7 ms·
It's a thin line to walk. I would feel quite different if that happened to me.
by Argorak 13y ago
It's a thin line to walk. I would feel quite different if that happened to me.
- ceejayoz 13y agoIn all seriousness, why?
- jraines 13y agoI might wonder which of my personal details they don't like on this cozy level.
- ceejayoz 13y agoIf I'm still getting excellent support, I'm not sure I care.
- Argorak 13y agoDoes it matter? Simply put, I parse that as a creepy attempt of simulating a personal relationship that just isn't there.
- dopamean 13y agoI feel the same way. It would bother me to know that the support person has an opinion regarding my personal details regardless of what that opinion is.
- ceejayoz 13y agoThey have an opinion, whether or not they're stating it to you.
- cylinder 13y agoAgreed; I'm getting sick of this faux-friendliness that's trendy in American customer service these days. Banks and B2B startups are equally as guilty. I don't want to be asked how I'm doing or discuss the weather every time I call you for a quick question, wasting lots of time with useless polite banter. I'd rather a business call with an established vendor go like this: * Ring, quick answer * V: Yeah? * Me: I need X changed to Y. * V: Got it. * Me: Thanks. end call
- josephjrobison 13y agoWhat about at Trader Joe's how they always have a nice conversation with you, what's your take on that?
- cylinder 13y agoI live in NYC and was actually thinking about Trader Joe's and checkout lines here generally when I wrote my comment. Cashiers here generally don't waste anytime with small-talk and that's understood as common practice since we're all in a hurry. In other parts of the country, some small talk is expected and one party will be viewed as rude if they don't participate. I prefer we skip it.
- travisp 13y agoIn my experience it feels different in part because you have the person in front of you (it's harder to fake seeming genuine face to face). It also feels different because they are talking while they are doing something else, unlike on a phone call where these questions are preventing you from doing the communication you need to do to finish the call. It would be more similar to Trader Joe's employee stopping you on your way in to ask you a bunch of questions about your day and the weather outside.
- Argorak 13y agoDepends on what the conversation is about. The ring on my finger? (similar to the example above?) No-no. The weather, because it is summer and hot? Ok. Just banter. The crowded store and the fact that I had to stand in line 5 minutes? ("Crazy, we didn't expect that many customers today!") Yes! Shows they are aware and care. It's not that I don't want to interact, I just don't want to be dragged into that 'we're friends' game.
- lmm 13y agoI use self-checkout even when the line's longer, so that I don't have to talk to someone.
- FireBeyond 13y agoOne institution I am forced to deal with regularly has this horrific phone intro (from a live person): "Thank you for calling XXX where it's always a great day, my name is XXX and how about you tell me what I can help you bring home today?"
- rtpg 13y agoOne thing is that it can be a sort of breach of trust. While of course banks have access to this info, it's sort of an unwritten rule that they're not going to go looking through it just out of curiosity/malice. Obviously this depends on the situation, but usually info like bank transactions are considered private.
- kylec 13y agoSame here. One time a Simple rep made a comment about how they liked my employer. While the comment itself was innocuous, I expected them to have a bit more discretion when going through my transaction history.
- throwaway092834 13y agoReally? That reaction strikes me as quite odd. Do you not chit-chat with tellers at your bank in person?
- kylec 13y agoNo, I've never chit-chatted with tellers, nor would I want to.
- throwaway092834 13y agoYou may be the odd one out then. I've spent a fair amount of time in lines at the bank and most people are quite chatty.
- Argorak 13y agoCultural behavior differs widely even between regions. Whats true at your bank could be entirely different 500 kilometers down the road.
- kylec 13y agoEven still, there's a difference between random chit-chat and the bank representative looking into your transaction history and making comments on it.
- smackfu 13y agoI do not chit-chat with my teller about items they see in my transaction history.
- 13y ago
- cm2012 13y agoSeriously. I don't want to myself or my wife to be judged by my bank support because my wife took my last name.
- ceejayoz 13y agoJust because they didn't say something doesn't mean the judgement isn't there.