filing a complaint against an employee of a business

[rester]

About once every week or two I need to do some business with a company that is located very conveniently to my work. It's work related. The problem is that one of their employees has a bad attitude and is obviously unhappy with his job. He's one of those people that makes you feel as though you are an inconvenience to him just by entering the business. Dealing with him makes an already frustrating task much more frustrating, to the point that I am considering going to another business, although I will have to travel a much farther distance. I've had better experiences with customer service at the DMV than I have been having at this place.

 

I am considering writing an email or letter to the company complaining about this employee, although my concerns are that if I sign my name he will be extra-miserable to me in the future, or that he will get fired. I don't want the kid to get fired, but I cannot handle his attitude anymore.

 

Any suggestions?

 

From employers and business owners, how would you handle the situation if you received a letter from a customer complaining about one of your employees?

[GemmaUK]

Don't make a complaint if this is a company you wish to deal with - economics wise they sound like a goof company to work with as they are close and you have a history.

 

 

No one knows what may be behind a colleague's (I'll call him that as it is work related) mood and they may well be unable to fake it til the end of the contract and smile throughout. they may have an ongoing family dilemma or they may just clash with you personality wise (none of these are beyond the realm of possibility).

 

 

If it were me and the situ was that bad that I was unhappy dealing with that person but also that I posted about it I would contact another person within the company to ask if I could deal with someone else due to a feeling of a bit of a personality clash (go gentle - and call them - don't put it in a mail).

 

 

I still..(gaah!) have an issue with a work colleague who is on my case all the time (I have a thread on it) but the worst thing is that nothing she talks to me about is work related so I can't ask to deal with someone else.

 

 

I need badly to tell her to stop with her personal comments and assumptions about me but if I do I will need to do so in front of others (tough call) as I know she will be hands reaching out trying to touch me (think tearful zombie - this is how she is with me )and hug me and she will do her 'I am going to cry' face.

[Methodical]

I imagine the business owner would want to know if an employee is projecting a negative and unwelcoming environment toward its clients. Chances are the 'kid' (you have indicated that this employee is young) doesn't appreciate his job and his poor treatment toward clients may cause others to take their business elsewhere. I can understand you not wanting to make an uncomfortable situation worse, but what do you have to lose? If this employee is not reprimanded due to his poor attitude, you plan to remove yourself from the situation, right? I can't imagine a reputable employer disclosing the source of the complaint. By all means, you have a voice, speak up.

[rester]

Thank you both.

 

I imagine the business owner would want to know if an employee is projecting a negative and unwelcoming environment toward its clients. Chances are the 'kid' (you have indicated that this employee is young) doesn't appreciate his job and his poor treatment toward clients may cause others to take their business elsewhere. I can understand you not wanting to make an uncomfortable situation worse, but what do you have to lose? If this employee is not reprimanded due to his poor attitude, you plan to remove yourself from the situation, right? I can't imagine a reputable employer disclosing the source of the complaint. By all means, you have a voice, speak up.

 

This is how I feel.

 

I should clarify that he is not a colleague. This is a customer based business. It's a shipping company we have an account with. About 1 out of 5 times I will get someone else in their shipping department, but the last four times I was there I got this kid. He has an outwardly bad attitude dealing with customers. The best way to describe him would be that he believes his job is beneath him and makes that clear through his attitude. He leaves important information off the shipping labels, he rushes through things, he barks his needs for information at me, loud sighs, etc. I feel as though I've given the kid the benefit of the doubt many times but things haven't gotten any better in the last month.

[Methodical]

You are handing over your hard earned dollars to this company to perform a service for you. There are lots of ways to ship items and many companies have very competitive rates. I wouldn't give my business to place where I am made to feel unwelcome or a nuisance. If the job is beneath this employee, he shouldn't have applied for the position. You should def. speak up if you want to continue using their service without the bad attitude.

[amaysngrace]

If he worked for me I'd want to know that he does not excel in customer service since that's what they're in the business of providing. Service to customers.

 

I'd absolutely want customer feedback of this magnitude.

 

I wouldn't feel badly about him possibly losing his job either, since he doesn't seem as though he likes working there that much anyway.

[applej4]

rester, if you feel you’re being treated rudely and are dissatisfied with the service, by all means you should complain - especially since it's work related. No one should put up with shabby treatment just because the location of the place is convenient, and I disagree with the other member about that. Not sure what you mean by “filing” but you can speak with the manager or send an email. Include specifics – dates, times, what happened, etc. You don’t know what will happen but why should YOU be afraid? Maybe he will be talked to, and maybe others have complained and this is the last straw. But management can’t address or correct a problem until you let them know what the problem is. Or you can vote with your feet and take your business elsewhere. But doing nothing solves nothing.

[CC12]

If you don't want to file a formal complaint, you can just stop working with that kid. Get the names of the nicer employees and try to contact them directly. If you can't, any time you end up with that kid, ask him to forward you to "Amy" or "Chris" or whoever or tell him to leave a message for them to call you. You can let Amy and Chris know that you only want to deal with them from now on. Refusing to work with this kid can be an effective way to communicate that the kid sucks without actually complaining about him.

[pink_sugar]

Tough call, but I would speak to a supervisor about the situation...don't sound nasty, but just be frank and clear about what this kid is doing that is unprofessional. Most likely the situation can be rectified, or they can lose your business and I'm sure they wouldn't want that.

[Emilia]

I would probably confront him and say if he kept up the attitude, I would have no choice but to start asking for someone else to serve me and to explain to his supervisor the reasons behind this. That way you would give him a chance. At the same time, you shouldn't put up with this sort of thing. Everyone has problems.

[Emilia]

I need badly to tell her to stop with her personal comments and assumptions about me but if I do I will need to do so in front of others (tough call) as I know she will be hands reaching out trying to touch me (think tearful zombie - this is how she is with me )and hug me and she will do her 'I am going to cry' face.

Your life will be much easier if you learn to assert yourself. People won't mess with you as much.

[rester]

Thanks for all the advice/opinions so far.

 

I haven't had a chance to do anything yet, as it's not a top priority, although I'm still considering an anonymous email or letter. The direct confrontation route is not something I'm willing to do in this circumstance, mainly because they are handling some very expensive equipment and if they find me to be "that pain in the ass guy", I don't trust them to not mess with it.

 

I'm going to give them one more shot. If I still get shotty service, my options are either to send an anonymous complaint and hope their customer service improves, or forget about them completely. Is it worth it to me doing an extra few hours of running around every month to not get this guy in trouble? That's the difficult decision. On one hand, I don't care if he gets fired because he's doing a terrible job, on the other hand I'd hate to be the reason he gets fired.

 

Any other opinions?

[Methodical]

His piss poor attitude and neglectful treatment of valuable clients would be the reason for losing his job, if in fact that happened. You are going above and beyond to spare this kid, and while that seems noble, it's also the reason people don't give or expect commendable customer service as they once did. Turning a blind eye and being passive is doing nobody but the guilty person any favors. Where's the incentive for him to change?

[DrReplyInRhymes]

Without knowing what happened, its a tough call to make.

I can understand your frustration, & arguably it's the "last straw" action to take,

But if you've brought this to his attention, and the service hasn't improved,

Then maybe this is the only option that you're left with, what else can you do?

 

Customer service is a tricky field, I work in it, I can see both sides,

Some customers feel entitled and ask ridiculous requests far and wide,

But other customers just need a bit help, and they have no one else to turn,

Do the best you can do and do what you can, but don't be afraid to be stern!