View Full Version : What is it with so-called "customer service" these days?
So I call to order a pizza for tonight. Call one large chain and get some chick with a foreign accent (like she ain't from these here parts if you know what I mean). I was going to order online but wanted to know how long carry-out orders were taking as this is one of the largest pizza-buying nights of the year. Hearing the accent and knowing from past experience that they use order "call centers" I asked if she was at the actual store in question. Of course she wasn't, and therefore any information she could possibly offer (other than what she's reading off a screen) would be doubtful for real-time local relevance. I just hung up.
I have encountered this before with other name brand pizza joints, not just the one I called tonight. It got me to wondering what the hell has happened to real-time, on-site customer service? Not just for pizzas mind you, but in general. They are willing to pay some foreign clueless fvck just so the locals don't have to bothered by answering a phone.
Anyone else notice a marked decline in what used to be called "customer service" back in the day? It was starting to get shitty beforehand but the COVID excuses have made it even worse.
Whatever entity it is does their best to farm you out to either robotic "self help" lines or foreign call centers.
"In a few words, please tell us what you're trying to find out?" Ever hear that recording? No matter what number you press they have an "automated" non-answer for you. Keep repeating "I want to speak with customer service" gets you re-routed and on hold forever.
This pathetic business model goes hand-in-hand with a $15/hr "living wage". Those POS don't deserve $7 an hour!!!
Inkslinger
11-24-21, 19:39
While not really a comment on customer service in the context of your post, but one time we ordered a pizza from pizza hut, got home, opened the box, and there was a slice missing! But to your point, most CS is almost laughable now a days.
It's across the board. It's everything.
If the option exists, give your biz to a mom and pop pizzeria. Their stuff is usually better anyway.
Everything seems to be crappy...I am to the point where I expect it and if a cashier or call center person is really trying their best, I make it a point to thank them and tell them I appreciate it.
Everybody is snarky right now and that in turn makes customer service personnel even worse....
Inkslinger
11-24-21, 19:50
It's across the board. It's everything.
If the option exists, give your biz to a mom and pop pizzeria. Their stuff is usually better anyway.
Usually. We’ve got a couple local pizza shops close, but mediocre. If we really get a hankering for good pizza, we drive to a place about 45 minutes away. It’s great! Like south Philly or Brooklyn level. We actually bought one of those insulated pizza delivery bags to go get it. Damn, now I want a slice.
It's across the board. It's everything.
If the option exists, give your biz to a mom and pop pizzeria. Their stuff is usually better anyway.
Yeah that's the problem where I live. TN isn't exactly known for good pizza, but yes there are mom-and-pop places here that are damned good. I live out in the sticks so any choices within reasonable driving distances are the big-name ones. If we still lived where we're originally from in Ohio I wouldn't touch a big-name chain with a 10-foot pole! There were a number of mom-and-pop places and we NEVER ordered from Pizza Hut or similar.
Everything seems to be crappy...I am to the point where I expect it and if a cashier or call center person is really trying their best, I make it a point to thank them and tell them I appreciate it.
Everybody is snarky right now and that in turn makes customer service personnel even worse....
Absolutely. Please and thank you don't cost a thing and are becoming lost words in our society.
I have encountered this before with other name brand pizza joints, not just the one I called tonight. It got me to wondering what the hell has happened to real-time, on-site customer service? Not just for pizzas mind you, but in general. They are willing to pay some foreign clueless fvck just so the locals don't have to bothered by answering a phone.
Economics bro. If I have to pay someone $15 an hour to just crank out pizzas & $3/hr + $1/hr for VoIP to the Philippines there's an incentive at Papa Johns scale thats probably ~7 figures a year. The majority will never notice because they're using their favorite app to order online anyway. You see the same thing at the costco food court - everything's self serve or they have the casheers who're already checking you out ask so they don't have to staff an extra person.
If the option exists, give your biz to a mom and pop pizzeria. Their stuff is usually better anyway.
110%. Quit buying shit pizza because there running a special.
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110%. Quit buying shit pizza because there running a special.
I ended up ordering from Jet's. Decent pizza but expensive as hell.......but then again what isn't these days!
See my above post. I know what good pizza is but where I live it's damn near an hour round-trip for "good" pizza. 45-50 minutes to the closest one. However, I can step outside my door and shoot if I so desire, so there's that! Trade-offs I guess.
I ended up ordering from Jet's. Decent pizza but expensive as hell.......but then again what isn't these days!
See my above post. I know what good pizza is but where I live it's damn near an hour round-trip for "good" pizza. 45-50 minutes to the closest one. However, I can step outside my door and shoot if I so desire, so there's that! Trade-offs I guess.
