Customer service rant

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MauleSkinner said:
Seemed like you knew for sure. :dunno:
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I'm pretty sure that the two cashiers could not read minds so yes, it's a pretty safe bet that if you dont actually talk you won't get an answer.
 
2-Bit Speed said:
I think there's a step missing between saying that one who cannot afford to feed his own mouth should not add to the mouths he must feed and eugenics.
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I think there is even another step missing. I said it wouldn't cross my mind (for me) to do so. I see no hint of eugenics in that.
But yes, it does lightly infer that I think other people should do likewise, until they can afford it.
 
kmacht said:
I’m not denying that bad service didn’t exist but some of your complaints are on you for not actually speaking up. If you had a question on an item you should have said something before they rang it up. If you had a question about your water you should have asked instead of just leaving. A simple “excuse me” would have worked in both cases. The cashiers are not mind readers and if you aren’t letting them know you have questions they are just going to ring you out and send you on your way just like they did for the 100 customers before you and the 100 that will be after that same day. A cashiers job is very monotonous and talking or small chat with coworkers is a normal way to help pass the time.
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Have you made such a comment to the hundreds of other rants that have been posted on this board?

Do you think I didn't try to get their attention? Should I have slapped them upside the head?
 
SkyChaser said:
I don't think people should be even attempting to conceive when they don't have a way to feed, clothe, and shelter resultant children, but I also think that if you can feed them, clothe them, shelter them, and love them, you are plenty rich enough to have them.
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:yeahthat:
 
Katamarino said:
Sooo....the quality of worker is low because they are paid too much?

An intriguing idea.
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That might be an appropriate observation if the employer chose to hire better employees by paying higher wages. But I think we are talking about the government mandating that everyone gets the same minimum wage, so all employers are still drawing from the same labor pool. And the higher minimum wage just might encourage some people to get off the couch and give up "government benefits" to get a job, but that isn't going to turn them into good employees. Just lazy, high paid minimum skilled workers. Not to mention, it will undoubtedly lead to reduced employment and higher prices and business going out of business. Google "fast food prices".
Katamarino said:
You must be of the "We don't need to pay people more to improve morale, what they really need is a pizza party" school of thought.

As we all know, workers perform at their best when they are struggling to make ends meet and need to work 80 hour weeks to survive :rolleyes:
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I'm of the school that if you want better employees, you pay them more than the competition and treat them better. But you still have to balance that with the cost of your product so you can maintain profitability and stay in business. You can't just raise prices 20% because your costs went up 20%. You will lose customers and profits.
 
hindsight2020 said:
A low-key implication was made lower-income people (and class by extension, though they'll deny it) shouldn't procreate on the basis of said poverty. I retorted I'm not a fan of eugenics.
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Oh, thanks! Was reading in the Washington Post yesterday that the US’s @replacement rate@, number of children per woman, is 1.6. It had to be 2.1 to maintain the population without immigration. So at this point I would say , have at it! Breed away! Make more kids!
 
JOhnH said:
And the higher minimum wage just might encourage some people to get off the couch and give up "government benefits" to get a job, but that isn't going to turn them into good employees. Just lazy, high paid minimum skilled workers. Not to mention, it will undoubtedly lead to reduced employment and higher prices and business going out of business. Google "fast food prices".
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Corporate profits drive prices considerably more than employee wages do. McDonalds made over $40,000/employee net last year for a grand total of $8.5B, a 37% increase from the previous year. All that despite the cost of wages going up. If you want to be mad at people for prices going up, don't start with the people asking for $15/hr.

McDonalds made more money last year than any previous year in their history.
 
DavidWhite said:
Corporate profits drive prices considerably more than employee wages do. McDonalds made over $40,000/employee net last year for a grand total of $8.5B, a 37% increase from the previous year. All that despite the cost of wages going up. If you want to be mad at people for prices going up, don't start with the people asking for $15/hr.

McDonalds made more money last year than any previous year in their history.
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McD’s has also been reducing staff, replacing employees with automation. If you cut staff and revenue remains the same or falls by a smaller percent than the staff cuts, revenue per employee goes up.
 
Half Fast said:
McD’s has also been reducing staff, replacing employees with automation. If you cut staff and revenue remains the same or falls by a smaller percent than the staff cuts, revenue per employee goes up.
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Okay so shouldn't prices be going down then?
 
DavidWhite said:
Corporate profits drive prices considerably more than employee wages do.
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That's complete and utter nonsense.

1) Do you understand how the franchise business model works?
2) Do you understand the ratio of direct labor to fast food revenue vs. net operating margin?
 
DavidWhite said:
Okay so shouldn't prices be going down then?
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No. They are doing everything they can to keep from raising prices too much too fast. It's not just labor costs going up. Everything is going up as an inescapable result of induced inflation. Despite what you may have heard, current inflation trends are not transitory.
 
JOhnH said:
No. They are doing everything they can to keep from raising prices too much too fast. It's not just labor costs going up. Everything is going up as an inescapable result of induced inflation. Despite what you may have heard, current inflation trends are not transitory.
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So if all the nice people that run these massive corporations are doing everything they can for us, the little people, then why are corporate profits (nearly across the board) soaring to record heights? Why do prices continue to rise? I agree with you that this inflation isn't transitory, but disagree as to the cause.
 
DavidWhite said:
So if all the nice people that run these massive corporations are doing everything they can for us, the little people, then why are corporate profits (nearly across the board) soaring to record heights? Why do prices continue to rise? I agree with you that this inflation isn't transitory, but disagree as to the cause.
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"Whatever the market will bear ... "
 
Daleandee said:
"Whatever the market will bear ... "
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Corporations have figured out that the market will bear almost anything when it comes to necessities. The alternative is homelessness/malnutrition. The American dream is as dead as George Washington and we have no one to blame but Wall Street and corrupt politicians. It's not about party lines either, it's every single one of them.
 
