Open Letter To An Obnoxious Customer

[Subnuts]

Mind if I vent a little?

To the rude customer at ShopRite who asked me "what are you, weak?" this Tuesday, I reply: No, sir, I am not weak. As a matter of fact, I have never seen you shoving 14 shopping carts across the parking lot in the middle of July, empty overloaded garbage cans, dispose of rotten diary products, replenish the milk shelves, or bag a $500 grocery order. The only thing I HAVE ever seen you do is behave in an utterly condescending manner towards total strangers who perform menial tasks on your behalf and receive no respect in return.

My parents taught me to say "please" and "thank you" when required and as often as possible, to never point in people's faces and demand immediate assistance, to help those in need, and to respect anyone who provides any assistance for me. If I, as an employee, treated you as I you treated me this afternoon, I would have been fired long ago. If you feel like you have the right to treat supermarket employees as second-class citizens, don't be surprised if your next victim doesn't just walk off in the middle of bagging your order.

[Oberon]

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/8452/retailsaleszombiesarmym.jpg

[CaptainHaplo]

Some people are arses - don't let it get to ya man!

I respect you - want to know why? In a society where there is a safety net that many times makes it more profitable to sit on your a$$ - you go to work every day doing a job that usually pays crappy, makes you deal with sorry excuses for people, and works you hard. Instead of sitting around waiting on a welfare check - your busting your hump.

If that kind of character isn't worth respect - then what is?

Salute! :salute:

[Flopper]

Ever bag groceries for tips, and after hauling the old lady's cart out and putting all the bags in her Cadillac, she says, "Do you like oreos?" And then hands you a coupon for 20 cents off of oreos?

[OneToughHerring]

Hostility in the work place, you ought to complain to some official source. That's why there are things like trade unions etc.

[Reece]

You get that type all the time, just yawn in their face or smile at them, but what ever don't let them get to you, just do your job the best you can!:yep:

[Chad]

CaptainHaplo, well said sir :yeah: Totally second that opinion.

[TLAM Strike]

I know how you feel. :yep:

I work in food service. :(

One day I got really mad at a customer who called back to complain, he yelled at me for about five minutes before I snapped and yelled something like "well maybe we are having a really cr*ppy day here today and if you would shut up for a minute I would find a way to fix your order!" then I hung up.

My co-workers were all shocked, they had never seen me yell at someone before. In fact I'm quietest one there and always say "please", "thank you" and "have a nice day".

[krashkart]

Ah, reminds me of the days of pizza delivery. Took an online order out one night only to have it thrown back in my face by the customer. Turns out the order was a re-make and over an hour late, and she had every right to be angry with us. But having the order thrown back at me was too much. I didn't say anything. I just got back in my truck and drove off a couple miles into the country, then took a ten minute Hephaestus break. Boy was I ticked! :rotfl2:

[TLAM Strike]

Ah, reminds me of the days of pizza delivery. Took an online order out one night only to have it thrown back in my face by the customer. Turns out the order was a re-make and over an hour late, and she had every right to be angry with us. But having the order thrown back at me was too much. I didn't say anything. I just got back in my truck and drove off a couple miles into the country, then took a ten minute Hephaestus break. Boy was I ticked! :rotfl2:

Hephaestus... is that like a slang term for something? Google didn't spit anything out of interest... :hmmm:

If only our drivers would take 10 minute breaks...

Yea we had a guy who vanished after taking a delivery for about an hour, he came back and said he couldn't find the house and decided to eat the pizza. :damn:

We had another guy who to try and secure orders from potential customers would give away the food that was for other customers. Of course this guy couldn't take a pizza out of an oven to save his life. :x

[krashkart]

Yea we had a guy who vanished after taking a delivery for about an hour, he came back and said he couldn't find the house and decided to eat the pizza. :damn:

We had another guy who to try and secure orders from potential customers would give away the food that was for other customers. Of course this guy couldn't take a pizza out of an oven to save his life. :x


Greek god of Fire. Here's what Wikipedia has on him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephaestus


I was referring to the fire and volcano aspects. Temper? Who, meee? :D


Luckily we didn't seem to have any bad drivers when I worked at that place. We did have a shift manager that was caught skimming off store profits, though. He was fired in a heartbeat.

