Monday, September 17, 2007

No Problem vs You're Welcome

Pet Peeve, among others is the phrase "No Problem."

Service people of all kinds are coming to use this phrase, even when it is the customer's problem/inconvenience, and that is irritating.

The other day, I was most inconvenienced by a sales person. This required visiting the store twice, driving in heavy traffic on a hot day, and finally refusing a damaged product on the second run. At the end of the transaction, I said my usual, "Thank you." I'm nice, after all, or try to be, even in 100+ temperatures.

The clerk who could have helped me immensely by being alert and thorough and involved in Customer Care, replied, "No Problem."

No Problem? No Problem? Yes, it was a problem--for me, the customer, using expensive gas and productive time, driving cross heavy traffic to get to the store, 2Xs... because the service clerk was inefficient.

No Problem is NOT You're Welcome. Good Customer Service people should train all their staff to reply with "You're Welcome."

3 comments:

DK said...

I am soooo with you on this one! I'm thinking of having a tee printed with some sort of anti-no problem slogan! lol Glad I'm not the only one who hates this.
DK

Anonymous said...

I disagree. I don't understand "you're welcome". You're welcome to what?

What is the origin of "you're welcome" that makes it correct?

When someone thanks me for a job well done, I often say "no problem". I think it is more polite than "I was only doing my job" (which I think is rude and a bit demeaning) or "it was nothing" when it was in fact something, but not a problem for me to do or fix.

Anonymous said...

Lighten up Cait!
Jeez. People like you who get your panties so easily twisted are a major reason why society stinks.