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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to think that most people would know I HAVE to ask these questions?

84 replies

Caff2 · 27/09/2014 01:10

I work for a well known chain which used to have a very good loyalty system. Ahem. It's not so great at the moment. One of the things I have to ask at the till is "Do you have a membership card?". Most normal people will say yes or no. Some people insist on quite angrily telling me why there's no point in using their card, and it's rubbish and they've been let down, etc etc. "Why do you idiots even bother asking this?" was a gem from tonight.

I just work there. I have to ask this question. Just "no" would do, surely. I am just a shop assistant.

OP posts:

ALittleFaith · 27/09/2014 07:42

I worked for Boots (as a student). We had to ask a. If they had an advantage card, b. If they wanted one. Most people were ok, many people took up the offer. One bloke got right in my face and proceeded to show me how full his wallet was with cards and why would he want another? To those who were arsey I explained it was my job to ask. I worked in one of the largest stores in the UK and they often sent mystery shoppers in. I'm always polite to people serving me now. Some people have no manners though.

Roussette · 27/09/2014 07:45

People should not be rude in their response to you...

But... I think you (unfortunately) get this reaction because everything is so scripted nowadays, nothing feels personalised. When I go to my local Co-op or Tesco or whatever and I just KNOW the question is coming "have you got a loyalty card" or whatever, it just sets my teeth on edge. I hate hate hate being asked this. If I had one I would use it (and if I do have one and don't use it, that's my choice, you aren't my mother checking if I have my packed lunch for school.) Nanny state etc. This rant isn't directed at you OP.

That's why people are horrible, they don't want the question. Totally inexcusable of course and I'm never rude as I used to do a similar job. And I had a DC who worked in McD's and she had to upsell and the vile behaviour she encountered was awful (some stories would make her hair curl. She once had a grown men swearing obscenities inches away from her face after having to upsell) So I am very nice with my 'NO' when I say it. I smile.

Roussette · 27/09/2014 07:47

*make your hair curl - hers is curly enough!

Roussette · 27/09/2014 07:52

p.s. Sometimes I try and pre-empt the question by saying "by the way, I don't have a loyalty card". But I still get the question! I understand why, it's automatic. But I do wish big companies would not make this a rule for staff.

Also being asked in Tesco if I want help packing my bags when I have a huge shopping bag and 4 items to buy.

Gosh that was a bit of a rant, sorry to hijack

Redhead11 · 27/09/2014 07:57

With my company, it is getting people to sign up to the email list. The majority of our customers are over 70, with a good percentage over 80. i would say 99% of them don't have email. They come in each week, sometimes more than once, and I am expected to ask them every time. And there are definitely times when you think - i don't care if you don't come back and times when you also think i don't care if i don't have a job, because then i don't need to put up with the crap from customers and head office!

colafrosties · 27/09/2014 08:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

fairylightsintheloft · 27/09/2014 08:03

Agree that it is one of the annoyances of modern life but am pretty at the pp who said "I don't give a fuck, I just work there". I have done retail jobs and they can be dull and annoying and yes you get grief off customers but I think that's a really poor attitude. Whatever job you are doing you should be doing it well and giving a fuck that the company does well, or else yes, you won't have that job. As someone else said, if you are annoyed by low stock or whatever, feeling like the assistant does give a fuck might just make you go back another time. How many times on here have we seen complaints about how an incident was handled? Not the issue itself but the attitude of those involved with dealing with it. Poor customer service is actually just bad manners at a personal level.

Littlebluebutterflies · 27/09/2014 08:05

99% of the public are lovely.

It's just that you only ever meet the other 1%

GaryShitpeas · 27/09/2014 08:15

Because people are cunts

I couldn't work in retail or anything dealing with the public, I'd be sacked on my first day cus I wouldn't be able to keep my gob shut if anyone was a cunt to me

Feel for you op

stiffstink · 27/09/2014 08:15

I used to have to ask do you want a bag, did you find everything you were looking for, do you need any mobile phone top up (how retro), do you need any stamps AND also remember that I had to ask if they wanted any related offers like buy X and get Y for £2.99.

It was just incessant scripted questions. They might have been 12 yrs old buying a can of coke and I had to ask about stamps.

tealover1985 · 27/09/2014 08:16

I have worked in retail so always know the staff have to askthese things so I'm always polite however the thing these days is so many of them want your name and address - why?? Mac asks me for this every time and I always refuse. Just a polite but firm no.

KingJoffreysBloodshotEye · 27/09/2014 08:17

I get irritated when they push their store/credit card thingies.

Always the same.

They ask, I say no thank you.

Then they push it. "You can get blah blah blah, blah blah."

I say, "I already said no."

They look offended. Why?

RustyDalek · 27/09/2014 08:25

The one that really annoys me is the Post Office - Saturday morning, queue out of the door and halfway down the pavement (because they shut the branches in local shops) and they start trying to sell you insurance...

