Businesses have had enough of people screaming at workers
July 26, 2024 7:57 AM Subscribe
In Japan, Turning the Tables on Rude Customers NYT: in Japan, there's a word, "kasuhara" that translates into "customer harassment." Customers harassing workers have gotten so extreme that now businesses are fighting back instead of kissing customer booty.
"Some employers have removed surnames from name tags to protect employees from doxxing on social media. SoftBank, the technology giant, is developing an “emotion canceling” voice alteration service that call centers can use to tone down the blast of anger from incoming complaints."
“I feel like if they don’t get their complaints out with us,” said Takami Matsumoto, who works at a ticket gate, “then they will have to carry them home.”
Until recently, he said, managers told workers that any complaints were their fault.
"Some employers have removed surnames from name tags to protect employees from doxxing on social media. SoftBank, the technology giant, is developing an “emotion canceling” voice alteration service that call centers can use to tone down the blast of anger from incoming complaints."
“I feel like if they don’t get their complaints out with us,” said Takami Matsumoto, who works at a ticket gate, “then they will have to carry them home.”
Until recently, he said, managers told workers that any complaints were their fault.
I sure am glad I live under a system where it’s more economically incentivized to develop a whole suite of software for de-emotionalizing human voices to allow customer service workers to be less traumatized by customers mad at bad service than just to hire enough workers to provide adequate service in the first place
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:06 AM on July 26 [15 favorites]
posted by Jon_Evil at 9:06 AM on July 26 [15 favorites]
[...]than just to hire enough workers to provide adequate service in the first place
I don't know if that is always a fair assessment. I've seen my share of customers absolutely exploding at staff for..nothing. Nothing that happened in that store at least. Having more service workers isn't going to address the (many) people who are simply angry at the world and life under capitalism and who take it out on service workers.
(When I stocked shelves for a living, for example, I was on the receiving end of a man so incandescently furious that I thought he might literally have a heart attack and die. He was upset that the store didn't have whatever cereal he was looking for, except that we did, one shelf below where he looked. There was nothing I could do to help him with this, so I went and got my manager and hung out in the back until he left. That kind of thing happened, at a less dramatic level, all the time. People angry at the world and I just happened to be the part of the world they were looking at when they finally snapped.)
posted by selenized at 9:19 AM on July 26 [31 favorites]
I don't know if that is always a fair assessment. I've seen my share of customers absolutely exploding at staff for..nothing. Nothing that happened in that store at least. Having more service workers isn't going to address the (many) people who are simply angry at the world and life under capitalism and who take it out on service workers.
(When I stocked shelves for a living, for example, I was on the receiving end of a man so incandescently furious that I thought he might literally have a heart attack and die. He was upset that the store didn't have whatever cereal he was looking for, except that we did, one shelf below where he looked. There was nothing I could do to help him with this, so I went and got my manager and hung out in the back until he left. That kind of thing happened, at a less dramatic level, all the time. People angry at the world and I just happened to be the part of the world they were looking at when they finally snapped.)
posted by selenized at 9:19 AM on July 26 [31 favorites]
I sure am glad I live under a system where it’s more economically incentivized to develop a whole suite of software for de-emotionalizing human voices to allow customer service workers to be less traumatized by customers mad at bad service than just to hire enough workers to provide adequate service in the first place
It has been my very good fortune that all three of the times I was physically assaulted by customers during my decade working retail there were more employees than customers in the store, but go off I guess.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 9:26 AM on July 26 [11 favorites]
It has been my very good fortune that all three of the times I was physically assaulted by customers during my decade working retail there were more employees than customers in the store, but go off I guess.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 9:26 AM on July 26 [11 favorites]
For some customers, complaining is a shake down operation. Complain loudly until they give you free stuff to go away. And it works, way too often.
posted by Spike Glee at 9:41 AM on July 26 [10 favorites]
posted by Spike Glee at 9:41 AM on July 26 [10 favorites]
I patronize several local businesses here that absolutely will not put up with customers being abusive to the staff. The fact that they will protect their workers from this is a factor in why I go to those places.
