Could You Maybe Elaborate?

[Sableonblonde]

I wouldn't even think twice about something like this, except that is happens SO frequently - constantly throughout the day, every day. People come up to order, and will say "I want something to drink" So I say, "Okay..." Then smile at them expectantly waiting for them to tell me what, exactly, they want. We have about seven different beverage options, so "I want something to drink" doesn't really narrow anything down.

But instead of elaborating, they just stare at me blankly. I stare at them blankly. They stare at me blankly some more. Then they seem to get confused about why I'm just standing there instead of going to fetch their "something" to drink.

What is this? I would never go into, say, a Starbucks and tell the counter person "Yeah, I want something to drink" and just stare back at them like a moron, as if "something to drink" were an item listed on the menu. I hate having to prompt people and basically drag their orders out of them.

So after several seconds of me and the customer staring blankly at each other, I'm finally forced to ask "So...what would you like to drink?" Finally, they'll give up the answer, but it's still not over. They'll tell me which drink but they won't specify a size. I don't even bother to get through another round of mutual blank stares because I already know it's hopeless. So I ask "What size?" And then it's still not over, because despite the giant neon menu board hovering behind my head, they invariably ask "What sizes do you have?"

I guess I'm in the minority here, but when I go up to a counter to order something, I have figured out exactly what I want, in which size, and I communicate this all to the person taking my order. I don't stand there and throw out little hints, turning the entire ordering process into one long game of Clue.

[Zell]

Why, all employees can read minds! That's a fact of life!

Take, for instance, tech support calls.

CS: I WANT MY COMPUTER FIXED NOW! IT HAS AN ERROR MESSAGE THAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND!

Tech: What kind of computer do you have?

CS: YOU SHOULD KNOW! I BOUGHT IT FROM YOU! I HAVE A (computer name here)!

Tech: OK...what is the error message?

CS: YOU SHOULD KNOW! YOU'RE TECH SUPPORT!

Tech: I cannot read your computer screen from 1000 miles away, sir.

CS: WHAT? BUT YOU ARE TECH SUPPORT AND YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE MY COMPUTER!

[Chanlin]

I get lovely little gems like this all the time at work. I've started handling trouble tickets and returns. These are calls that the CSR's could not resolve so a ticket is opened for a call back resolution. Now for those that haven't read at least one of my posts about my current job I work for a Prepaid Cellular Phone service. Now I'll be the first to admit most of the tickets are pretty clear in exactly what is wrong.

For example one of our better employees will leaves notes on the ticket such as "The phones speaker seems to be broken. I had the customer put the phone into voice dial mode and the voice dial did not respond to any of the voice commands the customer issued." Clear, concise, to the point and it even saves me troubleshooting I just have to check the warranty info for the phone and then call the customer and let them know what we are willing to do to fix the problem.

Then I'll get these great little gems from some of our not so great or lazy employees. "The phone is broken" Really.... no kidding, if you hadn't told me I would never have guessed. I mean thats really only the whole point of this process. Bonus points if the only call back number the employee got is the broken cell phone.......

I mean seriously what is wrong with people. And I'm right there with you. When I go to a resteraunt or anywhere I generally am going there for something specific and know exactly what I want and will comminucate this in a clear fashion. The only time I will ask questions is about new menu items or if I've never been there before.

[upsidedown_orchid]

I get this all the time at the theatre.

People will call in and say... " I want to make a reservation".
Then silence.
I'll ask "For which day?" They'll say something vague like "the 28th, or Friday".
Keep in mind we book up to six months ahead of time and we often have 2 shows a day.
Oddly enough people who do this are never booking for this friday, it's usually one 2 or 3 weeks away, and they tell you that with a sigh, because they expected you to have telepathically tapped into their plans for their grandma's 87th birthday.

Sometimes I like to play the silence game, but usually I will just walk them through the process as it's a little less painful.

[Catwoman2965]

I mean seriously what is wrong with people. And I'm right there with you. When I go to a resteraunt or anywhere I generally am going there for something specific and know exactly what I want and will comminucate this in a clear fashion. The only time I will ask questions is about new menu items or if I've never been there before.

I HATE that..I have one friend, for which, deciding what to eat is a life altering decision. she is a. afraid of trying anything new and b. if she does, not liking it. To me, its simple, if the dish says it has say, artichokes, peppers, chicken and pasta in a white wine sauce, i like all these things, so chances are, i will like the dish. If it has, however, any black pepper, or walnuts, or any other ingredient i don't like, i stay away. She AGONIZES over what to eat, back and forth, back and forth, driving me and the server nuts!

And if i happen to be somewhere you have to order and pick up the food, and am not sure what I want, i'll let the people behind me go first...if they know.

[Sparky]

I get this all the time at the theatre.

People will call in and say... " I want to make a reservation".
Then silence.
I'll ask "For which day?" They'll say something vague like "the 28th, or Friday".
Keep in mind we book up to six months ahead of time and we often have 2 shows a day.
Oddly enough people who do this are never booking for this friday, it's usually one 2 or 3 weeks away, and they tell you that with a sigh, because they expected you to have telepathically tapped into their plans for their grandma's 87th birthday.

Sometimes I like to play the silence game, but usually I will just walk them through the process as it's a little less painful.

