How To Be A Good Customer

I am tired and grumpy.  The "busy" season at work is soon over. I work for a company in the Christmas business.   We distribute seasonal merchandise.   Each year, I hire and train seasonal customer service representatives to work seven weeks in a demanding call center environment.

Overall, we have great customers. It is nice seeing our regular customers who stop in for their order. I am sad when I hear an "old timer" in the business has died.  This year, a few of the customers have been especially challenging.  In an effort to put this season behind me, I present suggestions on How To Be A Good Customer.

1.  "What do you mean?!!!"  is not an appropriate response when told an item is out of stock.

2.  Please refrain from using "Gimme".  Gimme a case of stands  Gimme a box of rings.

3.  It is really difficult to hear if you are on speaker phone.

4.  Please do not call in with an order and put us on hold to answer your other line.

5.  Please have your order ready.  Going through the 30 page catalog...one page at a time should be done before you call.

6.  Please do not swear at us when we tell you there are no parts available for an obsolete machine.

7.  Know who you are.  The database has over 10,000 customers....many with the name evergreen somewhere in the title.  The call will be much smoother if you know your customer number or at least the name your account was set up in.

8. Freight charges are an expensive part of doing business.

9.  If our published pick up hours begin at 8:30, please do not arrive early to get a "jump on your day".

10.  Do not ask us to leave your order outside for you to pickup after hours.  We cannot.

In other news, I should resume regular posting in a week.  Thank you to the readers and followers of this blog for bearing with the lapse in posting.