AIBU- being on the phone when being served is just rude?

[autumnnightsaredrawingin]

I’ve just been to pick up a parcel from the post office. The woman in front of me was on her phone, as in having a conversation, not just texting. She didn’t even acknowledge the man behind the counter, gave him the card, carried on talking, showed her ID, took the parcel and left, without pausing her conversation or saying thank you.

AIBU to think pretty much any phone call can wait a few minutes whilst you’re being served, whether that be at a post office, supermarket, coffee shop or whatever? If you must be talking on your phone, at least pause the conversation and acknowledge the person serving you? It’s just so, so rude not to.

Everyone is glued to their phones these days. I work at a university and the younger students would rather instant message you than come over and speak face to face!

@RB68
This is so true. I work in a delicatessen and of course if somebody came in and explained then wouldn't have an issue at all, even if they didn't explain but still mouthed sorry or whatever, the same as I would if I was on an urgent call.

What grinds my gears is the whole rudeness factor. There is a woman who comes in for her take away lunch every day, is always on the phone without fail and has actually put her finger up before to shut me up when Iv asked what I can get for her!

Some people are just rude af 🤷🏽‍♀️

You know what I hate; when I'm walking around Lowes or the Home depot (US) and I'm on my phone asking my husband where he is (the stores are about three miles wide I think) or asking my husband to measure something if he's home or something related with why I'm there and a store clerk is following me around asking me if they can help me. They can clearly see and hear I'm on the phone.

Yes it is very rude and unless it's an emergency totally unnecessary. PUT THE PHONE AWAY. The world won't stop turning if you ask the person on the other end to wait. And if it's something like the uni phoning back, you can say "sorry this is really urgent, thank you for serving me" and go back to the call.

However, Sainsburys don't agree and disciplined a sales assistant who dared to ask a customer to finish her call before she served her (I think both parties were female). They then refused to deal with any of the social media furore about it.

The problem is simply people think their phones are more important than anything else (barring perhaps their expensive cars). I now play chicken with people in London who stare at their phones while walking along - to see if they'll look up before they crash into me and have to be ready to leap out of the way if they don't.

Once had this in the gym trying to book a treatment when the receptionist was on a call in portuguese

She carried on chit chatting about nothing important, and then eventually slowly finished her call and turned her attention to me. She did the perfunctory apology to which I replied - also in portuguese (I'm bilingual ) - not to worry as I wasn't in a rush.

she was

I don’t see the problem with being on your phone, as long as you apply some basic manners.

It’s not like there’s a lot of information to exchange. They tell you a price, you pay them the money and you say thank you. I can manage all of that with a phone by my ear.

I can’t see how it’s any different with being out doing the shopping with your mum and having a conversation with her whilst you are queuing. As long as you pause the conversation long enough to acknowledge and thank them, what’s the issue?

This doesn’t happen in the supermarket (reception always rubbish in there anyway!) but if I’m walking through town and make a work call and then dive into a shop to buy a drink, I’m not going to say “I’ll call you back later, I need to make pointless small talk with the guy in the shop”

I dont think its rude at all. thank goodness for self checkouts! they should be everywhere. I think it's rude. One thing to juggle a phone conversation and being served, and make sure you answer questions and say "thank-you" - quite another to carry on your phone conversation and make no acknowledgment - you are treating the sales assistant in the same way as a self checkout. It is a bit rude to convey to someone - a person - that in your eyes they are no more than a piece of inanimate machinery.

@GreenLantern53 of course it's rude. You're basically dismissing the person serving you as not important to even bother speaking to... It's a horrible feeling and makes you feel like a slave or piece of meat who's just there to serve a purpose.

if I’m walking through town and make a work call and then dive into a shop to buy a drink, I’m not going to say “I’ll call you back later, I need to make pointless small talk with the guy in the shop

If I am walking through town on a work call (how on earth can you hear anyway) I will not go and buy myself a drink! I will finish the call first!

Yup. When I worked on the bar I would ignore those who were on their phone. Don't care how long they waved their money at me.

*Coop especially are TERRIBLE for this. So many times I have been to the shop and their staff don't even look at the customers as they're chatting to each other.

I have two co-ops near me, one is exactly like this and the staff are bloody awful, and the other is the exact opposite and they can't do enough for you! Usually if the staff are terrible it's because the manager doesn't care in my experience.*

I get so annoyed by the staff in the co-op. I have one near me where I often have chosen what I want to buy only to get to the checkout and find NO staff manning the checkout and a queue of several people waiting to pay. You have to resort to going looking for a staff member to serve you.

They're their to check your items out, not be your mate.

Well no they're there to serve customers. Their job titles are literally customer service assistants. I've lost count of the number of times I've been handed the wrong item because said assistants are too busy chatting to their colleagues to do their job properly.
I think it's rude either way (phones or chatting) but it's worse when it's staff somehow as they are being paid to do a job and I don't appreciate being made to feel like I'm interupting a private party in order to get served.

