to think people should try being a little politer to check out staff?

[Diamondback]

Well, okay, most people are, but there's a sizeable minority of people who think that if you work in a service job (tills, waitress, etc), then you are thick scum and it's okay to take out their bad day on you.

Favourites from my time at Tesco's include:

A man losing his temper with me because I didn't look sufficiently excited that Tesco's were redesigning their uniforms;

Students impersonating me as I scan items, complete with beepy noises;

A mother from the local posh girls' school telling her daughters at my till to "work hard at your GCSEs or you'll end up working in here, like her." (I was too polite to point out that I had an A and two Bs at A Level and was just about to take my place at Leeds Uni).

These are just the funny incidents in amongst all the common and garden rudeness and weird guys leching at you (because they can't tell the difference between someone who's paid to smile and be polite and someone who actually is your friend).

So be a little patient with your checkout peeps - if they look a little surly, you might be the first nice customer after ten ignorant w*nkers!

I absoloutely agree with you. I used to work in a shop. I am always polite.

But can I just cite

the many people who don't make eye conact , nor say please or thank you in spite of my smiling and saying those things myself..

The people who gawp at DS2

The woman who made a gurning face at me ( expecting me to join in) when she was serving an adult with Downs syndrome

The woman who huffed and sneered at the customer in front of me who found, to her horror, that she didn't have enough money.

People can be shite on either side of the till

ooh Diamond

I have been out all day - were you trying to balance another thread?
If so - apologies

But as a customer, I don't really need to know that your son was a lovely baby, but is now never talks to you and refuses to get a job however much you nag him. And I don't need to hear it every week, which is why I now avoid you.

And when I politely ask when the school vouchers finish, and don't need to be told "There are signs all around you, duh" While you point and roll your eyes. I may be the 20th person to ask you today, but I asked you politely.

I agree with the OP. I think people should always try and pass the time of day with checkout staff.

I loathe people who speak on ther mobile whilst at the checkout and don't even acknowledhe the checkout op as a human being requirig please and thank you.

I have had many a cheery chat with a checkout operator. MOST of the time, they are also lovely to ds (whatever his wierd quest for knowledge today is, or even when he is hiding underneath the conveyor) -

Even when I am having a really shit day I do try and be at the very least polite to the checkout operator.

I do get annoyed, however, (usually in smaller shops ime, when they are just chatting with their friends etc, or, if they know the person in front of me and continue to talk to them, while they stand in the bag packing area and I have to work around hem and not get acknowledged

Do you Work in my sainsburys op?? It sounds just like where I live!!!
I used to work in marks and spencer and some racist idiot in the queue said I should be very glad they let my sort in the country...
One woman threw her dirty tights in my face because they had laddered too easily...

But, last time I was in sainsburys the youngish lad on the checkout didn't respond to me at all, I packed all the bags myself without him asking while he was shoving stuff through the till at lighting speed, he stared right past me the whole time, no thankyou or bye.. Grr! Saying that there's a lady on the cogs counter that I love- everytime she's sees e she shouts hey girl you okaaay in her Jamaican accent!

YANBU. Good manners are for all occasions and whichever side of the till you're on.

It's amazing how so many people who would usually think of themselves as "polite" seem to forget their manners when dealing with people they think are beneath them.

Ahh yes I'm sure I've been used as a cautionary tale myself. Yes I wish I'd tried harder at school as it happens

But hey, if I had done, I wouldn't be working in the glamourous world of retail would I?

My personal favourite from some arrogant scroat gentleman on the phone went like this:

Customer: What do you mean there are no Nintendo Wiis in stock? It's the day before Christmas Eve!

Me: Sorry sir. Some came in yesterday and all of them sold out within the hour. They were launched only few weeks back so are in high demand.

Customer: Well it's not good enough! Hope you realise you have ruined a young boy's christmas! Hope you can sleep at night!

Me: I'm gutted for you. And I sleep just fine. Merry christmas! [hangs up]

Douche.

That's not including all the usual "hurry ups! What are you paid to do?!" "Oi! You work here!" and of course "the customer is always right!/the customer is king!/the customer can do no bloody wrong!"

Ishouldprobablywax- I had a used slightly sweaty bra thrown in my face once [barf emotion] "lady" wanted a refund as it wasn't fit for purpose. Aleast I think that was what she was after.

Was hard to tell what with all the shouting swearing etc. Calling me a slag and my collegue who has a lovely Glasgow accent a Welsh tart.

