To want to do my job without being called a fuc@ing bitch

[Broodymomma]

I mean seriously what is wrong with some people? Today my only crime was telling people they had to wait in a queue, I get called a fuc@ing stupid bitch, a who@e and a cow all in one shift. I'm pretty tough after 10 years in this industry but I had one poor girl trying to help who is 17 years old and got called pretty much the same by people twice her age. Disgusting.

So is it unreasonable to expect to do your job without these scumbags verbally abusing you and you can't say a word back in the name of customer service! Aghhhhh

Got no tips for you I'm afraid but I know exactly how you feel. I consider it a good shift if I have only been sworn at once or twice. Some days it really gets me down. Hope you have a better day tomorrow. YANBU btw

I just think to myself -

never under estimate the stupidity of some people

helpful I suppose if a couple turn up with one passport and the husband says he can vouch for the wife as she doen't have a passport, even though they have booked a holiday to portugal but portugal is in europe - why do you need a passport to travel to europe

yes it hapened to the couple in front of us a midlands airport...

Broodymomma - not that I think you should be subjected to abuse at all but I suspect it is happening a lot more because airlines are frankly being abusive to passengers by manipulating the small print in terms and conditions.

I saw a man going balistic with a woman like you at a desk similar to yours. The reason was he was being told he had to pay £300 more for his flight on a low cost airline because he had accidnetally mispelled his wife's name on the onlne booking form.

It was obvious what had happened but they were saying he had to cancel his old ticket and buy a new one which as it was the day of the flight would cost £300 more.

He was being ripped off. He was understandably very angry and the woman behind the desk who had nothing to do with the airline obvioulsy was the brunt of his anger.

I see it increasingly in so called service industries where companies increasingly act in a cynical and manpulative way and front line staff get the brunt of customer anger while fat cat bosses sit out of sight in the back office congratulating themselves in increasing profits by misleading customers.

My advice is change job - it will only get worse.

yanbu.

im just about to go into the police and having been a gps receptionist i consider that good training for the abuse im about to get

some people really are just awful.

im consoling myself with the thought that at least in the police i can arrest them....

Broody- YADNBU!! I hate rudeness like this. Last time dp and I were travelling we saw an old couple screaming at some poor girl because of the weather grounding flights. DP said 'excuse me but you do know she doesn't control the fog don't you' the c.services rep was pissing herself laughing haha!

It's totally unaceptable , bless the new girl as well, hope she's ok

Agree with beenbeta. The other thing is that airports are more and more becoming a source of stress for people. I always try to be quite respectful of people when they are trying to do their jobs but last time I was in an airport I actually lost it with a member of security staff when I had been trying to be really helpful to them. The final straw was when they searched my DC (then only 11 months) and didn't even try to make any apology for how rough they were.

In saying that I didn't call her a bitch but I did tell her she was a stupid woman.

Yanbu! I was recently severely delayed at an airport and still had the good grace to say please and thank you to the staff there.

I used to work in a nursing home and verbal and physical abuse towards staff was almost an everyday occurance. I was once punched in the stomach whilst 7 months pregnant! And before anyone asks the person had no mental health problems, she was just in a foul mood as her breakfast was 5 minutes late!

yanbu
happens in nursing as well

YANBU.

Its shit isn't it?

I've worked for Social Services and for a Housing Trust so have been on the receiving end of some pretty bad verbal abuse too.

Do you get good support from your bosses, adequate supervision etc to help deal with this?

Sadly, I think passengers trust and politeness to staff is not returned by the airlines they work for. While security measures are clearly necessary and I wholly support them I suspect thay are also being abused by airlines to keep passenegers in line. Anyone who dares to complain can instantly be threatened with being barred from a flight.

I once was on a delayed flight at Heathrow. The airlne told passengers it was because the runway was blocked by a plane. It was true that the runway had been blocked but I knew that it had already been cleared. The real reason was because the plane the airline had scheduled for our flight had broken down but if they had admitted that then we would have been due compensation.

I overheard the manager telling one of his more junior staff to 'just keep telling the passengers the runway is blocked while we get the plane sorted out'. Passengers were very angry and some quite vociferous with staff.

Who was abusing who?

