Do you ever wonder how in the world some people were hired in to the job they have?

Most of that sort I’ve seen over the years has had it’s roots in nepotism.

You mean like some of the fluther mods?

NO NO NO I didn’t say that! JUst KiDdN! REallyy!

couldn’t resist… just kidding really mods really I think yer fab!

You did NOT just say that @RealEyesRealizeRealLies!!!!!! Bad bad! You will be terminated now!!

LOL! I just told Auggie earlier that getting modded didn’t bother me any more. I no longer feel like I’m getting sent to the principal’s office. And THEN I stuck my tongue out at her! I supposed she’s going to clock me on the spelling of my user name now!

Every single day.

But then, this is Israel – where everyone is always angry. Customer service is an oxymoron here – to this day, they think only morons should be hired for the service.

I called a restaurant this evening, one I’d been to yesterday and many times before. I wanted to compliment them on the changes to the menu. I couldn’t get through to the owner, or manager – the head waiter wouldn’t let me speak to them without saying why (she was expecting flack, I gather; who else calls and asks for the manager here?).

Finally, I convinced her to take my number and name and he should call back when he isn’t busy (it was 6 PM – hardly rush hour here on a workday but anyway…)

He called back later, and you can hear from his tone (and I have a trained ear) that he was nervous and expecting shit about something; I just told him what we had enjoyed, and that his changes to the restaurant were noticeable – and because I live close by would like him to make note of it – so I would return again.

Sometimes – because of negative comments – they keep trying new dishes and make changes – so I was looking out for moi – but also complimenting them – something almost unheard of here.

I worked with a woman, promoted to Vice President despite being one of the dumbest people I ever met. Truly, sharp as a beachball.

Then I found out she was sleeping with the (married) president of the company and it all became clear.

@cprevite Yep.

@cprevite No… that never happens.

That has a way of working itself out @cprevite. I know a similar situation where a woman was put in the position of Chief Editor for a major fashion magazine simply because she was a model screwing with the publisher. All was fine for about a year, until another model came along. The gal who was once at the top of the heap, socially and professionally, by no means of integrity of her own, quickly found herself shunned and banned from the very social status she enjoyed temporarily. Since she was never qualified for the job in the first place, she wasn’t in high demand from any other magazine. She ended up with the same story I’ve seen play out so many times with other girls in her same situation. She left the city to move back in with her parents and ended up working at the mall service desk. A far cry from the heights she once knew. Years have passed, a decade or more, and she still talks about being the editor of that magazine as if it was something she deserved.

@all: Yup. I think in most cases, it’s either nepotism or the ability to suck a golf ball through a garden hose.

There are a fair amount of people in the customer service industry that get hired because they had a pulse.

Sucking up seems to be very effective too. Or going along with the program, even when that program is illegal or dangerous. Kissing the arse of the boss, no matter how dumb or wrong that person may be, will get you sailing up the ladder lickety split, and if you have nails on the bottom of your boots, you can continually knock down the people that are below you. And as my good friend recently pointed out to me (with regards to going to HR with safety violation problems, or sexual harassment problems) The squeaky wheel gets the axe! At least that’s the case in the company where we used to work.

Ugh I wonder that about most of my co-workers. I only started waitressing a couple months ago, but it’s clear that I’m a way better waitress than my coworkers who have been doing it for years. Shouldn’t they have not been hired back by now?

No one with any self-respect wants those jobs. That leaves them to the beyond rude.

Some of it stems from working too many hours for too little pay at most likely a dead end job. I’ve had one or two of those myself. My credo was; “I care, but I don’t really give a fuck”.

@wundayatta I guess that might go back to…‘Mericans are too good to do the jobs that the illegal immigrants would jump at….

@Dutchess_III I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I’m not saying that. I’m suggesting it is the attitude of people who don’t want to work in those places, and then the way a some of the people who do work there feel. The slackers and whatnot. They feel like they are working way below their place, so they don’t give a shit.

And why is it that 7–11s always smell so weird? It gives me a headache.

What do they smell like? 7–11’s

I’m not sure what it is. Maybe some kind of cleaner they use? It’s weird. I have smelt it at more than one place. It’s a smell that sticks little knives in my nose is the best way I know how to describe it. I have to breathe through my mouth. It’s the weirdest thing. I hardly ever go into seven elevens any more, as a result.

My gripe is with the stupid. I often encounter people who are so obstinately stupid that I think that they’ve been literally trained to be that way.

And then I wonder: “Who reminds these people to breathe, anyway?” Yeah, that stupid.

I get put off when the person helping me is obviously high. I mean can’t you hold out long enough to get home?