[TLAM Strike]

Greek god of Fire. Here's what Wikipedia has on him:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hephaestus


I was referring to the fire and volcano aspects. Temper? Who, meee? :D

OK I knew about the Greek God, I figured it was slang for a green leafy plant common in pizza shops... you know... uhh... "oregano"... :03:

[krashkart]

Ah okay, now I see why Google didn't come up with anything. :har:

[Zachstar]

Mind if I vent a little?

To the rude customer at ShopRite who asked me "what are you, weak?" this Tuesday, I reply: No, sir, I am not weak. As a matter of fact, I have never seen you shoving 14 shopping carts across the parking lot in the middle of July, empty overloaded garbage cans, dispose of rotten diary products, replenish the milk shelves, or bag a $500 grocery order. The only thing I HAVE ever seen you do is behave in an utterly condescending manner towards total strangers who perform menial tasks on your behalf and receive no respect in return.

My parents taught me to say "please" and "thank you" when required and as often as possible, to never point in people's faces and demand immediate assistance, to help those in need, and to respect anyone who provides any assistance for me. If I, as an employee, treated you as I you treated me this afternoon, I would have been fired long ago. If you feel like you have the right to treat supermarket employees as second-class citizens, don't be surprised if your next victim doesn't just walk off in the middle of bagging your order.

You are a courtesy clerk as well? I am one at a Krogers around here. Union?

I have had lots of people talk crap like that. Sadly they enjoy the fact that it only takes one idiot to ruin a great day.

If I remember right HQ has a policy that says that customers that harass, use discriminatory remarks towards employees and other actions that truly ruin the family nature of the store get asked to leave. I could be wrong but that is what I remember being told after a customer got asked to leave for being racist towards a cashier.

Abusing employees isn't funny. most are paid under 10USD in grocery situations and its hard backbreaking work. I would like to see some of these fat lazy pigs that abuse workers try to push 7 10 cart rows inside in less than 30 mins.

[Zachstar]

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/8452/retailsaleszombiesarmym.jpg

Battle of Yonkers, Great Panic of World War Z

[Feuer Frei!]

I manage restaurants, have done so for many years, and i've had it happen where customers have been rude to my staff, in various forms, from downright rude and obnoxious to the disgusting sexual remarks...
My staff are always aware that i will support them 100% and that if they feel uncomfortable around a customer to let me know, and for me to have a little chat with customer.
I have in the past kicked customers out for abusing my staff.
I won't tolerate it.
I think some people think that if you are in the service industry, you have a big sign on your forehead, saying: Abuse me as you like.
Not on my watch!

[Zachstar]

I manage restaurants, have done so for many years, and i've had it happen where customers have been rude to my staff, in various forms, from downright rude and obnoxious to the disgusting sexual remarks...
My staff are always aware that i will support them 100% and that if they feel uncomfortable around a customer to let me know, and for me to have a little chat with customer.
I have in the past kicked customers out for abusing my staff.
I won't tolerate it.
I think some people think that if you are in the service industry, you have a big sign on your forehead, saying: Abuse me as you like.
Not on my watch!

Sadly for many people the sign is huge and backed up by insane policies such as "Any complaint of rudeness and you are fired"

Thank you for standing up for your staff. It makes a HUGE difference between working for a company that will stand up for common decency as opposed to a company that exploits workers for everything.

[Feuer Frei!]

Sadly for many people the sign is huge and backed up by insane policies such as "Any complaint of rudeness and you are fired"

Thank you for standing up for your staff. It makes a HUGE difference between working for a company that will stand up for common decency as opposed to a company that exploits workers for everything.
I value my staff, a manager is only as good as his/her staff. But yes, i support them and look after them and respect them, treat them like family!
Indeed, the stupid old quote of "The customer is always right" certainly diminishes really quickly when customers have a notion that it is ok to abuse staff, in whatever way shape or form.
I think if you've been in the "game" for as long as i have, you quickly find out and filter out the rubbish complaints and b***s*** that customers "try on" with businesses, moreso staff.
Heck, i've had habitual complainers come in to try it on with me, complaining about everything and anything to gain a free meal. Pathetic.
Show us staff some respect, just because you are paying for a product, doesn't mean that you can abuse and degrade us!
You see some customers come through the door and immediately can summise the situation from their body language that this is going to be a tough challenge.
Seriously, some people should have stayed at home sometimes, with their attitudes and degrading comments and actions.
Makes you wonder what they are like everywhere else.