As a (I hope not too sucky) customer, I usually begin phone transactions this way too. "I want to make a reservation." "I'd like to place an order." "I have questions about my order." I do this because I don't know what information the person on the phone wants first. I figure you're filling out a form, typing information onto blanks on your computer, or something, and I have no idea what your form looks like. What do you want first? My name? My phone number? The dates? Is making reservations your only job or do you have to stop doing something else and get that screen up before we can start?

I have no idea what to tell you about people who say "Friday" and mean 3 weeks from now though.

[Andara Bledin]

For fast food, I never even get in line unless I either know what I want already, or am trying to decide between two or three items. I know what size, what drink, what fries, and any extras long before I get to the cashier. And then I just tell them! What a concept. I know, I know, it makes sense so SC's couldn't possibly do it.

She AGONIZES over what to eat, back and forth, back and forth, driving me and the server nuts!

Heh. She's not a libra, is she? My mother used to hate taking me shopping for clothes because I'd do that. I finally got fed up with myself for how long everything took and made myself be more decisive.

^-.-^

[skeptic53]

Which medicine did you need refilled?

"Oh, you know... it's a little white round pill'.

[aurelemsrealm]

Okay, here's a common one that drives me nuts.

The customer will come in and want a can of chew. Okay, there are at least five or six different varieties of cuts and flavors for most brands of chew. So, I ask which variety of their brand they want. Usually, that will clue them in, but occasionally I get those gems who have apparently mistaken me for a Betazoid (for non-Trekkies, that's a telepathic humanoid species). I want (customer's brand). Yes, we've already gotten that far, but what cut and what flavor of that brand do you want? They just stand there and look at me, so I finally take to pointing at cans until they grunt in approval. So easy, even a caveman can do it! Yay!

Even worse is when it's a woman buying for her husband, boyfriend, or whoever, and all she can tell me is that it's a green can. Yeah, about half of the cans of chew across the spectrum are green. Be more specific. Then, when she ends up getting the wrong can, she comes back to tell me that it's somehow my fault. "You gave me the wrong can." Well, you told me the wrong kind, then. I gave you what you said because I don't just hand them out until you specify. I only give you what you ask for.

Just as annoying....

"Yeah, I want your cheapest pack of cigarettes."

"Okay, we have (cheapest brand) for $x.xx plus tax."

"Yuck, what else do you have?"

By that point, I just point to the cigarette rack behind me because I'm not interested in playing 20 questions. They usually end up asking for a name brand, then bitch because it's too expensive for them.

Okay, I don't set the prices, therefore I don't give a rat's ass about your assessment of the price. I just work here. If you want it bad enough, you're going to buy it anyway.

"Well, I can get it cheaper down the road. You guys are always so expensive.... Blah, blah, blah, boo, hoo......"

Good for you. Why are you bothering me, then? We don't need your stupidity. We have plenty of other customers already. Enjoy your lung cancer. Thank you!

[AFpheonix]

Which medicine did you need refilled?

"Oh, you know... it's a little white round pill'.

This. Good lord, do you people NOT know what you're ingesting? The smart people who have a buttload of stuff they take monthly make themselves up a little list of the things they need.

And then there's the:
"I'd like to pick up a prescription." I reply with an "ok" or some other word that indicates that I'm ready to help....and then they proceed to sit there and forget that I need some piece of information in order to fetch them said prescription. It's not like they can't see the 90 some-odd bins we have overflowing with scripts.

Or my personal favorite, when they only volunteer their first name. Oh, of course! Steve! My long lost friend. Of COURSE you're the only Steve I'd ever fill for. All other Steve's are like the mud on my shoe compared to you. I have banished them to Sav-On.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

At a time like this, a big jar full of picle brine could come in handy.

C: "I want something to drink."
You: "Okay!" (give them a big cup full of pickle brine)
C: "But this is pickle brine!"
You: "You didn't say what it was you wanted to drink! This is something to drink! Drink up"

[JenCdn]

We give lots of choices at my workplace which, naturally, comes along with lots of questions. Alot of times I see my co-workers dealing with "um, tomato (10 second wait for SC to decide), lettuce (insert another 10 seconds), pickles"...wash, rinse, repeat.
After dealing with that for as long as I can remember, I now suggest things instead of asking:
"cheddar cheese? Lettuce, tomato, pickles? A medium coke?"
They'll correct me right away if I suggest something they don't want, and there's no more "Well, what drinks, veggies, bread do you have?" type questions.
A bonus, I get compliments on my quick service because of this tactic, too!

[Sofar]

Which medicine did you need refilled?

There's more than one kind of medicine? The things they come up with these days.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I don't stand there and throw out little hints, turning the entire ordering process into one long game of Clue.

It was the Burger, in the dining room, with the pickle!

ah, I don't know

"What sizes do you have?" strikes me as a pretty dumb question. Most places have the same "sizes": small, medium, large. Now, what exactly constitutes a small, medium, large may vary, so the more logical question would be "how big is your (size)?"

I know, logic...bah...

[ta2ooed1]

Being in tech support my favorite is when I'm monitoring an email box and get the all popular my printer/network/email/random program I've never heard of doesn't work.
And I get to shoot back an email with anywhere from 3 to 6 questions trying to get more infomation plus a suggestion that they might want to consider just calling us so we can troubleshoot... It's funny just how many decide it's just easier to call since a tech will NOT magically appear at their desk once the shoot off some random vague one line no subject email The one's that really crack me up are the ones that actually answer all my questions via email IN ALL CAPSb