Ok, I'm gonna improve the life of everyone in this thread.
Go to the grocery store and buy frozen bread dough. Usually comes in the 3 pack.
Get a large cookie sheet, can't be flat, and pour a pool of olive oil about the size of the frozen bread dough on the cookie sheet and set the FROZEN bread dough on that.
Put it in the oven but DO NOT turn the oven on. In about 3 hours it will start to rise. Spread the dough out evenly on the cookie sheet. At first it will only cover the center, it may need another hour to rise enough to cover the entire cookie sheet.
Once that is done cook just the flat bread dough until it is lightly gold on the edges. Don't use temps higher than 325 to 350, you don't have a pizza oven. Then pull it out of the oven. This is the key step because you have partially cooked the crust before putting on the toppings, if you do it any other way you will have a doughy, crappy crust.
Now put on your toppings. If you have a favorite pizza sauce use that, I personally use Newmans's Own marinara. Then top with cheese, deli pepperoni, bacon and whatever else you want on there. If you want to shred fresh basil leaves it gives it a nice flavor. Deli meats are superior to packaged Hormel stuff obviously.
Then put the entire thing back in the oven and when the cheese is melted the crust will be a crispy, wonderful golden brown and it will be the best homemade pizza most of you have ever made.
Most people screw up homemade pizza by trying to replicate the conditions in a pizzeria oven at home in their conventional oven. It can't be done and no pizza stone gimmicks or other crap is gonna do it. It simply is a case of cook the crust half way at normal temps of 325-350 and THEN add your other toppings.
If you can lay your hands on fresh mozzarella, the kind that isn't in a bag marked Kraft, you can make a really nice pizza by using thin tomato slices instead of sauce and putting down fresh mozzarella with fresh basil leaves. But toppings are pretty individual, once you've mastered home kitchen pizza crust, your options are way open.
You'll never suffer that Boboli pizza crust crap ever again, and it's actually cheaper.
Ok, I'm gonna improve the life of everyone in this thread.
Go to the grocery store and buy frozen bread dough. Usually comes in the 3 pack.
Get a large cookie sheet, can't be flat, and pour a pool of olive oil about the size of the frozen bread dough on the cookie sheet and set the FROZEN bread dough on that.
Put it in the oven but DO NOT turn the oven on. In about 3 hours it will start to rise. Spread the dough out evenly on the cookie sheet. At first it will only cover the center, it may need another hour to rise enough to cover the entire cookie sheet.
Once that is done cook just the flat bread dough until it is lightly gold on the edges. Don't use temps higher than 325 to 350, you don't have a pizza oven. Then pull it out of the oven. This is the key step because you have partially cooked the crust before putting on the toppings, if you do it any other way you will have a doughy, crappy crust.
Now put on your toppings. If you have a favorite pizza sauce use that, I personally use Newmans's Own marinara. Then top with cheese, deli pepperoni, bacon and whatever else you want on there. If you want to shred fresh basil leaves it gives it a nice flavor. Deli meats are superior to packaged Hormel stuff obviously.
Then put the entire thing back in the oven and when the cheese is melted the crust will be a crispy, wonderful golden brown and it will be the best homemade pizza most of you have ever made.
Most people screw up homemade pizza by trying to replicate the conditions in a pizzeria oven at home in their conventional oven. It can't be done and no pizza stone gimmicks or other crap is gonna do it. It simply is a case of cook the crust half way at normal temps of 325-350 and THEN add your other toppings.
If you can lay your hands on fresh mozzarella, the kind that isn't in a bag marked Kraft, you can make a really nice pizza by using thin tomato slices instead of sauce and putting down fresh mozzarella with fresh basil leaves. But toppings are pretty individual, once you've mastered home kitchen pizza crust, your options are way open.
You'll never suffer that Boboli pizza crust crap ever again, and it's actually cheaper.
How long for delivery? CC or cash at the door?
FromMyColdDeadHand
11-24-21, 23:11
Funny, visiting family so my sister pre-ordered pizza for pick up, not delivery. Went there to pick it up, 2 of 4 pizzas were never made, the 2 that were made were 40 minutes late. They eventually delivered the pizzas that were missing.... the manager said that they were swamped, they were short staffed- local place, not a chain.
Why is this happening- because people buy on price and hope nothing goes wrong. When it does, get lost in a phone maze or dropped into an online robot answer or black hole. The tech companies just dont give a crap. they taught everyone else that customer service is for suckers.
How long for delivery? CC or cash at the door?
I usually make a couple for movie night on saturday. But if you want to pop for plane tickets, hotels and transportation, you can join us. Get your reservations in 48 hours in advance.
