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Original poster

Was I in the wrong with this customer

87 replies

Jungledrinks · 21/07/2022 15:08

2 of us working in a shop college goes to the stock room and a customer asks me to help her with an item. I walk the customer and item back to the till to pay and there is a lady in front of the till who should I of served first. I served the lady I had been dealing with but the other lady got all grumpy and said she was here first. I did say I was dealing with this lady before she even entered the shop but my college would be along in a second to serve her but she walked out.

OP posts:
dontsweatthesmallstufff · 21/07/2022 15:12

No

Essexgalttc · 21/07/2022 15:12

You are not in the wrong

coffeecupsandfairylights · 21/07/2022 15:13

You were already with a customer. Till lady should have waited.

Darkstar4855 · 21/07/2022 15:14

She wasn’t there first, the other lady was.

Battytwatty · 21/07/2022 15:14

No not wrong at all.

i have found that since lockdown was over , most of general public have started to behave like arses. Much worse than before.

HirplesWithHaggis · 21/07/2022 15:14

Not much else you could do, really.

knittingaddict · 21/07/2022 15:15

You were right, customer was wrong.

I worked in retail for a long time.

GinasGirl · 21/07/2022 15:15

I was the customer in this situation once. The shop assistant was helping me with a gift for a friend and walked me to the til to find another customer waiting. She went ahead to finish helping me and the waiting customer was so angry. Shouted at her, shouted at me, wouldn't listen to our reason why we were being served first. Not much we could do!

Thedogscollar · 21/07/2022 15:16

You did the right thing you explained you were already dealing with a customer and you will be with her when you are finished serving the customer you were dealing with.
Serving the public is one of the hardest jobs. There is always someone that isn't happy. In my opinion you did nothing wrong.

vivainsomnia · 21/07/2022 15:17

I think you were in the wrong. You helped the lady which is fine but if the other was already queuing, the one you gelped should have waited to pay joining in the queue. I would have been annoyed too.

AryaStarkWolf · 21/07/2022 15:19

YANBU

Georgeskitchen · 21/07/2022 15:19

No you weren't wrong.
Lots of people seem to turn into arseholes when they walk into the shop. The worst ones are the ones who complain the queue is too long and they will be late picking up their kids from school.

Not my problem love. Sort out your schedule properly

AryaStarkWolf · 21/07/2022 15:19

vivainsomnia · 21/07/2022 15:17

I think you were in the wrong. You helped the lady which is fine but if the other was already queuing, the one you gelped should have waited to pay joining in the queue. I would have been annoyed too.

Nope you're wrong

Sellorkeep · 21/07/2022 15:22

vivainsomnia · 21/07/2022 15:17

I think you were in the wrong. You helped the lady which is fine but if the other was already queuing, the one you gelped should have waited to pay joining in the queue. I would have been annoyed too.

I agree

UWhatNow · 21/07/2022 15:27

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

caringcarer · 21/07/2022 15:28

Helping a customer is good but surely the one in queue should have been served first otherwise what is point of queuing? Lady you helped should have joined queue.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 21/07/2022 15:30

I think you were right - the lady you helped was there first.

However, even if you weren’t right, it wouldn’t be worth her making a fuss about - it’s no big deal either way! Don’t go into a shop if you’re in such a hurry you can’t wait by one customer.

purplecorkheart · 21/07/2022 15:32

If I was the lady you were helping I would have joined the queue tbh. What is the point of a queue otherwise. What if your workmate stopped to help someone else on her way back from the back and they also went ahead of the customer in the queue. There is a local gift shop here. If they are helping you and there is someone waiting at the till when you return there. They take your gift and put it in the wrapping area and you join the queue.

AryaStarkWolf · 21/07/2022 15:34

caringcarer · 21/07/2022 15:28

Helping a customer is good but surely the one in queue should have been served first otherwise what is point of queuing? Lady you helped should have joined queue.

The OP was already dealing with a customer who came up to her at her till, just because they both walked away from the till to check an item doesn't negate the fact she'd been at the till with the OP first

Ponderingwindow · 21/07/2022 15:34

The person who was ready to pay first should have been served first. I would have been annoyed too had I made my selection, been waiting to pay, and was made to wait longer. The other customer entering the store first is irrelevant. They took longer to make a selection.

AryaStarkWolf · 21/07/2022 15:37

Imagine actually getting that annoyed that you'd walk out of the shop though, some people 😂

Scepticalwotsits · 21/07/2022 15:37

Back in the day at retail when helping customers once helped I would offer to take the item to the till, and would walk it up and have it on the side ready for the cashier to serve them, if there wasn’t one I would then serve the people in the queue and when the person I was helping got to the front would grab their item from the side of the till.

women who shouted was an arse but I would have served the person queuing first

PeekAtYou · 21/07/2022 15:40

You're right.

There's too many people these days behaving badly towards retail staff.

coffeecupsandfairylights · 21/07/2022 15:43

Ponderingwindow · 21/07/2022 15:34

The person who was ready to pay first should have been served first. I would have been annoyed too had I made my selection, been waiting to pay, and was made to wait longer. The other customer entering the store first is irrelevant. They took longer to make a selection.

It's irrelevant that you'd made your selection first.

The employee was with another customer - you don't just get to barge in front just because you didn't require any extra help!

This thread reminds of why I'll never go back to retail.

coffeecupsandfairylights · 21/07/2022 15:44

Scepticalwotsits · 21/07/2022 15:37

Back in the day at retail when helping customers once helped I would offer to take the item to the till, and would walk it up and have it on the side ready for the cashier to serve them, if there wasn’t one I would then serve the people in the queue and when the person I was helping got to the front would grab their item from the side of the till.

women who shouted was an arse but I would have served the person queuing first

The person queuing first is the person OP was already helping, they'd just moved away from the queue (with the cashier) for some help. That doesn't mean they then go to the back of queue!