AIBU to react upon overhearing this remark voiced by a member of staff in Poundland towards another member of staff?

[SuperFlyHigh]

AIBU to feel that this overheard remark was out of order?

Was at Poundland the other day overheard quite loud a supervisor or manager saying to someone who seemed new (both Poundland staff),

"Yeah well make sure you get them to come down the queue as they often stand there like braindead zombies" it was obvious she was talking about customers not staff... The person saying this then walked away I was a bit shocked and said to the woman she had said this to "that's not the way your customers should be spoken about don't you think?" As i said this the woman who had said the original remark came back but I didn't want to get into an argument but just left the store.

Really put me off if that's how the staff refer to their customers within hearing distance!

kali110 No You're missing the point. What OP did is irrelevant. Like I said, OP is not a paid ambassador of Poundland. Essentially what you're saying is that OP asking the question to the new member of staff erases that unprofessional comment made by the manager. OP could've danced the hula in the middle of the shop while singing the question and then done a Nazi salute - IT DOES NOT CHANGE TO FACT THAT THAT SUPERVISOR SAID SOMETHING NEGATIVE ABOUT THE CUSTOMERS WHILST ON THE SHOP FLOOR WHICH IS UNPROFESSIONAL. It was this comment that sparked OP's reaction. Maybe it wasn't the best reaction, but it was sparked by this single act of unproffesionalism. You're focusing on the wrong thing here.

That manager is a paid ambassador of Poundland. It is her job to be professional not matter how awkward or unreasonable the customer is (and in this case no customer was being awkward, aggresive or abusive). I think you'll find it's part of the terms of her contract (acting professionally in front of customers has certainly been on every single one of my contracts).

You are re-directing blame everywhere to detract from the actual problem at hand. Yes, some shops treat their employees like sht. What does that have to do with the unprofessional behaviour of the manager ...? Yes, some customers are unreasonable and can sometimes be downright abusive. What does that have to do with this specific comment made by this specific supervisor on this specific shop floor ...? NOTHING. The actual problem was a member of staff (in this case a supervisor) said something negative on the shop floor whilst in front of a customer and worse they didn't even apologise for said behaviour. THAT'S* the problem and nothing changes that.

I get it - we all feel the need to defend people who have worked in retail because we know it's the pits. Let me assure you though that every job, not just retail, has a-hole customers in abundance - even jobs where the customer is another business. That does not give you license to act unprofessionally. It is in the terms of your employment to do so and there are a number of options available to you to deal with customers (even the awkward ones who get aggressive). If your company is allowing customers to walk all over you and don't have your best interests at heart, you have two options: make a formal complaint which could lead to a tribunal or quit and work somewhere else.

Well said kathjoy

Alisvolatpropiis I've only worked in 2 law firms (one a high street one, dependant on off the street enquiries, the other like my current place of work where it's word of mouth and NO high street stuff at all, have also temped at a magic circle firm), yes I HAVE dealt with the general public in all 3 firms.

High street anything from mums wanting to buy a house, divorce, get a stat dec sworn etc. current firm far less (as I work one on one) but still my boss' clients are multi million pound London property owners or small business owners but still "members of the public", also when I cover reception one day a week I deal with members of the public.... And same with magic circle firm which was matrimonial had to speak to clients of ours (and the other side) who were undergoing divorce. You have to speak to them as a PA/sec as they often want updates... I class's all 3 as general public, and in fact they're not all tossers, that's your snobbish attitude. I often found the liveliest people were the pensioners who wanted eg to do a will, or even the benefits people who couldn't afford our advice but wanted or needed legal help. I always always esp with latter, looked up stuff on Internet for them (CAB offices), gave directions to the one or two firm that did do non paid work (forget the exact word now!), printed off maps for them (it was a bus ride there) or even on the odd occasion got my colleague down to have a chat with them, in case they wanted help or needed to go eg to the court which was down the road...

Beaky you've given me a good laugh, I actually am well off (yes lucky in that respect) but there's no way I'm entitled or swan around a shop like Paris Hilton, that's because I have manners and respect but expect the same back. If I were rude to or bumped into them... In their store etc I'd apologise as any reasonable person would do!

kathy thanks for your support here (and the others) I'm assuming that in Poundland as a supervisor or manager your wage is quite good really, certainly comes with t&c and code of conduct, as I said before, if I dared to speak to a client of mine in that way I'd be disciplined and rightly so... I used to deal with estate agents who were rude, and I was never rude back, until my boss said, if they're rude and shout (which some did more than once) you can put the phone down on them... Rarely did that but worked sometimes when you're being called a bitch for not getting a file as you're on reception with no access to files! After the 3rd rude estate agency call, I told my boss you can speak to them as they're so rude (rather than ignore them as he had done).

If I ever worked in a shop I would be polite, I go out of my way when I can to be polite smile say thank you etc and even make small talk, as I know retail is shitty. I did years ago work for 3 months in a clothes shop owned by a relative (ooh drip feed) but the customers were lovely and I was only 20 and it was part time. So I do know a bit about CS in a shop.

Super

You are not dealing with a cross section of the public, you are dealing with a small number of people who want to instruct the firm. People also tend do have a degree of respect for law firms.

This is emphatically different to customer facing retail work where you deal with hundreds of people per day. A large majority of whom think you are beneath them.