Customer Sevice

SapphireStar

SapphireStar

♥ FFF's Matt Bellamy Pervert ♥
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Here is an example of the joys of working in the workplace.

Okay, I was behind the tills at work today, which I do enjoy doing as you get to meet some interesting people and make friends. And Ive made several and its nice. However, you do get your rough with smooth and yes you do encounter the nastier customer who doesnt give a rat's arse about you and just wants their shopping done there and then!

So I served one of my workmates friends, whom was lovely to me yesturday with some cigs and roach paper. I accidently gave him the wrong change and he made this very clear. He had a lady friend with him who was drinking a can of Carlsberg and was the most grossest thing I had ever set eyes on. She wasnt too quick to start bad mouthing me and saying that its always this shop and its always me, even though I had never seen her in my life! I was panicing and couldnt do the simple math in my head and I asked for a calculator.

Big mistake cause this gave that bitch more ammo agaisnt me. She went on and did the sum in her head as this lovely man got out his phone and did the calculation for me. She shouted the answer at me, I didnt hear her and then she asked me very nasty like "How much did I say?" I said I didnt hear her and she smirked and called me more. Now I could feel the sting in my eyes and I refused to cry in front of her. Whilst this was going on the man I was refunding went to my manager Jamie and demanded his money back, at which point Jamie said to calm down and I'd sort it when Im sorted.

I finally gave him the almost right change as I wanted her out of there. She just kept taking jabs at me, even when they got the change and she left. I served the nice customer who used his phone and he said to ignore them. But then the tears came. Jamie shouted for Robert and asked me into the office in which I broke down into tears. I kept apologising cause I was scared I had given the wrong change to them. I was told not to worry and have 5 minutes breather. I felt very shook up afterwards and couldnt focus right. People had to point out their booze and cigs to me as I was shaking so much and forgot where most stuff was.

I mean at the end of the day we are there to serve you, there is no need for you to be evil, horrible and result to name calling. At the end of the day we are providing you with a service, if we werent there, you'd be buggered wouldnt you? There is no need for this carry on. Yes some people do make mistakes, but we are quick to correct them and all we ask is for patience and understanding.

Has anyone else experinced this type of behaviour? Have you ever been nasty to someone serving you?
 
Yikes. That was really mean of her and quite frankly, I don't appreciate customers like that. I'm a cashier too (although I'm sure you know already) and I dislike customers with a horrible attitude. Who wouldn't? And what's more irritating is that they know they're being nasty, yet still resort to being one continuously. So why do they do it? To piss us off, be a smart ass back to them, and give them a reason to report us to our managers?

Hah, I've had a couple of 'em trying to report me to the Big Boss. What they do is they actually ask me the store manager's number. "And can I have your manager's number? What's his name?" And I'll give it to them, acting cool at the same time. See, they try to intimidate you with these stuff. They want us to get scared. Screw that, lol.

In the end, I've never heard a complaint from my manager about me. =) And it's good that you didn't cry in front of them. I know it can be tough, but just relax - as cliche as that may sound. You'll deal with a lot of those, of course. It's retail. It's to be expected.

The thing is, some people are grouchy by the time they reach the registers. If they can't find the stuff they're looking for in the store, that sets them off. Well some anyway. And it's the cashiers who they usually blame. "I can't find this blah blah blah, you guys need to get some more blah blah blah, why does this cost so much?! Blah blah blah!" And so that's what makes our job stressful.

I can understand why they're stressed sometimes, but they also need to understand that it's not an easy job for us as well. So patience on both sides are needed. Unfortunately, I've ran out of patience after working in retail for almost 8 months. That's just me though. You might be able to tolerate them more than I probably can. =/

On top of the long lines, the other work that needs to be done, customer complaints, etc...it's a pain in the ass. I hate my job...and so that is why I'm leaving by the end of May. =) I'd rather deal with 20 kids than childish adults.
 
