To think this customer in Marks &Spencer was incredibly rude

[user1485342611]

I visited a Marks & Spencer cafe with my elderly aunt at the weekend. The place was packed and one member of staff was going around with a trolley clearing tables.

One customer (I'm not sure if she was a friend of the staff member) decided to engage her in conversation for about ten minutes (no exaggeration), while customers waited and waited at dirty tables an eventually began to clear the tables themselves.

Myself and my aunt were sitting at a table with a huge amount of dirty crockery, because it was the only table available. After waiting ages, and because there was too much to clear away ourselves, I eventually went up to the staff member and, after saying 'excuse me' three times, she eventually turned around.

I said that there was a lot of dirty dishes on our table that needed clearing. She just replied 'okay I'll be there in a minute' and I said 'thanks' and began to walk away. Whereupon the customer who had been holding her up shouted indignantly 'excuse me, excuse me, we're talking' and seemed outraged that I had interrupted them.

I just said 'yes, and I'm just asking for our table to be cleared' and walked away.

WIBU to have interrupted them? I don't think so as we, along with loads of other people, had been waiting for ages while they chatted away.

M+S cafe's are a nightmare. Always far too busy, tricky to get a seat, dirty tables etc etc.
Yet people flock to them in droves. It's mostly elderly couples and mums with babies that visit. Maybe they should just create huge M+S cafe's in a next door building with adequate staff and space.
I think people go to them expecting a relaxing cup of coffee but it's never the case.

M&S cafes are shit because they are sooooooo slow. Literally could not outrun a glacier.

But one thing they do get right in the one I was unfortunate to use was to not allow anyone to reserve tables until they got their food and then they helped the customers find a table when their food was ready, although this was probably because they knew that people would be in the queue forever and those who got their food would have more than enough time to eat it before the people in the queue got theirs.

No YABU.

If they want to encourage customer relationships through leisurely chats, they need to employ more staff. No point delighting one customer to then piss off 10 more.

Even if the customer was complaing as opposed to idly chatting, you still weren’t rude. You waited which you shouldn’t have to. If the complaint was something that took more than a minute or 2 to be —looked like it was— listened to, then said customer should have been directed to customer service and not solely demanding the the time of the employee on the coffee shop floor.

*YANBU

If the other woman was complaining the member of staff was still wrong to leave other customers with tables that needed clearing, if this was the case ( which I highly doubt from the OP's description ) she should have redirected the woman to someone else.

Complain to the manager!

I'd have cleared the dirty crockery etc. from my table onto the talking customers table. That would have made the point! If questioned, say that you were trying to help by moving stuff nearer to her to clear up.

The Pantheon branch at Oxford Circus is like this - lots of empty tables, but all full of dirty crockery. Staff all seem to be hanging about in the food prep area chatting, while one person does the coffees and the till. The Marble Arch branch is much better, although service is still terribly slow!

M&S encourage staff to build relationships with customers, especially regular customers. You didn’t do anything wrong from a customer point of you, but from a social / manners point of view you do need to wait until a conversation is finished before you interrupt & that is what the other customer was pointing out.

I doubt that M&S encourage this at the expense of the staff doing their jobs. The staff member should really have extracted herself earlier, it wouldn't have been difficult to say something like "Goodness, look at all the dirty tables, I really need to deal with them. Good to see you again,"

They closed our local MS cafe.

Sad face

Yes, the slow service in M&S restaurants is really annoying. Most of the staff seem to be using the coffee machines and there seems to be no way of paying without having to queue behind loads of people waiting for their cappuccinos and lattes.

Complain to the manager

I'd have cleared the dirty crockery etc. from my table onto the talking customers table. That would have made the point! If questioned, say that you were trying to help by moving stuff nearer to her to clear up.

In all likelihood you probably wouldn't. I'm not sure whether or not OP is being unreasonable but these threads always bring out the so-called vigilantes that claim they would have reacted in some bizarre unreasonable way that they probably would never do.

vladimir I really don't see how I was being unreasonable. It was either sit indefinitely at a table full of dirty crockery, clear it all away ourselves (which would have been difficult as it was quite a lot of crockery) or ask the staff member who was meant to be clearing tables to clear ours.

I had something similar the other day in Tesco. The one member of staff supposed to be looking after the self-service tills was in the aisle cooing over a baby for ages.

Eventually she returns to a queue of people who can't finish shopping because they need assistance.

I'm afraid I was very rolly-eyed and monosylabic when she tried to make conversation, but I just wanted to get out of there.

I was trying to pay for something at a till and another staff member began asking questions of the woman serving me...and LOADS of them so the woman couldn't concentrate on putting my stuff through...it was fabric and haberdashery so she needed to ask me measurements etc.

In the end I said "Shall we stick to this sale and then you can ask your questions later?"

I had this in a shop, but it was the supervisor interrupting.The assistant completely turned away to listen. I just very politely pointed out that she could give her assistant her instructions when she'd finished serving me... there was no one else in the queue behind me either so she'd only have had to wait a couple of minutes!

I also hate the slowness! They need different people taking the money and making the drinks.

The staff at the M& S near me are always efficient and friendly. A couple of years ago I had a really surly one at the customer collection point. She barely looked at me and was rude. I gave feedback on the M&S website and gave the time and name of the staff member. M&S sent an apology and told me they would suggest further training for her. Your staff member was responsible for the cafe. She should have been checking on the tables while she was chatting. Have a look on the site for the feedback form.

YANBU. M&S customers on average are ruder than many other shops. I only really go there for the food hall, but am frequently amazed by how unpleasant a lot of the customers are. Lidl is the worst for rude customers, M&S a close second.

I don't like going to M&S these days because I find myself sucked into the "fuck you" attitude - I end up more pushy than I would ever be in another shop, just to survive it.

Contact the store manager and complain.

YANBU. Possibly the customer is lonely and it may be the only lengthy chat they get each day.

For all you know she was another customer she was talking too.