Poor Customer Service

[bigbog]

IMO. there's no such thing as "poor customer service", it's poor management. A fish stinks from the head down.

Yup....don't think clerks delegate $$$ issues. Think customer service is #1 stop...seems like they should've had the $$$. Maybe things at night are dicey enough to limit cash...you should've driven up to a Hanniford in Maine billski!

 

[billski]

Got one , used it on sabbatical leave, then kept it -- still prefer cash -- probably a generational thing D - 'sides which i like the feel of it

Depending what I'm buying, I may offer cash (to the owner) - Will you take %3-5 off the price if I pay cash? He was gonna pay 3-5% to the card company anyways, this way he gets his money now. It works!

 

[Dr Skimeister]

Same here Camp , i pay as i go ----------------------------- I 'm into building HNW with good financial discipline .

Depending what I'm buying, I may offer cash (to the owner) - Will you take %3-5 off the price if I pay cash? He was gonna pay 3-5% to the card company anyways, this way he gets his money now. It works!

In full agreement here, from both the consumer side and the merchant side. Cash is king with small business and the Uncle never knows.

 

[dmc]

Got one , used it on sabbatical leave, then kept it -- still prefer cash -- probably a generational thing D - 'sides which i like the feel of it

I hear ya.. On the bright side - I'm a serial bill payer...
Only debt I have is my mortgage..

 

[campgottagopee]

Same here Camp , i pay as i go ----------------------------- I 'm into building HNW with good financial discipline .

I hear ya.. On the bright side - I'm a serial bill payer...
Only debt I have is my mortgage..

With ya both----NO bills----you can live like a King w/o a lot of $$$$$

 

[dmc]

With ya both----NO bills----you can live like a King w/o a lot of $$$$$

yup.... I know exactly where my cash is at all times. If I need something I save for it.. I have a normal mortgage.. Funny.. I just dropped some coin on a hotel room in NYC for the upcoming Phish shows..

I gotta be honest - I'm really nor feeling this financial crisis... Cause i saw it coming and prepared for it..

 

[Warp Daddy]

yup.... I know exactly where my cash is at all times. If I need something I save for it.. I have a normal mortgage.. Funny.. I just dropped some coin on a hotel room in NYC for the upcoming Phish shows..

I gotta be honest - I'm really nor feeling this financial crisis... Cause i saw it coming and prepared for it..

Good thinking guys !! Glad to hear you've insulated yourselves from the nonsense by prudent $$ mgt. and investing It really works and can set one up comfortably for retirement . Keep working it !


I was always into that way of doing things to that and being debt free . Being a conservative Investment Squirrel for 3 decades the recession is not an issue at all . This life style choice enabled me to RETIRE at 52 and play . After that i just did my consulting business which i had for 15 yrs beforehand . I did just 75 days a yr running training seminars for 5 more yrs. i skied every mon and fri did seminars tu -th just during the academic yr ---------------- --Then retired for good

 

[dmc]

I cant wait to retire... My goal is 60... Or sooner..

 

[Warp Daddy]

I cant wait to retire... My goal is 60... Or sooner..

Keeo doing what your doing financially then Do IT as Soon as You can D

-- Then you can get busy making a life and not just a living Life is Short -

ONE of my favorite mantras is : Life A'int a Dress Rehearsal

 

[snoseek]

Yes Friendly's is and always has sucked so bad along with most other chains.

I think retailers probably have a bit of dilemna with competitive pricing. To keep prices low they pay as low as possible hence the crappy service overall. It seems like it's only gotten worse in my lifetime. My attitude would probably suck in a dead end job with no skills and a wage that was not considered by 90% on this board to be livable. You can let the day to day shit roll right off of you or become "that guy".....

 

[Geoff]

You could use a debit card... then you only spend what you have and don't have to pay it back..

Nooooooooo! If somebody grabs the number off your debit card, they can zero out your bank account. Checks start bouncing. It's a huge hassle to unwind everything and you can be without access to cash because your bank account is trashed. My bank ATM card has a Visa logo on it but I never, ever, use it in anything but a bank-owned ATM machine.

