To think "well you don't have to shop here do you?" Isn't appropriate from a shop worker?

[littleblackdoggg]

Just that really. It's very inappropriate isn't it!? She was a young girl as well and I don't want this to sound 'ageist' but I do find a lot of younger employees rather rude? They seem to have a lot of attitude.

AIBU to complain about this girls attitude?

You've got to understand when a delivery comes in. Finding certain items in it is like finding a needle in a haystack. Plus the delivery may not have been checked yet therefore know one would be able to takestuff out because it could throw the stock files off.
I very much doubt the girl on till would have anything to do with delivery so wouldn't know why she can't just go in take stuff out. If you want to buy something that isn't available than your only option is to go somewhere eles.
Complain if you like but I assure you is probably won't make a scrap of difference to anyone

SugarnetMum you're right, i know. But nobody should put up with rudeness from customers. Rude and unreasonable people need to be put in their place. I detest the 'customer service' argument. If someone is being a douche they need to be called out on it and not be able to hide behind being a customer.

Lettuce all just kale down. In my onion OP is sprouting nonsense. I carrot understand how threads like these run ner bean on for so many pages!

I always tell customers to go elsewhere.
Not in that manner. But I will say "have you tried next door?" Or "suchaplace may have it"

Woman, not girl. Young woman.

She rightly got annoyed with you as you were playing dumb in not understanding what she kept repeating. Did you want her to go doc around for one cucumber and your shopping list.
It's nothing to do with her age, she probably got fed up with people like you thinking she is the person to solve all store issues.

I'm a bit confused. I thought the point of the OP was not that there was no cucumber, or that the woman couldn't leave the till, or that the new delivery was not out yet, but that a member of retail staff spoke rudely to a customer?

Regardless of the reason for the staff members frustration or irritation, I thought the core of customer services was to remain polite and courteous and keep your smart remarks to yourself?

I don't mean the customer is always right, of course they're not - most of the general public are arseholes. Is the MN consensus now that retail staff can say whatever they like to customers who are impossible and obnoxious and rude themselves?

I'd love to see that in practice, my FIL is a horrible customer. The last time I saw a rude customer, the assistant was unfailingly polite in the face of extreme provocation - but the next customer told the rude one that she was a fuckwit.

but that a member of retail staff spoke rudely to a customer?

From the sound of it only after the customer had been very rude to her. OP wants to complain about the assistants attitude, but she has a bad one herself.

You do sound a little imperious, it sounds like you were talking to an underpaid shop worker like you were in harrods or something . I would have taken the first no gracefully and left.

SugarnetMum Fri 30-Jun-17 12:32:34

Public aren't that hard to deal with if you do your job correctly and keep them happy.

Bullshit. Both as a worker, and as another customer in some places, I have seen massively entitled wankers trying to throw their non-existent weight around, no matter how polite and helpful the staff try to be.

I currently have very little to do with the public, but sometimes I do get phone calls. The majority are easy to help, but sometimes I've still had someone who thinks they can try to bully me into providing something that I can't, in any way, provide. And I end up spending a long time going round in circles saying the same thing over and over again, in different ways, to explain why I can't just do as they ask.

Customers are not always right.

In fact, perhaps you can take a look at that website "Not Always Right". Might show people just what kinds of shitty customers that staff have to put up with.

YANBU
In defense of people like the OP, if you've never worked in retail or know anyone that has, you won't be familiar with the system. It's only from this thread that I've learned that it's not possible to just get an item from out the back. The assistant really wasn't explaining why properly, her answers were vague which came across as unhelpful even if she didn't mean to be.

I think the assistant could've handled it better. She could've said it's not possible to get items from out the back as they need to go through the scanning system, but she could get someone to find out when they'd be available. It's not a big thing, but it makes a huge difference to how a customer perceives things. If an assistant had said to me, "well you don't have to shop here do you?" I'd be

Firstly, why ask someone on the tills about stock in another department or going to get you something? That's clearly not the job they're doing right then
Depends on the shop. Many of the smaller places I've used only have a couple of people on the tills and no-one else on the shop floor, so there isn't any option that no ask one of them.

One step away from "Computer says no"
LOL, isn't it just. I wonder if she eye-rolled too

why should a young woman be expected to apologise on behalf of a large multinational company because their policies don't enable her to give good customer service?
Because when you're at work you're an ambassador for that company. She wasn't wrong that she couldn't get OP what she wanted, but she handled it badly and was downright rude at the end. People boycott companies all the time due to stuff like this. That's why employess have to watch their Ps and Qs regardless of their personal feelings.

I always tell customers to go elsewhere. Not in that manner. But I will say "have you tried next door?" Or "suchaplace may have it"
As a customer I've had that. My response was always an appreciative, "thanks! I'll try there". It's all about how something is phrased, tone of voice and body language isn't it.

In fact, perhaps you can take a look at that website "Not Always Right". Might show people just what kinds of shitty customers that staff have to put up with.

I love this website!

I am so happy to have been introduced to the word 'fossick'.

YABU to expect a cashier to leave their til to fetch you lettuce that hasn't been scanned/labelled yet (to get someone else to do it for you). Waitrose staff will often tell you to wait for stock to come up - am sure if I sat arguing with them, they'd be rude too.

The cashier was rude but I don't think you appreciate the size, scale and procedure of retail delivery and that even if it was available, it wouldn't be her job to get it for you. You don't seem to have listened to her as to why she couldn't help you whether or not the rules seem silly.

I think she probably misjudged what she said to you.... and her real rookie error was to tell you they had the delivery in the first place. Unsorted, unchecked and unsigned off on stock is a rod for your back in this situation!

She was rude. Not right. I would express my displeasure frankly.

YA (probably) beingU.
Yes, she should not have been rude to you, but after trying to explain something politely (The delivery is not out yet, no I cannot get it for you, no I cannot leave the till, no I am not allowed to do that, no I cannot fetch the cucumber from out back...) it is hard to stay polite indefinitely.

In fact, I could even imagine a scenario in which her comments weren't rude, or at least were not intended to be rude.
eg: (after conversation described above where girl explains the impossibility of nipping out back to get OP's order):

OP: "But I really need cucumber and there is none on the shelves"
Cashier: "I cannot get any for you and nor can anyone else at this time"
OP: "But I really need it!"
Cashier: "You could try another shop - there is a co-op next door and a sainsburys down the road" = Not rude, but actually trying to be helpful!

Of course customers are not always right. But as someone said above it is not our job as staff to let them know that. Keep our smart remarks to ourselves. Remain calm, polite.. Kill them with kindness.

And if you can't remain polite or calm and end up blurting out something rude or abrupt then that industry isn't for you.

Most people don't choose retail as a career path.
I stupidly did, I'm over it now though.

DixieNormas

I fantasise about doing that every day at work

That was really rude. I find it a shame - there are many decent young people who'd better in the role but are not really given much of a chance.

"Be kind you'll get a lot more back". This!!!!