Funny, visiting family so my sister pre-ordered pizza for pick up, not delivery. Went there to pick it up, 2 of 4 pizzas were never made, the 2 that were made were 40 minutes late. They eventually delivered the pizzas that were missing.... the manager said that they were swamped, they were short staffed- local place, not a chain.
Why is this happening- because people buy on price and hope nothing goes wrong. When it does, get lost in a phone maze or dropped into an online robot answer or black hole. The tech companies just dont give a crap. they taught everyone else that customer service is for suckers.
Nobody wants to cook ANYTHING the night before thanksgiving. They want their kitchen clean with no dishes, so pizza night has become the traditional thankgiving eve meal.
WillieThom
11-25-21, 03:38
I ended up ordering from Jet's. Decent pizza but expensive as hell.......but then again what isn't these days!
See my above post. I know what good pizza is but where I live it's damn near an hour round-trip for "good" pizza. 45-50 minutes to the closest one. However, I can step outside my door and shoot if I so desire, so there's that! Trade-offs I guess.
Where you at in TN? Where I’m at in Middle TN we have a few good local places.
There is also a guy who drives a school bus that he converted into a rolling pizza place—The Pizza Machine—that started showing up right after the March 3 tornado to feed people who were displaced. He still shows up off and on and will park at one of our local coffee shops. He charges nothing… gives it away if you can’t afford it, but otherwise he just tells folks to pay him what they think his time, effort, and product are worth. He makes a damn good pie, too
Anyway. Pizza. Customer service. Yeah… sorry I got off topic, there.
FromMyColdDeadHand
11-25-21, 07:11
Nobody wants to cook ANYTHING the night before thanksgiving. They want their kitchen clean with no dishes, so pizza night has become the traditional thankgiving eve meal.
And that is why my sister thought she had the plan- pre-order and pick it up... foiled again!!!
It took an extra hour, my BIL and I broke out the whiskey I had brought, things went down hill from there.
Where you at in TN? Where I’m at in Middle TN we have a few good local places.
There is also a guy who drives a school bus that he converted into a rolling pizza place—The Pizza Machine—that started showing up right after the March 3 tornado to feed people who were displaced. He still shows up off and on and will park at one of our local coffee shops. He charges nothing… gives it away if you can’t afford it, but otherwise he just tells folks to pay him what they think his time, effort, and product are worth. He makes a damn good pie, too
Anyway. Pizza. Customer service. Yeah… sorry I got off topic, there.
I wonder if Sal's Pizza off Stewart's Ferry Pike in Nashville still there. I lived in Cookeville and whenever I had to go to Nashville I would stop there to eat and take a couple of pies home. Half the guys working there only spoke Italian and the food was fantastic if you like NY style pizza. I haven't been that way in 15 years so things may have changed.
I wonder if Sal's Pizza off Stewart's Ferry Pike in Nashville still there. I lived in Cookeville and whenever I had to go to Nashville I would stop there to eat and take a couple of pies home. Half the guys working there only spoke Italian and the food was fantastic if you like NY style pizza. I haven't been that way in 15 years so things may have changed.
Yeah it's still there. A sales rep brought some in for Respiratory Care week last month and it was pretty good.
Where you at in TN? Where I’m at in Middle TN we have a few good local places.
There is also a guy who drives a school bus that he converted into a rolling pizza place—The Pizza Machine—that started showing up right after the March 3 tornado to feed people who were displaced. He still shows up off and on and will park at one of our local coffee shops. He charges nothing… gives it away if you can’t afford it, but otherwise he just tells folks to pay him what they think his time, effort, and product are worth. He makes a damn good pie, too
Anyway. Pizza. Customer service. Yeah… sorry I got off topic, there.
I work in Nashville but live out in the sticks NW of there, past Ashland City. Although we haven't done it for some time, my wife and I will load up the dogs and "road trip" on a Saturday night for pizza somewhere that is outside of normal driving distance.
Funny, visiting family so my sister pre-ordered pizza for pick up, not delivery. Went there to pick it up, 2 of 4 pizzas were never made, the 2 that were made were 40 minutes late. They eventually delivered the pizzas that were missing.... the manager said that they were swamped, they were short staffed- local place, not a chain.
Why is this happening- because people buy on price and hope nothing goes wrong. When it does, get lost in a phone maze or dropped into an online robot answer or black hole. The tech companies just dont give a crap. they taught everyone else that customer service is for suckers.
Surprised they delivered the missing ones. Nowadays I'd expect to hear basically "Too bad so sad".