That's terrible. I've known my share of people who are quick to critisize people for making mistakes; heck, I live with someone who's like that...but lashing out at someone is just taking it a step too far. =\
I understand people becoming frustrated, but that ugly hag has her own downfalls too. I'm open enough to say that I can hardly add and subtract right with a piece of paper to do the solutions on. I would have cried if I were you too, but I also would have thrown something at her and lost my job. =\
At least you were the bigger person by not lashing back at her; which I'm sure is just what she would have wanted you to do.
 
Thanks guys and you dont know how tempted I was to learn over the counter and smack her in the jaw lol! My gran went crazy and said I could take her to court for verbal and almost mental abuse, but I personally dont want the woman in my life ever again. My mum has been inr etail since I was a child and she seems to take the bad customers in her stride. At the end of the day, they arent impressing anyone, just making themselves look foolish and childish. The other customers were looking at her disgusted and I hope that someday she gets treated the same way. Im actually nervous about work incase either of them come back.
 
aww i feel for you i now how it feels cause i used to work at a super market but not anymore thanks to one person :sad: but its ok i can just get another job down at EB!!! ^_^
 
Well not everyone can just get another job. This is the first job Ive had in a year. So Im not quitting on account of this woman. I just hope I dont have to deal with her again.
 
You really should've asked her to leave as soon as she caused a commotion. Especially if she was being loud and disruptive. Nevertheless, I'd say you handled it the best way you could, and you didn't let yourself down to anyone. Granted, short-changing someone isn't the most impressive act whilst serving, but it's hardly an excuse for someone to have a go.

Don't let it bother you or anything. She was only one person, AND she was drunk. I'd have pointed that out to security. ;p Morons deserve no second thoughts.
 
~SapphireStar~ said:
Well not everyone can just get another job. This is the first job Ive had in a year. So Im not quitting on account of this woman. I just hope I dont have to deal with her again.
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well i agree with you there even though it was my first job >_< but im young so i have the rest of my life ahead of me ^_^
 
Lol, sadly we are the security! We only have CCTV and no guards, its sucks! I know its not great short changing someone, but I had a huge que of customers and no one was hoping on till when I buzzed for help, so I was under pressure. My friend did say I should have asked her to leave, but Ive witnessed managers trying to get people to leave and I was terrified of this woman, she was taller then me (Im only tiny) and drunk people are scary when they get more angry and I didnt want her to end up hurting me.

Thanks guys, I mean I dont get upset with people behind tills when Im shopping as I understand what they are going through and let them take their time. It opens your eyes when your on the other side of the counter.

@ HeroMaxim, youre really not helping me here.
 
~SapphireStar~ said:
Lol, sadly we are the security! We only have CCTV and no guards, its sucks! I know its not great short changing someone, but I had a huge que of customers and no one was hoping on till when I buzzed for help, so I was under pressure. My friend did say I should have asked her to leave, but Ive witnessed managers trying to get people to leave and I was terrified of this woman, she was taller then me (Im only tiny) and drunk people are scary when they get more angry and I didnt want her to end up hurting me.

Thanks guys, I mean I dont get upset with people behind tills when Im shopping as I understand what they are going through and let them take their time. It opens your eyes when your on the other side of the counter.

@ HeroMaxim, youre really not helping me here.
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Oh, that's a crap deal. Guess you'll have to hit the gym. ;D

On a logical point of view, if she did hit you, the counter would impair a fuller swing, resulting in minor injuries. If any at all. THEN you could take her to court. ;p But I know you'd rather do without the hassle. Just remember you have the authority and power to remove someone from the store should they be out of line. You don't have to take anything from anyone, regardless of their size. Also, keep a small calculator on the side of the till next time. xD


HeroMaxim, avoid spamming in future. I've deleted one of your posts for this reason.
 
Saix said:
Oh, that's a crap deal. Guess you'll have to hit the gym. ;D

On a logical point of view, if she did hit you, the counter would impair a fuller swing, resulting in minor injuries. If any at all. THEN you could take her to court. ;p But I know you'd rather do without the hassle. Just remember you have the authority and power to remove someone from the store should they be out of line. You don't have to take anything from anyone, regardless of their size. Also, keep a small calculator on the side of the till next time. xD


HeroMaxim, avoid spamming in future. I've deleted one of your posts for this reason.
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im sorry for it i really am just i thought it would be fun making little games like i did but its ok then i really am sorry and that calculator idea is really good ^_^
 
Lol, yeah I often asked why we didnt have a calculator and no one knows why! So Im going to invest in a cheap one and leave it at work or ask management for a cheap little one.
 
