I witnessed a retail employee being absolutely vile to an elderly man today

[Greenfinc]

This afternoon in a small branch of Lidl at the self service checkouts. Nobody was on the actual tills so no option to use them instead.

An elderly man needed some help scanning his shopping and was explaining to the employee overseeing the checkouts that he was partially sighted and was struggling to find the bar codes.

The employee was absolutely horrible to him saying being partially sighted doesn't mean he can't see and that there's a difference between being partially sighted and blind. Her attitude was vile.

She begrudgingly scanned his remaining items, as though he'd asked her to pay for them herself, and as he was collecting his change from the machine she sarcastically said "oh you managed to see that well enough did you"

I asked him if he needed any help and if he was ok and he explained that he'd had two surgeries on his eyes and couldn't see very well, and that he was only able to get about to the shop on his own as he knew and was used to it but struggled with the bar codes.

I told him I'd heard everything that woman had said to him and that I'm going to contact the head office about her and report exactly what I'd heard. He said he didn't want to make a fuss and that she was clearly just looking for an argument.

WIBU to report her to her employer regardless? I feel really sad about it and don't think somebody like that should be in a customer facing role working with members of the public. Horrible bully.

I reported a Lidl employee last year via email

As I didn't know their name I just gave the store, date and a description of them. They have a handful of staff at each store so easy to work out who

Their behaviour has been much better since so I've a feeling they were spoken to

Yep she’s a bully. Report it

yes reports her and did you actually hear all that and not say anything to her ????

Poor man - thank goodness for people like you who are willing to speak up, and I bet he really appreciated your support. Please report - her attitude is shocking.

Report her. Elderly people need help. One day she’ll need help too and hope then she learns the hard way!

Send the image with a factual letter to the branch manager, they are usually named online.

Having a slanging match with an antisocial bully in the middle of a supermarket solves nothing, reporting the behaviour to her superiors hopefully will.

Do you think she doesn't realise how awful she is? She knows and doesn't give a toss.

That poor man.

I get really irritated when people claim to be 'partially sighted' when they just need glasses/have one bad eye. This is exactly why that is a problem- people don't understand how severe sight loss has to be to be registered as sight impaired.

Thank you for reporting her.

To those saying they would speak up there and then, what would you say?
Genuine question. I'm not a naturally outspoken person but I'd like to be and I hate to see things happen and not step in. I just never know what to say in a situation like this?

Who mentioned slanging match, oh you did, certainly not me.

So you think a ticking off from me would have been well received? By somebody like that?

No good will have come from it other than some short lived satisfaction for me for calling somebody out, most importantly it wasn't what the elderly man wanted.

I'd sooner spend that 5 minutes talking to him personally and offering my support than engage with some dickhead without decency.

And this is partly why discriminatory behaviour (here for disabi,ity) continues. It's just not taken seriously. Replace the references above to, say, sexual assault or racism and I just don't think it could be written that way.

Well done for reporting it op the man is vulnerable and she was bang out of order.

Absolutely report her. I was once in a small branch of a large chain and experienced an older cashier being awful to an Asian lady who was struggling to make herself understood. Lots of people stood by and watched but I couldn’t. I told him how inappropriate his behaviour was, that he was nothing but a bully and to pack it in. I then found the CEO’s email online and wrote to him about it. Got a response that night telling me how appalled he was to hear that and that he would follow it up. No idea if he did, but felt at least is stood up and said something .

If that was my lovely Grandma in place of that old man, I would have thanked you for being so sweet to her and I'd have preferred it if you reported her, even if it just means it won't happen again and the employee isn't reprimanded or fired.
That's what the ability to report is for.
Horrible woman.

The man might not want to be in the paper. The employee should lose her job though.

I used to work in a supermarket and worked with someone who made a racial slur to another colleague (about another colleague) A customer overheard and wrote a complaint. It ended up going to disciplinary and then escalated even further and the colleague was fired (despite union support) Another colleague who overheard was asked to make a statement. So to the posters saying that management will not believe a customer over a colleague, this isnt always case! Perhaps the security guard witnessed it and was equally as disgusted and has also reported , or perhaps there was another customer who did the same. These complaints and feedback are so important and do hold some weight!

You were a good friend to him in the moment OP

I would definitely complain her.

It's not your job to reprimand her but I would certainly call in and complain her.
They are super polite where I go. That behaviour is definitely not what Lidl management expect of their employees.

People saying this woman shouldn't be outed publicly because she won't get another job? Boo fucking hoo. She should have thought of that before being abusive to a vulnerable, elderly man. She doesn't deserve a decent job and definitely not a customer facing one.

I cannot imagine for a minute she'd have shouted at you! Was she shouting at the man?

I'd report her. How awful.

Go back, get her name and report her, evil bitch!

Lidl have only got OP's word for it that this happened because the old man didn't make a complaint to back it up. If they choose to believe their employee and take no action, that assistant could go after OP for a claim for defamation for sharing her picture on social media and saying she was a bully when she's been cleared of wrongdoing.

This is disgusting behaviour from this employee also a symbol of how supermarkets and other businesses are making life so difficult and inaccessible for older and people in particular. Everything is self service or requires an app and not everyone has the capability to use these things for various reasons. It is discriminatory and abhorrent that companies treat people like this. If this was my DF I would be furious.