I'm also tired of the "We're short-staffed" crap. Not my problem. Close your doors and shutter the business if you can't run it right. If orders back up then be honest with people about how long it will take. Don't just tell them the canned "20 minutes" BS, tell 'em it'll be 2 hours and they can decide if they want to order or not. Online ordering is partly to blame because those websites usually aren't reflective of actual wait times. Then if you call to actually speak to the shop to check on real-time data you get the call center......:mad:
“Due to unusually high call volume, wait times may be extended”. Is it unusually high, if thats your default recording? Or are you failing to staff your CS center?
The best is airport kiosks. I end up needing to wait for a real human, every single time.
My internet company has essentially 3 branches on its calling tree. “I want to pay my bill”, “I want to be a new customer”, and “my internet is jacked up”. The first two options get you someone immediately. Third gets you someone after fighting through a circular “press this button” scheme and then waiting 45 minutes to an hour. And two years later, they still won’t fix the box in my neighbor’s yard that got leveled by a falling tree, leaving the connections exposed and causing frequent outages and poor connection.
“Due to unusually high call volume, wait times may be extended”. Is it unusually high, if thats your default recording? Or are you failing to staff your CS center?
The best is airport kiosks. I end up needing to wait for a real human, every single time.
My internet company has essentially 3 branches on its calling tree. “I want to pay my bill”, “I want to be a new customer”, and “my internet is jacked up”. The first two options get you someone immediately. Third gets you someone after fighting through a circular “press this button” scheme and then waiting 45 minutes to an hour. And two years later, they still won’t fix the box in my neighbor’s yard that got leveled by a falling tree, leaving the connections exposed and causing frequent outages and poor connection.
LOL Right!
That has been a recording for YEARS. I guess "call volumes" have always been high! It's just their way of discouraging you from daring to bother them and shuffling you off to some automated, no-resolution system. And they ain't joking either, they WILL make you wait.
all I know is I refuse to put my change in the tip jar for a job they should be doing! I refuse
Averageman
11-25-21, 13:03
I remember having an issue with Sig Sauer, the Customer Service was hands down the worst I've every delt with.
The issue in my p[erspective is, No matter how hard you try a lemon is going to slip through, how you deal with your product failing means nothing, it comes down to the idiot on the phone dealing with one of your failed products. If he's lacking, it is irrelevant You Suck.
Ok, I'm gonna improve the life of everyone in this thread.
Go to the grocery store and buy frozen bread dough. Usually comes in the 3 pack.
You have my attention because you gave good advice on coffee, but I've got some questions.
Why buy frozen dough? I always make mine fresh.
By "can't be flat" do you just mean that it needs a rim? I use 1/2 aluminum sheet pans.
Why avoid oven temperatures over 350? I usually preheat to 450 and let it coast down during the cooking which minimizes cycling and uneven heating.
You have my attention because you gave good advice on coffee, but I've got some questions.
Why buy frozen dough? I always make mine fresh.
By "can't be flat" do you just mean that it needs a rim? I use 1/2 aluminum sheet pans.
Why avoid oven temperatures over 350? I usually preheat to 450 and let it coast down during the cooking which minimizes cycling and uneven heating.
If you want to make your own dough, even better. I'm just making life simple.
By flat, it needs a rim otherwise you are gonna spill olive oil.
You obviously have enough experience to pull off higher temps. With most folks they end up with burnt cheese and uncooked crust.
Inkslinger
11-26-21, 07:43
Or you could skip dough all together and make your crust out of ground chicken or turkey. Take a pound or two of the ground meat, mix in a generous portion of Parmesan cheese, flatten it out on a sheet with parchment paper, cook it till it’s browned, remove and put in all your toppings, then cook it a little more.
You have my attention because you gave good advice on coffee, but I've got some questions.
Why buy frozen dough? I always make mine fresh.
By "can't be flat" do you just mean that it needs a rim? I use 1/2 aluminum sheet pans.
Why avoid oven temperatures over 350? I usually preheat to 450 and let it coast down during the cooking which minimizes cycling and uneven heating.
I make my own dough and bake them on a preheated pizza stone at 550 degrees on the second highest rack position.
Less than 10 minutes oven time per pie.
Quit eating pizza :) BUT we made our own dough and sauce and did one of two things a propane pizza oven we had that was camp chef one worked pretty good
and inside when summer here with pizza stone top rack highest heat BUT would also put it on broil for a while to make sure it got super hot
Best pizza ever was that homemade so so so so good compared to even high end pizza places
Cooking time about 5 min prep time is for sure more make the dough in large batches and freeze ? But its quite easy really same with sauce as its the non heated or non cooked kinda sauce and super good tons of recipes out there for that stuff
I hate eating out never as good food compared to home and just slowing life down doing your own so yeah way better quality and I save money :)
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