..to have complained about the cashier at sainsbury's this afternoon...?

we all have a bad day - and i usually think that but there for the grace of god go i.

i hope i have the grace to give people a little leeway before i try and get them sacked and ruin their lives.

I'd have complained too.
Bad customer service is one of my very few pet hates.
Shes paid to do a job and part of that is to serve customers and offer good service. That is not so therefore she isnt doing her job IMO. Not only that, alot of it is basic good manners.

We bought a carpet last week and Iif it wasnt for dh I really would have walked out and not bothered purely because the staff were all so miserable and were not friendly at all.

In one of our local supermarket one of the check out women was a down right rude cow.
I complained about her on several occasions, and in the end she was sacked for pushing someone's child, (not mine or I would have belted her).
She really had no social skills no inter personal skills and one of the other women that worked there said she was given the job as they had to employ a token "ming mong ". Not a nice thing to say at all, but even her work mates hated her, she really was in the wrong job as she really seemed to think it was putting her out if you used her till.

Message withdrawn

It's the naming of names that gets me. Complain about service by all means, but when you write in you can easily do so without getting specific - don't give the time, day or counter it happenend on for instance.

If the assistant had actually done or said something downright rude, fair enough, but I think to name names over someone merely turning their back is OTT.

I stand by my last message "I am not saying one customer complaint always equals the sack, but it could have been the excuse they were looking for" Even if this assistant had been rude to customers before and was on a warning, this was not the occasion to get her into more trouble IMO.

Think americantrish is getting a hard time from some people... The AIBU threads are not really all that serious, and to ridicule her for mentioning something that happened to her in the day that she felt was a bit unreasonable (surely the whole point of these threads) is a bit harsh.

I think you did exactly the right thing. I don;t think we complain enough in this country! However I also don;t think we tell managers etc when they have a good member of staff on their team enough either (something I usually do do by the way!)

Quite frankly I really don;t care what kind of day she might have had - I've had really shitty days when I've had to put a smile on my face and deal with some really rude and aggressive clients, tough shit, deal with it.

'I am not saying one customer complaint always equals the sack, but it could have been the excuse they were looking for.' What like she was regularly rude to customers!!!!!

Lol Handle

You were there Americantrish - you had the interaction with her, observed her body language, etc. You felt she was rude - so she probably was. Good on you for complaining.

I complained once at Sainsbury's when I went to the fish counter and there was nobody there. A member of staff nearby went through the plastic partition to find the chap who was meant to be serving and I heard her say "There's a customer needs serving"

His reply was "Tell 'er to sling 'er hook. I'm off 'ome"

Hmmm, have been pondering this while in the bath! As a customer you have the right to complain, 'hello thankyou goodbye' is supposed to be standard sainsburys! However, having been on the receiving end of some horrid customers I have barely been able to compose myself for the next hour, go through the protocol and turn my back to start blubbing at what some awful customer said to me 20 minutes ago! Cashiers do not get the chance to take ten minutes to compose themselves after a verbal attack (or worse), especially with the ever more profit driven policies which mean that staff are overstretched meaning that there is no one to relieve you if you need a breather!
IME, I am not a supervisor but I have been expected to carry out a supervisors job, while simultaneously running to get products for customers at tills, answer telephones, run 'self scan' (don't ask!) and man the customer service desk. Up until I left on maternity leave (8 months pg). These companies are appallingly bad to work for in all respects if my experience is anything to go by!
Oh, and IME 'ringing in sick' is an awful experience! You get treated like a liar over the phone, and when you drag yourself in (still ill but able to maintain an upright position and therefore able to earn your pittance again!) you get threatened with a verbal warning if you do it again and you definitely don't get paid!
I hate my job, can you tell?!
So, in conclusion, there was probably more to it than just poor customer service!

AmericanTrish write: " luckily, i've not ever found insincere gratefulness in the UK. yet. ;) "

Oh but I bet you have....if you've eaten in restaurants and complained about service you may have experienced a sputum special (grim but true!)

Well tigermouth if they were looking for an excuse to sack a rude person it can not have been the first time that the person did their job badly .

I don't want to overplay the differences Americantrish - as I said in an earlier post.

DH is American (has lived here for 12 years though) so I have a little bit of insight into some of the differences, but also into the many similarities of culture which many people with an Anti-American agenda like to ignore...

reflects

Why do you say you don't think your complaint cost this person her job? Did the manager say this and do you believe him?

I am not saying one customer complaint always equals the sack, but it could have been the excuse they were looking for.

If you feel this strongly about customer service, how about writing a general letter to the branch, outlining your complaint but naming no names?

i work in a supermarket and have worked in retail for years. it's true that manners don't cost anything but it's sadly also true that not many people remember theirs. there are so many customers who don't that tbh, i also say thank you a little loudly

you are right in complaining to the csm, this type of attitude relects really badly on the company - i would be really embarrassed if i were stood next to her on the till.

Us British - we never complain face to face - instead we write letters or bitch and moan to folk who can't do a damn thing about it.

Some people think this unchallenging behaviour is a sign of great fortitude. Personally I think that it is cowardly and is WHY things don't change.

I probably would not have complained to the shop because that would have required effort and I am British about these things , but I don't think Americantrish did ANYTHING wrong.

I think it's hilarious that not only did you complain about it but came home and made a thread on the internet about it. Says it all, really.