Customers & Rudeness (yes a bit of a rant)

I do the majority of the customer service for Phobos Design - lucky me. This means of course that I get to explain how to drag stuff out of boxes, adjust attachments, search for inventory... all of those things that people new to SL often need explained. I have tped to people's locations to help them, dropping whatever I am doing usually. None of this bothers me. We were all new at some point. And I'm happy when our customers are satisfied and new people have a good SL experience.

I also get requests for different permissions on items, gifts to pass, modifications to items. We are happy to do this whenever we can. This also gets us valuable feedback on what our customers want. I will sometimes just randomly IM someone who has bought something and ask them how they like it. (sometimes dropping free treats).

All of this is good.

The rude customer is going to drive me over the edge!! This is the person who thinks you should have read their mind and know precisely what purpose they wanted something for. How DARE you not set the permissions accordingly, or make a copy in seafoam instead of black. This is the person who sends you multiple IMs when you are offline over a very short period of time, often cussing you out.

Who are these people? Are they like this in RL? Do they do the math and figure out that all content creators do this for pleasure at some level, regardless of how much of a RL living we make. Would they throw a fit in a store over $US 0.75? Do they think I'm their spouse and have to put up with their poor social skills?

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.......

My attitude to people like this is "F**k you, you just blew it !" which maybe because I'm a grumpy bitch at the best of times

I also have a lot of dealings with my customers and of course most are lovely people ( normally new ) who only need a bit of help to get something right. But the occassional ( normally MALE ) idiot who think they own me gets short shrift from me! I don't do SL to deal with sociopaths. I had one person who IMd me several times when I wasnt online ordering me to TP directly to him just to rotate an object that hadn't rezzed in the rotation he wanted !!! Don't let them worry you, their custom isn't worth the effort.

Rude customers get my Soup Nazi routine. There isn't a person in the world I *have* to serve and people who open with rudeness get a quick lesson in what true rudeness is, along with some instruction as to where they can go and what they can do when they get there.

On the other hand, there's a difference between rudeness and frustration.... and most people who open with something snarky are usually just so frustrated by the time they contact you that they aren't thinking about the reality that how they come across affects how much others care to help them. (grin)

but would it be possible to block all messaging from a bad customer - ban them from your land/store, too? for the extreme cases...

About one in every hundred people is statistically going to be a total ass to you. To be fair, this number shifts depending on your profession, especially if you're in telemarketing.

Years ago, I once worked at a movie theater as a summer job between sessions of class. Same routine. I had someone pull this on me in person. Literally went on a diatribe about the fact the concession stand was out of mustard, it was my fault, and my job somehow hinged on getting this person some condiments we just didn't have.

These people deserve the service they get: None. Just let them walk, because they're not worth saving.

I honestly don't know what sets this kind of person off. Maybe a bad childhood? Being dropped on one's head one too many times? All I know is it's better to just let 'em pass and forget they ever existed.

As a scripter, I still take support calls from people... even though I code for free. I once had a person tell me how bad I was in every possible way simply because I was trying to help them solve their scripting question. The ensuing talk involved them calling me a "Code Monkey" as if it was somehow a badge of shame and professing that I must have been in it to rip the person off.

Not worth it. Nope.

Suffice it to say, just don't worry about it. You'll be happier, they'll be happier (in their own world), and life will go on.

I rarely get customer service requests. A couple of people needed help flying my jets (I gave them some tips) and another was somewhat irate and wanted a refund because they couldn't figure out how to get it off the ground or something. I don't do refunds because my jets are copy+notrans. The customer wasn't too happy about that, but seemed alright after I showed them how to operate it properly.

This is all covered in the notecards that come with my merchandise, and you can get a copy of said notecard from any of my jets you might run across (yours or not) or from the vendor (which says "click for notecard" with the item description). So, I get very few support requests for a huge number of jets. Either people are savvy enough to figure it out themselves, or they are reading the quick start section.

If you are flooded with C/S requests, I suggest writing up usage info, return/exchange policies, etc. and putting that notecard into some kind of dispenser and/or including it with your merchandise.

Frankly it doesn't matter how good your documentation is if the customer doesn't read it.

Even in RL I get comments like ...

"I'm a professional, I don't have time to read manuals"

That is a real quote from an RL customer of mine, just about the most unprofessional attitude I've come across, but that's the way it goes, 9 out of 10 people simply don't RTFM !

Have to agree with Laukos on that one. No matter how foolproof your system or documentation, there'll always be a better fool.

To be fair, good documentation does halve or marginalize the actual number of requests you'll take, as well as contact time in favor of "read the (add favorite expletive here) manual." But in the same breath, it usually won't save you from certain kinds of people.

Such is the case here.

