I don't know how it is other places, but seems like where I live customer service has suffered a drastic decline since I was a kid. The customer service I am mainly talking about is the unskilled type - McDonalds, waitresses, discount and grocery store workers, etc. The people who make minimum wage or slightly more.

How about where you live? Have you seen a decline in the quality of customer service? If so, what do you attribute it to?

It's the same over here. Do you know the saying 'If you pay peanuts, you're gonna get monkeys'?

I agree, but I might go further and say that common courtesy, in general, is going downhill. Customers are increasingly rude and demanding to employees, and employees are increasingly uncaring in return. I would attribute much of the lack of customer service to the fact that companies coach their employees to make as many sales as possible rather than focusing on what the customer actually needs, thus spending less time and thought on each person. If you go to McDonalds, they're just going to try to pump you through as much as possible, and "Thank you" takes at least a half second to say.

Well, I personally, am a cashier at Home Depot in Ontario, and I make $9.00 an hour, and I know I give damn good customer service whenever I can. The people around me, however, seem not to give a crap, and it really shows sometimes [i.e. people take out their frustration on me].

genrall common curtosiy has gone downhill. employees are rude because customers are rude to them. thus putting them in a bad mood and so making them less accomidating. i know in my shop we are exptremely polite al of the time and chat with customers and joke with them etc. but if we have a rude customer in then it seems pointless. That or people who come in and destroy our products by poking and prodding them. VERY ANNOYING

A few of you have said that employees are rude only because customers are rude first. I am never rude to anyone, yet I see rude, dismissive service all the time. I think you are making excuses.

Rasczak, we didn't say that employees are only rude to the individual customers that are rude to them. We said that common courtesy in general is going downhill, and rude customers put employees in a bad mood for future customers. In general, I think it is the big-box retail machine system that is causing the problem: both employers and customers are increasingly seeing employees as simply part of the machine, like automated tellers. It is refreshing to have the occaisional polite employee or customer, but the norm is generally not polite.

I agree completely. Ive made a point of always trying to help others when I can. Ive noticed that many people are not willing to do a little extra to help others. What annoys me the most, is when you try to help someone in some way, and they dont even acknowledge your existance. Personally I say thank you if someone cares enough to hold a door open for me if im behind them.

"May I see the manager please?"

"Hey, if you plan on sueing, the owner of this business is my pet cat Mittens, go for it."

This is getting a little off topic, but I just wanted to share the worst example of customer rudeness that I've encountered. Sure, there are others who are demanding, angry, prone to fits, etc, but this one guy stands out in my mind because I felt like he was treating me like a machine.

I used to work in a photo lab. Customer comes in, puts his photo pick-up slip on the counter. I read the number, go get his prints, take his credit card, and hand him a pen. He signs the receipt, takes the photos, and walks off.

The whole time, he was talking on his cell phone. I didn't get one "Hi", or "Thanks", or head nod. Not even eye contact. I felt like an ATM. I also felt a little embarrassed to be eavesdropping on his conversation, but I suppose he didn't really see me as a person, so why should he care?

I don't think that's it. If you think about it, it's the slow ones who are rude. You have good employees who are both fast and courteous, and you have bad employees who are both slow and rude. I think it's that they just don't care about the customer, the company, or the job.

Here in nyc when you walk up to purchase your goods..sometimes they dont notice you and you have to yell.