I don't understand some people...

[Shwa Girl]

Some people are just horrible.

The longer I work at my job the easier I can say no, and hold my ground. This comes in handy with jerks.

This is where the management should be giving more training to employees. Supervisors should support their cashiers better too. The cashiers should be debriefed when dealing with difficult customers too. They seem to leave the cashiers to fend for themselves, which is wrong.

[aurora04]

I'm sorry you have to deal with such poor customers! I had worked in retail for years and I agree with other posters that said that everyone should have to work in customer service for a short time. LOL. I have seen my share of fun customers! I worked in a store that had a strict policy that we could only accept credit cards from the credit card holder. We had to compare signatures and if we were caught otherwise, we would get in a lot of trouble. Anyway, I had a customer come in with his mother's credit card and I politely said that I couldn't accept the card as I needed his mother's signature on the slip. He threw a fit yelling and screaming and demanding to see my manager. Both my manager and assistant manager came out and told him the same thing. It was company policy and the credit card company does not have to honour the payment with a signature on the slip that is not on card/account. He still yelled, screamed cursed, etc... then stormed out of our store and went to the store across from us. My manager called them and told them (as well as security), and when he tried to pay with his mother's card, they denied him and he was very nice to them. When he left their store security was waiting to escort him from the mall and it was explained to him that he is not allowed to treat mall staff that way.

[xox2010]

xox2010, I'm suprised you aren't liquidating! I thought they all were out east already.

No, we aren't closing until next March! Most of the stores in my city aren't closing until next year

[CheriBomb]

Some people just suck and unfortunately there is no cure. Well, nothing legal anyway LOL My Granny (who had SUCH a way with words) always said that "trying to understand people is like trying pick up a turd on the clean end"

[VeeVee]

I agree with C Mcarthur that 90% of shoppers leave there brains at home lol
When I worked retails years ago..I had one woman insult me and call me stupid bc she didn't understand that she couldn't use another stores gift card in my store ( 2 different stores not even owned by the same company haha) She kept saying but your in the same mall! and I kept telling her yes but this is not a mall gc so you can't use it anywhere else but that particular store and I am not that store (it was across the hall), and she says but I don't like that store I like this one..well to bad what am I supposed to do lol

[marstec]

The only thing you can do is stay calm and carry on, like the famous poster - you show a lot more maturity than that customer. Try not to internalize it...it's only a job, it's not worth a toll on your personal/mental health.

I remember working years ago and this young cashier was up to the coffee room in tears because of a nasty incident with a customer. The woman had called her stupid and other insults...this cashier was fairly new...what an introduction for her into the retail world.

Frankly, what I would have done was called the supervisor, they get paid to deal with this crap, not you. Don't put up with any customers who do this...it's just like a petulant child, if you give into them, it reinforces their negative behaviour.

[Chantel]

This is where the management should be giving more training to employees. Supervisors should support their cashiers better too. The cashiers should be debriefed when dealing with difficult customers too. They seem to leave the cashiers to fend for themselves, which is wrong.

I do have a pretty good support system, my supervisors and CSMs will back me up if I need them to. I'm lucky, my workplace is very much like family in that way, we stick up for each other. I've never worked retail before this job so it's taken some getting used to.

I'm just really nervous about confrontation. People are friggin crazy. I've had a woman half-throw something at me because I told her no once.

Now I'm so much more comfortable, if somebody is going to give me 'tude, I know I can call on pretty much anybody and they'll help me out.

[RebeccaRYoung]

I have mixed feelings about this. I've found that in a lot of situations it's the cashier that deals with the complaints because they are the only person in the store that the customer talks to. It's the same with waitresses. They are the person that the customer sees, so they are the ones that hear the complaints. The waiter/waitress can't control how fast the food is cooked, but they are the ones that hear the complaints.