When I see this I think "Oooh, look at ME!! I'm much too grand to interact with you! Transact my business as I ignore you, peasant!".

Ordinarily I would agree that it's rude, but I have lost count of the amount of times I have been at a checkout, and the person serving me has been yakking to a colleague, and ignoring me.

So I think people yabbering on their phone and ignoring the person on the checkout is no worse than the checkout operator ignoring the customer they're serving, and gas-bagging with a colleague.

That happens to me, probably 1 in 4 times that I get served by someone.

@DarlingNikita

It's SO rude. I cringe when I see it happening, and do British steely glares at the offending person's back.

No fucker is that important.

Well aren't YOU charming? I am sure the person on their phone is soooooo devastated that you are staring at their back with a steel glare. PMSL!

Bet you're one of these checkout operators or cashiers who chats to their mates at work, when you're meant to be serving the customer! But gets irked when it's done to you!

@dinkydonky

See I wouldn't give a toss about this, as long as they were scanning the items at a reasonable speed! They're their to check your items out, not be your mate.

What a ludicrous comment. Again, you sound like one of those people who yabber on to their mates instead of doing what you are PAID for - serving the customer!

Funny how some people piss and moan if a customer ignores THEM. but choose to ignore the fact that checkout operators regularly ignore customers, and chat away to their mates, and not even make EYE contact with the customer,.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the customer has is always right. Their custom is paying your wages! Did you not learn that during your customer service training?

@dinkydonky

They're their to check your items out, not be your mate.

@TheCatWhisperer

Well no they're there to serve customers. Their job titles are literally customer service assistants. I've lost count of the number of times I've been handed the wrong item because said assistants are too busy chatting to their colleagues to do their job properly.

I think it's rude either way (phones or chatting) but it's worse when it's staff somehow as they are being paid to do a job and I don't appreciate being made to feel like I'm interrupting a private party in order to get served.

Yeah this. ^ Exactly what I said. Some shop assistants/cashiers can be very rude.

It works both ways. I stopped using our local newsagents because every time I went in there the owner was on his mobile phone - and he never put it down. He would speak to me in between speaking to whoever was on the other end of the phone (so I'm guessing it was a personal call). On top of that he insisted on calling me "mate". I was not his mate - nor ever likely to be and I was in fact old enough to be his mother!

It's not just in Britain either. I was in Italy recently and remarked to DH about people ( of all ages) being attached to their mobile phones. A woman behind me in the supermarket one day loaded all her shopping on the conveyor belt, picked up a carrier bag that I dropped, paid for and packed her shopping and then pushed her trolley across the car park to her car, all whilst talking on her phone.

thisneverendingsummer, I was being a bit light-hearted about the steely glare thing, but I see that went over your head.

Bet you're one of these checkout operators or cashiers who chats to their mates at work, when you're meant to be serving the customer! But gets irked when it's done to you!
I don't work on a checkout now, but I have done and I would never chat instead of serving customers.

Sorry Nikita.

I guess it's hard to gauge someone's 'tone' on the internet.

I think customers often dehumanise those working in retail. They treat them exactly the same as they treat the self service checkout.

@bigbluebus

It works both ways. I stopped using our local newsagents because every time I went in there the owner was on his mobile phone - and he never put it down. He would speak to me in between speaking to whoever was on the other end of the phone (so I'm guessing it was a personal call). On top of that he insisted on calling me "mate". I was not his mate - nor ever likely to be and I was in fact old enough to be his mother!

Yep, I have had this kind of thing happen a lot too!

Unfair @randomlychosename

As I (and some others have said) some checkout operators are just as rude as some customers.

There are also some lovely customers and some lovely checkout operators.

I said often not all!

if I had to take a call while being served I would, and have, apologised to the staff member...and in my case it was dh wanting to know where I was for a pick up and I had just dashed in somewhere so not like a full on conversation

When at work I would leave the customer with a frosty "I will give you some privacy and be back....." if it was a trivial chitchat and then let them sit there festering until I deigned to return.

The staff in my local supermarket are lovely, and always have a nice chat while putting my shopping through. Over the years I’ve got to know some as regulars, and we’ve consoled each other over bereavements, discussed each other’s relatives with mental health problems, recommended holiday destinations, exchanged chit chat about our grown up children etc.
That would all be impossible if either I or they were glued to phones.
For some elderly people, the shop staff may be the only human contact for days, so it’s nice that they’re available to talk.
As for customers on phones ignoring staff - that is beyond rude, and treating the staff as beneath consideration. It’s inexcusable.

I worked in retail years ago as a student and this was commonplace even then so I can imagine it’s only worsened as we become increasingly glued to devices. It is rude and incredibly arrogant.