In a packed fast food restaurant in Montego Bay, customers expressed their impatience with the pace of the service. Naturally, the cashiers bore the brunt of their frustrations, especially from two male customers who got quite colourful with their expressions.
Instead of tempering the situation, one cashier responded to the verbal assault with some choice words of her own, telling the customer to leave if he did not wish to wait. Seeing the melee unfold, the manager on duty came to the cashier’s defense with her own brand of cussing aimed at the angry customers.
Playing the blame game is all too common when a customer complains. Is it the customer’s fault for not expecting longer wait times when the restaurant is full? Or is it the company’s fault for not meeting customer expectations, or failing to train staff to resolve conflicts quickly?
When customers complain, it might seem almost instinctive to remove yourself from the equation particularly if the issue did not arise from a neglect of duty on your part. You may have some coworkers whose work ethic is questionable, and whose constant failure to carry out their tasks may be the reason behind the complaint. But good customer service practices dictate that these matters should be handled internally – not with the customer standing in front of you.
It should be the goal of every business to aim for speedy resolution whenever a conflict arises. If you respond quickly, many disgruntled customers will be appeased by a simple apology. In this case, the cashier could have easily apologized to customers for the long wait. Better still is advising customers at the point of purchase that the wait might be longer than usual.
Accepting responsibility when something goes wrong is an important step in conflict resolution. Removing yourself from the situation, and pointing at coworkers or your manager will do nothing to calm the frustrations of an irate customer. Accept personal responsibility up front, and offer a sincere apology on behalf of the company. Later, you can bring it to the attention of the supervisor or manager so that the company can assess shortcomings if they exist and fix them.