Having worked in the customer service industry for ~30 years, I can say that there are two sides to this coin. Poor hiring/promoting practices often leads to putting the wrong person in a position. They may complete tasks perfectly, but lack proper customer service and/or management skills. The initial blame needs to be placed on the hiring manager.

The challenge is that more people, both customers and employees, are likely to walk than talk when it comes to work performance that is subjective. For example, have you, as a customer, ever experienced poor customer service, never reported it, and never returned to that store? If so, the owner/manager is clueless. As for managers, have you ever worked for one that was just awful and either transferred to another department or quit because you were too afraid of the repercussions if you reported it? I have.

On the flip side, I’ve observed many a customer treat a clerk like dirt when it is clearly not their fault. I would be willing to bet that you have witnessed this as well.

I wonder it all of the time. As far as bad customer service, it starts at the top. People think customer service is just something you are born with, but it can be taught, employees should be trained. Where I live now excellent customer service is very rare. Worse here compared to anywhere else I have lived. My husband and I find it shocking constantly.

As far as other positions within a company, I am constantly amazed at how some people at higher levels get to their position and maintain it. They play the corporate game better I guess. Say the right things to the right people and know how to promote themselves to be recognized.

Oh, and can I just bitch for a minute about the people bagging my groceries here in the Memphis metro area. Flipping teenager put my banana in with my cans of tuna today. Luckily, I caught it before I left the cashier. When I pointed it out, that my banana was going to get bruised, and yes now I tell them when they fuck up, he said, the banana was on top. Sure, and it will stay that way the whole drive home right? And, forget about the ride home, a heavy bag full of cans, I am likely to put another bag on top of it in my trunk. This is nothing compared to them putting deli meat or produce in with raw meat. Really, total idiots. One grocery store I shop in one of the gentemen who bag items is blind, I like his line best. The cashier always takes care to put the raw meat in a separate bag, and he seems to really care that things are done correctly.

@JLeslie Remember Giant grocery stores from our area back in high school? The cashiers/bagging people who worked there were so well trained. I always heard it was because they were union employees, but who knows why. I sure did appreciate it.

Nowadays, I pre-sort my groceries on the conveyer belt, putting things I want bagged together in separate little sections, heavy stuff first and lightest/fragile stuff last. When I see them getting near the meat, I always ask them to bag it separately. If I don’t do this, it all gets thrown in willy-nilly. I don’t think they bother to teach any bagging skills at all, anymore. It’s a pain in the ass, but I have adjusted to it.

Unfriendly clerks just boggle my mind, though. Why on earth do the owners allow that? Sullen, snippy, bored, no “please” or “thank you”... what the hell?

Actually, round my way jobs are quite hard to come by and I think employers have the pick of the crop. Customer service is quite good – people are friendly and helpful and will go out of their way to get you what you need. I reckon they know that if they don’t do a good job the shop or business could quite easily fail and then they’ll be out of a job. Before all the big names like Woolworths went under, people could not imagine this happening. Now it’s all too real. I think the recession has improved things for customers.

But then traditionally customer service was not great so maybe what I think is good is more like the bad examples above!

@augustlan I always pre-sort my groceries, always have. Some grocery stores, I think Giant actually? The cashier did the bagging. So, as it came down the belt if it the groveries were really mixed up it was a big pain for them. Or, maybe that was when I lived in MI? Not sure. I literally put produce and cooked meats towards the beginning, and then raw meat at the very very end, and they still mess it up. They have been trained to put like items together a managar once told me, and for some of them that means meat, all meat, together. In FL I rarely had a problem, but a lot of the people bagging groceries were senior citizens, so guess by 60 people have figured out what goes with what. Most of thepeople here are very young, teenagers, but I blame the management for not putting more focus on it. I had a lot of trouble in NC also.

The other day I was in Walmart, saw some managers, and asked them if they could get pollyo ricotta sincenthey get pollyo mozerella. Guy had no idea what I was talking about. No problem, I don’t expect him to know every item on the shelf. I brought him to the mozerella to show him the brand, and then again said I was looking for the ricotta, he started looking all over that area. I said, it wouldn’t be here, ricotta is in a different section. I mean he had absolutely no clue what ricotta cheese was, really was completely lost.

Oh yeah. I have wondered about it an umpteen times. It seems I come across a lot of people like that every now and then. The last company I worked had hordes of ‘em.

A lot of people get hired because they’re not bright – many managers don’t want anyone with a brain in their orgs since people will realize what a waste many jobs are and how things can be done better.

People who starting huffing and slamming at their cash register keys when they’ve miskeyed something, as though it was all your fault because you bought whatever it was that they miskeyed. I think so much of it is the kids coming of of the schools, where they’re literally told they can act any way they want, and there won’t be any consequences to speak of. Today it seems to be the “Thing,” especially for girls, to have shitty, “talk to the hand,” attitudes..