My credit card is set up to auto-pay in full. I haven't paid a penny of credit card interest in decades. My last car loan was in the 1980's. Once in a blue moon, I'll accidentally hit the overdraft line of credit on my checking account for a day or two. That's the only non-mortgage interest I've paid in years.

 

[Glenn]

It's rather odd. I have found that the general level of respect and courtesy have declined across all age groups in the northeast. I often find myself in crowded situations and pushed by teens, soccer moms and old ladies without so much as a comment of consideration. Alternately, will just stand and stare, expecting you to clear the way without a spoken word.

What is particularly odd is that those who are my late parents age do the same thing now -they used to be the same ones to make eye contact, smile and hold the door open. I suppose they got run over too many times. We are all potential axe murderers now...

I've found people are a bit more laid back where our place is up in VT. Our street is mostly locals and people are friendly. Ironically, we talk more to our neighbors in VT than we do in CT...and we're only up there on the weekends.

 

[dmc]

Nooooooooo! If somebody grabs the number off your debit card, they can zero out your bank account. Checks start bouncing. It's a huge hassle to unwind everything and you can be without access to cash because your bank account is trashed. My bank ATM card has a Visa logo on it but I never, ever, use it in anything but a bank-owned ATM machine.

My credit card is set up to auto-pay in full. I haven't paid a penny of credit card interest in decades. My last car loan was in the 1980's. Once in a blue moon, I'll accidentally hit the overdraft line of credit on my checking account for a day or two. That's the only non-mortgage interest I've paid in years.

Nobodies getting my debit card - I dont use it online. And it has a withdraw cap..

 

[Hawkshot99]

Cash is king with small business and the Uncle never knows.

Till you get audited. It is amazing what they can figure out....

 

[billski]

Till you get audited. It is amazing what they can figure out....

WHAT are you buying with cash? :-o

 

[deadheadskier]

I don't view the lack of ability to expediently change a $100 as that big of a deal at all.

Let me explain from a workers perspective.

As some of you know I bartend part time at a large hotel which obviously has lots of cash. My starting bank is $150, which consists of $90 in $5s, $50 in $1s and a roll of quarters. If at the start of my shift someone tries to pay for a $7 drink with a $100, I send them to the front desk to get change. Why?

A. The change they get from me will be $90 in $5s and $3 in $1s. Who wants that for change?

B. The next three folks in line pay for their $7 drinks in $20s and get $1s for change. Who wants 13, $1s for change on a twenty?

So, boom, in 4 customers I am now stuck with a $100, three $20s and a roll of quarters. Now I've got a line 10 deep at the bar of pissed off customers who are waiting for my supervisor to run to the front desk and make change. And no, I cannot start tabs with these pissed off waiting customers because these are cash only catering functions often with 400 people in the room. I'd get burned on half the tabs. It's amazing the difference between restaurant bar patrons and catering bar patrons. A restaurant patron would never think about bolting on their tabs. Catering.....totally different story.

 

[SkiDork]

I don't view the lack of ability to expediently change a $100 as that big of a deal at all.

Let me explain from a workers perspective.

As some of you know I bartend part time at a large hotel which obviously has lots of cash. My starting bank is $150, which consists of $90 in $5s, $50 in $1s and a roll of quarters. If at the start of my shift someone tries to pay for a $7 drink with a $100, I send them to the front desk to get change. Why?

A. The change they get from me will be $90 in $5s and $3 in $1s. Who wants that for change?

B. The next three folks in line pay for their $7 drinks in $20s and get $1s for change. Who wants 13, $1s for change on a twenty?

So, boom, in 4 customers I am now stuck with a $100, three $20s and a roll of quarters. Now I've got a line 10 deep at the bar of pissed off customers who are waiting for my supervisor to run to the front desk and make change. And no, I cannot start tabs with these pissed off waiting customers because these are cash only catering functions often with 400 people in the room. I'd get burned on half the tabs. It's amazing the difference between restaurant bar patrons and catering bar patrons. A restaurant patron would never think about bolting on their tabs. Catering.....totally different story.

Like I said, I always break my twenties into singles when I withdraw from an ATM. Makes things so much easier.

 

[billski]

I don't view the lack of ability to expediently change a $100 as that big of a deal at all.