Yes, I've had similar experiences, just none quite that bad. I used to work at Rite Aid... :|

My first week, I had some smartass ask if I was new. I said I was so he asked, "Is this your career now?" Mind you, had I not had any job at all, I would have been a slacker rather than an idiot so I didn't dwell on my inability to please what was clearly a hick with a stick up his butt.

After Christmas, the prices on all the Christmas items that were left over dropped, first from 50% off to 75% off. One item in particular caused some trouble. The whole situation was ridiculous, really. The item in question was a box of Kleenexs in a special container. You know how it works -- dress a regular item up in holiday decorations and the price jumps a few bucks. Stupid, really. Anyways, all of them were marked as, let's say, $5.89. The real price, however, was $5.99. When it came time to mark them down, it was easier to just stick a sign up rather than tag each individual item. So, when I rang the first box up and said what the price was, the woman who was buying them practically flew into a fit...over a ten cent difference for a box of damn tissues that were already 75% off to begin with. Apparently, she'd figured up their cost in her head and thusly thought it was wrong (when the tag on the item, which stated the original price, was wrong). Not even 30 minutes later, it happened again so I had to get my boss. It's surprising how such a trivial matter was able to send two people off the deep end and so quickly. It's not like I was trying to rip them for ten cents or anything. All they had to do was remain calm while I went and fetched boss lady. Hey, a cashier only has so much power...which is like, none so...yeah...

Another time, a woman came in, got what she needed, and went to the register without my noticing. I was back in the seasonal aisle cleaning as cashiers at Rite Aid are responsible for floor work and running the register (They're too cheap to actually have a full staff even though they overprice their items anyways.). Said woman came back and said, rather nicely, "I'm ready to check out." I put down whatever I was holding and went to my register, apologizing for not having been there in the first place. This woman, who was nice and sweet just moments earlier, suddenly said, "You're lucky I'm an honest person. I could have just walked right out of here with all of this stuff if I'd wanted to."

"The alarm would have gone off."

"No, it wouldn't have. I know because I used to work at Wal Mart."

Oh, wow, really! That's wonderful, I'm so impressed!

Now I know why she was so nasty. 30 something year old stuck working minimum wage jobs? Yeah, you're excused.

I only worked there for four months and that's not even the half of it. Let me just say, the customers who'd come in, pick something up, and exclaim "I COULD GET THIS CHEAPER AT WAL MART!", purposely yelling so I could hear them, never failed to amuse me. Honestly, do you really think I care? No matter what, I'll still get paid. Go ahead, go to Wal Mart. Hell, I'm going there myself once I get off work. Do you really think, working here, that I could afford to pay $6 for a bottle of shampoo I could get for $4 at Wal Mart? That four bucks counts when you're only getting paid $5.75 to begin with.
 
Wow, sounds like the customers I had to deal with at work, HalfBloodPrincess. =O (I just quit Meijer last night though, so I'm really happy about that.) And yes, I hate it when people make such a big deal over a 10 cents difference. I feel like throwing a dollar at their faces sometimes.

Last night, I had a customer who got ticked off at me, and oh I'm so glad I made her mad. She was so impatient. She wanted a Marlboro and a Tracfone phone card. Well, the Marlboro was all the way at Service Desk (which isn't run by anyone since I worked 3rd shift) and the Tracfone card was locked up. So I had to get the keys and get the card myself since the rest of the workers were outside taking their cigarette break. -.-

Well, I had to open two locks...and there were like 15 different keys, so I had to try them out one by one. It took me awhile, but I finally got it, then went to get the Marlboro. So it took me over 5 minutes to do the whole damn thing, and I was really getting annoyed. Then I come up on register and she started making these weird body languages to kinda let me know that she was pissed at me since I took so long.