As for the "de-emotionalizing" software, I understand why that's a solution. Customer service reps unfortunately have the job of dealing with upset people. If I've got a problem with the company, I always make clear to the rep that my gripes are directed at the company and that I'm not upset with them personally, and I'm sorry they have to be the one catching the flak. I'm never rude to them, I don't raise my voice or anything like that. But far too many people think that they're entitled to yell and scream at the unlucky person who took the call. I wish we could get that to be deemed unacceptable as a society, but we're not going to get there anytime soon.
posted by azpenguin at 9:46 AM on July 26 [4 favorites]
As for the "de-emotionalizing" software, I understand why that's a solution. Customer service reps unfortunately have the job of dealing with upset people. If I've got a problem with the company, I always make clear to the rep that my gripes are directed at the company and that I'm not upset with them personally, and I'm sorry they have to be the one catching the flak. I'm never rude to them, I don't raise my voice or anything like that. But far too many people think that they're entitled to yell and scream at the unlucky person who took the call. I wish we could get that to be deemed unacceptable as a society, but we're not going to get there anytime soon.
posted by azpenguin at 9:46 AM on July 26 [4 favorites]
I sure am glad I live under a system where it’s more economically incentivized to develop a whole suite of software for de-emotionalizing human voices to allow customer service workers to be less traumatized by customers mad at bad service than just to hire enough workers to provide adequate service in the first place
I am in the habit of reading the web site Not Always Right for fun and rubbernecking purposes. This is a site that collects anecdotes from various service workers about their more entitled customers. One of the recent stories is about a woman who walked into a petstore and attempted to order a latte; when the cashier gently pointed out she was in a petstore, the customer absolutely insisted that no, there was a sign for [brand name coffee store] on the outside of the building (there was not).
Another recent story is from a web site developer who worked from home, but their area was hit by wildfires and they had to evacuate and their house burned down. They took a call from a customer looking for a web site, and when the developer shared that their house had burned down, the customer said that was "a bummer" but then said "hey, look at this as an opportunity to get back on your feet, when can you turn this around for me?"
Another customer in search of helium for balloons noticed they all had a label saying "standard helium canister" and insisted that they wanted the "premium helium" instead.
Finally, a customer at a bookstore asked for a book on dog behavior and training, but when shown the store's selection, complained because "it looks like these are all written for me, I want something that's written for my dog to read".
Sometimes it really, sincerely, and truly is not the system that's at fault.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:48 AM on July 26 [22 favorites]
I am in the habit of reading the web site Not Always Right for fun and rubbernecking purposes. This is a site that collects anecdotes from various service workers about their more entitled customers. One of the recent stories is about a woman who walked into a petstore and attempted to order a latte; when the cashier gently pointed out she was in a petstore, the customer absolutely insisted that no, there was a sign for [brand name coffee store] on the outside of the building (there was not).
Another recent story is from a web site developer who worked from home, but their area was hit by wildfires and they had to evacuate and their house burned down. They took a call from a customer looking for a web site, and when the developer shared that their house had burned down, the customer said that was "a bummer" but then said "hey, look at this as an opportunity to get back on your feet, when can you turn this around for me?"
Another customer in search of helium for balloons noticed they all had a label saying "standard helium canister" and insisted that they wanted the "premium helium" instead.
Finally, a customer at a bookstore asked for a book on dog behavior and training, but when shown the store's selection, complained because "it looks like these are all written for me, I want something that's written for my dog to read".
