Page 12 | Man complained about me re yoghurt brand stopped doing a flavour

Auburngal · 2024-04-03T11:05:23+00:00

I was at work. Man (early 80s) asked me why we stopped doing a certain flavour yoghurt and the other two supermarkets stopped selling too. Had my work’s handset on me and went onto the brand’s website and there wasn’t the flavour listed. Brand have dropped the flavour. On hearing the news - he flipped He then went to the CSD asking for a manager. Manager said the same thing as me. Do people realise that behaving like this is making staff leave retail?

peloton2024 · 05/04/2024 14:00

Eustaciavile · 05/04/2024 12:30

Come on OP, I think you will get over it.

Clearly the chap in question had some degree of cognitive impairment if not actual dementia which is much harder to cope with than being unreasonably shouted at by a customer.

There is a huge difference between entitled, unreasonable behaviour from fully functioning adults which is NEVER OK, and that exhibited by vulnerable people for example those with dementia or learning disabilities etc.

The latter I’m afraid is a part of your job as a customer facing worker that you will have to deal with. You need to take responsibility for ensuring you have the skills to deal with people who suffer additional challenges if you want to be a member of a truly inclusive society.

Perhaps you could request some training, for example your employer should offer a course on Dementia awareness.

How do you know they have dementia?
I'm regularly shouted at by people over 70 and not all of them have dementia
A colleague was head butted by a 65yo who had no cognitive impairment whatsoever

DoreenonTill8 · 05/04/2024 14:10

Eustaciavile · 05/04/2024 12:30

Come on OP, I think you will get over it.

Clearly the chap in question had some degree of cognitive impairment if not actual dementia which is much harder to cope with than being unreasonably shouted at by a customer.

There is a huge difference between entitled, unreasonable behaviour from fully functioning adults which is NEVER OK, and that exhibited by vulnerable people for example those with dementia or learning disabilities etc.

The latter I’m afraid is a part of your job as a customer facing worker that you will have to deal with. You need to take responsibility for ensuring you have the skills to deal with people who suffer additional challenges if you want to be a member of a truly inclusive society.

Perhaps you could request some training, for example your employer should offer a course on Dementia awareness.

No it shouldn't. Especially The latter I’m afraid is a part of your job as a customer facing worker that you will have to deal with. You need to take responsibility for ensuring you have the skills to deal with people who suffer additional challenges if you want to be a member of a truly inclusive society.
It's the responsibility of the store to remove/ban people who are abusive to staff, am fed up with the 'meh, you need to accept being abused/assaulted because....'

HectorPlasm · 05/04/2024 14:12

Are we EVER going to get the flavour of this yoghurt?! I've a good mind to complain ...

SapphireSeptember · 05/04/2024 14:13

I've actually had enough of people excusing bad behaviour. I had some woman rant at me during COVID, saying that I didn't know what people were going through. This was round about the time I was suffering a nasty bout of depression. Then a few years previously I had guy yelling at me over some scrambled eggs and telling me her had Asperger's, I'm autistic and I've managed to not shout at people in shops.
Meanwhile I was in Tesco last year, using the self service till, and every other item was not being registered when I put it in the bagging area. It was a whole trolley and took forever, and I was getting really flustered/frustrated/annoyed as the shop was closing and I wanted to get out of there. But, I wasn't rude to the staff. It wasn't their fault the stupid machine was being shit.
I work in a different area of retail now, supermarkets are a hellscape. We've also just implemented a zero tolerance policy for abusive costumers. Good.
I also didn't swear at the nurse who took a blood sample earlier, even though it really hurt. 😅 My veins were not being cooperative!

SapphireSeptember · 05/04/2024 14:14

GingerPirate · 03/04/2024 14:45

All right then.
Leave retail.

If we all did that, then what?

SapphireSeptember · 05/04/2024 14:17

Iop · 03/04/2024 12:50

I trust you didnt work in retail for very long, or else it was a long time ago before everyone turned into entitled twats. I work in a public-facing role (not retail) and have been -amongst other things - shouted at, sworn at, called useless, threatened with being followed home, had a glass of water thrown in my face, and been kicked in the stomach when 7 months pregnant. These were all in response to things I had literally no control over, and some of them on the same sort of scale as not having the yogurt flavour the person wanted (i.e. trivial). All I've ever done is empathise with the person's frustration and apologise (again, for things that are totally not my fault). The only exception was being kicked in the stomach, when I said "I'm sorry, I'm not going to let you do that. You will have to find another member of staff to help you." Poor mental health is not an excuse to treat people like shit. And taking a public-facing role does not mean you forfeit your rights to basic decency and respect.

