Does it irk you when customers call you by your first name?

[Kyree]

I hate it so much. I used to not mind it. But, the only customers that use it are either

A: Really creepy, making me very uncomfortable to be near, or
B: Regulars at my deli, who STARTED out being really nice.

One in particular for B: The old man in the yellow hat who comes almost every single day. He was cool to talk to to start out with, always polite, and funny. Until, at the age of late 60's, start hitting on my co-worker who he knows is married. Who calls only my co-worker honey, sweety, after she told him that she was married and she did not like being called those names by anyone but her husband. Who brings his dog to the store, and even in a Minnesota summer, leaves the thing in his car while he shops.

He calls everyone in the deli by their first name. He seems to think that since he "Knows us by first name basis", that he's entitled to more then the average customer. He always wants free samples. He'll come up and budge in front of the line, saying "Hello Natalie, I'm here for my order!"

"Natalie, I'm here to get my order" Is the WORST sentence I ever hear during the day. By him. He thinks he's better then every other customer. One night, my coworker, A, was closing. It was about 5 minutes 'till closing. Deli gets a call. It's the yellow hat man. "A, I'm running late. I need you to stay open so I can get my order. I'll be there in a little while. Thanks, A! Bye!"

[hinakiba777]

When I'm working Desk everyone calls me by my name. It is the only job I've ever had where I'm fine with people calling me by my name and there is only one reason for that. Student staff are practically famous at my school.

If you need anything, you usually need to call security or patrol. If you want something, you must talk to the Desk. Plus, the desk usually sends Patrol and Security out for people, so double exposure. My school has about 1000 students, and most of them know me by name. I'm kind of addicted to my job at the desk, so everyone sees me. I hand out with the other Deskers when I'm off. Everyone knows me, everyone calls me by my name.

That is the only case where I can accept people calling me by my first name at work. I really do get that "Do I know you?" feeling when I'm in that situation. I mean, everyone on the island knows everyone else somehow so people might actually be friends of the family. So when random people start being palsy, I get weirded out.

I'm rather talkative. So, I actually will have huge conversations with the people I'm serving because I'm friendly. However, there is that protective wall of "Server" and "Customer". I am not your Hina and you are not my Bob. I'm just the girl behind the counter okay Mr. Robertson?

It's even worse at the museum. There are three of us there. My boss, the male student worker, and myself. The museum is in a small community about thirty minutes from my house. Not much happens there, so I'm the topic of the latest news.

You can not imagine how many people walk in grinning there butts off saying, "Hello, you MUST be Hina!"

That scares the bejeebus out of me. I'm a bit of an extrovert, but I'm also kind of private and immensely shy. Someone coming in say "Oh, of course. You're hina. YOu're from that town so far away. you go to university in that city. etc"

SCARY!

[Mighty Girl]

No, what REALLY REALLY ticked me off was when they took it upon themselves to give me a nickname.

My name is Jennifer.

Not Jenny
Not Jen
Not Jenna

Jenn-if-er.
It's not that hard. And hell yes, I corrected every last one of them. And I even told a few particularly chauvinistic idiots that "only my friends call me that".

[Mighty Girl]

"Natalie, I'm here to get my order" Is the WORST sentence I ever hear during the day. By him. He thinks he's better then every other customer. One night, my coworker, A, was closing. It was about 5 minutes 'till closing. Deli gets a call. It's the yellow hat man. "A, I'm running late. I need you to stay open so I can get my order. I'll be there in a little while. Thanks, A! Bye!"

Please PLEASE tell me you didn't stay open just for him- that might have been the start of a clue on his part....maybe he would have figured out he just wasn't that special (I know....I'm a dreamer).

[Xeira]

Once a co-worker of mine wore the wrong name tag.

It was funny =)

[Imogene]

Hell, I hate it when people I KNOW call me by my first name. Which is why I'll usually start any "Hey, how are you?" with a "Today, I'm going by..." (currently? "Princess")
When a job puts my legal name on my name badge, I grab a sharpie and mark out most of it, leaving the nickname I grabbed in high school on it.

[icmedia]

Whenever I answer the phone at work, I use the greeting I have used at every job since I learned proper manners:

Thank you for calling (*Business*), this is Tim. How may I help you?