[Castout]

Some people irregardless of their profession or how much money they're making or how long their educational credentials are, are just plain jerks.

Jerks are ought to be extinct don't let em pass on their bad genes. :shifty:

[HunterICX]

Ah yes, nothing can screw up your day then a flat out rude annoying customer...:nope:

HunterICX

[Jimbuna]

Some people are arses - don't let it get to ya man!

I respect you - want to know why? In a society where there is a safety net that many times makes it more profitable to sit on your a$$ - you go to work every day doing a job that usually pays crappy, makes you deal with sorry excuses for people, and works you hard. Instead of sitting around waiting on a welfare check - your busting your hump.

If that kind of character isn't worth respect - then what is?

Salute! :salute:

DITTO http://www.psionguild.org/forums/images/smilies/wolfsmilies/pirate.gif

[Egan]

Well, I feel everyones pain here. It only takes about 30 seconds working with the public before you realise why revolutions happen. I work in an art gallery and, let me tell you, art is what a number of our patrons have instead of a crumb of humanity.

Already today I've been shouted at by some gonk because it never occured to them that their guide book - a 1997 edition - migh actually go out of date at some point in the following 13 years. Apparently I should personally hae spent every minute of that time providing every guide book publisher on earth with a daily list of what paintings and exhibitions are going to be on because it's too much hassle for some people to phone up or look on the Internet.

I was going to write a series of articles about working in an art gallery for a friend's magazine once but we dumped the idea when it became clear people would just think I was making it all up.

[SteamWake]

Hostility in the work place, you ought to complain to some official source. That's why there are things like trade unions etc.

:haha: :har: :har: :har:

Lordy ... grow a set already.

[Feuer Frei!]

http://imagecache6.allposters.com/LRG/22/2251/N8IZD00Z.jpg

[frau kaleun]

I manage restaurants, have done so for many years, and i've had it happen where customers have been rude to my staff, in various forms, from downright rude and obnoxious to the disgusting sexual remarks...
My staff are always aware that i will support them 100% and that if they feel uncomfortable around a customer to let me know, and for me to have a little chat with customer.
I have in the past kicked customers out for abusing my staff.
I won't tolerate it.
I think some people think that if you are in the service industry, you have a big sign on your forehead, saying: Abuse me as you like.
Not on my watch!

We had a restaurant open here a few years ago that was owned by some guy who owns a whole slew of them (sorry, can't remember the names involved). But his places are apparently well-known for exceptional customer service, so much so that on one of the typical hometown news blurbs where they interviewed the guy he was asked about his "secret" for treating customers so well.

His response was that his #1 priority was not excellent customer service, but excellent treatment of his employees, since in his experience "happy, satisfied staff" = "happy, satisfied customers" 99.9% of the time. :up:

[Onkel Neal]

Some people are arses -

Most people are arses. Just pop into the SH5 forum for a reminder.

[AVGWarhawk]

His response was that his #1 priority was not excellent customer service, but excellent treatment of his employees, since in his experience "happy, satisfied staff" = "happy, satisfied customers" 99.9% of the time. :up:

I would agree with this logic.

[frau kaleun]

Ever bag groceries for tips, and after hauling the old lady's cart out and putting all the bags in her Cadillac, she says, "Do you like oreos?" And then hands you a coupon for 20 cents off of oreos?

This reminds me of the time an older but still very attractive and... er... active, shall we say, lady was out at her local supermarket picking up groceries. She'd noticed a very handsome young man working there, and also couldn't help but notice how he always returned her smile with one of his own and how helpful he was when she needed to find a particular item or couldn't reach one that was on the top shelf of an aisle.

