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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think it is rude of shop assistants to say ...

126 replies

rosiecam · 01/09/2016 13:07

... to say "Thank you for waiting" in a loud voice to next customer when previous customer who has been slow for whatever reason is still very obviously within hearing?

To me it means "I'm annoyed with you for holding up the queue, and I want you to know it, but I'm not allowed to say it, so I'll pretend I'm being polite to the next customer"

OP posts:
GrimmauldPlace · 01/09/2016 13:30

I have no problem with a sales assistant talking to me. How strange that people get annoyed by it. I wouldn't like to have a massive conversation about personal stuff or anything but a quick "hello, how are you today? Nice weather isn't it?" I don't mind.

I also don't mind the upselling at the counter. It takes me 2 seconds to say "No, thank you" and saves the assistant from getting a bollocking for not trying to sell the marked down perfume or whatever they have to push that week.

I wonder whether the people who get so annoyed with sales assistants have ever worked in retail themselves? I'd suspect the majority haven't. I don't anymore but I did for 10+ years.

Original poster
rosiecam · 01/09/2016 13:30

I would understand if they said it every time. If they only say it when somebody's been slow, it seems rude to me. But if they are told to say it, fine. I guess it's just a policy I disagree with, especially if a person is elderly or disabled. Seems to draw attention to it to me, and make them feel worse, without making the rest of the queue feel better.

I won't blame the shop assistant in my head the next time then, but the chain Smile

OP posts:
Vixster99 · 01/09/2016 13:31

It always seems rather ironic to me when they say "thank you for waiting" - as though you have a choice in the matter.

You're hardly going to walk out of the supermarket & leave your trolley behind when you've spent the best part of an hour filling it.

Mabelface · 01/09/2016 13:33

I always said it as it's polite to acknowledge that someone has been waiting.

Ifailed · 01/09/2016 13:33

if you don't like dealing with real, actual humans in a retail transaction, shop online. Otherwise, accept that the poor sod who has to deal with you and everyone else is ordered how to behave, measured on whether they obey those orders and still gets paid shit money.

Buzzardbird · 01/09/2016 13:34

When I was in quite expensive fashion management we had a massive problem with shoplifters.
We were told to greet customers so that they knew we had seen them Wink

queenofthepirates · 01/09/2016 13:35

Here's the thing. I own a shop and this is my premises. If you come in, you are very welcome but be under no illusions that this is public property. I will address you politely and formally, make a connection and try to elicit any information you might like to give me to help me assist you. If you choose not to, that's fine too.

But it's my shop, my stock and you are a guest. Please behave like one and not throw a strop if I speak to another customer in a manner you find not to your liking.

HermioneJeanGranger · 01/09/2016 13:35

I think a year working in retail should be compulsory once people leave school! I think people would be much more understanding if they'd had to do it themselves.

KoalaDownUnder · 01/09/2016 13:38

Gosh, it's not rude at all! In fact, I think it's polite.

NotTheFordType · 01/09/2016 13:39

I think it depends on how it's said. If it's said neutrally and pleasantly then fine. However if it's done in a pointed way with eye-rolling towards the previous customer, it's very unpleasant - and I have encountered this.

Original poster
rosiecam · 01/09/2016 13:43

I think it depends on how it's said. If it's said neutrally and pleasantly then fine. However if it's done in a pointed way with eye-rolling towards the previous customer, it's very unpleasant - and I have encountered this.

Yes, this is what I meant. I find it embarrassing (as the customer waiting).

OP posts:
Original poster
rosiecam · 01/09/2016 13:43

I don't know why people assume I was the elderly/disabled one...?

OP posts:
limitedperiodonly · 01/09/2016 13:48

Lots of shop assistants now greet customers with, "Hello, how are you?" Are you trained to do this too? It irritates me no end.

WTF is wrong with saying this? Even if they weren't trained to do this, which they are, it is normal to acknowledge someone's presence and it is normal to reply: 'I'm fine, thank you. How are you?'

I really feel for retail workers. I'm going to Sainsbury's later. I think I'll be extra nice to someone just for the hell of it. Yesterday I complimented a Zara checkout person on her tattoo and she thanked me and pulled her sleeve down because she wasn't supposed to show it.

GingerbreadGingerbread · 01/09/2016 13:49

Sometimes shop assistants say it even when you've been waiting for less than a minute so it's totally unnecessary. I used to work in retail and hated the stuff we had to parrot off at customers, usually it was counter productive weird rubbish like this, I also hated "meeting and greeting" customers as they came in because it was obvious it was just annoying to them.

TheProblemOfSusan · 01/09/2016 13:54

I'm not a shop assistant but work in a similar place where there's likely to be a queue. We don't have a script, but if I know that it's going to take a while to help the person I'm with, I say something to acknowledge the next people, like 'Thank you for waiting, we're going to be a few minutes here then I'll be with you'. I guess it's about tone of voice, maybe?

Also, me saying that is usually enough to alert the staff at their own desks behind me, who can hear but not necessarily see, that there's more than one person, so if someone is free they can pop out and help. I can't tell if there's anyone at their desk though, so stopping helping the person there to go and find out could take ages and be non-productive.

seahorse106 · 01/09/2016 13:56

I hate it! I was buying a few things in Tesco, I wasn't any slower than anyone else and had my card out ready to pay etc
As I went away I heard the checkout girl say "sorry about the wait" it made me feel like I'd deliberately held everyone up!

WatchingFromTheWings · 01/09/2016 13:56

The majority of what retail workers say is scripted. So they are told to apologise for the wait, etc. They most definitely will be pulled up for it if they don't.

Ameliablue · 01/09/2016 13:58

Yabu they are probably trained to say it. It has no bearing on the previous customer, it is simply an acknowledgement that waiting was involved.

Floggingmolly · 01/09/2016 14:01

It is a bit pointed; but you can generally tell it's part of their enforced spiel. All this "enjoy the rest of your day" nonsense is totally cringeworthy.
What's the point? Everyone knows it's just artificial nonsense dreamed up by management.

shovetheholly · 01/09/2016 14:02

No, not rude at all! I like it, and find it disarming of any impatience that might have been building up while I wait. It makes me feel treated like a person, and makes me more likely to 'see' the person behind the till as an individual doing a job too.

I wish they said it in my local parcel collection delivery office, where it takes 30 minutes to get through a queue of 4 people!

AnnaMarlowe · 01/09/2016 14:03

Everyone in the queue has a choice whether to wait or to leave and shop somewhere else.

My life is regularly timed down to quite a tight schedule so I don't always wait if there's a queue.

And reasonably regularly I leave the shop if the queue is taking too long. So if the assistant says "thank you for waiting" it's nothing more than an acknowledgment that I didn't have to wait.

Goingtobeawesome · 01/09/2016 14:04

It's said to every customer. It's very annoying. We have no choice but to wait if we want to purchase something.

HeddaLettuce · 01/09/2016 14:04

To me it means "I'm annoyed with you for holding up the queue, and I want you to know it, but I'm not allowed to say it, so I'll pretend I'm being polite to the next customer

To me, you're paranoid and make everything into a dig. Are you one of those who could have an argument in an empty room?

GabsAlot · 01/09/2016 14:07

i wouldnt go to america then if were some of u

they follow u round the shop asking if u need anything i think its quite helpful

KoalaDownUnder · 01/09/2016 14:09

I don't take it as a dig at the previous customer at all.

I take it as 'We're sorry we are understaffed, and thanks for your patience'.

I'd much rather they said that than failed to acknowledge the inconvenience at all! Because yes, most of the time I could just take my business elsewhere.

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