AIBU - experience in a tesco store

[unknown7]

Don't know if I'm overreacting or not, probably am but it happened last night and I have history of some abuse. I was in a tesco stored at around 8pm, I wanted to ask about an item so approached two customer service people at the checkout area, one was male and one female. I approached them both but due to how they were standing I was closer to the male so showed him my phone. He gave me this aggressive blank stare and shrugged but kept staring right at me, he made me feel really uncomfortable and just didn't say anything. A really cold stare. The female noticed I was a little uncomfortable so quickly came across to help me but would you complain to tesco about this? Am I being ridiculous. He just made me feel so uneasy.

I don't know if Tesco would take you seriously if you reported, after all there is no way to prove he stared icily at you. It won't show on CCTV cameras, the only possible witness is the member of staff who saw you were uncomfortable.

I think I less he actually said anything aggressive or rude or intimidating then there's not much to complain about.

Tesco employ thousands of colleagues and not every single one is going to be a Customer Service diamond. Sounds like you just got a bad one. Move on

Yes how fucking baffling to ask customer service staff about a product in their store.

I'm not sure if people commenting on this thread are totally thick, being deliberately obtuse or both.

YANBU, OP.

I don't know what an aggressive look means. My guess is that he didn't hear OP speak clearly or didn't think it was his job role to help in that moment. Our supermarket staff are often chatting with colleagues after they finish their shift. Maybe OP approached suddenly & he felt startled.

Did the female employee say anything? It sounds like they were standing together.

That's such an odd way to approach someone. I would be a bit confused by it, but hope I would have the wherewithal to say 'certainly, what do you want to know?'.

The question that was asked really leads only to the answers 'yes' or 'no' - I'm pretty sure neither of them would be seen as particularly satisfactory.

But she didn't ask about a product. She asked she could ask about a product. The staff member couldn't tell her what she wanted to know, because she hadn't actually told him.

@CrappyJob Well, the answer to that question is then surely at least "Yes you can ask me," not an aggressive stare and a shrug of the shoulders.

Sure. Or something like what I said in the post directly above the one you quoted.

It’s well known on MN that all Tesco staff must be on minimum wage. They are not paid enough to answer customer queries.
😉😁😁

If it made you feel uncomfortable report it. No more needs to be said on here really. It may have been intimidation. It may have been flirtatious. It may have been ignorance. Either way , he needs telling to improve his customer service.

I think this is far too much headspace for a stare, to be honest.
He was useless at customer service, but you got someone else to answer your questions.
You shall recognise him in future and avoid. All that is needed here.

And, people saying that the approach was weird, no actual question, they would be baffled, he was waiting for the actual question...... I do very much hope they do not work in retail and especially within customer service!
Though I have come across some customer service providers that do fit that bil! It is hilarious!

He probably didnt like being interrupted from chatting which is an awful attitude. I would complain. Nothing may be done but if his unhelpful attitude has already been noticed then it might be.

I am baffled by the people who cant understand you asking a question amd can see why he didnt speak. I can think of plenty of responses for him to say and plenty of reasons you would be asking.

The guy is best case rude and worst case racist. Sorry you had a bad experience.

I don't think you should report him for an 'aggressive stare'. It could well just be what he looks like.
I say that as someone who's regularly asked 'hey what's wrong?' when absolutely nothing is and I was completely unaware I had a face like thunder as it is just what I look like when I'm generally thinking about something and not paying attention to every detail of my face.

I don't think it makes sense for him to be reported for this-not sure how the OP could do that. But I do also thing that if you can't manage your "resting bitch face" then maybe customer service is not the job for you. Surely, even if he thought the OP's request was a bit odd, his actual JOB was to smile and say "Of course- how can I help?"

Er, I didn't quote your post - you quoted mine.🤔

Yes, definitely complain about him shrugging off a question. People shouldn't get away with being lazy/rude in their jobs.

Its hard to tell as you don't know what was in his head. His hard stare might also be his "oh help what do I do I'm new here and just used to returns" look. But you were there. So if you think he was giving you the hard look of aggression then yes either complain (I'd feedback rather than complain) or don't go to them again.

Actually shocked at posters trying to imply that OP went up to a stranger and shoved her phone in their face with no context.

Conversations and interactions work both ways. She goes up to someone in uniform and says 'can I ask about this product please?'.

Normal response: 'sure, what do you need to know?' Or 'Do you want me to check if it's in stock for you?'.

Under very circumstances is it socially appropriate to just stare aggressively at someone who asked a simple question. Do a lot of the previous posters play some kind of game where they take the most normal, appropriate response and pretend they think the opposite?

A pp said she would have just stared blankly back and waited for you to fill in the blanks? What? Have you such poor social awareness and communication skills that you couldn't use your words to develop a very easy dialogue to figure out the issue? Even my 6 year could respond to the op in this scenario.

Pps saying that Tesco has a diverse employment policy. That's really great, but employees still need to be able to fulfill their roles and being asked a simple question, politely, and responding with a cold glare is not appropriate in customer care role.

People saying he was baffled? About what? Come on! Seriously, if you would be baffled about a customer initiating a query about a product, and you don't have enough mental capacity to process such a simple interaction, how do you get through life?

Op, do not listen to these PPs who will use any kind of pathetic, soggy, paper thin excuse to excuse appalling behaviour from a man to a woman. Yes complain.

Was he a teenager?
Lots of young people’s first job is at Tesco. I would assume he was new and perhaps not fully trained.
If he was with another member of staff and she jumped in to help, I would assume she was training him.
OP, as a poster said- Tesco employs a lot of diverse employees. They give a lot of people their first job. He wasn’t helpful, and he stared/looked at you.
I think you’ll probably be ok.

Baffled by responses to this. I work in customer service. The correct response from him should have been first a smile, then 'yes of course, what would you like to know?' or "yes of course, how can I help?'. I sometimes wonder if people on MN actually interact with real people at all!?
Maybe not a complaint exactly but an email recommending training.

I do apologise. The post directly above the one you were referring to.

I realise the distinction is of high importance.

Totally agree!

What kind of planet do these people inhabit where they think this is ok?

So what if its a teenager on the first day of the job! He needs some training not to behave like that in a customer facing role. Honestly, are people so thick that they can't understand the most basic of human interactions?

And if he needs to be told to smile and respond to a customer in the first place, maybe he needs a different job and let someone who knows how to interact with other humans have the job instead.