Today is national grouch day according to Sesame Street. So with that said…
Have an average day.
Have a normal day.
Don’t tell me what kinda day to have, I had other plans.
So there.
arrgh
Wish I would have known that. Dropped oil off at the recycling center and the guy wanted to know if I was having a good day. Went to the bank and the clerk wished me a good day. Barber wished me a good day. Post office wished me a good day. Picked something up at church and wished me a good day. Only place they were grouchy at was the electronics store-they never said anything. Guess they had gotten the word.
Omg the feds are in a state of areears, voting rights are being diminished, the wealth divide increases, and repubs want to cut entitlements, and unlimited spending from computer glitch allows people on aid to check out with 7 carts of groceries a mess from top to bottom!
I am humbled and honored that CTW would choose to recognize me with my own day.
When we drive into Tehuacan, the second biggest city in our state of Puebla, there is a small, rustic house way out on a hill side, all by itself.
I told my wife a grouch live there. She puffed up and said I was guessing. I told her in Mexico anyone who chooses to live by himself half an hour from anyone has to be a grouch.
Some weeks later, we picked up a woman with a baby and gave her a ride into Pino Suarez. When we passed the Grouch, I mentioned my theory. She laughed and laughed and, said, Yes, he is a grouch. He is famous for miles around for it.
My wife did not know what to say then.
Some things are simply obvious.
Indeed . . . hermits are not known for being sociable
Begin grouch rant:
I often have to contact Dell and other companies for warranty issues as part of my job. I usually use the chat feature instead of having to actually talk to a human being. Regardless, I hate the way they are always reading from a script. When I initiate the chat: “How are your doing today?” or “How is your day going today?”, then after stating the problem: “I’m really sorry, I know how --insert your problem here–issues can be really frustrating” Follow by several pointless troubleshooting suggestions that are usually varying degrees of mindless, after I’ve already troubleshot the problem and just want to arrange a replacement. “Have you tried completely reinstalling the operating system from scratch to fix the green line on your display?” To end the call “Are you satisfied with the service I’ve provided today and do you consider the issue resolved?”
I know they’re just drones following policy, but can you imagine taking your car to a mechanic and getting: “I’m really sorry, I know how frustrating having a turn signal lamp out can be… Have you tried opening and slamming all the doors to fix it?”
“I’m not prejudiced, I hate everyone equally.”
Those “chats” start off by computer, not a person, in many cases.
Like Shadowfax, I am glad to see that there is finally a day honoring me…
@irlandes…what do you call a person that lives miles and miles from anyone else? There are lots of them in Alaska. Maybe “dangerous” grouches.
I agree. I used to teach a customer relations class some years ago with ways to turn a bad situation around but never would have encouraged drones to memorize a manual of responses. People are still wishing me a good day today, and frankly I’m getting tired of it. I just want someone to tell me “I hope you rot in %^%%” and really mean it. I might call the mayor up and complain about the stripes on the manhole covers not aligning just to make his day.
What has been irritating me for the past year or so is every single store I go in now…they’ve instructed ALL sales people on the floor to stop you and ask if you need help. This is how they are improving service. NOT by actually giving you better service…but by the perception they are. If we ask people if they need help we are portraying the perception that we can actually help them.
Home Depot is a prime example. Just the other day I went in to get double sided tape. I was stopped 5 times by sales reps as I walked to where they use to keep the tape. When it wasn’t there I did ask someone…who didn’t even know what double sided was. I finally found some where they sell carpet.
Their new business model seems to be “Don’t actually put knowledgeable people on the floor. Instead just train the ones who are there to ASK you if you need help. Don’t train them to actually help you.”
Buzz off…
“they’ve instructed ALL sales people on the floor to stop you and ask if you need help.”
+1
But, perhaps even more bizarre than that concept is the practice in some stores of having the cashier ask you–on your way out of the store–“Did you find everything that you were looking for?”.
Why would it matter at that point, whether or not I had found everything that I was looking for?
I know that the employees are just doing what they are told to do by some dim-witted manager, but–I just couldn’t help myself on a couple of occasions, and I replied, “Actually, I was seeking world peace, but I failed to find it”.
Of course, my comment was met with blank stares on both occasions, but…When you are asked a nonsensical question…Why not reply with an answer that is equally nonsensical?
Their new business model seems to be "Don't actually put knowledgeable people on the floor. Instead just train the ones who are there to ASK you if you need help. Don't train them to actually help you."
Home Depot rather famously got rid of most of their full time employees who knew what they were doing some years back, finding it cheaper to replace them with part time help who’ve never actually done a project. Now they have 1 or 2 token knowledgeable people per store, and most of the rest just kinda stare at you blankly.
I only used Home Depot as an example…I agree no knowledgeable people there. But it seems that ALL chain stores are doing it now. I guess they think it’s working for Home Depot it’s good for the them.
Heh heh, I think the world peace is down the street at the hardware store.
When someone asks me an honest question I am inclined to give them an honest answer, but thats a mistake. Don’t ever tell the check out you didn’t find what you wanted unless you want to spend another ten minutes while they go from person to person confirming that they didn’t have what I was looking for. Just smile and say yup and get out of there.
Take it easy on the kids though. It is their first experience with the public and kind of naive and easily hurt.
“World peace? That’s on backorder.”
My pet grouch is being told, while on hold on a customer service call, “please be patient. Your call is important to us!” (When it’s quite obvious the call ISN’T important, or they’d hire an appropriate number of reps so that the hour-long wait wouldn’t exist in the first place.) I just hate bold-face lies told with a saccharine smile…
I worked at an auto-parts place for a winter recently, and the “training videos” featured truly cringe-worthy customer/“team member” exchanges. I really wonder how this stuff gets approved: the employees hate saying it, the customers hate enduring it, leading me to speculate in my free time just what the psych profile of the bonehead hired to create these exchanges must be.
(I seemed to get pretty good results with a smile, a “hey there,” and…only if they seemed lost…“can I help you with anything?”, then ST(heck)U.
Well in LOWES its "Put that on your Lowes card?“my reply being"no thanks,I threw it in the stove last winter"special assistance needed” _Kevin