10 Things Customer Service Supervisors Should Not Do

Have you ever received poor customer service and asked for a supervisor to report the problem only to have the situation made worse by management? Recently, I experienced opposite ends of the rotten customer service spectrum on the same day! The two extremes were with an apathetic supervisor on the phone and a hostile manager in a store.

First, three call center reps told me I would receive a letter confirming service. When the letter didn’t arrive, a fourth rep read notes on my account that a letter would not be written. So, I asked for a supervisor.

I’m not sure if I woke up the woman who identified herself as a supervisor. She could’ve been just a representative playing the role of supervisor, as some businesses have employees do. But she couldn’t have sounded more lethargic if she were drugged. She gave a half-hearted apology for the inconvenience and said there was nothing she could do because no new letters get written; only pre-established forms are mailed. She said she couldn’t answer why three reps said a letter would be sent. I asked if she was a machine when she kept repeating in a monotone voice things like, “Again, there is nothing I can do.”

The second customer service supervisor to ruin my day was the service manager at a national chain automotive center. I met him after a representative on the phone informed me I had been overcharged and I came to the store for a refund.

The conversation quickly rolled down hill as the manager lied that he had no way of seeing what I paid, like the representative had done, without my receipt. When he finally pulled up the information, he yelled that he still needed my receipt because the store’s records might not match mine. He shrugged his shoulders and looked bewildered when I asked how the information could be different when my receipt was a copy of his record.  His rant of refusing to give me a refund without a receipt continued until I told him I was going to report his conduct to the corporate office.

Perhaps these two supervisors’ poor attitudes are used to annoy customers into ending their complaints, but their behavior doesn’t help the companies they represent.

Here Are 10 Things Customer Service Supervisors Should Not Do

1. Act apathetic. Don’t say you’re sorry when you sound like you’re barely listening.

2. Become hostile.

3. Talk over the customer.

4. Read the customer’s account instead of listening.

5. Give more information than required from the customer’s record.

6. Sound repetitive and monotone.

7. Not offer to report the complaint to possibly change policies that are frustrating other customers as well.

8. Raise your voice in anger.

9. Shrug your shoulders and deny knowledge of company information that you should know.

10. Walk away during the conversation or ask others to argue for you.

Has a supervisor made your complaint worse? Let us know.