Merrylegs · 27/09/2014 08:26

I actually wish they'd ask you this in John Lewis. Their loyalty card is relatively new and I'm not in the habit of producing it at the till and they never ask. And when I invariably remember just after I've paid it's too late. You can't retrospectively add it like the supermarket ones. Gah. Still, awesome free hot drink and cake (any you like, not just the cheapest!)

HamishBamish · 27/09/2014 08:29

Yes, of course they know you have to ask these things. I think people just sometimes use it as an excuse to have a go at someone if they're irritable or had a bad day.

Personally I do find it annoying, but I've never made a negative comment. I just answer as concisely as possible to get it over with asap.

evalyn · 27/09/2014 09:06

It's clever, isn't it, the way corporate bosses manage to deflect (warranted) criticism the way they do? People in the front line in retail: it's not you as an individual that people complain about when they go off on one about the things you're forced to ask them or the way you're made to behave. It's the organisation you work for.

When someone's annoyed at you, don't take it personal. Pass it on. Blame your boss. Complain to your boss. Then they might complain to their boss ... and so on. Then the awful shitty people who decide their frontline staff have to behave in such a foolish and annoying manner might get to realise what a bunch of awful shits they are. (Not holding my breath, though.)

Remember, if I say, 'That's stupid!' when you ask me a stupid question, I don't mean you're stupid - it's the organisation you work for I'm complaining about.

Nothing personal! Remember that, all you cashiers, shop assistants and others who are victims of contemporary corporate mores. Nothing personal! It's Tesco (etc.) I hate, not you! (You probably hate your employer just as much as the customers, truth be told. No?)

BoomBoomsCousin · 27/09/2014 09:06

You aren't "just" a shop assistant. You're the face of the shop to the customer and the customer is talking to the collective "you", not to you personally. It's part of the role to be the representative of the shop. The trick to working in frontline customer service is embody the job as professional role, not a personal one.

MegMogandOwlToo · 27/09/2014 09:13

YANBU but some people probably give a reason why, rather than just saying no, because they expect you to try and them into signing up for one!

Thumbwitch · 27/09/2014 09:20

I remember decades ago that a friend who worked in a then well-known shoe chain store (don't even know if it still exists!) had to ask with every purchase of shoes, did they want leather protection spray, did they want shoe trees etc. Her wages depended on it - she'd get commission if she managed to sell any extras, which was still a pittance but made her overall chickenfeed pay slightly more worth having. And if she didn't ask, she got into trouble from the manager.

Although people are probably railing against the company overall rather than the "face" of the company in front of them, it's still the "face" of the company who is copping all that negativity and shit-slinging, and that's STILL not appropriate nor acceptable behaviour. If it's the company that you're railing at, take it home and email them/tweet it, whatever, but don't spit all over the real life person who is not to blame in front of you.

ZumZee · 27/09/2014 09:30

I have worked in retail and hospitality, and think rudeness to shop staff is unacceptable. But shop floor workers who don't give a shit is also inexcusable, there are a lot of people who would be grateful for the work.

As companies like Tesco is starting to realise, the customer experience is integral to profit, and unhelpful staff damage you. I am sick of the shrug, not my problem response you get off people, even those on the customer services counter, as well as on the checkout. I realise that they personally don't man the trolleys, make the parking policy or control the stock. But they should be interested enough in the success of the company to try to help me in any way they can, or pursue it with the management team. They are the people interacting with the public, the frontline who can judge what the customer issues actually are.

MissBattleaxe · 27/09/2014 09:32

I've been a mystery shopper in the past and checkout staff really do have to ask all those questions. It's not their fault, they really are just doing their job and earning an honest wage. To state the obvious- they also get randomly checked on it by mystery shoppers!

I think people should cut them some slack.

And yes it is annoying if an item is out of stock, but complain to the store, or ask that your complaint is fed back to a manager, don't blame the person scanning the barcode.

PhaedraIsMyName · 27/09/2014 09:32

The Boots follow up questions of " are you sure" and "you'll get x, y and z" were annoying but they seem to have dropped the follow up now.

Purpleroxy · 27/09/2014 09:33

I would never be rude to a person serving in a shop but the questions are sooooo annoying. WHSmith is a bad offender and I only go there if I have no alternative.

Friend worked in motorway services petrol station. Abuse taken there is huge. People shouted at him over the price of the petrol!!!

Littlebluebutterflies · 27/09/2014 09:36

For those saying (or implying) 'it's not personal', of course it's not, but it feels personal when they are shouting/screaming in your face.

abigamarone · 27/09/2014 09:36

Evalyn, you can spin your semantics any way you like but describing front line staff as behaving in a foolish and annoying manner and exclaiming "that's stupid!" makes you look a bit of an arse. What's difficult about a simple "no thanks."

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