I started working in retail a couple weeks ago and I got my first rude customer today

Goldbob · May 15, 2022

I'm in the deli and they want us out at 8 or slightly after when they close, so customer comes in at 7:30 wanting a LOT of stuff and I get it with no complaints, at some point the 10 minute warning goes off so when I go to give him his ten pounds of meat and cheese he tries to hand me a list of even more stuff he started writing so he could go shop for other stuff, at this point I have ten minutes to leave and still have another customer waiting + dishes, counters, slicers and floors to clean so I politely say no I can't take a big list so close to closing and he acts like I'm being an asshole and goes off to find a manager, he either didn't find him or he didn't care because he never came back and said anything.

I am expecting to be chewed out for the extra 30 minutes I had to stay though.

Ashes of Dreams · May 15, 2022

The first of many, should you stay in retail long.

L Thammy · May 15, 2022

When I worked at customer service (text-based) I once got someone who was clearly trying to feel me out. Like they started off friendly but they ran into an issue that I had no means to help them with, then they suddenly got aggressive for no reason but that didn't work, then they went back to polite and thanked me before they left.

Slayven · May 15, 2022

I disgree with the draft, but i would totally be down for a law that says when you turn 18 you have to do 2 years in a customer service job. I think we would have a more polite society.

WhiteRabbitEXE · May 15, 2022

Slayven said:
I disgree with the draft, but i would totally be down for a law that says when you turn 18 you have to do 2 years in a customer service job. I think we would have a more polite society.

It's a nice idea, but no, we wouldn't. Those same people would still be assholes, only they'd preface everything with "I used to work retail, so: ____" and justify everything with "I had to deal with it, so you can too".

Slayven · May 15, 2022

WhiteRabbitEXE said:
It's a nice idea, but no, we wouldn't. Those same people would still be assholes, only they'd preface everything with "I used to work retail, so: ____" and justify everything with "I had to deal with it, so you can too".

True. Working custormer service made me more empathic to people but same time harden my heart made me find joy and telling assholes "No"

Tttssd1972 · May 15, 2022

My job is somewhat of a customer service job. As in I talk to a customer via phone maybe and I stress MAYBE 1 time a month. Everything else is via email. Talked to a rude lady for 27mins that tried to goad me into doing the old classic routine of "Ok so you are saying I am lying" shit. Fuck customers. Period.

HammerOfThor · May 15, 2022

Slayven said:
I disgree with the draft, but i would totally be down for a law that says when you turn 18 you have to do 2 years in a customer service job. I think we would have a more polite society.

I'll be honest, because of my time as a caddy it's probably why I tip larger than normal

Autumn · May 15, 2022

Supermarket deli is one of the worst position, start talking to guys in other departments to see where you can transfer.

Slayven · May 15, 2022

HammerOfThor said:
I'll be honest, because of my time as a caddy it's probably why I tip larger than normal

It's why i ultra patient with people.

Danby · May 15, 2022

If you have a good manager, they won't care. There are limits as to what a customer can expect of you.

HeySeuss · May 15, 2022

Slayven said:
I disgree with the draft, but i would totally be down for a law that says when you turn 18 you have to do 2 years in a customer service job. I think we would have a more polite society.

I don't disagree with any of this. Working a restaurant job and selling cars really gave me the communication skills and patience to be successful in future endeavors. I do think people would be more empathetic to others if everyone worked some sort of retail

tmarg · May 15, 2022

The weird thing about it is that the good employee/ shitty customer power dynamics have never been more in the employee's favor than they are now. Maybe three years ago they could have thrown a fit to a manager and gotten something out of it, but now?

BottledLightning · May 15, 2022

Slayven said:
I disgree with the draft, but i would totally be down for a law that says when you turn 18 you have to do 2 years in a customer service job. I think we would have a more polite society.

Unfortunately, the longer I live, the more I realise there's no cure for self-centeredness and impatience other than denying people what they want and giving consequences to their actions, and even then unless they take it to heart they'll relapse at some point.

It just sucks that alot of retail operates on "Customer is king" basis because sometimes, the customer is an ass.

L Thammy · May 15, 2022

WhiteRabbitEXE said:
It's a nice idea, but no, we wouldn't. Those same people would still be assholes, only they'd preface everything with "I used to work retail, so: ____" and justify everything with "I had to deal with it, so you can too".