Sometimes it really, sincerely, and truly is not the system that's at fault.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:48 AM on July 26 [22 favorites]
I sure am glad I live under a system where it’s more economically incentivized to develop a whole suite of software for de-emotionalizing human voices to allow customer service workers to be less traumatized by customers mad at bad service than just to hire enough workers to provide adequate service in the first place
That's not what's happening here, and I recommend you watch the video I linked, about a major fatal train accident that happened because customers and management put a train conductor under severe stress for...being a minute or so behind on schedule, which then caused him to break rules to keep to the schedule, which in turn had him take a curve way too fast - at which point physics took over and people died.
Japan in particular has a serious issue with customer entitlement, and there's an issue where service industry workers are expected to not only take abuse, but be held to utterly ridiculous standards - and it turns out that has a cost, and sometimes that cost is human lives.
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:53 AM on July 26 [1 favorite]
That's not what's happening here, and I recommend you watch the video I linked, about a major fatal train accident that happened because customers and management put a train conductor under severe stress for...being a minute or so behind on schedule, which then caused him to break rules to keep to the schedule, which in turn had him take a curve way too fast - at which point physics took over and people died.
Japan in particular has a serious issue with customer entitlement, and there's an issue where service industry workers are expected to not only take abuse, but be held to utterly ridiculous standards - and it turns out that has a cost, and sometimes that cost is human lives.
posted by NoxAeternum at 9:53 AM on July 26 [1 favorite]
While it's true that long waits can make people irratable, I think blaming the problem on long waits isn't correct.
Some people are just assholes. And it's worse in a culture which has hierarchy built in on a deeper level than even America does. Add in the late stage capitalist bullshit where the employer will always side with the asshole customer and it encourages that behavior.
So yes, hiring more customer service agents is a great idea. But no, it's not going to resolve the problem.
I'm in customer service (IT) myself and my current place has plenty of agents and almost no wait time. And we still get people who are angry becasue when they call IT they're already having a bad day. No one calls us when they're happy. And mostly they're pretty decent, but there are occasional jackasses and yeesh... It isn't wait times causing it.
posted by sotonohito at 9:58 AM on July 26 [10 favorites]
Some people are just assholes. And it's worse in a culture which has hierarchy built in on a deeper level than even America does. Add in the late stage capitalist bullshit where the employer will always side with the asshole customer and it encourages that behavior.
So yes, hiring more customer service agents is a great idea. But no, it's not going to resolve the problem.
I'm in customer service (IT) myself and my current place has plenty of agents and almost no wait time. And we still get people who are angry becasue when they call IT they're already having a bad day. No one calls us when they're happy. And mostly they're pretty decent, but there are occasional jackasses and yeesh... It isn't wait times causing it.
posted by sotonohito at 9:58 AM on July 26 [10 favorites]
I doubt hiring enough staff would help. (a) Nobody's going to do that, and (b) the #1 job of service workers is to take everyone else's abuse. You are paid to be a punching bag just because "I'm here to help." If you have 10 people being abused vs 50 vs 100, it's not like the calls or abuse are gonna die down if it's spread around more people. I note that since I started the new job, I'm hearing even worse call center horror stories from my new coworkers who worked in them. I thought ours was bad, but they don't get more than 10 seconds of break in between calls and the calls never stop coming.
I'm kind of impressed at the idea of trying to dial down hearing the amount of screaming while on a phone call, though. And that they're generously permitted to not have to reveal their full names so they won't get doxxed (hopefully). I'm reminded of watching Superstore and how Amy used to always wear fake names on her nametags.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:00 AM on July 26 [1 favorite]
I'm kind of impressed at the idea of trying to dial down hearing the amount of screaming while on a phone call, though. And that they're generously permitted to not have to reveal their full names so they won't get doxxed (hopefully). I'm reminded of watching Superstore and how Amy used to always wear fake names on her nametags.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:00 AM on July 26 [1 favorite]
Christ, what assholes
posted by gottabefunky at 10:16 AM on July 26
posted by gottabefunky at 10:16 AM on July 26
The voice mod is software Seems like it’s for Web/Phone based customer service, which is going through A plunge in quality because the AI bots they’ve replaced workers with aren’t very good, and because it is simply more profitable for companies not to provide service but instead to Get consumers so frustrated that we give up.