Having crammed as many items as possible into a shopping basket instead of the usual cart, she claimed at the checkout to be surprised at how many bags she would have to carry and asked if "that nice young man over there" would be able to help get them to her car. Sure enough, he was called over and graciously agreed to lend a hand.

Once they were outside and had exchanged a few harmless pleasantries, she realized the time had come to let her knight in shining armor know that she was feeling a little frisky.

"Young man," she said, leaning towards him in a conspiratorial fashion and seductively rubbing his arm with her shoulder, "I think you should know that I have an itchy coochie."

"You'll have to point it out, then," he answered. "All those foreign cars look the same to me."

[AVGWarhawk]

Frau :har::har: That is good!

[Sailor Steve]

Most people are arses. Just pop into the SH5 forum for a reminder.
HEY! I resemble that remark!:D

[Jimbuna]

Most people are arses. Just pop into the SH5 forum for a reminder.

LMA (no pun intended) O :D

[Bubblehead Nuke]

Retail can be SOOO much fun. I *LOVE* to take a pissed off customer and kill them with kindness. Of course, if that does not work sometime befuddling them works just as well.

Once, when I was the manager of a well known automove repair establishment, I had a gentleman TEAR into me that we were ripping him off because he was a black man. I looked at him square in the eye and asked if he was. Dumbfounded. he looked at me, held out a hand and said "Can't you SEE". I just answered him deadpan with 'I'm sorry sir, I am black/white colorblind. I did not know you were black".

All of the sudden he was EMBARRASSED. He apologized for his actions and we went on to resolve the issue to his (and my) satisfaction.

The LOOKS I had from the other customers and my employees. I remember them to this day. I still wonder if they were amazed I tried it, or that I pulled it off. Nobody called bull or anything. They just sat/stood there and watched in silence.

I had some very good teachers.

[krashkart]

:sign_yeah:

That takes the cake. :up:

[TLAM Strike]

Most people are arses. Just pop into the SH5 forum for a reminder.

"How many @$$holes we got on this ship anyhow?"

>YO!

"I knew it! I'm surrounded by @$$holes... keep firing @$$holes!!"

[ZombieKillerPeter]

I work retail as well (movie rental store :nope:), and I sympathize with your plight, brother.

[krashkart]

I work retail as well (movie rental store :nope:), and I sympathize with your plight, brother.

Welcome aboard, ZKP! :salute:

[Feuer Frei!]

You'll find that a lot of customers who go on rants (unjustified ones), are looking for a reaction, attention-seeking, insecure, lack of authority-type of figures, who will spark up, sometimes for no reason at all, almost to the point of schizo.
I had a customer years ago, who out of the blue started sparking up about something i can't remember what about, up until that moment he was very pleasant and polite, but something got his goat up and he just went all psycho.
He asked for the manager, who conveniently happened to be me and i listened to his gripe, comiserated with him (empathetic, eye contact, not interjecting, acknowledging what he was saying, all the stuff you are supposed to do when someone complains), i "filtered" out all the b***s*** and thought to myself: Is it really worth the trouble to put my foot down and recede to his unjustified rants.
I receded, asked him what i could for him, can't remember what he asked for but after that he calmed right down and went about being a pleasant customer again!
He had an audience, he was sitting with 15 other guests on his table, and half the restaurant heard him. A few of his dining party actually apologised to me during toilet breaks, seemingly very embarrassed. One actually commented that he seems to do this "quiet regularly". Oh really, i said.
In the case of our wonderful service industry, where we have customer contact day in, day out, sometimes we find that it is better to give in, so to speak and be flexible in our conflict resolution.
Within reason of course.
One thing i have learnt out of all of this is that, no matter how much of an a** h*** a person is to me, i smile, i nod, am polite back, never ever lose my cool (i'm very proud of that fact) and know that i at least wasn't a prat like that person was and have no guilt trip afterwards.
I must also say that i do give credit to customers who actually have the courage and politeness and good upbringing to apologise afterwards, which i have happened on numerous occasions as well, so congrats to those types of customers.
One more thing, this is important for all of us in the service industry, where you have direct customer contact:
Never ever forget that we are all human beings, you, as well as the customer.
The customer may have had or is having a bad day, from the downright tragic bad (family member lost, lost job, etc etc) to just having got up out of bed the wrong side type of bad day.
We have to be empathetic and caring, we have to be psychologists, counselors and best friends all at the same time, as soon as the customer walks through your doors, we should be able to sum up that person, and gauge what sort of person that will be to deal with, using the true and tested old tools of the trade, body language, facial expressions, eyes, dress, etc etc.
We need to be able to instantly come to a decision as to how we will deal with this person, professionally, efficient, "get in, get out" type of service, or do we need to give them the "full" service, have a chat, how's the wife type of conversation and then the sales spiel....if you get my drift.
I am not taking sides here, but we must above all give great service, and with a smile, for if we do not, is it sometimes any wonder that a customer does complain?
Do we really know sometimes why a customer complains? Do we? We assume that he/she is because well, they are a prat or because they're "probably always like that".

