Anyone work in retail? How do you handle rude customers?

[gandalf456]

Do you answer back or do you toe the company line and remain professional?

Excluding physical violence and shouting, where do you draw the line as to what is acceptable/unacceptable? Would you tell a customer that?

Does your manager support you?

Lots of questions there OP, writing an article?

no

I probably should, though....

I'm actually a rep for the staff where I work. It's something that has come up a lot during covid. I was going to raise it with the manager

Work different positions in retail for the last decade. Being shouted at by a customer doesn't bother me.
It very rarely is personal or physical.
If you work a lower position, call your manager. Is their job to deal with difficult situations.
Being a manager, listen their problem, say it to them to make sure you got everything, follow company instructions, give them a resolution.
Unacceptable only physical and shouting at my team. I will protect them. If is a difficult situation I will ask them to leave so I can calm down the customer.
Last thing would be ask for help, but I only phoned the police twice in a decade relating a customer.

Unfortunately, our manager likes us to take ownership of the situation ourselves. We do have the authority to offer something as goodwill if it's a small amount (say, under £5) and that does often calm things down. I will use it, for example, when something is BOGOFF and we only have 1 left or there is stock missing and they're annoyed so will offer alternative free or if the last box is bashed etc, etc.

His solution is to apologise - even if it is not our fault and we have followed company policy - and, the louder the customer shouts, it seems the more they get. One example was when a young customer services person encountered a very angry lady who was using self-scan and it prompted a re-scan at the till, which it does occasionally. The girl was told by the manager to apologise and offer flowers (the manager didn't come out), which were promptly thrown at the girl whereby she came off the service desk and burst into tears out the back.

This affects staff because it lowers morale, they feel undermined and unsupported and, also, it could potentially attract more customers to come in like this. My premise starts off with it not making good business sense and the customers we need to look after are our regulars who quietly do a big shop every week.

I understand why he does this as it doesn't look good when people cause a scene in a busy shop (I'm sure they do it deliberately) and he is also terrified of Twitter

I worked in bookshops for a long time. Not many rude customers, I did once say to a woman "I don't understand why you're being so rude" to which she replied "Because it really irritates me shopping here" ! I was nonplussed and silenced!

I spent 10 years in retail - finally got out earlier this year!

Do you answer back or do you toe the company line and remain professional?

I would never answer back. I was a deputy manager for a while and always did my best to remain professional, although if I ever struggled badly I would call my manager to deal with it while I went and calmed down upstairs!

Excluding physical violence and shouting, where do you draw the line as to what is acceptable/unacceptable? Would you tell a customer that?

Swearing is unacceptable to me, and I have previously told customers that I won't speak to them until they've calmed down. I've also had bad experiences with customers that have led me to refuse to deal with them again.

Does your manager support you?

Yes, I was always supported by management, but I never did anything that was against our store policies. If I had done, I imagine their reactions would have been very different!

I've been working retail for the last five years in a very small local supermarket. I have to say that I very very rarely have rude customers! Some can be a little curt, but I just let them get on with it. People returning stuff or querying stuff tend to be apologetic rather than rude.

Only had one stupendously rude customer and I was quiet with him. The quieter my voice got, the more he shouted, until other customers intervened and told him to stop shouting at me. It was a minor complaint that I acknowledged but couldn't do anything about, unfortunately.

So I guess I'm just really lucky. Management always supports us if we have a problem though.

Not retail but have done before, and have worked in various CS roles.

Answering back or being rude to customers never helps. People don't respond well to someone doing that, it would just escalate the situation.

Apologising even when you/the company is not at fault is the right thing to do. You just have to develop a thick skin in a way and keep in mind it's nothing personal - most of the time customers are rude for reasons completely unrelated to the situation anyway. Some are rude because they expect bad service if they complain and being empathetic and going out of your way to be nice and helpful can often turn the situation around.

@gandalf456

Unfortunately, our manager likes us to take ownership of the situation ourselves. We do have the authority to offer something as goodwill if it's a small amount (say, under £5) and that does often calm things down. I will use it, for example, when something is BOGOFF and we only have 1 left or there is stock missing and they're annoyed so will offer alternative free or if the last box is bashed etc, etc.

His solution is to apologise - even if it is not our fault and we have followed company policy - and, the louder the customer shouts, it seems the more they get. One example was when a young customer services person encountered a very angry lady who was using self-scan and it prompted a re-scan at the till, which it does occasionally. The girl was told by the manager to apologise and offer flowers (the manager didn't come out), which were promptly thrown at the girl whereby she came off the service desk and burst into tears out the back.

This affects staff because it lowers morale, they feel undermined and unsupported and, also, it could potentially attract more customers to come in like this. My premise starts off with it not making good business sense and the customers we need to look after are our regulars who quietly do a big shop every week.

I understand why he does this as it doesn't look good when people cause a scene in a busy shop (I'm sure they do it deliberately) and he is also terrified of Twitter

I would say yes to apologise, but not as in you have to apologise for yourself but apologies for the inconvenience. Also never ever take anything a customer says personally! They usually are not angry with you but with the situation. In the case with the young sales assistant, if it was very unexperienced I would either came out myself or sent a deputy manager, but just because the lack of experience. Also I would not give flowers for it. That is random. I would expect experience staff to be able to resolve small issues. Also yes I agree that this practice of giving free stuff to people that complain is across the industry. Seems to work the best through social media than shouting in a shop though.

Depends if they have a reason to be annoyed. If they do then I empathise with them but I won't have them swearing at me and throwing things about. If they're just a cunt then I answer back.

i'm a dept manager op

its hideous right now. i'm supporting the younger people more and more yet im not trained to offer mental health support! i'm very concerned

i was physically assaulted myself when stores all reopened and the store was at max capacity......bloke pushed me over and said tough he was coming in anyway! i was on the ground and he walked on in

my colleagues have all had irate customers sayingg things should all really be back to normal by now....they dont care about covid

some are lovely. some ask how we've coped and are shocked if they witness the standard impatience when people push past etc

i fully support the staff. i won't tolerate rudeness to myself or them and call customers on it. i ask if ive done something wrong as you are being quite rude to me? or i say ok i understand and i'm here to help but you need to calm down first as im not here to be shouted at

always works. i often reduce items,gogw etc as the genuine people shine through. people can be difficult but they get nowhere with me if they are rude i'm afraid