Let me explain from a workers perspective.

As some of you know I bartend part time at a large hotel which obviously has lots of cash. My starting bank is $150, which consists of $90 in $5s, $50 in $1s and a roll of quarters. If at the start of my shift someone tries to pay for a $7 drink with a $100, I send them to the front desk to get change. Why?

A. The change they get from me will be $90 in $5s and $3 in $1s. Who wants that for change?

B. The next three folks in line pay for their $7 drinks in $20s and get $1s for change. Who wants 13, $1s for change on a twenty?

So, boom, in 4 customers I am now stuck with a $100, three $20s and a roll of quarters. Now I've got a line 10 deep at the bar of pissed off customers who are waiting for my supervisor to run to the front desk and make change. And no, I cannot start tabs with these pissed off waiting customers because these are cash only catering functions often with 400 people in the room. I'd get burned on half the tabs. It's amazing the difference between restaurant bar patrons and catering bar patrons. A restaurant patron would never think about bolting on their tabs. Catering.....totally different story.

I don't buy this argument. You are forcing the customer to adapt to make things convenient for you. It's your process that leaves so little cash in the drawers. I think it's you who are missing the point of what GOOD customer service is, rather than merely adequate. In my examples, we are not talking about small time operations. We are talking about big grocery operations that have twenty cashiers and rack in hundreds of thousands per day. We are talking about breakfast shops who have burgeoning amounts of cash on hand three hours after they operate. I'm not talking about walking in at opening time. Please take the time to read the original scenario.

In your bar, you can stiff me for $5-10 per drink, I find $150 to start with to be rather meager. Why should I be your banker? So I've given you exact change, and now I have nothing leftover for tips for the housekeeper at the hotel. Now I have to go to the front desk and ask for change. Maybe they will have it, maybe not. I'll tell you this, if I don't have money for a tip because I've had to meet your scenario, I'm not going to ask you to change money for me. I'll leave without tipping.

You also miss my original point. Assuming a cash restriction. why can't the employee at least apologize and offer an alternative, instead of saying "I don't have any money?" That would not cost you a thing.

 

[deadheadskier]

Bill,

This is a Marriott hotel, pretty much the franchise that wrote the book on hotel customer service in this country. I've worked at Marriotts, Wyndhams, Hiltons, the 5 star Wequassett Inn on Cape Cod, Intrawest resorts, on and on and on. I've never had a starting bank exceed $200 at any of them. All of these properties have 10K in cash on them at any given time.

If you show up first thing to a newly opened register with $100 bill and they can't make change because the decision is to inconvenience you the one customer such that you can quickly service the next ten people in line.......deal with it.

If you find it a reoccuring problem in your life, I'd recommend getting $20s out from the bank instead of $100s. Sorry, sometimes in life, you as a customer need to adapt your expectations on how particular businesses choose to operate. Just the way it is.

 

[billski]

I've been around the block a few times, educating me or suggesting a cash management strategy is unnecessary. It's sad that customer service has degenerated to such low levels. I do not have to be convinced of this, I experience it every day, but lived at a time when customer service was king. And in a few industries it still is.


Again, you're not addressing my points about a) how your employees interact with the customer in such cases, b) why, hours after an establishment is open, they still cannot change or offer an alternative

At least at the hotels you mention, and I have paid good cash to all of them, they do provide marginally better service, by hiring more intelligent people, who could think on their feet and offer alternatives to their own operational restrictions.

Bill

Bill,

This is a Marriott hotel, pretty much the franchise that wrote the book on hotel customer service in this country. I've worked at Marriotts, Wyndhams, Hiltons, the 5 star Wequassett Inn on Cape Cod, Intrawest resorts, on and on and on. I've never had a starting bank exceed $200 at any of them. All of these properties have 10K in cash on them at any given time.

If you show up first thing to a newly opened register with $100 bill and they can't make change because the decision is to inconvenience you the one customer such that you can quickly service the next ten people in line.......deal with it.

If you find it a reoccuring problem in your life, I'd recommend getting $20s out from the bank instead of $100s. Sorry, sometimes in life, you as a customer need to adapt your expectations on how particular businesses choose to operate. Just the way it is.