I fond all this very annoying being that I have never sworn at a customer, nor have I sworn at anyone who serves me in a shop, or namecalled. I might inwardly call them every nasty name I can think of but outwardly I paste a big fake smile on my face and get on with it. Don't see why other people can't.

Oh yes, and I forgot, the lady who completely lost her rag with me because the (small) branch of Tesco's I worked in didn't sell pickling onions

I do accept that some shop staff can be vile too, but on balance (and having only worked at Tesco's for 1 of my 33 years) I've had a lot more people be rude to me when I was behind the checkout than when I've been in front of it!

But no worries, pagwatch, I was trying to balance another thread, but there's never any harm in us all being reminded we can be a bit nicer from both sides

People that continue thier mobile phone conversations while being served deserve special rudeness awards IMO.(I have worked in a supermarket)

I also worked at a catalogue store in my teens and had an Iron thrown at my head by an irate customer.

I worked in retail all through school and was horrified at someof the manners on people. I have had
people try and return dirty knickers (in a lingerie dept) saying they didn't fit,
A woman threw a bottle of OJ at me when I refused to serve her vodka at 7am on a sunday (against trading law)
A mother tell her child to tell me to fuck off when I insisted I could not sell her fags if she insisted on her pre teen asking for them (to learn manners)
I also worked on ataxi phone line where I was told I was being a 'racist motherfucking cunt' because I told a man I couldn't send a cab to 'reknowned dodgy street' and he woudl need to go to the next street over. I did point out that I couldn't tell he was black from the phone call but never mind.
But I have also been patronised and insulted while working on a government helpline for tax specialists, by numerous empoloyees of the top 5 accountants, so it's not just retail.

Nothing winds me up more than poor customer service, like other have mentioned, carrying on conversations with other people and not acknowledging me or being rude to me, it's not that hard ot be polite whiel working.

YANBU-it costs nothing to be polite. When I worked in retail and the service industries I went the extra mile for the polite, friendly customers-the rude got the bare minimum required.

i have been used as a cautionary tale because i am 40[somethingmumble] and working in a supermarket.
i have a degree love, and i had a job, but i got made redundant a few years ago. and as you can clearly see, i am pregnant, so looking for a full time post at present wouldnt be ideal for me.

no i cant open another till for you, we dont have anyone to work it. of course its my fault love, as i am clearly Mrs Sainsbury.
people throwing their money down on the belt. im not poisonous.
no im not going to help you right now, get the couple who had a go at me for not being able to serve them BY LAW before 10am on a sunday.
the woman who always demands several time that i put points on for ALL her bags. [there are 7, and if she doesnt have seven items she doubles, triples up and still wants extra points. i wish this was a joke] and then yells at me if i dont.
the guy who slammed his bottle of coke down after waiting, it exploded and he blamed me.

oh and the woman who spent the entire transaction on the phone and then hung up to demand why i hadnt asked her for her nectar card.
because you know, thats how i get my thrills, denying people 4 points.

I got loads of them too Lemonysweet.

The lady who yelled at me coz her card was declined. I don't know why, as you're already on your fucking mobile while I served you, you may as well ring the bloody bank and ask them.

The lady who wanted to exchange a pair of worn shoes her teenage son had been wearing for 4 months as the the soles had worn right down (they cost £15!) I was told to refuse so she left the old ones on the counter and took the new ones. This is actually theft. It's NOT my fault she was then arrested for shoplifting as a result...

The grumpy old sod who always tells me to hurry up. "I'm 78/86/77/89 (age changes weekly) I haven't long left! Get a bloody move on!"

"This wouldn't happen in Marks and Spencer!" Then bugger off there. If you don't like long lines, minimal staff etc in cheapo shops, vote with your feet and bugger orf!

Feel much better now I've let off some steam.

As an embattled retail worker, I heart this thread.

Pull up another soap box for me.

To the lady who harrangued me yesterday, no you weren't standing half an hour in a queue (3 minutes tops), no it wasn't my fault that it took you an hour to get into the centre of town, no it wasn't my fault that you couldn't park and, yes please do get your book from somewhere else in the future. Just because I'm standing behind a desk wearing a uniform does not give you the right to treat me to a mouthful notwithstanding what sort of bad day you might be having. I hope you feel ashamed of yourself today but I doubt it.

It cuts both ways. Out shopping for an outfit for his school prom, my 16 year old son and I went into a well known High Street shoe shop. He chose the style he wanted from the display and we walked up to the desk where we were COMPLETELY ignored. The manager or supervisor or whatever she was, was discussing work rotas with two other staff members and wasn't about to break off on account of God forbid, a customer, in an otherwise empty shop. We stood there inches from them and they continued to pore over the rotas even when I said 'excuse me' more than once - they didn't so much as look up or acknowledge my existence. The message was clear, I was to wait patiently until they were 'ready' to serve me.

In the end I just put the shoe down on the counter and said I'd go elsewhere and walked out. My son followed behind and said apart from glancing up briefly when I left, they weren't remotely bothered and just carried on discussing their rotas.

When I got home I rang their head office and they gave me the mobile number of the area manager for our region. I phoned him and asked him if they had CCTV in the shop (they had) so I told him to look at it for that morning, and it would show how in a completely empty shop, three members of staff had lost him a dead cert sale by their behaviour. When he rang back he was fuming and after apologising profusely said he would be taking 'further action.' I hope he did.

Not checkout staff, but we recently didn't give someone a job, largely because he was incredibly rude to both the receptionist and the woman who brought him to the interview room. It's common sense, isn't it?

Most of the customers who come into my work are lovely & pleasant,you do sometimes get the occasional gob-shite though.

I get the same bunch of students come in who take the piss out of me asking if they want a bag/have their advantage card & then there was the middle aged man who whistled for me to come to the till like i was a bloody sheepdog.

All in all though i have to say the general public are nice.

So many of these stories strike a chord with me, I used to work in a bookshop. (We ALL had degrees )

I think it is often a power trip for pathetic people who think they can treat a person who works in a shop or restaurant like shit as they cannot answer back.

I also hate poor customer service and have been on the receiving end myself; but so often people complain about "bad service" -and they haven't had bad service at all.

Some customers seem to think that it is perfectly acceptable to be incredibly rude to staff, and then the staff should be super-friendly and helpful back. Er...why?

YANBU

Paying customer should expect politeness but not:

letching
shouting
putting you down by using you as a story of what heppens when you don't study.

I do remember on one ocassion I was behind the person being served at a well know pharmacy chain and she was giving the girl at the counter huge grief for no reason. Basically she was asking for refund for a product she'd bought the week before as it was now beging sold on discount. So she wanted a refund for the item and to rebuy at a lower price. So, ffk - be nicer about it! So she's giving the girl grief like she'd personally ripped her off whilst talking to her friend about it on the mobile so the girl could barely serve her. I just told this customer in a very loud voice that if she wanted to be a cheapskate - great - but bloody get off the phone and be polite to the girl behind the counter so the transactions could be done quicker and the rest of us could be served.

I've also told off 'managers' at a famous supermarket when then have a go at their own staff.

There are truly horrible customers out there.

Equally there are horrible shop assistants. My best friend went to a very nice shop - picked up trainers and asked the shop girl if they had them in her size. 20 minutes later the same shop girl is talking to her mate so we asked 'do you actually have them in the size or not as we've been waiting 20 minutes now ' - her response was 'evidently not or I would have come back to you with them'. Well, my friend had about 4 pairs of trainers in her hand from the stand - so I took them from her and dropped them on the floor for the staff to put back.

So I too can be a bitch.

As with everything, there are always two sides,

To counter my shoe shop story above ... I had an extremely wealthy friend. We were in a shop once and the assistant was a young girl who was pleasant enough but simply wasn't able to get my friend exactly what she wanted - a dress in a size they didn't have in stock or something, or an answer to a question about the fabric or something minor like that (don't remember exactly). The friend, used to getting her own way in everything took great offence for no reason whatsoever. She held her wrist with the giant rolex watch on it under the girl's nose and screamed at her "do you know what kind of customer you have just lost? This watch costs more than you could earn in a lifetime!" It was utterly cringe making, I didn't know where to put myself and needless to say, the friend is no longer a friend.

YANBU, some people are really shitty to shop staff. If I'm ever behind someone in a till queue who I think has been unreasonable to the person on the till, I always find myself trying to be extra jolly & chatty to them, or commiserating with them over their undeserved treatment. I can't seem to help it, I suppose it's my way of trying to cheer them up and say 'we're not all like that'

I think it's because I used to work for the DSS and every day I'd get abuse down the phone from the (very small) minority of 'customers' who were very rude and agressive, and I know how it used to make me feel.

The staff probably think I'm really annoying

Incidentally, is it just me who thinks it's rude to answer a mobile phone call while you are at the till? I'm probably on my own here, but I don't like seeing customers going 'Oh yeah, blah blah blah' into their phone whilst completely ignoring the assistant who helps them pack, takes their money, gives them change etc-then they walk off without even a 'thank you' still gabbing on their phone.

Oops-GetOrf did the phone thing before me