I guess that I am lucky because my customers who have questions or problems with things are all very nice for the most part. I am usually more than happy to oblige as long as I have the time to do so. I see more and more retailers complaining about rude customers, people demanding refunds for no apparent reason etc.

and yes people are like this in RL. When I worked at CVS about 10 years ago, a women returned to the store after purchasing a roll of Scotch Tape, which had a price tag on it that read 75 cents and she was charged 79 cents and wanted her 4 cent refund. If I had four cents on me I would have given it to her and called it even, but I had to call a manager to do the refund which I have to say for 4 cents was "more time than it was worth".

The "customer not reading the documentation" gave me a good laugh. I am a technical writer in real life. The single largest challenge in our profession is getting the customer to use what we provide.

Back on the customer service thingie. I do understand frustration or even having a bad day. And if someone apologizes, or even just changes their manner during the conversation, I'm going to let it go. I've had crappy days too.

But life is way too short to deal with people who should have had their poor manners knocked out of them as toddlers. IMO we live in a society where common civility is rapidly becoming endangered. Becoming rude yourself doesn't help, but the mute button works wonders.

Can I get one for RL?

I think alot of customer relations problems comes from the old retail addage that "the customer is always right" ... even when they are wrong, rude, and complete liars.

I think alot of their rudeness is probably a lack of understanding as to the amount of work it takes to sell stuff in SL, as well.


My favorite customer bit was when I was working in a comic store and I had a mother threatening to sue me because I sold pokemon cards to her 16-year-old son. She was trying to convince me that because she didnt agree with the morality involved, and because packs of cards are a game of chance, I could be held for corruption of minors for selling a 3-dollar pack of cards to her 16YEAROLD!!!!!!

</rant>

I recently receive a customer service request on a free, open-source product by a well knowned SL-ranter. I tried to help for about a day, and received nothing but abuse, and thinly veiled comments about how my free, open-source product was ruining SL's economy. The funny thing is, this person who is so against free, open-source continually uses free, open-source products! Pot, meet kettle.

Oh well, I guess I should just be happy that I'm part of the techi-wiki scripterati elite and I can figure out how to follow SIMPLE instructions.

By the way - we haven't had a single problem we haven't been able to solve with ANY other people using the product, and only a handful of IMs.

People losing their mind over something free REALLY piss me off.

Regards,

-Flip

Most likely. I worked in clothing stores all the way through university and was flabergasted at the obnoxiousness some people displayed who shopped there. One of my favourite lines was: "well, if I buy the skirt, can you throw in the belt for free?" Presumably if I was the owner, and was able to make such decisions, I wouldn't be working the floor. But that didn't seem to compute, and then they'd threaten not to take the skirt.

The sad thing is we had to deal with them until they shuffled out the door. All we have to do in SL is shut the window and pretend it's not there.

But I have to say, for the most part, I have enjoyed dealing with people who buy my stuff. It's been a pleasure overall.

Surreal, I feel your pain.

I'm a professional in Customer Service in RL, and we stage quarterly training on the very real issue of dealing with unreasonable customers. My reps have been called every name imaginable, a few I haven't heard of, and last week a customer told one of my girls he hoped her tampons rotted inside of her *sigh*

My best reps are the unflappable ones who, like you, will take time out to explain or help even if it's not directly related to the problem. We teach them that a customer who is that angry and insulting is probably doing the same thing to other companies. Their anger can come from personal issues (a-holeism), or it might just be their reaction to a feeling of total powerlessness ("I can't force you to help me so I'm going to threaten you".

In many cases, my reps can get them calmed down once they realize that we are listening and responsive. For the odd whacko f-bomb thrower we give our reps permission to tell the customer, "Sir, I cannot help you when you are yelling and swearing at me. I'm going to hang up now. Please call back when you are calmer." Then hang up. The reps have a tough enough job without being insulted and threatened.

My own personal experience as a consumer in SL has been invariably good. I think the worst problem I've had so far was when a script magically disappeared from one of Owen Khan's dance balls (the Random Inventory Disappearance Bug) and he was not available to help. I IM'd him, then sent him a more wordy Notecard explaining what happened. Within 48 hours he sent me a brand new dance ball with his apologies. I felt like I'd gotten top-notch customer service because it is NOT his job to be at my beck and call. But he did get back to me and help me when he could. That's the whole point of it.

I bust my hump writing the best instructions I can. I try to answer every question that's likely to come up during operation, and do this in a style that conforms to "satisficing" (basically, skimming behavior such as people use when reading Web sites, something that doesn't require too much active thought to get at what they want.) If they don't read it, it's no skin off my back, because I've put forth my best effort. It seems to have paid off really well so far, but maybe that's the nature of my "audience" - either they know how to use it right away, or they have to read a quick-start, and the object description says "Click for notecard" so it isn't terribly hard to get at.

One of the foundations of good customer service is to set expectations, and then meet them. It's good to have some kind of firm return/exchange policy and either post it on a sign or include it with a product info notecard that they can get before they buy the product. That way, even if they don't read it, you can point out to them that they were given a chance to read the policy before their purchase. If they are still pissed, well... some people enjoy being pissed, what can I say. Someone else in this thread said it wasn't worth it to try to save such a customer and I agree.

