelled out those were the hours required, only to show up on her first day and say she can't and won't work those hours.

I also had a new hire on her second week tell me she won't be showing up for a full week because her kids are on spring break and she's going to stay home with them. This unfortunately screwed up her training timeline (that she knew she couldn't miss) so we have to put her on unpaid leave for 3 weeks until the next course starts up. I'm not sure if she is coming back.

 

[RCon]

Maybe stop accepting payment via credit card and only use something that can't be reversed. Edit: I don't know how viable that is, but probably worth seeing if it's possible.

 

[odin33]

Have them sign a contract? I know it can be a deterrent for a new client but if everything is clearly spelled out (fees, services, timelines, requirements from customer (maybe bold/underline this area) you've at least got something to refute their retribution.

 

[Gally]

Have them sign a contract? I know it can be a deterrent for a new client but if everything is clearly spelled out (fees, services, timelines, requirements from customer (maybe bold/underline this area) you've at least got something to refute their retribution.

It's sad that the world has gotten to a place where the guy that is doing what he said he would do has to do much more work to protect the person in the wrong from getting away with doing something wrong.

 

[Anarchy99]

Have them sign a contract? I know it can be a deterrent for a new client but if everything is clearly spelled out (fees, services, timelines, requirements from customer (maybe bold/underline this area) you've at least got something to refute their retribution.

I've tried the contract route and that didn't yield any better results. I have found that someone signing a contract does not impede their sense of entitlement to do what they want, when they want, and how they want. There are actually two distinct issues on this front. Credit card companies actually don't care about contracts . . . they care way more about their how transactions are processed. Courts are the ones that care about contracts.

Credit card holders have a ton of things going in their favor, as they can always say they were unhappy with the service provided and many times can get away with it, as credit card companies care more about their cardholders than the merchants. I often end up "winning" credit card disputes, but they waste even more time by going to arbitration and that can take months. Even if I "lose" in arbitration, I can go to court, but that is impractical. I don't charge enough to go to superior court, and most of my customers live in other states. I'm not going to file 3,000 miles away, and if I win in my own state, I have no good way to collect the money. It costs me more in lost time and revenue to try to go to court. I've tried that before and won judgements, but if someone refuses to pay it could take years, and I could collect nothing.

The lack of payment or credit card chargeback outcome doesn't happen a ton . . . it's all the other process BS and customer indifference that is more prevalent.

 

[Anarchy99]

Another not great thing about having detailed, signed contracts is listing a delivery date that ends up not getting met . . . that's not because of me, that's because of the customer. But customers have argued successfully that services were not completed by the date on the contract. Customer: I gave them everything they needed, and I did not get my materials until 3 months past the stated delivery date. Court or credit card company: Answer yes or no only . . . was the project completed by that date? It's a question similar to "when did you stop beating your wife?"

 

[Manster]

Whatever, boomers.

Do young people even know how to interact with the public, face, to face?

 

[Manster]

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