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The fuck is wrong with people? How anyone thinks kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach is acceptable is beyond me! Did anything happen to this special specimen or did they get away with it? 🤬

PrincessofWells · 05/04/2024 14:28

AInightingale · 05/04/2024 13:46

I had this when I worked in a supermarket, though it was mostly from women. I remember being asked where the 3 litre containers of milk had gone, and I said that we had plenty of 2 litre bottles. Oh no, they bought 3 litres every Saturday morning, it was 11p cheaper. Could I stop what I was doing and go and check the storeroom? We didn't have any, I had to return and break the news, they weren't pleased. Sometimes I couldn't believe the hassle some customers were prepared to put staff through. Yes, for something important like a certain kind of baby formula or medicine, but to save fucking 11p on a container of milk? Lunatics.

And your attitude is everything that's wrong with retail . . ..

'Of course I'll check for you'.
'I'm really sorry we appear to have sold out'. Is there anything else I can help you with?'

Thinkonmadam · 05/04/2024 14:35

Think one of my favourites was working for one of the posh supermarkets and having a man shout in my face about how useless I was (because I wasn’t trained/qualified to serve him on the deli counter) and a passing manager intervening by taking shouty customer FOR A FREE COFFEE IN THE CAFE!!

Nothing like feeling supported by management 😳🙄

BananaforScale · 05/04/2024 14:40

How incredibly ageist to assume that someone over 70 who behaves badly must have dementia. You wouldn't automatically think that of someone in their 40s, and people in their 40s can also have dementia (though less commonly).

Some people are just arseholes. They're arseholes when they're young and arseholes when they're old.

And regardless of anything else, everyone should have the right to go about their working day without being assaulted, verbally or physically.

Hesterbester · 05/04/2024 14:43

Eustaciavile · 05/04/2024 12:30

Come on OP, I think you will get over it.

Clearly the chap in question had some degree of cognitive impairment if not actual dementia which is much harder to cope with than being unreasonably shouted at by a customer.

There is a huge difference between entitled, unreasonable behaviour from fully functioning adults which is NEVER OK, and that exhibited by vulnerable people for example those with dementia or learning disabilities etc.

The latter I’m afraid is a part of your job as a customer facing worker that you will have to deal with. You need to take responsibility for ensuring you have the skills to deal with people who suffer additional challenges if you want to be a member of a truly inclusive society.

Perhaps you could request some training, for example your employer should offer a course on Dementia awareness.

How very patronising of you. And ageist.

And plain rude.

"Someone been an aggressive cunt to you today? How very unreasonable of you to be upset, perhaps you need some training or just fuck off and go somewhere else if it bothers you"

Maybe you need some training in a) not making ageist or ableist assumptions and b) having some empathy and c) having some social skills.

EpicPineapple · 05/04/2024 14:47

Men everywhere are getting way more aggressive. I don’t know if it’s overpopulation or a side effect of the internet (nonstop violent porn; social media echo chambers etc) Look at male behaviour in schools, look at the rise in war, look at the way transwomen are unable to have a calm polite debate about women’s safety.

So depressing.

infor · 05/04/2024 14:57

It's unreasonable to take it out on the messenger, but I think we all get frustrated with the increasingly common "your the third person to ask today, it's been discontinued due to no demand".

daisychain01 · 05/04/2024 15:02

Howaboutthats · 03/04/2024 12:36

What brand and flavour was it?

Sucks teeth - can't say, it would be outing.

PyongyangKipperbang · 05/04/2024 15:46

Work in a small supermarket, which has a bakery. But sometimes due to holidays etc there isnt a baker in. As we are only small, we only have 2 bakers, there wouldnt be enough work to have more on a permanent basis.

Guy comes in, late 70;s maybe, barges to the front of the queue demanding to know when the fresh bread would be out. I said I am sorry but we dont have a baker in today so there wont be any. He went MAD. Demanded to know what the hell I was going to do about it, why the fuck didnt I go and do it, blah blah. Bloke stepped in and gave him talking to but no he wasnt having it. Got banned from the store in the end as the manager tried explaining and he started effing and blinding at her too.

Another one is papers. Sometimes we dont get certain papers coming as we should or they come very late. The fuss some people make! Do we have any Daily Mails? No, I am sorry. Well WHY NOT?! They didnt get delivered this morning I am afraid. Do you REALLY expect me to believe that?! ....... Err....
I take great pleasure in directing them to the One Stop half a mile away, knowing full well that they wont have any either!

Similar with milk. There was an issue with HGV drivers a couple of years ago so we really struggled to get milk deliveries.
Customer would come in, see the empty fridge and then ask if we have any milk "out the back" ....I was so tempted so often to say "Yes of course, we keep it out there instead of in the completely empty fridge just to stop you buying it!"

And the number of people who take great umbridge that the magical place called "Out The Back" is not in fact a place where saying the magic word will conjure up a huge stock of the item that they want! That sometimes we do in fact run out of items and if the shelf is empty its because we havent got any!

Chaoseverywhere · 05/04/2024 15:53

He’s just an elderly man who likes a certain type of yoghurt. Dont take it to heart.