"I worked at retail so I know how it works."

lacinius · May 15, 2022

Hope you make it to the holiday season... you're in for a real treat, one that you will never ever forget!! XD

Deleted member 10560 · May 15, 2022

After working in retail for an unfortunate amount of time, allow me to share some wisdom. The customer is never right.

Goldbob · May 15, 2022

Danby said:
If you have a good manager, they won't care. There are limits as to what a customer can expect of you.

I've spoken with the manager that's usually there around that time and honestly I don't get the feeling he cares what we do short of burning the store down with him in it, and maybe not even that some days.

The general manager only cares if you're staying too long.

lacinius said:
Hope you make it to the holiday season... you're in for a real treat, one that you will never ever forget!! XD

One of the seasoned vet employees already warned me that Memorial Day weekend is probably going to be the worst three days of my life

TaterTots · May 15, 2022

It's only going to get worse. I'd work there a little bit and use the experience to work for a larger company to merchandise. It's what I currently due and its super easy. I work alone and have no supervisor watching me. I just listen to music and throw stuff on a shelf.

Kitsunebaby · May 15, 2022

Slayven said:
I disgree with the draft, but i would totally be down for a law that says when you turn 18 you have to do 2 years in a customer service job. I think we would have a more polite society.

You'd think. But working at a starbucks for 10 years, some of the worst customers were previous partners/baristas. There's a surprising number of people who think because they "did their time" it entitles them to be difficult and demanding customers.

Lobster Roll · May 15, 2022

Sorry, OP. Retail sucks major ass. Some of the best times of my life, however, are from getting drinks with my retail coworkers, trading war stories of asshole customers, and commiserating about the whole experience. It's a boomer ass thing to say but it's true, this will build character for you.

NinjaScooter · May 15, 2022

No excuse for a customer to be rude or an asshole but in situations like these your management should have your back so that you can serve the customers as needed and have someone back you up on the other duties if needed (someone you can call to help w/ the other customer, someone who can help with the cleanup duties). This is the part that is sorely missing in a lot of retail type jobs. Poor leadership/management.

WhiteRabbitEXE · May 15, 2022

L Thammy said:
"I worked at retail so I know how it works."

My favorite time I got that was when someone insisted there *had* to be someone else above me in the building (not just in general, but someone in the building *right this very moment*) to complain to. "I worked retail before, there's always someone higher!"

Lady, we don't have an infinite chain of command, I don't know where the fuck you worked.

Stath · May 15, 2022

Fuck that guy. I've worked jobs where people would order food right before closing, and I hated each and every person that would do it. It guaranteed we wouldn't be getting out for another 30 minutes, minimum. They can all kiss my ass.

On the flipside, it was funny just letting the phone ring for an eternity after we actually did close.

TheDestructiveSquirrel · May 16, 2022

The customer is always an asshole

www.youtube.com

slorelli · May 16, 2022

Hang in there. Anything in customer service is a nightmare but it will help you build a resilience to idiots. I once worked in a call center in my late teens and hated it but it definitely helped me in the long run.

Kreim · May 16, 2022

Yeah if there's still cleanup to do then obviously someone should be doing it while someone else can still provide coverage for the counter. They always put employees in the worst spot.

We know it ain't a little ma and pop joint run by one man, they could have five of these guys standing there cutting meat if they wanted to. It's management's fault. And above them? another manager, and on it goes. Until you get to the ghost of Sam Walton, refusing to buy his store a second telephone because he was too cheap. That's retail, forever.

NintendoSwitchLover · May 16, 2022

Been in retail for 10+ years and trust me it doesn't get any better. You're a worker bound to the systems in place and customers who take offence to said systems will likely take it out on you. If you're somewhere outside of work they likely wouldn't even recognise you. I'd make the separation early from customers and people who are rude to you because they don't like you because while you're in uniform you're the face of a company or business.

You also never know, I've had angry customers come back the next day giving me gifts apologising for how they acted because their day was shitty.

Hoggle · May 16, 2022

I worked the counter for about twenty minutes. I got moved out back because apparently I kept rolling my eyes at stupid people.

"Are the beef meatballs vegan?"

How else am I meant to respond?

I do love yelling at people being rude to retail workers though. That's like my favourite thing ever.

geomon · May 16, 2022

I stopped working retail after my first retail job. NEVER. AGAIN.

Cosmic Bus · May 17, 2022

Last night an old guy in a motorized wheelchair pulled up next to me, asked where the frosted sugar cookies were, and I told him that we didn't make them anymore and only had these frosted cinnamon ones now. He responded by very loudly going "BOOOOOO. BooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" sticking his tongue out and making barfing noises, then yells "put THAT in your fuckin' comment box!" and drove away.

