"Professionalism is a frame of mind, not a paycheck."
~ Cecil Castle ~
How, as polite customers, are we supposed to deal with hostile, or unhelpful customer service representatives? When calmly pointing out our problem seems to instigate annoyance in the person before us, or on the phone, who is there to be of service, what are our options? Getting annoyed doesn't help. And neither does anger, extreme patience, or even common sense.
The truth is that as customers, we are often mistreated- told we are wrong, that what we want is not possible to do (even if we've done it before), that what clearly is actually is not (the cold coffee is freshly brewed- I just made it)...
Of course, good customer service exists as well, and is always a pleasure, but when we are faced with difficult people in the service business, what should our strategy be?
I experiment with myriad approaches when dealing with unhelpful people, and hope that by showing them consideration and understanding, that they might respond in kind.
