Chatted online with a Walmart customer rep at 400AM.

[LuckyCharms]

An order was marked as "delivered" 5 days ago, but it never arrived.

I never step foot into a physical Walmart location, but I do order a few things online.

I have to admit...the rep was excellent. I thought I would get a run around, but he immediately offered to re-ship the item.

I think customer service reps in general get horribly abused, and I learned a long time ago that if you are very polite to them, they will go out of their way to help you.

Why am I typing this? Who the fuck knows.

[Sherman A1]

1. Treating people as you would like to be treated

Is always a good idea.

[LuckyCharms]

2. Agree 100%.

Always begin with politeness. 99% of the time, your politeness will be returned.

I got some real snark on the phone from a medical receptionist a few weeks ago. It was pretty bad, and there was no reason for it.

I just asked her how her day was going, she said not very good, told her I was sorry to hear that and I hope it improves, etc. She then apologized for snapping at me...

How's that saying go? You get more flies with honey?

[2naSalit]

3. You're correct...

People treat anyone whose job it is to assist or provide a service abusively. Been there, had many of those sort of jobs and did not do well because I won't tolerate disrespect. I make a point to be nice to cashiers, wait staff and their customers and I'm a heavy tipper.

Why would I want people to think I was an asshole? And they are nicer to you as well as remember you when you return to have another positive interaction.

[LuckyCharms]

4. Exactly right. I look at it this way...

I always give my full name when speaking to anyone for the first time.

Being human like everyone else, it kind of reminds me not to be an asshole if the interaction takes a turn for the worse, because I don't want the term "asshole" associated with my name (if I can help it).

I'm a big tipper as well. I wish that people got paid what they are worth in this country, but they don't, so tipping is necessary.

I worked a few lower level management jobs in retail while going to college, so I know what it's like...people can be so abusive.

[2naSalit]

10. A slightly different take...

On giving your surname to strangers.

I worked in public and private sector jobs in a tourist town, a really super busy one. I found that, first as a female, not wise because tourist locations attract every element in the human spectrum and that can be troubling for obvious reasons.

In the private sector, your protection is only as good as your wits and over stretched LEO response time. Same with the public sector except attacking a public servant has an additional set of consequences, unfortunately your full name is on your uniform.

When tourists decide to mess with you, especially in some agencies, the tourist is always right and you have no defense, even when they set you up and make shit up, you have no defense.

And tourists have become like the people we see protesting mask mandates and all those Karens out there. They started acting like that about fifteen years ago and they are only getting worse with absolute and overt disrespect for everything from the people who cook their food to the natural resources they came to see. It's just sickening.

Knowing this is the case for those whom I come into contact in those positions, I am extra nice to them and let them know, when I drop the tip in the jar, that I have walked in their shoes and I appreciate their cordial service and for being there in the first place.

Our social fabric has become soiled and worn, not sure how to repair it at this point but I know restoring respect is key.

[MiHale]

5. We had some kind of weird stuff happening with our tv...

Remote that controls the Apple TV box stopped working. Googled up problems with remote and went about the various fixes for the remote, apparently it’s a common problem…all has to do with Bluetooth. OR so we thought.
Then the Spectrum remote would not respond to commands. WHAT’S GOING ON?

Dear wife calls Apple support first. Totally awesome person helping out confused customer, went through all the same things we did with a few new steps. Nothing worked. A solid 30 minutes trying one thing, then another, well and on till she finally admitted she could find no more “fixes” for non-responding remote.
Suggested we call Spectrum…maybe something with that remote? After an approximate 15 minute call with tries and no results, she suggested we call Samsung, the maker of the tv.
Now comes the weird part. After explaining to the Samsung customer service person the problem(s) going on that CSR worked with us to try to fix it. Nada again. This phone call was into about the 20 minute time period.

Total frustration for now 5 clueless people. But even with all the frustration, the try this, try that this bunch of CSR’s across 3 different corporations were the best, calmest, most understanding CSR we ever had the privilege of working with. They all received the highest praise possible on the survey’s we responded to.

I must explain this next phase of the fix. We do not use the remote that came with the TV, between the Spectrum remote and the Apple TV remote we found out we didn’t need it.
So how were we supposed to know the batteries were low? Your kidding me, right?

I’m swearing it was out of pure desperation the Samsung rep suggested we change the batteries in a remote we don’t use. That plus a small reset to accept the new batteries (???) then everything worked to perfection.

[niyad]

12. Now that brought a giggle. Reminds of a sign we had in our office practices

class when I was in high school, back in the dark ages: "When all else fails, plug it in."

[Chainfire]

6. I think that it is more productive to start the conversation by screaming and cussing.

That will always get their attention and let them know that you are serious...

I was once stalled in traffic and watched the police stop the car of a man in a business suit. The cop and the man both exited their cars at the same time. The guy was yelling and flapping his arms like a bird. I thought, yep, there goes a ticket.

[targetpractice]

7. Great story... My somewhat similar experience the other day...

These moments of kindness don't take much time or effort, but they bring joy to the recipient, and it spreads to others... Today, I spoke with an AT&T customer service representative... I'm chatty, and she was in Manila... I asked to speak to her supervisor... I had a normal, but lovely call... I told the supervisor how kind and helpful she was, and he thanked me. When he handed me back to for her to close out the call, I heard him yelling in Tagalog... "Go Jem!! And my team! You made someone really happy today!" and there was applause from her call center team.... Not looking for atta boy pats on the back, but it was truly fun. At the end, she said "Happy Valentines Day!"... And, I replied "Mahal kita!"

People matter, and kindness matters. Making someone's day is always a good strategy, in my opinion.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

8. Why you are typing this?

I bet because you are awake at 4 am.

[mockmonkey]

9. I have a delivery from Walmart in my mailbox

Just a name on it that when I Googled it, it is either the name of a Carrier or the name of a person. There is no address on the package. I only know it's from Walmart because when I peeled back the label it opened up to be a plastic Walmart bag. I didn't open the bag thinking it could be something personal. I was hoping the delivery person might come back when the customer complains about the missing package.

I tried going to the Walmart site and seeing if there was a place to put any of the numbers that are listed on the label but I couldn't find anything there. I was going to call but I'm too annoyed.

Who sticks a package in a mailbox with no address on it? Walmart does.

[niyad]

11. On the rare occasions that I have to connect with a customer service agent, I

go into it with the assumption that, of course they will resolve the problem. Seems to work. I had an issue setting up an account through my health care last week, and got the most delightful, helpful rep. I explained about my computer being a pos, and she did everything from her end. It was a most pleasant encounter.

[Midnight Writer]

13. Withhold judgement until you receive the package.

I often have a pleasant exchange with a customer service rep only to find that the problem is not resolved, despite what they tell you.

Perhaps not their fault. Most companies don't give any real authority to the customer service reps. They may sincerely believe they have resolved the problem, only for the resolution to be discarded somewhere along the line.

[ret5hd]

14. "What are you wearing, Jake from Walmart?"

Please tell me you asked him.
Please tell me he said “khakis”.

[Aristus]

15. People who treat customer service workers well usually do so because it's the right thing to do.

But it's also a great way to earn some extraordinary good will from people whose job it is to serve you and be polite to you.


I come from a family of over-tippers. None of us can understand why someone would under tip, or refuse to tip at all. If you have a regular bar or restaurant, tipping well ensures that you always have spectacular service, and in some cases, a regular server.