I really hate people and I hate my life.

Omegasquash · May 17, 2022

When I worked at a grocery store in high school for a few years, we'd regularly have to deal with an actual heiress of an actual fortune coming in 20 minutes before closing on Saturday nights. It's just what she did.

You get an appreciation and an empathy at the same time, but there's always gonna be someone that takes advantage of you. Fuck 'em.

echoshifting · May 17, 2022

I'm impressed you made it two weeks at a deli counter without being treated like crap by a customer. You must be an extremely nice person.

Soliloquy of a Dogge · May 17, 2022

Cosmic Bus said:
Last night an old guy in a motorized wheelchair pulled up next to me, asked where the frosted sugar cookies were, and I told him that we didn't make them anymore and only had these frosted cinnamon ones now. He responded by very loudly going "BOOOOOO. BooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" sticking his tongue out and making barfing noises, then yells "put THAT in your fuckin' comment box!" and drove away.

I really hate people and I hate my life.

This sounds so comical to me I can't stop fucking laughing.

And I can't imagine how these entitled toddlers actually convince themselves that acting like this in public accomplishes anything.

weemadarthur · May 17, 2022

Cosmic Bus said:
Last night an old guy in a motorized wheelchair pulled up next to me, asked where the frosted sugar cookies were, and I told him that we didn't make them anymore and only had these frosted cinnamon ones now. He responded by very loudly going "BOOOOOO. BooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" sticking his tongue out and making barfing noises, then yells "put THAT in your fuckin' comment box!" and drove away.

I really hate people and I hate my life.

Write it down and put it in the comment box! Obviously line workers aren't the ones to decide what products will be dc'd, so pass the comment up the chain.

CatAssTrophy · May 17, 2022

Last-minute, unreasonable orders are the worst.

When I worked at one of those cookie places at a mall we had people do that. A lot of them would give away the fact they were just looking to take advantage of us, because they'd try to convince us to give them free/discounted cookies for their inconvenience. It was sad.

Not as bad as people waiting until we'd already retrieved and bagged their orders before BLOWING UP over the prices. It's like they were blind to all the little price signs next to each row of cookies up until we rang them up. Yeah.... they're expensive... should we just randomly yell that out loud so everyone knows?

Nigel Tufnel · May 17, 2022

WhiteRabbitEXE said:
My favorite time I got that was when someone insisted there *had* to be someone else above me in the building (not just in general, but someone in the building *right this very moment*) to complain to. "I worked retail before, there's always someone higher!"

Lady, we don't have an infinite chain of command, I don't know where the fuck you worked.

A place where she was never in charge amirite

Atlas_XIX · May 17, 2022

The real story is that it took more than a week for you to meet a rude customer.

Kosmosnauta · May 17, 2022

HammerOfThor said:
I'll be honest, because of my time as a caddy it's probably why I tip larger than normal

Its the reason I never order anything if I can tip accordingly as well. I know what it feels like to be on the other end of that...

AIan · May 17, 2022

The worst are the customers that have a massive inflated ego. Like they come in expecting service fit for a king or queen, correct you for every minor detail (call me DOCTOR Anne, please, not Mary Anne) and have that stare dead in your eyes like they're sucking your life force

Cipherr · May 17, 2022

Cosmic Bus said:
Last night an old guy in a motorized wheelchair pulled up next to me, asked where the frosted sugar cookies were, and I told him that we didn't make them anymore and only had these frosted cinnamon ones now. He responded by very loudly going "BOOOOOO. BooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" sticking his tongue out and making barfing noises, then yells "put THAT in your fuckin' comment box!" and drove away.

I really hate people and I hate my life.

Geez.. Thats pretty much acting like a child. I don't understand how someone could not be embarrassed with themselves for doing that in public.

RecLib · May 17, 2022

WhiteRabbitEXE said:
It's a nice idea, but no, we wouldn't. Those same people would still be assholes, only they'd preface everything with "I used to work retail, so: ____" and justify everything with "I had to deal with it, so you can too".

Not to mention, imagine how absolutely terrible corporations could get away with treating workers who were legally mandated to work retail for 2 years. Its bad enough as it is.