Dunno how many of the examples above were ones where voice mod software could be used…
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:28 AM on July 26
Dunno how many of the examples above were ones where voice mod software could be used…
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:28 AM on July 26
Another customer in search of helium for balloons noticed they all had a label saying "standard helium canister" and insisted that they wanted the "premium helium" instead.
Oh how I wish I'd been there for that one. "Ah, yes, I'll need a moment to consult my periodic table of the elements here.... so, you're not looking for the helium with *two* protons.... you're looking for the helium with THREE, is that correct? Hmmm well let's see what that atomic num... ah, yes, of course... you're actually looking for the the lithium !"
(Disclaimer: I did poorly in chemistry but independent of that I take lithium and am positive my psychiatrist would get a kick of out this.)
All joking aside, none of us has any idea what a stranger is carrying around on a day that s/he walks into a store. I like to think that training [customer service] people to understand and work with that fact could be a key part of better arming them for de-escalation, but, yes, some [customer-side] people are just assholes and the optimized transactional nature of of Western Capitalism is also optimized for cranial-rectal impaction.
posted by jerome powell buys his sweatbands in bulk only at 12:20 PM on July 26 [5 favorites]
Oh how I wish I'd been there for that one. "Ah, yes, I'll need a moment to consult my periodic table of the elements here.... so, you're not looking for the helium with *two* protons.... you're looking for the helium with THREE, is that correct? Hmmm well let's see what that atomic num... ah, yes, of course... you're actually looking for the the lithium !"
(Disclaimer: I did poorly in chemistry but independent of that I take lithium and am positive my psychiatrist would get a kick of out this.)
All joking aside, none of us has any idea what a stranger is carrying around on a day that s/he walks into a store. I like to think that training [customer service] people to understand and work with that fact could be a key part of better arming them for de-escalation, but, yes, some [customer-side] people are just assholes and the optimized transactional nature of of Western Capitalism is also optimized for cranial-rectal impaction.
posted by jerome powell buys his sweatbands in bulk only at 12:20 PM on July 26 [5 favorites]
There is actually a premium helium: helium 3.
And it would be (very slightly) more buoyant at room temperature because each atom has only 3/4 of the mass of an atom of standard helium.
Unfortunately, it’s also very, very premium, costing about $2750 per liter — which is amazingly low! I thought it would be much more than that.
posted by jamjam at 12:57 PM on July 26 [10 favorites]
And it would be (very slightly) more buoyant at room temperature because each atom has only 3/4 of the mass of an atom of standard helium.
Unfortunately, it’s also very, very premium, costing about $2750 per liter — which is amazingly low! I thought it would be much more than that.
posted by jamjam at 12:57 PM on July 26 [10 favorites]
Well done, jamjam. Now fill this balloon chop chop.
There are studies that indicate that rats in crowded environments will become aggressive and turn on other rats.
Some people just persist in expressing their inner rat.
posted by BlueHorse at 1:40 PM on July 26 [1 favorite]
There are studies that indicate that rats in crowded environments will become aggressive and turn on other rats.
Some people just persist in expressing their inner rat.
posted by BlueHorse at 1:40 PM on July 26 [1 favorite]
We once had an elderly lady in our local supermarket looking for "free-range apricots" and nothing we could say would persuade her that she probably meant organic.
Eventually we sent her across the street to another store saying that they'd probably have some.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 1:54 PM on July 26 [5 favorites]
Eventually we sent her across the street to another store saying that they'd probably have some.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 1:54 PM on July 26 [5 favorites]
I used to be a regular at a coffee shop that really empowered its employees. They had a policy of taking no shit from anyone, there was no expectation that the staff be smiling and obsequious, and customers were expected to understand the rules (posted clearly!) and comply. Naturally, the kind of people who love posting rambling reviews on yelp hated it and their ratings were horrible. The owner was proud of that, because she didn't want people who cared about yelp reviews coming to her shop.