Edit: Anecdote...

I was at Busy Ben's (the vehicle store in Oak Grove) and someone started shouting, "WHO WORKS HERE?", and then a minute later, "I NEED TO TALK TO AN EMPLOYEE RIGHT NOW!" I thought that was pretty funny. I shouted, "No one works here" and didn't hear anything else from the guy.

The majority of customer IMs I get are from people who bought gifts without noticing the No Transfer labels on the box descriptions, and who missed the sign in the entrance about contacting me for gift permissions, or maybe they just didn't realize what No Transfer meant. Whatever the reason, doesn't matter, I know how easy it is to miss notices in SL. I have no problem with these IMs/requests and will always pass them the corrected gift permissions. About 95 out of 100 times it's a smooth transaction and everyone goes away happy.

Those other 5 times it's people who act like they've somehow been scammed. "I bot gifts and can no give!!? WTF??? fix it! this sux!" Bleh... I can give you the proper permissions, but your real problem is probably beyond my ability to help with. Namely, that you're an *ignoranus.

*Ignoranus: Someone who is both stupid and an asshole.

They're the ones who failed kindergarten



Yes



No, of course not.



Yes, with great regularity.



Yes, or at least a reasonable facimile.




I agree! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Knock on wood... my customers have been saints. Every one of them. To date I have only ever gotten one request for a refund, and that person asked politely and explained what she didn't like about the outfit. On closer examination I agreed with her, gave her the refund, and removed the item from my stores

So I guess it's the luck of the draw. I hope I have as much luck in the years to come as I have had since I started *PREEN*

I've also been very lucky with my customers - they have been wonderful. I do get the odd refund request here and there, and I always grant it - I also let them keep the item (it is pointless to get back a copy I am just going to delete). I tell them just to give it to someone else or delete it. I have heard horror stories from others though - I count myself very lucky.

By the way Aimee, I have these free items you gave me that I want a refund on...

A lot of it depends on the content you are selling.

For example, home and garden usually gets fairly nice people, but weapons gets some pretty interesting characters.

It's me.. and I'm still waiting... wtf can't you just put stuff out all copy/mod/transfer? I think your being greedy... and I want it in beige.. damnit!

LMAO. I think there is a manner in which we expect to be contacted with problems, and while I have not considered any of my customers to be overtly rude when I have talked to them. I have gotten messages that I have perceived to be curt and snide yet somehow apprehensive as to how I may respond.

Example probelm: A vendor did not give out the proper item

Sample customer response: OMG your stupit vendor didnt give me the thing i wanted. give me a refund now. Are you there?

Desired customer response: Hello, I recently purchased XYZ item from one of your vendors in ABC location and it did not give me the item. Please contact me at your discretion.


Maybe I need to write a do's and don'ts manual for contacting merchants so as to avoid any further confusion.

and on the Ignoranus note... some of the English that is spoken in world and on the forums by NATIVE english speakers is appalling. Everytime I see an example sentence such as you provided, somewhere in the world an English professors head explodes and the MLA starts stockpiling unabridged dictionaries to use as weapons of mass destruction in the war against the bastardization of the english language. I may not always use capitals and punctuation in internet communications, sometimes I spell things wrong too, but at least I can form a sentence that makes sense.

The best writing advice ever given to me by my best friend who is also a journalist " a sentence ought not read like a car chase"

eww.

I too, count myself as lucky, because I haven't had any bad customers in SL. RL is a completely different story.

I have worked part-time as a bartender and server at various times in my life, as well as in a one-hour photo lab when I was in college.

As a bartender, I was routinely amazed at the rudeness of some folks. Asking for the most expensive cognac, vodka, or tropical drinks, and then complaining loud and long about prices. Expecting freebies - this one gets me, because I worked in a corporate chain restaurant, and giving away alcohol was a terminable offense. I guess some folks view every bar as a VFW... I have worked in a VFW, btw, and giving away drinks was ok, to the regulars, as long as you didn't get carried away - but one expects the corner bar or VFW to be more relaxed about this.

The photo-lab experience? Meh. "Never again" is all I can say. I encountered more rude people in that line of work than any other. People expecting their photos in 20 minutes, and then giving some BS line like, "those pictures are of our grandma the last time we saw her alive!!" or "those pictures are of our dog, and he was hit by a truck yesterday!" At first, I used to feel sorry for them, and even move their pictures ahead of other folks. After a couple years of routinely hearing the "grandma" and "our dog or cat" excuses, I just started ignoring it.

Myself, I could handle the routine abuse, but it infuriated me to no end to watch some a-hole scream at one of the 16 or 17 year old girls that worked in our lab, to the point of making them break down in tears. Nothing is so important as to feel it's ok to make someone cry.

So in answer to your last question about if these folks are like this in RL - my answer is "yes".