I am a student at Miami University. I am performing an analysis on customer service scenarios and I was hoping you could give some feed back to the situations below. Your help is very much appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Thank You

#1) An employee feels strongly that she should show people the truth and wants to convert people to her religion. When is it appropriate for her to speak with her coworkers about her beliefs? How would you handle the situation?


#2) A suspicious customer just left the store with a new sleeping bag. A few moments later he has returned with a bag with ripped stitching. Inspecting the item you notice a fair amount of wear. What do you tell the "quick switch man"?


#3) A customer is obviously drunk. He is making rude, racially-bigoted jokes and comments at a level that nearly every customer can hear. A couple waiting for service has decided to leave and everyone is staring. What will you say or do?


#4) A woman walks up and asks you if her husband is a guest of the motel. She shows a picture of him and you do recognize him as a repeat guest. What do you tell this woman?


Any experiences or advice on how to handle these situations would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Scenario # 1- An appropriate time would be after working hours. Not during work. Most companies have solicitation policies. I think religion falls under this category. If she carries a bible to work and speaks about her religion to others without trying to convert, which is key here, most of her co-workers will understand her beliefs. Those that can relate will migrate to her. Others will probably shy away. If one feels she has too much time to preach, give her other duties that will keep her mind on work and the reason for it. Or maybe suggest to her another occupation. Take command of the situation. Some of the co-workers who would not feel comfortable about her antics will look to management to handle the situation. One must always strive to create a comfortable environment for everyone.

I am just curious why you would pick such obviously contoversial subjects?- I am guessing that you are interested in the more bizaare situations instead of the normal, routine situations that occur hundreds of times a day.

I am sure that these happen and do need to be handled. I think all of these situations demand an experienced associate with training to handle efficiently and effectively. It would also depend on where and in what setting they occur as to the methods that might be employed to diffuse. They need to be handled quickly and calmly while in keeping with the companies policies.

Good luck!

Scenario # 3

This customer is burden to the customer service agent (CSA) and as well as to the other customers. This should be addressed immediately with out waiting for a second. Agent should ask a senior manager to handle this customer. If she or he tries to handle this customer then the other customers have to wait for a long time and it is not the way to control the situation. (My opinion)CSA should not neglect the customer till a senior manager comes. After that let the manger handle the situation and CSA should start serving the other customers in the queu.He or she should never say anything bad about the drunken customer when the other customers make remarks.

CSA or the senior manager should not be aggressive and should not speak anything bad to the drunken customer. Take this customer to a private room or a place where nobody can see and talk. If the situation cannot be dealt then there is no choice other than calling the security guards to drop him to his taxi or his vehicle. But this should not be done in a bad way.

Hope this is useful.I will try to post answers to other scenarios as well when I am free.

Cheers

Harindra

1) It's not appropriate to discuss this at work. At work people will talk about their lives outside of the office, so it is important not to discriminate by 'banning' the employee from talking about her religion at when, when it is appropriate to do so i.e. during breaks etc. The key words that you mentioned is 'to convert people to her religion". This would be inappropriate behaviour whilst at work, and you probably have a legal duty to protect other employees from being 'converted'.

2) You point out the obvious wear, and tell the gentleman that you do not believe this was the same article that was purchased earlier. Explain that in order to complete a refund the goods need to be in the same condition as when they were sold and they clearly are not. Refuse to exchange the goods.

3) Tell the person that their language and behaviour is inappropriate and ask them to leave the store. If they do not leave ask them to leave again, explaining that if they do not leave this time you will call security. If they refuse to leave after being asked twice call security / the police.

4) Tell them that the hotel has a confidentiality policy and that you are not allowed to say whether or not that person has stayed at the hotel. If there is a legal reason why the woman needs to know that information, then there will be a laid down policy / procedure for requesting the information she requires.

Hope this helps.

Naranja