For regulars and patrons who knew how to interact properly with service staff: absolutely the most wonderful, attentive, friendly service, and still the best coffee I've ever had anywhere in my life. People do good work when they aren't expected to tolerate abuse!
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 2:00 PM on July 26 [6 favorites]
For regulars and patrons who knew how to interact properly with service staff: absolutely the most wonderful, attentive, friendly service, and still the best coffee I've ever had anywhere in my life. People do good work when they aren't expected to tolerate abuse!
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 2:00 PM on July 26 [6 favorites]
Oh how I wish I'd been there for that one. "Ah, yes, I'll need a moment to consult my periodic table of the elements here.... so, you're not looking for the helium with *two* protons....
That's very similar to what actually happened:
That's very similar to what actually happened:
Me: “There’s no such thing as premium helium, sir. Helium is helium.”posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:32 PM on July 26 [5 favorites]
Customer: “Can you check?”
Me: *Pretends to check the computer.* “Yes, sir, I can confirm that helium has been the same for almost thirteen billion years. No premium versions exist.”
Customer: “Oh… do you think they might make some soon?”
When I was a CSR 20+ years ago there were some customers who, I guess in our modern age, would be considered to have a kink for non-con verbal abuse. A system that removed their upsetting and abusive way and made them sound like a normal human being would be GREAT. We even knew who they were, it wasn't a mystery that Mr Shit for Brains was on the line. It could be the default for them especially.
posted by fiercekitten at 4:56 PM on July 26 [2 favorites]
posted by fiercekitten at 4:56 PM on July 26 [2 favorites]
> There is actually a premium helium: helium 3.
Standard helium describes the the quality in terms of tolerance for non-helium additives -- "standard" grade permits up to 1% non-helium impurities (e.g. chicken bones). "Economy" grade helium may contain up to 5% non-helium impurities.
Premium helium 3 can be sourced from Lunar Industries Ltd, who warrant that that their product contains 0% chicken bones.
posted by are-coral-made at 5:29 PM on July 26 [1 favorite]
Standard helium describes the the quality in terms of tolerance for non-helium additives -- "standard" grade permits up to 1% non-helium impurities (e.g. chicken bones). "Economy" grade helium may contain up to 5% non-helium impurities.
Premium helium 3 can be sourced from Lunar Industries Ltd, who warrant that that their product contains 0% chicken bones.
posted by are-coral-made at 5:29 PM on July 26 [1 favorite]
I used to work the overnight shift at a diner in a college football town. Part of kitchen duties was to bounce people out of the diner as needed, which occasionally happened at 3am, or if anyone physically accosted the
waitstaff, waitresses in particular
It would feel really good, I have to say
posted by eustatic at 7:19 PM on July 26 [1 favorite]
waitstaff, waitresses in particular
It would feel really good, I have to say
posted by eustatic at 7:19 PM on July 26 [1 favorite]
I have had to sit through every customer service class in existence at my jobs. You are trained to not hang up, to be Perky! and Emphasize! and what I call be a service robot. Don't take it personally! Even if they try to get you fired! Basically be an inflatable clown punching bag.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:33 PM on July 26
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:33 PM on July 26
idk if it's the pandemic or what but it seems like a larger percentage of Americans (all I can speak to anecdotally) feel free to be just absolute entitled douchebag shitlords to customer service people
like I've been working retail & hospitality jobs until 2018 & the vibes were just different, like sure you got one or two real ass-canoes but most people would be brusque & unchatty at worst, it seems like 20+% of people are just mad now & they want to make it the employee's problem & every customer service worker I talk to seems a little bit traumatized
like yes the enshittification of everything means sometimes it takes way longer than necessary to get your hamburger but FUCK that is not these 18-year-olds' fault, they're trying