That's awful.

I work for a dentist and people are also stressed and pretty abusive sometimes, it's really hard to just take it and not tell them to eff off!!!

Jeez Marjee that is disgusting - you take the crown for worst experience at work, that is awful.

Beenbeta you are so right the older passengers can be some of the rudest.

I totally get people are stressed and trust me I know some staff can be on a pwer trip at airports. I think some of them get so sick of the abuse they just have a gaurd up with everyone now and it is so sad.

My experinces today alone were soley down to people not wanting to wait in a queue to check in and getting annoyed at another queue was moving faster than the one they were in. We tried to split a queue into 2 as they had all merged as 1 was moving faster but the space they were in meant there was no space further up for people to join the queue. I swear these people were there no more than 5 minutes and they kicked off. The poor girl behind the desk was simply changing a printer role. Some people just amaze me at their utter rudeness. I hope the 40 year old bloke with the beer belly swigging his beer in ibiza tonight is proud of the fact that he made a 17 year old break down his tears by screaming in her face when she asked him to move all of 3 foot to the left.

Oh well another day tomorrow and the joy of being back to business traffic on a monday morning - another kettle of fish!!!

Beenbeta that is disgusting and I would be ashamed if that happened where I work. The airlines are all about making money byt security is governed by the Departent of Transport and they have to follow regulations put in place by them. As for what airlines do I am afraid the airport itself do not have any say in that but it disgusts me none the less.

I am in charge of the team that assist in the check in hall and yes I do step in and usually tell passengers if they abuse the staff again I will have the removed from the airport. That is nothing to do with threatning people who dare to complain its about protecting my team. It takes alot to get me to that stage and trust me I ignore far more than I act on but we are only human too and the majority of complaints we get have nothing to do with our company.

Just adding re the security thing no way should they have searched a small baby like that without apologising to the parent and there is handhelds that can be used so baby should not have to be touched unless it activated

I am glad you said that Broodymamma. While I was going wild DH was hanging his head in shame and was saying "you have to let them do their job". At the time I was going to complain but DH talked me out of it. Now I wish I had. I am sure you are an asset to your industry.

I think everyone gets some abuse nowadays no matter what profession / industry they work in. It is the part of the culture of people thinking they are an expert in everything; can never be wrong; and expect everything to be perfect for them all the time.

One good thing about call centers is that you can MUTE the nutters!
There is no way in a hundred thousand years that I would do a customer facing role.

But don't you realise you go on holiday from manners as soon as you exit the M25 for Heathrow?

Ali you should have said something i totally agree if you are not happy with the service younger given you should say something feedback is how companies learn where they need to improve. Its just how some people choose to complain lol! Anytime I have seen a baby searched its been friendly and in a way the mother was happy and the child usually smiling away. So sorry you had that experience.

Very happy to say i don't work at heathrow lol!!!

Can you call security if they are verbally abusive? Or airport police? I am sorry but this really should not be tolerated. Air stewards call security for rowdy and aggressive passengers. I have seen this happen when on an Easyjet flight once. This group of young drunk blokes were effing and blinding and spat on a young female passenger as the plane was landing. We all then had to wait in our seats upon landing as airport security were called and escorted the troublemakers off. Very pleasing it was too, I for one had no issue with waiting for them to be removed!

Of course it's not right for people to take their problems out on you. BUT airlines drive you mad - their customer service is terrible and when things go wrong, either every member of staff disappears or they just shrug their shoulders - you are stranded with no idea how to get to your destination, when you might get there or even where you will sleep tonight.

It sounds awful, I feel for you.

I hate airports and only use them for essential business travel because as others have said, airlines increasingly treat their customers with contempt, especially if you are travelling cattle class. The whole security rigmarole with small children in tow is also such a faff that we don't bother holidaying abroad any more even though we could afford to.

Can totally sympathise. I don't work in the same industry as you, but we regularly have people screaming and swearing at us. At least it's over the phone for me, so I can hang up when they become too abusive, but it's still horrible .

I work in a housing office, so get the lot. Know how you feel. The best so far was the old guy who insisted on showing me his leg ulcer, at the main counter, and then telling me to piss offf when I said to pull his trousers back on.