Customer Service Antagonists

There’s one in every crowd. You know the kind, they’re the ones who give all service people a hard time, be it waiters, check-out clerks, ticket counter people, or motel front desk attendants. I have a dear friend who wouldn’t think of hurting a fly, but going out to dinner with her always turns into an embarrassing nightmare as she invariably finds fault with the food, even if it is her favorite restaurant. What makes them do it? WSU senior Joel Anaya who is majoring in Hospitality Business Management is trying to find out through a study focusing on just these types of rude customers, who not only make service people miserable but fellow customers as well. He even has a name for such behavior - “customer service sabotage”, which is pretty appropriate if you ask me. The hope is, that through such a study, managers and workers can use the information to reevaluate customer complaints, and in a lot of cases realize their service wasn’t to blame. They might also learn how to be pro-active, changing the service experience to head off such behavior in the future. Here’s hoping they’re able to do just that, as the rest of us would be extremely grateful!