The Do's and Don'ts of Customer Service Etiquette

DO be patient if you join a phone queue; your call really is important and a customer service attendant will speak to you as soon as they can.

DON'T be rude and cranky when your call is finally answered. It is not the customer service attendants fault you had to wait so long.

DO be pleasant and polite as this will get you much further with your customer service attendant.

DON'T be abusive and dismissive. This is likely to get you an "accidental" hang up or a transfer to another department.

DO multi-task when being transferred to said department and end up in another long queue. Perhaps you could clean, play solitaire or do a crossword. It will make the time you're wasting, appear to go faster and you will have the rewarding feeling of achievement, rather than resentment.

DON'T tell your life story to every customer service attendant you speak too. Be polite and succinct. Know what you want to say. Don't try to think off the cuff. It will waste your time and the customer service attendants time too.

DO thank your customer service attendant even if you don't really want too. You may have to deal with them again and you want them to have fond memories of you.

DON'T cuss and curse as if the customer service attendant did you a personal wrong.

DO take note of the person you speak too. In the future you may have to make reference to the call and it is quicker (and helps you back your claim) when you can note whom and when you spoke.

DON'T continue your conversation with whoever is in the room with you, once your call has been picked up. You're wasting your time, their time and you are more then likely to get hung up on and have to start the whole process once more.