I ignored her as I didn't feel the need to explain the problem since I was already ticked off anyway. (Fact that there's usually no one to help me whenever I need help since everyone always seem to be on "break". One of the reason why I wanted to quit since it wasn't fair anymore.) I know that you're supposed to apologize for the inconvenience, but I really wasn't in the mood to play the good girl last night.

Then when she was about to leave, she snapped, "Where's my cigarettes?!" and I looked at the bag where I put it, then looked back at her, saying nothing. She then saw it and left, not saying thank you at all. Hah, I didn't say thanks either since I honestly didn't feel like helping her out anyway. Besides, it was my last night...I felt like being a bitch just to get something off of my chest. Dumb customers...UGH!
 
Heh, I had the same problem. It's partly why I quit my job, too.


My first day, my superviser said that we were to get one 15 minute break (on days we worked 6 hours or less. 30 minutes on days we worked more) but that she and the others didn't usually take it because they weren't allowed to leave the store (supervisers have to stay close by) and that 15 minutes wasn't that much time anyways. I figured, hey, if they don't take theirs, I won't take mine, no big deal.


I quickly realized that what she meant was that they don't officially take their breaks. They never announced, "I'm going out for a break.", instead saying that they were going out for a quick smoke as if it made a difference. They'd go out almost every hour or so which, some days, meant that they'd spend nearly half an hour standing outside just smoking or talking to friends/family.


Of the eight other people who worked with me, five of them smoked. They went outside so often, in fact, that the customers took notice and apparently began to complain which forced my co-workers to actually go around to the back of the building for their breaks to keep from being spotted. On Christmas Eve, we were all scheduled to work (except for one girl) because the boss was expecting a rush. Long story short, no rush. That meant that I and the other cashier (who started the same day I did and was just 2 years older than myself) were left to watch our registers while everyone else went back in the seasonal aisle to "work". They were working, yes, but they were goofing off as well. They had a blast. Hope, the other cashier, and I just stood at our registers like statues.


After all that "work", they decided they needed a break. Every last damn one of 'em went out for a smoke, going far enough away that one of our supervisers actually left her cell phone number with us in case we needed help.


Finally, I got so bored that I sat down on the counter (no chairs, not allowed). After my co-workers came back in, one of my other supervisers (I'll spare you the details of said superviser's hypocrisies/lies, unless, of course, you think you'd get a kick out of reading about a troll doll barking out orders,) said, "What do you have to be tired about?" as if she thought I should stand the whole 6 hours without taking a breather! I said I was just bored. She said that I shouldn't let corporate see me sitting on the counter which I basically ignored because, one, she'd said it about three times before and, two, she only said it to me. Nevermind the other girl who did it as frequently as I did because she was a smoker, too...they'd bonded through their clouds of smoke.


I worked there for four months and only requested my 15 minute break twice...and only received the whole thing once. The second time I asked, my superviser (the one who claimed that she never took her break) was reluctant to let me go despite having said herself that we were out of work. "Hmmm....ummmm....hm...um.....hmm...did you sweep behind the counter?" "Yes." "Hm.....well...um...........okay, but be back in 5 minutes." For what? We were done! The store was empty! What the hell happened to my 15 minutes?


What was even more irritating was the fact that my superviser and the other cashier (who, for some reason, was scheduled to come in at 2:00 rather than 3:00) took two breaks in less than two hours that day. The first break came at about 2:05, just five minutes after the other cashier arrived. They joked about how quickly Lisa, said cashier, was going out on her break. Made me feel like I was back in high school again... The second break came just ten minutes after I came back from my measly five minute break. Talk about ballsy.


I got the feeling that my co-workers thought, because I was younger than them, that they could say and do what they wanted and that I was too stupid to understand that they were screwing me over. Just because I didn't say anything didn't mean I didn't understand what was going on.


Let's just say that things got so irritating and stressful that I just up a quit -- walked out. That night was pretty interesting, to say the least.
 
Wow, you both have had ridic customers also! Its such a shock when your on the other side of the counter, I would not dare treat anyone like that because of the emotional and mental stress it can present to a person.

Seriously, these customers wouldnt like to be spoken to like that, so why talk to us like we're dog crap?
 
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