Customers swearing at retailers today

[chocolateworshipper]

AIBU to hope that customers who shouted swore at retailers today feel BLOODY ASHAMED OF THEMSELVES. Did you SERIOUSLY believe that the teenager behind the till was responsible for your Visa card not working?

When i worked in Marks as a student, if a customer had abused a member of staff with foul language they would have been escorted from the premises.
Ff 25 years, DD2 was called a rancid cunt by a middle aged man at the age of 17. Her manager (in Boots) apologised to him.
Nice.

Oh I have many tales to tell about arsehole customers and I am a ten year (thankfully now ex) retail veteran. People see a cashier or someone filling shelves and think "Oh, this isn't really a person, they're just a servant and I can be as rude as I like."
That's not to say I didn't have some nice customers, I've met some truly lovely people, but far more than my share of utter bellends.
I've not (thankfully) had to deal with an actual shop fire but I have had to repeatedly explain to people that the fire alarm IS going off and yes, we do have to leave and no, you can't pay first.
I've also had people get very angry that they can't continue shopping as there was a power cut. We didn't know when the power was coming back, none of the tills worked and the shop was dark and unsafe. YES YOU HAVE TO LEAVE!!!
The worst day was when there was a fire in a local telephone exchange and we could not accept any switch or solo payments as they needed a connection to the bank (I think that's how it worked?) to go through. Yes, we had a big sign up explaining this.
People argued. I was treated as if I had been the one to start the fire. People didn't believe me about the sign (It was on a piece of A1 card on the way in, pretty big) and lots and lots of complaints.
Sympathies to any retail/service staff working yesterday. It can't have been easy.

I used to work in our village shop and was always amazed at just how badly some customers would behave

Called a cunt because I wouldn’t serve alcohol outside licensing hours, screaming tantrums, people throwing stuff around.

I nipped into our co-op to buy milk last night (had some cash) but the amount of ranting and moaning from other customers was unreal

Had no problems with my shopping today - good old cash!!

Oh, and we used to put bit notices up if ever our card machines went down - huge one on the door, smaller ones on the counters and dotted all over the shop.

You’d still get customers coming to the till to pay by card, then getting arsey when they couldn’t

I went to Primark yesterday and despite big queues and mildly disgruntled shoppers, it was reasonably civil. The staff were putting people's shopping into bags if they didn't have cash so they could easily come back and pay later. I think once people realised all the tills were down they were fairly resigned.
No point at all taking it out on the staff.

Oh yes, I’ve had someone go a bit mad at me for not being able to serve alcohol before 11 (I think it was - was a few years ago). It was a mum at a mum & baby meet up. We provided cakes & juice for children and coffee for parents, as requested, but one mum wanted wine and flipped her lid when we couldn’t sell it to her. Looking back I actually think she may have had a drink problem. Or maybe she was a bit embarrassed. She didn’t call me names though, just ranted a bit about poor service and how outrageous it was.

Any industry where you’re providing the service/goods means you will be subjected to arseholes.

It’s not that every customer is a dickhead, it’s just that dickheads are allowed to buy things like the rest of us.

I hate working in retail, I feel for you all.

It's an old problem, though.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=zYTJzRURASY