You don't need to be nasty- A rant about service industry workers

Okay, so I know what it feels like to work in the service industry, I have about 10 years experience in the field. I have helped people find and try on clothes, checked them into hotel rooms, parked cars, cleaned rooms, served food, coordinated parties and I now work making custom gifts.

I know what it is like to serve others and I know it’s not always a great job. That said I also know that it is unacceptable to be nasty to people, unless of course they are screaming at you and throwing things (yes, I have experienced this too!).

I got an international order last night and I was trying to figure out how to do all the customs paperwork needed to ship internationally. I tried all night to get the shipping label and customs documents to go through online, nothing was working so I decided to visit the local FedEx store today to try and get it shipped that way. I figured a live person would be more equip to help me through this process, boy was I wrong!

When I arrived I was cheerfully greeted by a younger guy who was helping another customer. We headed over to the waybill shipping forms and were trying to find the form we needed. I was shipping international ground today and did not see the waybil form anywhere on the self service counter.

My boyfriend asked the available worker where we could find the form we needed, the worker told us that they could not sell international ground service through the store. I asked why because it was available for purchase online. Instead of answering me or explaining the policy he choose not to help me and said he would get his shipping manager for me.

When his shipping manager arrived I was trying to package the box up and she walked over and asked how she could assist me. I told her I wanted to ship via international ground service because I could not get the sale to process online.

Instead of trying to help me she was very defensive and was basically ready for a fight over it all. She did not listen to my needs and was not interested in offering solutions; she simply wanted me to ship via international air instead of international ground.

I assume she only listened to the first part of my statement because she was only interested in telling me no and was not even trying to help me with the “could not get the sale to process online” part.

The international ground charge was $14 as opposed to the international air charge of $36… Of course I did not want to pay more but my main reason for going into the store at all was to get assistance with the paperwork and requirements of customs for my shipment since it was not working online.

Unfortunately this “manager” was not interested in providing service, she did not listen to me and she was expecting a battle. I was not in the mood to be attacked or challenged so we just left the store but the whole situation just makes me mad.

I thought dealing with people as opposed to conducting business online would be more helpful but I was wrong. At least the FedEx website is not rude to me and uninterested in providing help.

If you are a service worker you need to be in control of your attitude. If someone treats you badly (and they often do in the service industry) you need to be able to brush it off. It’s not acceptable to be rude to people because a previous customer was rude to you. Each new customer deserves fair and friendly treatment regardless of how your day has been! If you cannot provide this you need a new job.

Ugh! I just don’t appreciate being treated how I was today. This is why I prefer to do business via computer, most people are just a pain to interact with! It’s sad that computers are replacing good old fashion human interaction… Maybe if people weren’t so nasty and impossible to work with we would not be inclined to remove them from the equation.