Ettiquette: who should get priority?

[Nancy OShea]

We've all been in this customer service situation at one time or another. 

You walk in to the office/bank to speak with an agent. Their phone rings, they answer and instead of putting the caller on hold or transferring the call to another agent, they keep you waiting a long time while they help the caller.

Yesterday, I had the reverse situation.  I called an out of town bank.  They put me on hold and never came back.   Calling back resulted in much the same thing.   I asked for another agent, she said none were available.  I asked her to take my number and call me back when she was free.  She never called me back.

Who should get priority -- the customer on site or the customer who calls?

[pziecina]

Simple answer in both situations, if it is me I get priority

Seriously though, I work on the principle that it should be, 'first come, first served'. As for call back, you obviously do not live in the U/K, were it never actually happens, not even when it is the doctors practice.

[jane-e]

Ideally, they have enough staff for both!

Otherwise, take them in the order they come—it doesn't matter how they got there.

[Nancy OShea]

pziecina  wrote
 
Simple answer in both situations, if it is me I get priority 

  "Ego Primo" (me first) .

"First come, first served" seems sensible to me too.  Except in an emergency.   My last doctor's visit which usually takes 15 minutes took 2-1/2 hours because a crisis case came in behind me.   Nothing you can do about that.

jane-e  wrote

Ideally, they have enough staff for both!

We can dream.  Unless they have a dedicated phone staff,  it's usually one person trying to juggle walk-ins with phones and doing poorly at both.

I wonder what Miss Manners would say.

Nancy

[Cactus_Cowboy]

Most of the time folks put their priority where the money is. If you have no cash concern to them then they're going to direct their attention to those who do. You never finished the story, how did you deal with it did you close an account get drunk what happened?

[Nancy OShea]

I can see your point Cactus.  But how can they know how much my business is worth if they stick me on hold and never talk to me?  I could be John D. Rockerfeller's wealthy great grandaughter.  Businesses should be giving good customer service to all their customers.

It's not my bank.  It's my deceased mother's bank.  Right now I'm trying to get information for probate court and have a meaningful dialogue with the bank so I can get things done. So far not so good.   If they continue to be a problem, I'll have my probate lawyer send them a nasty gram.

I never had this much trouble when I settled my dad's estate.  Everyone was super cooperative.

Nancy

[Cactus_Cowboy]

How times change huh...good luck.

[Ussnorway]

When my dad died the girl on the end of the phone insisted I put him on so he could tell them his date of birth... Needless to say I don't bank with them but posted a article in the local paper (pre-facebook days) about their customer service.

Sorry to hear about your mom Nancy

[Nancy OShea]

Ussnorway  wrote

When my dad died the girl on the end of the phone insisted I put him on so he could tell them his date of birth... Needless to say I don't bank with them but posted a article in the local paper (pre-facebook days) about their customer service.

Sorry to hear about your mom Nancy

Great!   Nice bank service.

Thanks, Graham.  

Nancy

[pziecina]

Sorry for your loss Nancy.

The problem with some employees, especially in large companies, government depts and positions of, (what they perceive) authority, is that they leave their compassion and understanding for other people at home.

They still expect it for themselves I have noticed.

[Cactus_Cowboy]

Nancy said, "Businesses should be giving good customer service to all their customers."

I agree, if ever we really lived in that kind of world. It's seem's nowadays it's a crap shoot when dealing with just about anyone. You'd think we'd be more understanding towards each other as human beings; more ready to help. People in business should especially know that I mean, that's what they're paid for right? But as you experienced, that's not always the case. And it sure don't feel good when it happens to you at a time when you really need the attention to get something important done. I hope everything turns out okay in the final episode.

I echo the others sentiments Nancy, sorry for your loss.

[VL Branko]

Nancy, condolences on your loss. While this is not a direct reply to who should be first - walk in or phone in but a general policy. Many long years ago I read an article in a magazine for the restaurant industry that gave advice that is applicable to everyone as individuals or as business entities. Succinctly put "if a person has a good experience with you they will tell 10 people; if they have a bad experience they will tell 20." I etched that into my mind and as a result, I get a tremendous amount of return business. Word of mouth is absolutely the best advertising you can get. I give the same advice to my clients. Ussnorway gave us an example of telling 20.

When my father died I called the bank and they said they needed to see proper ID before they would give us the safety deposit box. When I walked in with my two brothers they looked at our faces and said "you all look like your Dad, that is ID enough." And handed everything over.

[gener7]

Condolences from here as well, Nancy.  Never had to settle estates yet.

On the phone versus the person there:

I'm at the counter of a Japanese sushi take-out place. I'm a regular customer because the food is fantastic.

They had a phone at the cash register to take orders, but there is always someone calling in asking three dozen questions while the line is backing up. While Japanese in general have a good politeness level, some take advantage of that to keep the cashier on hold while  they are organizing their order like it's a real estate transaction.

Finally the sushi bar put up a notice suspending further calls.