Leafshield · May 17, 2022

HeySeuss said:
I don't disagree with any of this. Working a restaurant job and selling cars really gave me the communication skills and patience to be successful in future endeavors. I do think people would be more empathetic to others if everyone worked some sort of retail

I worked retail for years, it definitely gave me an appreciation for staff working in impossible conditions, that there's never any reason to be rude, and that asking for a list of stuff that's going to take a while to make/do/find just before they close or at rush hour is a dick move.

Like, years ago I was trading in a ton of electronics. I stopped by the shop a week before, outlined what I wanted to do and asked when would be the best time to stop by so I didn't take someone out of service for an hour at the worst possible time. It was more convenient for them as they could plan, and more convenient for me as it meant it got done by staff that weren't feeling rushed, stressed and pissed off.

balohna · May 17, 2022

Goldbob said:
I'm in the deli and they want us out at 8 or slightly after when they close, so customer comes in at 7:30 wanting a LOT of stuff and I get it with no complaints, at some point the 10 minute warning goes off so when I go to give him his ten pounds of meat and cheese he tries to hand me a list of even more stuff he started writing so he could go shop for other stuff, at this point I have ten minutes to leave and still have another customer waiting + dishes, counters, slicers and floors to clean so I politely say no I can't take a big list so close to closing and he acts like I'm being an asshole and goes off to find a manager, he either didn't find him or he didn't care because he never came back and said anything.

I am expecting to be chewed out for the extra 30 minutes I had to stay though.

I used to work in a grocery store deli in a store that closes at midnight and our policy was that we still serve customers at 11:59, even if that means pulling out stuff from the back and then cleaning again. If your policy is you CANNOT stay past 8, then I get you. The customer was wrong to be a dick about it, and honestly shouldn't have tried to get such a huge order as you're closing up, but he may have the expectation that if your department is open he can place an order. Because other stores are like that.

It was this weird contradictory thing at our store where we weren't allowed to work more than 8 hours but the closing shift was an 8 hour shift. I was always honest with my hours but they seemed to kind of hint at like... "hey, maybe finish up off the clock ;)". Which is scummy as hell.

Tavernade · May 17, 2022

I literally had a customer (who was already in the store) place a pick-up order within five minutes of close a few days ago and expected to get it before she left. We stop accepting day of pick-up orders a few hours before we close specifically to prevent this, as wheh placed they will give the next day's date (also why would you place an order while already in the store?).

You tend not to deal with nice people in retail because the competent people don't need help, and you'll never interact with them outside the registers.

Atlas_XIX said:
The real story is that it took more than a week for you to meet a rude customer.

Yeah, this.

Kill3r7 · May 17, 2022

Slayven said:
I disgree with the draft, but i would totally be down for a law that says when you turn 18 you have to do 2 years in a customer service job. I think we would have a more polite society.

Yep. Although working retail makes you realize that the world is a hopeless place.

Stath · May 17, 2022

Cosmic Bus said:
Last night an old guy in a motorized wheelchair pulled up next to me, asked where the frosted sugar cookies were, and I told him that we didn't make them anymore and only had these frosted cinnamon ones now. He responded by very loudly going "BOOOOOO. BooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" sticking his tongue out and making barfing noises, then yells "put THAT in your fuckin' comment box!" and drove away.

I really hate people and I hate my life.

Of course you shouldn't have done this, but I'm imagining you walking up to this waste and dumping those cookies all over his miserable-ass self. I'm sorry though, fuck that guy. Hopefully his chair hit a snag and he fell into dog shit or something.

Beren · May 17, 2022

Slayven said:
I disgree with the draft, but i would totally be down for a law that says when you turn 18 you have to do 2 years in a customer service job. I think we would have a more polite society.

WhiteRabbitEXE said:
It's a nice idea, but no, we wouldn't. Those same people would still be assholes, only they'd preface everything with "I used to work retail, so: ____" and justify everything with "I had to deal with it, so you can too".

I agree that everyone should work it once, but it also doesn't stop people from being assholes. One of the worst customers I ever had was a woman who dropped the "I used to work this job too, so I know that you should blah blah blah." As soon as you drop this line, you're a jerk.

Zaphod · May 17, 2022

AIan said:
The worst are the customers that have a massive inflated ego. Like they come in expecting service fit for a king or queen, correct you for every minor detail (call me DOCTOR Anne, please, not Mary Anne) and have that stare dead in your eyes like they're sucking your life force

Oh god, this gives me flashbacks to working at Barnes and Noble on the rich side of town. Those creepy stares still haunt me.

I started working in retail a couple weeks ago and I got my first rude customer today

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