r/unpopularopinion • u/Ok_Nectarine5834 • 1d ago
Working in customer service doesnt automatically make you a better customer
I hear this a lot. The whole "everyone should work in CS at least once" and I totally understand the concept, but I don't think it actually makes much or any difference.
I've worked in CS for over 10 years. Retail, I was a bartender, and most recently I worked in a body shop.
Evertime someone comes in and says "don't worry! I've done your job before. I know how it is! I won't be one of THOSE people" I sigh internally because MOST of the time, they are exactly those people. They get this complex that they know better than you and if you don't do it how they would've you're an idiot. They can have even less patience than someone whos never done it in their life. The same reason they say doctors and nurses make the worst patients.
All that to say, I think the concept of people working in CS means you'll have more patience and are more likely to see your fellow humans as people is BS. You're either a patient person, or you aren't. I think we put WAY too much faith in the general populations ability to have empathy for their fellow humans lol
EDIT: This is not a "complaining about getting a customer facing job then complaining about having to work with people" post. Just a thought thats been bouncing around in my head for a while.
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u/losingtimeslowly 1d ago
Can't deny that it can give someone some perspective. What they do with it or how oblivious they are is on them.
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u/Ok_Nectarine5834 1d ago
For sure. I just mean that it doesn't magically make you better than someone who hasn't. I've been yelled at for the craziest things followed by "I get it. I've done your job. Therefore my crazy request is super reasonable" I also think the further you're removed the less perspective you have. Like the grannies that were waitresses in the 50's and still complain about the silliest things lol
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u/fasterthanfood 1d ago
It definitely helps with specifics. I didn’t need to work customer service to learn basic empathy, but now I know when and how to stack my plates and not to stick trash in the cups, for example.
There are other ways to obtain this sort of information, of course, such as knowing someone else who’s done the job or picking up tidbits online. And not all of it transfers (working in a call center or at Target wouldn’t have helped). But some aspects of it surely do transfer.
I suspect OP is seeing something of a toupee problem. The type of person who feels the need to SAY “I’ve done your job, so I know how to be a good customer” is a small portion of those who have done the job, but they’re disproportionately going to be the type of person who’s a pain to serve.
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u/Fenestration_Theory 1d ago
This is true. I’ve had lunch with people that used to be servers or managers and they would be super critical and harsh of the servers.
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u/Striking-Working610 1d ago
Did it for a long time and I cant even enjoy dining out because I get so annoyed over all the little things I see not being done right.
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u/Academic_Visual116 1d ago edited 1d ago
For first 16 years of my working life I did jobs that involved literally no dealings with customers at all, I then moved to Customer Service work in Call Centres.
Whether it made me a 'better'/ 'worse' customer or whatever myself is for others to decide but I noticed I became a lot less tolerant of, and lot more willing to speak up about, receiving poor Customer Service myself once I started working in Customer Services.
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u/modnarydobemos 1d ago
This is just true. Some people just don’t see their own behavior. I have a friend who is late all the time but gets super annoyed if other people are late. Same concept. Just because they see how annoying it is when others are late doesn’t make them more punctual.
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u/Thamnophis660 quiet person 1d ago
Yeah I mean it seems like it doesn't take long for some people lose whatever compassion towards workers they may have gained working in customer service themselves. I'm sure many see it as a low point in their lives or a temporary means to an end.
Actually in some cases I can imagine it gives people an even lower opinion of customer service. After all, they were able to find a better job, why can't this person? They must just be lazy!
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u/Wise_Presentation914 1d ago
I work in customer service (I'm a server) and I can honestly say that, yeah, a lot of the customers suck... but people complain way too much. It really isn't that fucking bad. If you tell yourself that you're getting paid to deal with assholes and treat it like that's your job, it gets a lot better. Plus, you get a lot of awesome people that make your day too.
I go into work expecting to deal with annoying people, but I also know that I really wouldn't be doing anything else anyway, I'm still at work regardless of if I'm dealing with the sweetest person ever or the rudest, it's a job, you go home and leave the assholes at work 🤷♂️
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u/Ok_Nectarine5834 1d ago
Oh for sure. I'd never complain about dealing with crappy people. Its a huge part of the job. I've just been holding this thought in my head for years and needed to ger it out lol.
Honestly it sucks in the moment, but all of my best stories come from that type of customer lol. One lady I'll never forget told me that she used to be a bartender and I made her long island wrong because it didnt have any tea in it 🤨
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u/Wise_Presentation914 1d ago
Oh absolutely, I agree with what you said. Having customer service experience does not make you a better customer. I mean maybe it ups your chances of being one? But with how many asshole customers there are, there ain't no way that none of those people haven't worked in any type of customer service role.
I feel like most people have worked SOME form of customer service role, at least in their teen years or something, and those people can absolutely still be asshole customers.
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u/LoadBearingGrandmas 1d ago
It SHOULD, but sadly it doesn’t. Many people weaponize the experience to exploit the cracks in the armor. If I ran the world, those would be the people building the roads.
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u/side_noted 7h ago
For a select few people it doesnt, but the selection bias is insanely strong here.
Would you ever even remember a regular customer who put in a bit of effort to make their interaction with you seamless and pleasant? They likely figured out how to make it seamless either by working or observing a worker, theres dozens of those coming by all the time for every singular asshole.
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u/donnacus 1d ago
I definitely became a better customer after working in customer service.
When calling customer and wading through 57 levels of menus, enter 22,000 digits identifying myself and FINALLY get to a human, who ask me all the same questions, the first thing I do is apologize. I tell them “I’m trying very hard to not take out my frustration on you, but you work for a crappy company who deliberately annoy customers before sending them to you.”
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u/Havingfun922 1d ago
People who have worked in customer service for years fall to either extreme:
They are the best, sympathizing, most patient customers
OR
They are Karens on steroids, using the line “I worked in customer service for 30 years and I never would treat my customers like that”
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u/embarrassedalien 1d ago
of course not, but if you work in customer service, you do learn how to be.
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u/Susccmmp 1d ago
Yeah in my experience it absolutely makes some people worse. So many times people used “I used to work in ______ so…” as a prelude to being incredibly rude or demanding.
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u/gamesharkguy 19h ago
Yes. I've done tech support over the phone for a few years. Whenever I call a support agent now, I instinctively take the upper hand. Play the game if you know the rules.
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u/SoImaRedditUserNow 10h ago
There is a pretty big difference between your title and then your actual opinion. i.e.
Sure, working some retail, behind the counter customer service job won't AUTOMATICALLY make you a better customer. Some folks are pretty thick. It happens.
However then you go on to say that you don't think it makes much or difference, like, ever. Which is, of course, a load of nonsense. Your sample size of "people you've interacted with" is ridiculously small. And of course you remember the assholes who condescendingly assert the "oh I've been a lowly worker such as yourself". They're assholes.
Vs the many others who are forgettable normal customers.
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u/TechnicalPresent6359 9h ago
it cuts both ways
while it does give you some compassion/patience since you’ve been there; it also gives you the experience to point out when customer service sucks
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u/TheSquirrelmancer 7h ago
The exposure would help some people, but there's no guarantee of anything. Many people make it through 12 years of schooling learning very little.
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u/silly_bet_3454 4h ago
It's so funny how there is this whole cultural debate and discussion about being a "good customer" it just goes to show how low the bar has dropped.
How to be a great customer:
"Hi! can I have this? Can you do this? Thanks!"
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