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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

..to have complained about the cashier at sainsbury's this afternoon...?

184 replies

americantrish · 27/03/2007 17:43

i got two bottles of soda at the cigarette counter and after paying her (exact change), she just turned her back, didn't offer a receipt, a thank you. NOTHING. seriously f**ked me off. so i went to customer services and then spoke to the cashier manager person who was apologetic (sp?) and said she'd have a word with her.

i felt a BIT bad after, but if she treats most of her customers like that....(and i've worked in customer service (albeit in the US) for 10+ years...) being decent is being decent. a thank you or have a nice day would have been nice.

meh!!

OP posts:
SpookyMadBunny · 27/03/2007 19:02

Surely in Supermarket training at any level there is an element of customer service type training. Basic greetings and goodbye/thank you's are part and parcel of most jobs. Even in McDonalds you get the Hello, may I help you? Ok it may be annoying but people who work with the public have been trained to be polite at the very least.

Rantum · 27/03/2007 19:02

I think sometimes the cultural differences are over-played between the US and the UK - I have experienced rudeness and politeness at supermarket checkouts in each place in equal measure.

Rudeness is always irritating to me and I do not think that a persons wage should even be relevant in deciding its acceptability - (furthermore, a negative attitude could even be argued to be the reason a person remains on minimum wage and is not ever considered for promotion - my sister started as a waitress and due to her positive attitude was eventually made manager of a restaurant) I used to work as a waitress and it did not occur to me that my crappy take home pay (with minimal tips - UK ) was a good reason for me to treat (yes, sometimes rude) customers badly.

Turning your back on a person and ignoring them is rude. It is possible that the checkout person in question was having a bad day, so maybe she deserved the benefit of the doubt, but she WAS rude.

magicfarawaytree · 27/03/2007 19:02

Wae - would have thought restaurants the last place to complain ifyswim ..... nothing worse that disgruntled restaurant staff in the kitchens out of sight scowling over the food you are about to be given...

nightowl · 27/03/2007 19:05

i suppose i would have been annoyed, manners cost nothing after all but a bit ott to complain.

when i was 17 i worked in a newsagents. i've always been very shy, (no, really). we had one lady who came in weekly, had known me working there for several months and was always very friendly and cheerful.

being so shy i guess i used to talk very quietly, one day i handed her the change and said "thankyou" as normal. i must have whispered it as she stared at me in disgust and said "THANKYOU?".

i stared back at her, puzzled.

"THANKYOU?, THANKYOOOOOOU?" she shouts across the shop in front of a queue of customers, then called out my boss and made a complaint about me. ffs.

BassMama · 27/03/2007 19:05

She wasn't rude! NOT saying thank you is maybe uncourteous (sp?) but its not rude.

God, i hope she isnt a mum and on here reading this.
Agree with you littlesarah by the way.

If I went into a shop, and the cashier didnt say thank you, i'd probably notice, might make a wee sarcastic comment, and then would have forgotten about it by the time I had walked round the corner. I have better things to concentrate on in my life!

I dont think you should really expect everyone in the customer service industry to be happy and cheery all the time!

Give the poor girl a break, like has been said before, she is working in a dull, shitty job, for minimum wage.

Rantum · 27/03/2007 19:11

I think not turning your back on someone is quite rude actually. And I wouldn't call failing to speak to a customer at all even to utter the two tiny words "thank you" polite either. It is not "intentionally" rude, it is rude by default iyswim.Let's call it a politeness failure.

Rantum · 27/03/2007 19:12

Meant, "I think THAT turning your back on someone..."

unknownrebelbang · 27/03/2007 19:13

I'd call it rude tbh.

DimpledThighs · 27/03/2007 19:16

I love that kind of service - she should be promoted. I hate people being false and friendly - she did her job you got your stuff - what did you want a hug?

FioFio · 27/03/2007 19:19

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Rantum · 27/03/2007 19:21

BassMama,
"God, i hope she isnt a mum and on here reading this."

WHY? Would it be that awful that she discovers that many people think that at the very least her behaviour was discourteous and at worst she was rude.

