To think this was awful customer service in M&S?

[Livingtothefull]

So I was in a large branch of M&S recently…..this was a weekday evening and the store was very quiet, i.e. not a busy Saturday afternoon.

There were a couple of people in front of me queuing to pay, and only one cashier although 4 or 5 empty cash tills. The person at the front was buying a lot of stuff which all had to be paid for & packaged by the cashier on his own. I didn't time my wait but it was a LONG time to have to wait when the store was quiet, maybe roughly 10-15 mins.

While I was still waiting a man queued behind me, he was disabled & on crutches, obviously struggling with these & holding his shopping basket. I offered to let him go in front of me. The cashier didn't make any reaction, didn't call or ring for help etc. I looked around for staff to ask to help but none nearby.

When I finally got to the front I complained to the cashier, not unpleasantly just said 'I know it's not your fault but that was an unreasonable time to wait to be served, you need to let your manager know that you need help'. He just shrugged & looked sulky. Afterwards I complained to a manager, I also mentioned the disabled man because I think that the cashier should have had better training especially in supporting disabled customers and should have known it was appropriate to ask for help.

AIBU to expect this and that staff of a company of the calibre of M&S should be much more customer focused and disability aware? The manager I complained to was very apologetic but I am not convinced it will translate into doing anything differently.

As someone who works in retail I can understand where you are coming from, and staffing is getting ridiculous. In my store they do try and open tills, it's one thing they do try and keep on top of, however this has a knock on effect which means there is no one on the shop floor to answer the till bells, and fill up the shelves and help customers.

As a member of staff it's awful, you understand why customers are frustrated, and I am always polite, but the understaffing puts so much pressure on us.

The member of staff should have rung a bell, and shouldn't have been so rude, but maybe he knew no one would come. Not that it excuses it.

So YANBU, and I hate working in retail, with These managers sitting in the head offices setting all these ridiculous targets for staff it's a job I know, but it's depressing!

Thanks for your post LittleMissAIBU, and I am aware that a lot of the problem is lack of staffing and existing staff being expected to plug the gap in service. I wish that big organisations valued their staff better. I do try not to put further pressure on staff and complain (if I feel I must) to management instead.