[Jimbuna]

Retail can be SOOO much fun. I *LOVE* to take a pissed off customer and kill them with kindness. Of course, if that does not work sometime befuddling them works just as well.

Once, when I was the manager of a well known automove repair establishment, I had a gentleman TEAR into me that we were ripping him off because he was a black man. I looked at him square in the eye and asked if he was. Dumbfounded. he looked at me, held out a hand and said "Can't you SEE". I just answered him deadpan with 'I'm sorry sir, I am black/white colorblind. I did not know you were black".

All of the sudden he was EMBARRASSED. He apologized for his actions and we went on to resolve the issue to his (and my) satisfaction.

The LOOKS I had from the other customers and my employees. I remember them to this day. I still wonder if they were amazed I tried it, or that I pulled it off. Nobody called bull or anything. They just sat/stood there and watched in silence.

I had some very good teachers.

Now that I would have loved to have witnessed :DL:yeah:

[HunterICX]

Since I work in the Bike Rental, you sometimes get these complete utter morons.

like this kid with his father to rent a moped

Me: You driven on a moped before?
He(the kid): Yes, I own one of those 50cc bike with gears

his father guaranteed he drives well...

so after the paperwork was done I send him off with everything explained.

I turn around and head back to my desk and before I'm there I hear him going off with a noise that is so familiar...the noise of a vehicle out of control...Kablang!

turn around and yep, there he lies on the ground...
so I head towards him to make sure he's ok....before I ge there he's up his feet and has the moped held by the steer with the engine is still runing...so I ask what just happend and then he was about to explain something then he yanked open the throttle again while standing NEXT to the moped.:damn:
after a 5 - 10 second him struggling with the moped doing all kinds of weird movements bike goes noes up and then falls sidewards with him on top of it...Game Over! :damn: engine suddently has a change of sound

He had a little scratch on the leg, nothing serious.
the moped however had a nice crack in his crankhouse :dead:

best part was the idiot tried to get his way out of blame by saying the brakes wheren't ok...:stare: even he father stepped in..you know the drill...it wasn't my son...it was that thing.

I don't think so...our vehicles are well maintained besides he didn't even use them...he just yanked open the throttle with 0% thought and flew off ..... the dipsh!t just didn't know how to handle a moped.

so for his 1 minute of loonyness he had to pay up 150€ for the replacement of the Crankhouse (he was lucky as the crankhouse are 2 parts and he broke the smaller one of the 2)

HunterICX

[Feuer Frei!]

I work in the Bike Rental, you sometimes get these complete utter morons.

They must be everywhere! I get them too! :O:

[UnderseaLcpl]

I have nothing but respect for people who work in the service industry or in retail; I've been there before, many times. I once had a customer at Home Depot yelling at me because our 2x4s were not 2 inches by 4 inches (In case any of you don't know, planed lumber is measured by its rough-cut dimensions, and then they take about a quarter-inch off each face to make it smooth and uniform). I think there's a dignity that comes with being a courteous and professional employee, especially in service.