So, every person knows my name straight off. It's rather helpful when it's someone who is calling for a specific person, as they know they have reached me and not that other person (nobody calls for me, BTW).

I can accept when it's someone calling to place an order and, by virtue of my having served them in the past, they remember me and choose to call me by name (as in, "Oh, hi, Tim! Could I please order __________?").

It's less acceptable when the person is using my name as a method of maintaining their 'superiority.'

What kills me is when people call me the wrong name. I get, frequently and varyingly, "Ken," "Jim," "Ben," "Tom," and once even "Tina" (my voice is fairly deep, but whatever). I just laugh (sometimes out loud) at their stupidity and continue with their order. And, if they can't get my name right, I make sure to put theirs down incorrectly on their order..."Pearson" becomes "Deerson" or the such.

[Gawdzillers]

It doesn't irk me, but it freaks me out.
People will call me by my name and I frantically try to think where I know them from.
Then it finally occurs to me, I'm wearing a nametag.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I once wore a nametag with the wrong name on it; there was a chance that the mystery shopper would be instore and I'd forgotten my nametag, so was given another one. Due to sod's law, that would be the day that all the SCs decided to read the tag and call me by the name on it...

[flybye023]

It irks me but it's way down on the list of things to get annoyed about.

My feeling is this: Corporate makes me put my name where customers can see it. Good manners dictate that you don't call a stranger by name. So, customers who address me by first name when they already have my attention are rude. Customers who need my attention can simply call out "Excuse me," or "Miss/Ma'am?" and I will always at least turn around to see if I'm needed.

[Anriana]

I work at a call center for a large company with over 2,000 employees who take calls. There is no reason for a customer to need to know my name or use it in a conversation unless they are being manipulative and/or rude.

When I call all other call centers I absolutely loathe when the reps use my name because they never get my title correct. It doesn't show respect when you don't even bother to use the proper title.

[Arm]

I feel like nametags should come in two varieties.

Rosencrantz, and Guildenstern. They shall be interchangeable, thrown into a bin, and picked sight unseen by each employee as they arrive...

(Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are a pair of interchangeable characters from a Shakespeare play. The actors will often switch parts between the scenes of the performance, because of this.)

[burnedout]

I work at a call center for a large company with over 2,000 employees who take calls. There is no reason for a customer to need to know my name or use it in a conversation unless they are being manipulative and/or rude.

I tend to have that happen quite often, one thing I love about being able to use a pseudoname at a call center I work at. Oh noes, you're going to report me to corporate because I'm not going to do something blatantly against my job. What ever will I do?

[Regulator]

Special Circumstances in my case

I referee sports as a hobby, and to supplement my income, and when I do, I DO NOT give out my name except when required by league/commission regulations, and when I do usually its my last name as thats the way I sign my scorecards/league documents, as in:

"J. Doe" if my name were "John Doe" for instance

What I find a bit scary is when they walk in where I work and they mention my having officiated a recent contest/exhibition involving them or their relative. I usually discreetly cover my nametag (has only my first name on it) or turn it around so they can't see my name. I dont know whether they are going to retaliate or not on account of a previous decision in the contest or exhibition, and yes, I have had it happen (verbal retaliation only, no physical thank God)!

[MoonChild2007]

I work at a call center for a large company with over 2,000 employees who take calls. There is no reason for a customer to need to know my name or use it in a conversation unless they are being manipulative and/or rude.

When I call all other call centers I absolutely loathe when the reps use my name because they never get my title correct. It doesn't show respect when you don't even bother to use the proper title.

We tell customers our names just so the customer will know who they are speaking to

Actually, the worst customers are the ones who ask for my name and my badge number AFTER I tell them I can't do something for them.

Frankly, they are not getting it unless it is very important like I was supposed to credit his/her account, book an appointment, etc.

I told a customer that I couldn't go over the bill with her because she wasn't the account holder. She then asks for a supervisor. I tell her one will call her back (I was about to go home) , she then asks for my name which I did and then my badge ID. She is NOT getting that info. Who knows what she will do with it. It is not my policy so why the hell does she need my ID for? I wish customers would stop berating the rep for doing their jobs.