AllPrincessAnneshorses · 05/04/2024 15:53

And his age has what exactly to do with it?
Oh, so everyone can pile on abusing the olds. Got it.🙄
I see at least one other poster has made sure to mention older age for no reason.
Funny, the last rude for no fucking reason (shouted at a lady who moved aside so rude person's child wouldn't cannon into her) person I met was under 35.

HCHQ · 05/04/2024 15:55

Aw, cut him some slack - early 80's. "Things were different in his day", not that that is an excuse for being rude.

That said, I do understand it must be a drain having to deal with rude folk day in, day out.

Keep up the good work - most of us appreciate you 😍

Sweetchillidumplings · 05/04/2024 16:01

Auburngal · 05/04/2024 12:15

Don't start me on that! People 'claimed' that they were 'exempt' from wearing masks. Yes they are the large group of deniers. They were the ones that sprayed Hoax on the council and govt signs dotted along the streets with essential retail. Some said they had asthma, which is a bloody insult to myself and another (now retired) colleague who are asthmatic. I was so tempted to ask them questions which only asthmatics knew. We couldn't question these deniers and 90% reeked of weed.

My medication at the time meant I didn't need to shield but having covid twice, I am on stronger and additional meds since then and carry a steroids card.

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I was with you until this post. Unfortunately you don’t seem to understand that plenty of people were exempt for good reasons. Your experience (even if you are asthmatic) doesn’t trump everyone else’s. Seems like you aren’t a very nice person either. Maybe the customers are picking up on that 🤷🏻‍♀️

Daisyblue77 · 05/04/2024 16:16

As on elderly person he may have dementia . You dont know. Weird thing to ask if are wrong about. Unless you have not told us the whole story

Cotonsugar · 05/04/2024 16:25

Friend2023 · 03/04/2024 12:37

I work in retail and I honestly don't believe this is fair. Why should we have to put up with people talking like they've scraped us from the bottom of their shoe.
And they do ....

We are only human too !!! And maybe retail staff have mental health issues aswell , why do these peoples MH trump a retail workers MH ?

If someone speaks to me like shit , then I speak to them with the same respect.
I'm sick of pandering to the public who still have the opinion that the customer is always right , coz trust me ... they really aren't!! Some of the batshit crazy we have to deal with is not worth minimum wage !!!

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I think it should be compulsory for everyone to work for a few months in retail. They would soon behave better as a customer after seeing the way people behave. I worked in retail as a teenager and was spoken to as if I was dumb and treated poorly by the public. Ever since I have always made the effort to be polite and civil to retail staff, knowing what they have to put up with.

passthepenguin · 05/04/2024 16:41

When I was in my late teens I worked in a Little Chef restaurant and also later had a weekend job at a pub and so many of the customers were rude to me. When they are older I will be encouraging my children not to get jobs in the service industry for this very reason.

CheeseCakeSunflowers · 05/04/2024 16:46

I work in a supermarket and it does not surprise me that someone would make a fuss over something so small, its certainly not unusual and I've had similar complaints. Its possible he might have dementia but I think its much more likely that he was one of the many customers who think we are there to take their frustrations out on. We currently have a customer who is struggling with the concept of paying for the items he wants. He asks for a number of items on the hot food counter even though he only has enough cash for half of them and then kicks off at checkouts when he is only allowed the items he can pay for. He has been banned from the store but still keeps coming in and is surprised each time when he is reminded that he is banned. In order to keep the peace if he shows he has some cash he is served with items he can afford and the security guard then accompanies him to the checkouts if he's around. I would guess he is around 30ish, he may have some sort of cognitive problem or possibly he is under the influence of drugs but it is worrying if you find yourself alone with him with no other colleagues in shouting distance as I often am on the Hot Food counter.

Hesterbester · 05/04/2024 16:47

Chaoseverywhere · 05/04/2024 15:53

He’s just an elderly man who likes a certain type of yoghurt. Dont take it to heart.

But it isn't 'just that'. Just an elderly man liking a certain type of yoghurt doesn't equal = so it's okay to shout at someone, shake their fist at someone, demand to see a manager and then accuse them of being a liar.

And that the OP who is on antidepressants due to the abuse they get from customers and how terrible it is when she's just trying to earn a living should not 'take it to heart'.

YourWinter · 05/04/2024 16:50

When I was working on checkouts in Waitrose a woman customer, probably 40ish, said, “I’m only here because I’m in a hurry. Your selection, stock and quality are terrible. I usually shop at M&S because they’re so much better than you”!

Now happily retired I agree with her, but I wouldn’t dream of telling a cashier.

sqirrelfriends · 05/04/2024 17:12

People are the fucking worst, Ive worked retail and I’ve done customer service and have had my fair share of batshit behaviour.

Today I was waiting in line at the pharmacy and witnessed a woman go ape shit at the young woman behind the counter. They didn’t stock what she was prescribed, I understand it’s frustrating but shouting at someone for something they have no control over is idiotic.