On the other end of the spectrum you have my current employer, BNSF Railways Inc, "Where the customer is always a hostage":nope: We abuse our customers on a regular basis because we're a subsidized, unionized, lazy monopoly. I've seen facilities have to temporarily shut down production and send workers home because we delivered late and then had the gall to charge them a storage fee for having their car sit in our yard.

Yeah, it's a travesty, but what're they gonna do? Move the factory? Build their own railroad? That's the attitude our management and many of our employees have. It disgusts me, but I can't turn down the ridiculous pay and benefits, so I just try to do my best and treat our customers with respect. Where possible, I'll shuffle cars for them for free (by not recording the moves) or bad-order (report as defective) cars we delivered so they can get a discount, even if I have to break the things myself. It's about the only job satisfaction I get.

Hopefully, things will change now that we've been accquired by Berkshire-Hathaway. Warren Buffet is a pretty shrewd guy and he's looking to make BNSF turn a better profit. Whether he can overcome the union and the FRA remains to be seen.

A :salute: to all the customer-service professionals who work hard to make all our lives a little better every day.

[STEED]

Shopping is a pain in the ass at best of times but when you encounter some shoppers there behavior is so damn odd, I do wonder if there is a full moon out.

[Subnuts]

I'd like to thank everyone who's given me encouragement and support these last two days. I talked to my Human Resources manager where I work who told me that I'm a great worker and everyone who works there appreciates what I do there.

I try to remember that 99% of the human race is basically good - if only the other 1% didn't justify the existence of shallow ditches and machine guns. I've been accused of being lazy, slow, weak, and racist by other customers, and even had a guy report me to the manager for not putting his bread in a paper bag a week after my father died, and damned if I've ever seen any of these folks hold a door open for a woman. Certainly never seen flies swarming around them after shoving carriages for four hours in the middle of August, or seen them clean up after an incontinent granny who couldn't hold it in in aisle 18.

OTOH, I am due for a raise within the next month, and I just got my "I am exceptional" pin...so maybe I'll get the last laugh.

[krashkart]

^^ All goes to show that hard work pays off. Congratulations on your raise and your pin. :up:

[Jimbuna]

I'd like to thank everyone who's given me encouragement and support these last two days. I talked to my Human Resources manager where I work who told me that I'm a great worker and everyone who works there appreciates what I do there.

I try to remember that 99% of the human race is basically good - if only the other 1% didn't justify the existence of shallow ditches and machine guns. I've been accused of being lazy, slow, weak, and racist by other customers, and even had a guy report me to the manager for not putting his bread in a paper bag a week after my father died, and damned if I've ever seen any of these folks hold a door open for a woman. Certainly never seen flies swarming around them after shoving carriages for four hours in the middle of August, or seen them clean up after an incontinent granny who couldn't hold it in in aisle 18.

OTOH, I am due for a raise within the next month, and I just got my "I am exceptional" pin...so maybe I'll get the last laugh.

Good for you....and I'm sure it's well deserved :yeah:

[Subnuts]

I know this thread is dead, but I felt like providing an update.

I saw my "friend" in the store today, although I was out pushing carriages at the time. I saw him getting his groceries bagged through the front windows, I could tell even from his gesturing and overall body language that he was being an ungrateful, contemptible *******. I talked to the bagger after I'd punched out an he said that, yes, he's always been like that, although he wasn't as big an ass to him as he was to me.

The funny part? I got the guy's license plate number as he was pushing his carriage out the car. So if anyone is driving along and happens to drive past Connecticut license plate 334-HBX, feel free to give him a one-fingered salute on my behalf. :rotfl2:

[UnderseaLcpl]

So if anyone is driving along and happens to drive past 334-HBX, feel free to give him a one-fingered salute on my behalf. :rotfl2:

Make that two one-fingered salutes and be sure to shout "THIS ONE'S ALL THE WAY FROM AMERICA, MOTHER______ER!" after the second one:arrgh!:

[Jimbuna]

LMAO :rotfl2:

[Reece]

Of course the chances are remote, but the thought is there!!:yep:
"What turns around comes around", He'll get his eventually!:03: