To think that shop staff...

[Justme23]

Should have basic manners?

Am I getting old now I recognise this as a reason to get remotely peeved?

Just nipped out in my lunch hour to get a sandwich and some bits and only one staff person actually maintained eye contact and said please and thank you!

The girl at WHSmiths was looking out of the window, face like a slapped behind, scanned the items and then barked £12.50 at me, didn't even offer a bag! And acted the same to the three customers before me.

Is this just accepted behaviour now?

The only way to improve service standards in retail is to email head office rather than just mentioning to the manager,but equally on the flip side to be as quick to send a praise email when you do receive great service.I am a retail manager and while it's great to get customer feedback directly to me if it goes through head office then my line manager,her line manager,head of ops,etc all get copied in-very motivating and rewarding for staff especially when they are expected to deliver exceptional levels of service daily.
The pressure my staff are under to deliver their numbers and execute standards is unbeleivable,and my store regularly receives praise letters about the staff and their service.however I don't tolerate attitude by my staff and any hint of rudeness or indifference on the shop floor is dealt with by me extremely swiftly and seriously-no way my store is going to be known for shit staff!
Don't assume all staff are rude,dismissive,unintersted or just reading from a script,yes we do have to ask you those annoying questions,but a good sales person will read your body language or tone of voice and won't push anything on you-if you were my mystery shop customer you wouldn't avoid eye contact and refuse to engage with me,I know that so I won't upsell to you!
Asking you how you are etc what you are doing today means I get to meet some amazing,fascinating people from all over the world and I love hearing about what people are doing,equally I can see if you aren't wanting to talk so will serve you promptly and let you get on with your day!

Kayano I used to work in Lush. I refused to be stupidly friendly to people as I could see it pissed most of them off. A "good morning" would suffice, then I'd help them if they were starting to look lost.

To be honest it was the daft mystery shopper thing that meant we had to pester customers, so unrealistic. I hate being pestered if I'm a customer but then again I'm a gobby cow who is happy to march off to look for an assistant.

Jamie I met my husband in McDonald's and the priest at our wedding told all our guests that we had 'supersized our love'

!!

It started out with us as "how would you run this store as if it was your own business?"

All of my comments and a few other staff were said but we can't do that every store has to look the same or as close as can be.

Yes, and I'm sure it works in the big out of town stores. Those of us who live in the town and who listen to our customers know what they want to see.

JustMe23- in your OP you state that she was looking out of the window. How do you know that she hadn't just seen a well known shoplifter and was keeping an eye out to make sure they didn't come in? That's part of our job description as well.

I'm exceptionally polite to the Customers that come in our shop, and frequently am praised for my customer service skills. This being despite the shocking wages, ever-changing demands for overtime in the name of being "fully flexible", required to upsell and greet all customers and in so doing be incorrectly accused at least twice a week of earning commission.

However, it is my job. I chose to do it. It is not the customers problem that retail management demand these things.

The huge majority of my customers are smashing, even if theyre not its easer t adot a "smile and wave" tack.

The real arseholes though would never know the curses I am laying on them. That is what my private thoughts and enigmatic smile are for.

YANBU. It happens. But I think there's a higher percentage of customers who don't bother with their manners when interacting with shop staff.

I think the majority of shop workers are polite, The customers on the other hand....

I make a point of being super polite to the customers that slap their money on the counter without a please or thank you.

I work in retail and always like to treat customers how i like to be treated myself.

The money in retail is rubbish and due to cutbacks staffing levels in our store on a Sunday are minimal and it's ridiculous, and this is a one of the big retailers I'm talking about.

I try to judge how chatty a customer wants me to be, some regulars like a good chat and it's nice to see familiar faces each week.

Some customers however are so rude its unbelievable! And one manager in our store is a right bitch, she nearly had me in tears the other week and I hadnt actually done anything wrong but to be fair my team leader stuck up for me.

I find boots the worst the staff are soooo rude.

That's why I try and be as friendly and nice as possible because I know that's what I like myself when I go into a shop.

I'm going to be honest, when I was a teenager working in a store, my politeness depended solely on whether I was terribly hungover or not (it wasn't a regular occurrence to be fair).

. Being paid £3.00 an hour to do all the shifts that no-one else would do enabled me not to give a shit.

Amazingly, I have a great work ethic now I'm older

usual I am incredibly polite to customers who don't put their mobile down. I WILL make them speak to me.

Retail work seems to have turned into sales work. When i worked in a customer based job it was all about selling them extras - stamps, phone top ups etc. If we didnt we would get told off for it.

Im always polite & good mannered whether im a worker or customer. I agree with others that manners in general need improving.

YANBU, Everyone should be polite though.

Where I used to work they were so tough on customer service, we used to get mystery shopped every few months I am proud to say I got 99%

What does annoy me though is when people are SO quick to complain but not to praise. It is really nice for a customer to recognise when they have had good customer service, I used to tell my customers to put it in writing.

Sports Direct must have changed! I remember a few years ago being in one of their shops with a box of trainers in one hand and cash in the other, wandering around for 5 minutes trying to find somebody willing to let me buy them, before I just gave up and went. Must give them another go.

I'm usually so tired and keen to get home that I rarely complain but know I should. I think a lot of us in ths country have accepted that the bad service we get is standard now.

I do live going to Pret. Apart from the hgh quality of the food and the 99p coffees, it's so lovely to be served by people smiling and who seem to be genuine about delivering good service.

I wish Mary Portas would revive her campaign.

When I lived in Spain the women at the checkouts at the supermarket used to throw the bags at you if you dared ask for more and literally hurl the change down the belt of the packing area, rather then hand it to you!!!

lara spanish shop staff are hilarious! When I lived in Spain we shopped at Lidl and you had to be almost apologetic about disturbing them if you wanted serving. In the Uk we might want to roll our eyes and tut at customers, in Spain they actually do it.

OP, YABU. People should have basic manners,not just shop staff.

However, I have actually thrown a pair of trainers on the floor in Sports Direct before stomping out and vowing never to go in there again after yet another display of shocking customer service. I asked if they had the trainers in X size. Staff member muttered into their walkie talkie thing and carried on with what they were doing, no interaction with me at all.

I have also been know to conclude a transaction with a cheery "A smile costs nothing!"