Customer Service: It Gets Worse...

"BeMark" (BeMark) 08/02/2013 at 16:01 • Filed to: valet parking

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Sometimes the truth behind comedy can really bring it home. Case in point: Valet Customer Service...

Personally if given the chance I would avoid valet parking my vehicle. Not because its rare, has too much power, brand new or even that it's a manual. I just plain don't trust a stranger to drive my car and I think this sketch comedy group hits the mark why.

Customer service jobs really expose you to the dregs of social discourse. After a while it wears everyone down or breaks them somehow, leaving a cynical spiteful husk of a person. I think it pays to be a smiling polite customer but I know for a fact that Valet I gave my keys dealt with a whole string of jerks before me. I just don't believe a smile and a tip will overcome that..

Takuro Spirit > BeMark 08/02/2013 at 16:16

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"...I don't know where your eyes have been."

"...It was a Miata."

Classic.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > BeMark 08/02/2013 at 16:19

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Dude really looks like a bald ryan reynolds tho...

Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole > BeMark 08/02/2013 at 16:21

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He does look like a bald Ryan Reynolds!

Brian, The Life of > BeMark 08/02/2013 at 16:35

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I was a waiter until I finished grad school. I know these feels entirely too well.

Shooltzie > BeMark 08/02/2013 at 16:45

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Am I the only one who enjoyed Customer Service, only because I got to thoroughly piss people off when they were extremely rude or because it was nice when nice people came in? I'm not sure why but I found it really fun when some old dude who thought he owned the world would be pissed about his store credit card and I would be helping him fix it, and when the lady on the phone needed a social I handed him the phone and he just started screaming into it. Eventually he told her the number (loud enough that everyone within visible range could have heard it) and threw the receiver back at me.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't realize he'd snap at you like that. Did you get the number? If you need, I can say it again for you. He only said it loud enough for everyone to hear. No, no I have no idea who he is I've never seen him before. Is his problem fixed? Good, thank you so much for your help and sorry again that you had to deal with someone like him. Thank you and have a nice day." Then just smile at him, tell him it's fixed and walk away.

feather-throttle-not-hair > BeMark 08/02/2013 at 17:12

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Guys, I worked at a hotel for 6 plus years. I would occasionally be pressed into valet service when things were busy.

Never valet your cars. We were good to them, but shit happens. It wasn't super rare for cars to get in small parking accidents. The hotel was an upstanding place and we'd always pay for stuff, but truthfully, when you're parking hundreds of cars a day with a lot of time pressure, every now and then people will make mistakes.

killerkoolaid37 > BeMark 08/02/2013 at 18:11

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I've been working in call centers for the most part since '99, and I can definitely understand the sentiment. It takes herculean effort to be able to be courteous and non-cynical after a while if you don't have the right perspective. I always looked at my call center work (All in-bound mind you, I will *never* work an out-bound call center) with 3 things in mind:

1) I'm getting paid to sit on my ass and talk on the phone all day. That shit's easy.

2) The person that's calling in that I get to speak to is calling because they need help with something. They may or may not be the most polite but they still need help.

3) The person on the other end of the line is a human being, too.

It's helped me keep a positive outlook wherever I've worked. One thing that I would suggest anyone do is find a customer service firm that trains people the thought process of customer service and how to control a conversation. It's certainly helped me out on a daily basis, and mostly *outside* of work. It's one thing to be in customer service and just participate in a conversation with a customer, but it's an altogether different animal if you learn how to control the conversation for maximum effectiveness.