I wish that people could work in other jobs too. I'm a teacher and all I hear about is complaints about teachers. It's the same for people in many different careers. How many times have people complained about banks, insurance, doctors, etc. Some people are just rude and can't seem to treat others the way they want to be treated. I think the real lesson from all of this is that we should follow the golden rule.

[Shwa Girl]

I'm just really nervous about confrontation. People are friggin crazy. I've had a woman half-throw something at me because I told her no once.

If a customer throws an item at an employee, this is assault (or attempted assault). The store manager can ban this person from the store. I have seen it happen. If they try to return to the store, the store manager can call the police, to escort the customer from the store.

No employee should be assaulted or threatened.

[macw1960]

I think it should be mandatory for EVERYONE to be a retail worker for a week and a server in a restaurant for week before they allowed in the real world. Both can be gratifying jobs when you have great customers but Jeesh I see some wing nuts out there and I am just a customer not an employee.

Sorry you had such a crappy day

+1

[AlyssaDarling]

We have people slam stuff on the counter, throw it at us, one customer used to come in often and when he wouldn't get his way he'd throw the change at the cashier. Unfortunately most of the times our managers are slow and/or in the middle of something and don't call us back in time.
I was starting my shift in electronics once and there was a gentlemen who was waiting for 10 min to speak to a manager about something. he waited 10min before I got there ad then another 10min once I was there. He finally asked me (quite politely actually) if knocking down a display would make her get there faster. I said probably not but I would have to call security. so he knocked it down and said, "ok, please call security. I just want to talk to someone." I called them and my manager again and he waited another 10 minutes. Then he apologized for making a mess for me to clean up and left. 2 min later our security guys came and my manager. The security guys went out after him, and my manager said "sorry I was on the phone with someone."
they rarely have calls from customers, usually the calls are from other managers, district manager, head office, etc. so you would think she would be able to say to the person on the phone "sorry, I have to call you back. There's an irate customer who would like to speak to me."

[nessa23]

She also has an evil psychotic axe murder stare that makes me want to run to my mommy! lol

that made me chuckle. But she sounds like she might be slightly un-stable....

The longer I work at my job the easier I can say no, and hold my ground. This comes in handy with jerks.
Also, some people just don't have enough brain cells to process that a 2x5 box of space is where you spend 4-8 hours of your day. You don't know crap beyond what goes on within 10 feet of that box.
People are horrible and rude. End of story. They also think that being horrid will get them their way.

yup. sad to say, but your right. Most people cannot even fathom having to be a cashier and deal with ALL kinds of people.

LOL My Granny (who had SUCH a way with words) always said that "trying to understand people is like trying pick up a turd on the clean end"

hahahaha that also made me laugh!!

I have mixed feelings about this. I've found that in a lot of situations it's the cashier that deals with the complaints because they are the only person in the store that the customer talks to. It's the same with waitresses. They are the person that the customer sees, so they are the ones that hear the complaints. The waiter/waitress can't control how fast the food is cooked, but they are the ones that hear the complaints.

I wish that people could work in other jobs too. I'm a teacher and all I hear about is complaints about teachers. It's the same for people in many different careers. How many times have people complained about banks, insurance, doctors, etc. Some people are just rude and can't seem to treat others the way they want to be treated. I think the real lesson from all of this is that we should follow the golden rule.

Agreed on the first note. Unfortunately, yes, in a lot of cases, they are the only ones you are able to address issues with. However, I don't feel that needs to be done in any sort of rude or angry way. I find being nice allows the cashier to (quickly) help you, or call someone to help you. I've never really had a bad/negative response when I'm being nice! (and I ALWAYS say 'Thank you!!')

Yes, if only everyone knew what each and every job involved. It might be a better world if we all understood a little better.
In regards to teachers - with everything else, there are good teachers and bad teachers, but we should be especially nice to them! They have an EXTREMELY difficult job (IMO) and we should appreciate the fact they are teaching the next generations!
A fantasic teacher can change someone's life, and maybe that someone will change the world one day!
Where would we be without school teachers.