DavidWhite said:
Is McDonalds a necessity?
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Not to me. I’m just going with your complaint that...
DavidWhite said:
Corporations have figured out that the market will bear almost anything when it comes to necessities.
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If McD’s isn’t a necessity, how is your citation of their finances relevant to your complaint?
 
Half Fast said:
Not to me. I’m just going with your complaint that...


If McD’s isn’t a necessity, how is your citation of their finances relevant to your complaint?
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So do I need to go through the entire New York Stock Exchange line by line? McDonalds is not the only corporation experiencing this phenomenon of increased net profit while squealing that they are having to increase prices due to the rising cost of labor.
 
DavidWhite said:
So do I need to go through the entire New York Stock Exchange line by line? McDonalds is not the only corporation experiencing this phenomenon of increased net profit while squealing that they are having to increase prices due to the rising cost of labor.
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Wow. Just..wow.

So, you believe that McDonald's is free to set whatever price they like, and people are somehow forced to pay it.

I see.
 
StraightnLevel said:
Wow. Just..wow.

So, you believe that McDonald's is free to set whatever price they like, and people are somehow forced to pay it.

I see.
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Again, is McDonalds a necessity? Some reading comprehension may be in order.
 
StraightnLevel said:
Have you ever taken a basic economics course? Serious question - have you read even the most basic material, like Adam Smith?
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You mean "The father of capitalism"? The guy who would today be diagnosed with schizophrenia? Yes I am familiar with his "works".

edit: I actually like a lot of what Adam Smith has to say, but the economic system he envisioned is not currently what we have implemented in the US. It would be like saying that Karl Marx economic system is what was implemented in the Soviet Union. Both are great theories, but human greed will always usurp even the best of economic systems eventually.
 
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DavidWhite said:
You mean "The father of capitalism"? The guy who would today be diagnosed with schizophrenia? Yes I am familiar with his "works".

edit: I actually like a lot of what Adam Smith has to say, but the economic system he envisioned is not currently what we have implemented in the US. It would be like saying that Karl Marx economic system is what was implemented in the Soviet Union. Both are great theories, but human greed will always usurp even the best of economic systems eventually.
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The system we have in play today is nothing like what any intelligent person would have envisioned.
 
JOhnH said:
The system we have in play today is nothing like what any intelligent person would have envisioned.
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On this we can agree wholeheartedly.
 
When I was working my first job at a dine-in pizza joint (Simple Simon's in Oklahoma if you're curious) I was engaged in a conversation with my boss about the business and he told me the industry that will be in most demand in 20 years is service. At the time I thought he was crazy. Well, we're 25 years on and Harold...you were spot on, sir.
 
I'd blame it on corporate policies, I worked for a few Target, and CocaCola. They punish good work with more work. They will do nothing more than a 2 or 3 percent raise unless you job hop. Then the policies that make no sense. Also every retail job i've ever worked has had zero training. When I cashiered at a grocery store the fellow cashier ran through 2 or 3 transactions then I was on my own. When I worked at a sports store in the shoe department I showed up at 9 was shown the backroom had the rah rah meeting up front then 10 am when we opened was on my own. DIdn't even know what my job was, I just sort of walked around and looked for empty spots on the shelf and went in the back and checked if we had it. When I stocked for coca cola I showed up at 4 am my trainer didn't show up. Was told to "work the truck i'll see if i can get someone to help you" I didn't even know how to get into kroger before it opened or where to get my product.

Pay raises were non existent. 2 percent a year at none of those companies did it matter what you did, there was no way to earn more. Bust ass get extra work, be lazy get less work and same pay. Same annual 2 percent raise. I think i'd just put some headphones in and zombie through the day as well.
 
falconkidding said:
I'd blame it on corporate policies, I worked for a few Target, and CocaCola. They punish good work with more work. They will do nothing more than a 2 or 3 percent raise unless you job hop. Then the policies that make no sense. Also every retail job i've ever worked has had zero training. When I cashiered at a grocery store the fellow cashier ran through 2 or 3 transactions then I was on my own. When I worked at a sports store in the shoe department I showed up at 9 was shown the backroom had the rah rah meeting up front then 10 am when we opened was on my own. DIdn't even know what my job was, I just sort of walked around and looked for empty spots on the shelf and went in the back and checked if we had it. When I stocked for coca cola I showed up at 4 am my trainer didn't show up. Was told to "work the truck i'll see if i can get someone to help you" I didn't even know how to get into kroger before it opened or where to get my product.

Pay raises were non existent. 2 percent a year at none of those companies did it matter what you did, there was no way to earn more. Bust ass get extra work, be lazy get less work and same pay. Same annual 2 percent raise. I think i'd just put some headphones in and zombie through the day as well.
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How much of that has to do with the cutthroat nature of competition in the retail sector.
 
So, if corporate policies are somehow so terrible and destructive, why do so many people purchase their products and apply for their jobs?

To go back to McDonald's, I'll say that I detest their product. I haven't spent a penny their in several decades. Nobody puts a gun to my head and forces me to buy their product - nor any other "fast food". Why? Because I can make my own sandwich or burger for about 1/3 the price. For me, even $5/hour would be more than I would pay for someone to make me a sandwich (which is what the transaction is, in a nutshell).

So, given that it's overpriced unskilled labor and bottom-grade food, why do people want to eat the food, and why do people work there?
 
Someone pinch me, I thought we'd argued this before...
 
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