Talking on the phone whilst at tills

[EgyptianSnow]

Is this rude? Lady at a store refused to serve me until I got off the phone
I was only buying slippers
I wasn't talking loud or even talking at the counter and my phone rang whilst I was in line
Was I rude? Is this rude?

When working in the service industry it never occurred to me to be upset by normal behaviour. I really couldn't have cared less, my self esteem wasn't dependent on their behaviour and they were in relaxation mode. Why would they have to think about my feelings? I wouldn't have expected them too.

A midwife once spent a good 5 minutes on the phone to her husband during one of my appointments, discussing who would drop DS's swimming kit to him at school and what they should have for dinner. I was

Personally I think it's Pig Ignorant, and the old "it's an important call" is a load of old bollocks too. You're hardly on standby, poised for action if you're stood in a queue at Tesco are you?? knobs

Call them back from the car park, God Forbid - you could actually sit in your car and take it in some sort of privacy so that the person talking to you doesn't have to listen to all the background crap.

Little people trying to look big.....

In this case, the op was buying a pair of slippers, what conversation was required around that ?

Even less excuse to start gabbing on the phone...

Beep, "that'll be £x.50 please."

Not really room to squeeze in a telephone conversation there without messing other people around is there??

The phone rang while she was waiting in line, so depending on how big the line was there was plenty of time to start the conversation before getting to the till.

There have been plenty of people with retail experience on this thread saying they wouldn't be offended by serving a customer who was on the phone, so it's clear that there is no unanimous verdict on this either way.

Iknowiam, you seem to be taking this weirdly personally, calling people who disagree with you knobs and saying that we are little people trying to look big, does not reflect brilliantly well on you.

YANBU Who the f**K does she thing she is? You are the customer you pay her wages Her job is to serve you.

I don't think it's rude. What is the difference between being on the phone and talking to a friend who is shopping with you? The shop is there to provide a service, not to monitor what you do. I would have left without my shopping.

Sounds OK to me, as long as the person on the till was polite.

Iknowiam, you seem to be taking this weirdly personally, calling people who disagree with you knobs and saying that we are little people trying to look big, does not reflect brilliantly well on you.

Not at all, I'm no champion of shop staff or any other service staff - just not a fan of treating them like they don't exist.

Just hit "ignore" - the rest of us don't want to hear about your petty, boring lives

And the day I'm bothered about not being "reflected brilliantly" on MumsNet is a long, long way off I promise you!!

I worked in retail a long time ago. I wouldn't have cared less if people had talked on their phone in between ordering their silk cut and box of matches.

As a shop assistant you are there to please the customer not the other way around. I'm always polite but don't need to have a full blown conversation about my day with you. In all honesty I really couldn't care less what you have to say about anything when I'm concentrating on getting my errands done so I can get home to my family.

The shop assistant was rude to the OP. Her job is to put her slippers through the scanner, remove any security tags and put the said slippers in a bag. That is it. If the OP is on the phone she can point to the price and smile. That is it. No conversation is necessary.

Where exactly does the queen drive herself? Down to the co-operation when they're out of milk or dog food?

Erm sorry