anyway to drag this back from Freedom Eagle Land I once saw somebody posit that Japanese society evolved in the historical context of it just being fucking legal for a samurai to kill a common person who happened to piss them off & I think about that sometimes, maybe we should arm all konbini workers with swords, turn the tables
posted by taquito sunrise at 8:18 PM on July 26 [1 favorite]
like I've been working retail & hospitality jobs until 2018 & the vibes were just different, like sure you got one or two real ass-canoes but most people would be brusque & unchatty at worst, it seems like 20+% of people are just mad now & they want to make it the employee's problem & every customer service worker I talk to seems a little bit traumatized
like yes the enshittification of everything means sometimes it takes way longer than necessary to get your hamburger but FUCK that is not these 18-year-olds' fault, they're trying
anyway to drag this back from Freedom Eagle Land I once saw somebody posit that Japanese society evolved in the historical context of it just being fucking legal for a samurai to kill a common person who happened to piss them off & I think about that sometimes, maybe we should arm all konbini workers with swords, turn the tables
posted by taquito sunrise at 8:18 PM on July 26 [1 favorite]
A checker at Amazon Fresh charged me for an extra bag of coffee that wasn’t in my cart or in the sacks a couple of days ago, and they were so nice to me and so patient about my complaint that I just could not bear to embarrass them by pushing the point even though they were clearly in the wrong.
I walked out of the store feeling very good about the whole encounter for reasons I can’t really articulate.
posted by jamjam at 9:01 PM on July 26 [1 favorite]
I walked out of the store feeling very good about the whole encounter for reasons I can’t really articulate.
posted by jamjam at 9:01 PM on July 26 [1 favorite]
You know what, the one job I want AI to take over is answering phones. It'll never happen--I note the one time I obviously got AI answering the phone, I hung up--but at least AI won't feel bad when it's sworn at.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:24 PM on July 26
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:24 PM on July 26
A friend of mine used to work in a pub where there was a sign behind the counter saying "The customer is king, but the barman is God".
posted by Pyrogenesis at 11:39 PM on July 26 [1 favorite]
posted by Pyrogenesis at 11:39 PM on July 26 [1 favorite]
I spent much of my 20s in one service job after another, and it is indeed true that some customers are simply looking for an excuse to vent and rage.
posted by zardoz at 11:41 PM on July 26 [2 favorites]
posted by zardoz at 11:41 PM on July 26 [2 favorites]
For regulars and patrons who knew how to interact properly with service staff: absolutely the most wonderful, attentive, friendly service, and still the best coffee I've ever had anywhere in my life. People do good work when they aren't expected to tolerate abuse!
posted by BuddhaInABucket
Never understood the mentality that thinks there is something to be gained by being an obnoxious shithead to frontline staff.
Good way to get spit in your burger/coffee, for that shot of painkiller to be delayed by the nurse for five minutes, for the plumber to give priority to the little old lady who always offers him tea and fresh homemade biscuits, for the sales clerk to not suggest the better quality shirt on sale for the same price, and worse.
It is beyond stupid. Other people can always hurt you in a whole bunch of subtle ways. Generally not wise to be an arsehole for no good reason.
posted by Pouteria at 12:27 AM on July 27
posted by BuddhaInABucket
Never understood the mentality that thinks there is something to be gained by being an obnoxious shithead to frontline staff.
Good way to get spit in your burger/coffee, for that shot of painkiller to be delayed by the nurse for five minutes, for the plumber to give priority to the little old lady who always offers him tea and fresh homemade biscuits, for the sales clerk to not suggest the better quality shirt on sale for the same price, and worse.
It is beyond stupid. Other people can always hurt you in a whole bunch of subtle ways. Generally not wise to be an arsehole for no good reason.
posted by Pouteria at 12:27 AM on July 27
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posted by NoxAeternum at 8:03 AM on July 26 [1 favorite]