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.

Don’t worry. Trust your instincts. You could complain. But don’t worry if nothing happens.

he may have been chatting up the girl. But she saw him be rude so she knows.

OP it obvs made you feel uncomfortable and those feelings are valid. However message received may not have been the intended message sent. I think that we all have these experiences and need to not give them too much headspace, other than to maybe prepare something to say if such a thing ever happens again (as it's impossible in the moment!)
"Sorry- am I asking something outside your remit, as that was an odd look you gave me there? Most unsettling".

Yes. He came across as rude but just forget it and move on.

This thread is bonkers, WTAF is a cold stare?

He sounds rude, but it doesn't sound like you said much either.

Some people really aren't cut out for customer service and have no way with people.

Have you ever seen paddington?

I work in a supermarket and have a colleague who does stuff like that all the time. He has adhd and autism and would have been waiting for you to elaborate. He doesn't mean anything by it but he can come across as a bit stand off-ish. I wouldn't complain personally.

As he was in self scan he probably has no idea about products as he may not be multi trained in all areas, he may also have finished his shift and be shopping , i had someone complain about me whilst i was doing my own food shopping because i wouldnt help them with a tv ,i did say go to customer services and they will find someone to help you however they left that bit out and yes management brought it up , now i always change my top before i shop because im sick of people asking stuff i have only ever had one person go im so sorry i can see your not at work but could you tell me where to find such and such

I'd be annoyed if he was actually staring aggressively. (Although that can be hard to differentiate between an unfriendly or even pensive stare)
My husband looks angry when he isn't. It's the male equivalent of resting bitch face.

I'd be annoyed but I wouldn't bother complaining.

If you said "can I ask about this product" he was probably waiting for you to be more specific - did you want to know did they have it in stock, did you want to know where it was in the store, did you want to ask something else?

If someone asked me that, I'd be waiting for a follow up comment, and if you didn't make one, I can imagine people not saying much and waiting.

A few things could be in play here
He's near the end of a long and shitty shift.
His g/f has dumped him
Recent bereavement
He just has "one of those faces"
He is fed up of people asking him stuff them failing to elaborate on what it is they actually want.
You are massively overreacting and need to forget it

A glare.

Aggressive staring is a thing though. Designed to make you feel small.

No wonder people don't want to work in retail.

OH FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!!!!!!!! Stop being difficult.

She didn’t asked him what colour his fucking underwear is she asked him if she could ask about a product.

Used to work in a supermarket this is a completely fine thing to ask. Also worked in travel and people would show me maps and all sorts on their phones and say can I ask about this place etc

Good customer service is being warm and friendly and leading the conversation and asking the right questions to help the customer.

Unless he he physically unable to do that then that’s what he should have done.

Half the people in this thread would fail basic customer service training or a job interview for a supermarket.

Nobody on here will know if he was rude or not? What were you going to ask him about the product? If they stocked it, where was it? I can't think of anything else.

Tbh there could have been a myriad of reasons why he said nothing - not all of them malicious.

I've had people walk up to me and immediately say "Can I ask a question about this?" without even giving me a second to acknowledge their presence so it takes me a second or two to process what they asked especially if they have any kind of accent as it takes me a second to concentrate enough to actively listen "past the accent" to hear what they're asking. So for a few moments it can look like I'm just staring at them, sometimes with a frown/my natural RBF because I'm too busy trying to process the words they said (one of my colleagues calls it my "Please wait, program loading" expression) to concentrate on what my face is doing.

I've occasionally done it on purpose - just given someone a blank look - when I've reached my limit of rude people just walking up to me and either making a statement, just throwing out random words or holding out a phone instead of speaking to me and expecting me to do the work to figure out what they want and be polite instead of just giving me all of the necessary information.

I now work in the pharmacy in my supermarket and the amount of people who walk up and say "I'm here to collect a prescription" and then say nothing else whole staring at you expectantly ... Well no shit Sherlock, it's a pharmacy 90% of the people at the counter are here for a prescription but unless you just want me to pick a random bag off the shelf and hope it's the right one, I'm going to need a bit more information, like your name, as a minimum. But I'm not allowed to say that so most of the time I will smile and ask "What name is the prescription for?".

However, if I've had a busy/stressful period and I'm at the end of my customer service rope then sometimes the next customer to do this gets the blank stare back until they follow up with "For Sarah Jones" because if I open my mouth I know I'm either going to be rude or sarcastic as my filter is at its limit, which would end up in a complaint, so instead I keep my mouth shut. Is it great customer service? No, but it's 100% better than saying something I shouldn't and I'm human so I have limits that very often get reached on a long day.

Wow. I always lead with "I'm here to pick up a prescription" and the pharmacist says "may I have your name please" I thought that was normal.

Really - odd? Asking about a product and showing a photo of it on your phone?

heavens you must live a very narrow life if you find that odd. I have done that in shops - mainly B&Q. In fact it makes it much easier - yesterday the guy in B&Q was able to read the product code from my phone and easily find the right product on this system.

The last part of your post makes you sound really rude and that this isn’t the job for you.
Some people feel it’s more polite to say what they are there for to give the employee time to process what the task will be. It’s not rude at all. Why don’t you think about other peoples days and how tired they are and not just your own!!!!!
Maybe they are stressed because their ill or their family member is ill.

Me too. Always.

If I pick up a parcel. I say “please can I pick up a parcel?” Too.

I'm not being difficult. I'm trying to be helpful by clarifying what the op actually said she did, rather than what the poster said she did.

You can't win in this place 😂

No. I think people are giving him the benefit of the doubt because they weren’t there and it’s someone’s job you are possibly jeopardising when you’re bashing away on your keyboard.