Tired of rude salespeople? Get in line

A few months ago, I dashed into a neighbourhood deli to pick up a few things, leaving my husband waiting in a running car with our two impatient toddlers. I quickly gathered what I needed and scurried over to the cash register to pay.

Although I can assure you that I was not invisible, the two deli workers behind the counter ignored me. As I stood there and they continued to chat, another customer entered the store, picked up a loaf of bread and jumped ahead of me in the checkout line. The deli workers obviously knew her. They greeted her by name and casually started to ring in her purchase. That's when things got ugly.

It all ended with me storming out of the store without any purchases, vowing to never spend another penny in that deli. My family has since done our shopping at a rival place down the street. I am not generally one to hold a grudge but poor - and in this case blatantly rude - customer service makes my blood boil.

In the interest of full disclosure I should add that I am impatient, the kind of person who when calling my bank skips the step where they ask you to plug in your credit or debit card number and instead repeatedly hits zero. The operator, once you actually reach them, is likely going to ask you for it again - so why bother? It seems like 20 seconds of my life that I will never get back. I do the same when phone companies, which are among the most frustrating to deal with, ask for my number during the agonizingly-long automated part of the message.

Bad customer service is clearly one of my pet peeves. Turns out I am not alone. A recent Consumer Reports' survey found that 65 per cent of Americans are "tremendously annoyed" by rude salespeople and 64 per cent said that they have left a store in the previous 12 months because of poor service.

The survey, published in the July issue of Consumer Reports magazine, polled 1,010 Americans by phone in March and is part of a larger investigation on customer service. (Sorry, but there is no Canadian data available.)

Not surprisingly, poor telephone service is a major issue with consumers. The poll found that 71 per cent of those surveyed were extremely irritated when they could not reach a real person on the phone. Sixty-seven per cent said they hung up the phone without having gotten their issue resolved.

Which companies are the best and worst at pleasing their American customers? Consumer Reports pointed to retail giant Walmart as one of the worst in customer service for its retail service in eight out of the 21 industries evaluated. Apple, meanwhile, got kudos for its retail service for cell phones, computers, computer tech support and electronics.

People who responded to the Consumer Reports survey also rated gripes on a 10-point scale, with 10 being the most annoying. Here is their Gripe-O-Meter list:

- 8.9 Can't get a human on phone (telephone customer)

- 8.7 Salesperson is rude (in-store customer)

- 8.5 Many phone steps needed (telephone customer)

- 8.2 Long wait on hold (telephone customer)

- 8.2 Unhelpful solution (telephone customer)

- 8.2 Salesperson is too pushy (in-store customer)

- 8.1 Extras are pitched (telephone customer)

- 7.8 No apology for unsolved problem (telephone customer)

- 7.5 Can't find store salesperson (in-store customer)

- 6.9 Boring hold music or messages (telephone customer)

- 6.9 Wait at counter or checkout (in-store customer)

- 6.4 Wait for scheduled repairer (in-store customer)

The poll found some differences in age and gender, with women more likely to be annoyed when they couldn't reach a person by phone, men getting especially annoyed by customer-service phone reps who pitched unrelated goods or services, while the youngest cohort, those aged 18 to 34, had the lowest tolerance for repair people who didn't show up on time.

So what makes for good customer service? Consumer Reports points to simple things, like having companies provide an easy-to-find phone number that consumers can call at all reasonable hours to speak with a representative who's actually in a position to help.

In the case of my deli mishap, a simple apology and an offer to promptly ring in my purchases would have gone a long way. If they had thrown in a smile, I would have forgotten all about it.