If she has suffered a bereavement or any of the other faintly possible excuses for her attitude, then she was obviously acting out of character and deserves the benefit of the doubt.

If she is simply discourteous (or rude) then maybe someone OUGHT to tell her.

sheepgomeep · 27/03/2007 19:21

i worked in sainsbury's for 3 years up until last nov and believe me the wages are shite, if you are on the tills you get half an hours break in an 8 hour shift which is crap as you spend most of the time squinting at the computerised till, fantastic if your a migraine sufferer or having morning sickness like me.

I was generally very nice to customers, but believe me a lot were extremely rude to me, from slamming thier change on the counter to out and out verbal abuse.

It works both bloody ways.

I wouldn't have complained.

suejonez · 27/03/2007 19:22

I'm an accountant - I'd be more worried about the lack of a receipt

FioFio · 27/03/2007 19:23

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Rantum · 27/03/2007 19:24

I don't know why everyone thinks that being pleasant towards other human beings is ALWAYS false. I don't want my cashier to hug me or have my babies, I just would like to be treated with the same level of common courtesy that I treat them with.

FioFio · 27/03/2007 19:30

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BassMama · 27/03/2007 19:30

Its not rude. Its thoughtless, and not particularly friendly, but not rude.

Politeness failure is good, i like that!

I think i am getting so het up as about 2 years ago, a good friend of mine was working in a bar. His wife had just left him after a very hard period of time after one of their twins died. He was, understandably, not in the best of moods and was trying damn hard to get through work as he had been given paid time off but had to work 2 more shifts. A woman complained about him, and he got into trouble.

So you never know the full story.

A little bit of rudeness isnt really going to hurt you, but complaining about someone could really hurt them.

WotzsanEgg · 27/03/2007 19:35

Go support your small local shops and you will find you get great service and a nice chat and you wil always have a chance to talk about the weather before you leave.
You might not get a receipt!
Buy local produce before the big guys take over and then no-one will care what service you get!

sheepgomeep · 27/03/2007 19:35

yeah thats true fiofio and you can't choose when to take your break either. quite often i had to take my break a couple of hours after i got there which meant i had to go without any other break for nearly six hours, great when you need to eat regularly or you need the loo.

factory workers often get treated better than shopworkers/cashiers. Done that job too.

Tutter · 27/03/2007 19:39

lol suejonez

interesting, this

50/50 split i would say in terms of responses

Rantum · 27/03/2007 19:41

Well, I have worked as a cashier in an off-licence as well as a waitress. So yes. Although never in a supermarket, Fiofio.

I wasn't directly criticising you personally, simply reiterating the fact that while I do agree that people are underpaid and that they have to deal with shitty customer that is no excuse to stoop to their level imo. Frankly it never occured to me NOT to say thank you or that I should turn my back on a customer.

DonnyLass · 27/03/2007 19:41

not unreasonable

being courteous is part of her job

if i do my job badly i get reprimanded ...

but perhaps she didnt have an inkling; manners and courtesy are subjective i'm afraid

perhaps it was a little too much to go to the manager but i understand your frustration ... overall in the uk the service approach just doesnt feature .. good gawd we're the only nation to have a word for waiting in line and we spend our time apologising and 'not making a fuss' even when provoked or justified

compounding that -- you're used to US service which is usually incentivised and the culture is geared for sales assistants to assist you to make a sale or get tips to add to a meagre wage; the uk has assistants who cant top up like that so no motivation

fwiw ... i know the US style seems obsequious to a brit -- but it often is sincerely meant, just that the same scipt doesnt translate here

FioFio · 27/03/2007 19:42

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wheresthehamster · 27/03/2007 19:42

She was probably trained by the same people who train doctors' receptionists. ("Is it a TRUE MEDICAL emergency?????? - No, well call back in 6 weeks").

Off the subject I know but relevant to me this morning!

zippitippitoes · 27/03/2007 19:45

I guess she wasn't turning her back but going on to do something which involved her turning her back

doubt if it was soda water fio
isn't that american for lemonade or something

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