Man complained about me re yoghurt brand stopped doing a flavour

[Auburngal]

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?

You’re kidding? You obviously don’t work in retail or you’re some kind of martyr!
We no longer accept abuse from shoppers these days - it’s taken way more seriously from management!
This is ( in part) because management is way younger than it used to be - & they don’t take crap either.
Stores are peppered with signs reminding shoppers to behave - l wonder where that came from?
The very top of supermarket chains have instructed front line colleagues to wear a body cam - l wonder why?

The elderly are the rudest imo and they think we are rude. Some people can't see their rudeness.

Ageism. Brilliaaaaaaaaant.

I have to agree that elderly men can be startlingly rude and entitled, and often pick on a young woman to speak to like that

Then he should write to the company who made it. Perhaps they'll reinstate it just for him. 😁

It's not subservient to acknowledge that someone is upset, sympathise and help. Bizarre as it may seem, the yoghurt was very important to him. He'd tried three shops and was disappointed.

Same here in the NHS. I've had my clinic room trashed by angry people several times. I retreat and call the police.

How old did you say he was again 8 or 80
Also does he not realize that you’re not the actual manufacturer.

Just walk away . It's company policy not to put up with abuse .

We all face disappointment.
They didn’t have my favorite crisps in Sainsburys earlier on. Tough shit isn’t it. I didn’t throw a adult tantrum.
Also to say about sympathizing over a yogurt no disrespect but I think you need chill. You’re acting someone died

As you are the manufacturer, you should have gone out the back, got a plain yogurt, smooshed some garam masala and black pudding in it and said here you are sir, it’s in new packaging.

Yanbu.
The display put on by a couple who were randomly selected in Tesco to have their scan and shop checked was spectacular. Shouting, accusing the staff of targeting them. When 4 out of 5 items were not scanned they ramped it up "are you accusing us of stealing you fat c word?".
Seriously these people should just be banned for life.

How long have you worked with the public?? People have always complained about things which are nothing to do with the person they are talking to - just shrug it off. If that is enough to put you off working in retail then leave as you obviously don't have the temperament for it.

Those of us who have dealt with this stuff for years just have a moan to our colleagues, then crack on.

Why will you not answer myself and the many other people who have asked you exactly what he did? What did him "flipping" mean? Without that information it's impossible to say if you're being unreasonable or not.

I work in the NHS. People are frustrated, angry, fed up etc etc often. It is ok for them to verbalize that. It is not ok for them to verbally attack or abuse me. Particularly when they are swearing and shouting at me about waiting times when I am calling to try and arrange for them to start treatment. Its not hard - grown ups should be able to express anger, displeasure and frustration without necessarily using profanity or abusive language.

But how old were they ?

Clearly people do care if there's not enough people to work in these customer facing jobs because of the almost daily threads on here about 'shit customer service' - and a recurring complaint is not enough staff to service customers needs/wants.
If people turn away from these jobs because of the way they're treated then the companies are going to have to offer more money to attract people - and who do you think is going to pay for that?! Customers are through increased prices.

And the 'you have to grow a thicker skin', 'you should expect it' and 'you are in the wrong job if it affects you' etc are bullshit, they're just weak excuses to treat people badly without having to think about your actions.
It's bad enough that they have to put up with being treated this way on a regular basis, but then being seen as unreasonable for not liking it and vocalising that is really unfair, and shows the whole issue really - that anyone in this type of role should be emotionless robots who take regular abuse without having any feelings about it - I mean how low does someone need to be in your estimation for you to deride them for daring to vent/offload about being treated badly on an anonymous forum?

No, we don't know what OP means by 'flipped' but I think any of us in a customer facing role can probably understand what type of interaction it was.

The issue is that for so many people the phrase "The customer is always right" has become "The staff are always wrong" and they behave accordingly.

My husband has a grumpy old man t-shirt, it's definitely a thing

So his disappointment = OK to be rude?

Never OK to be rude, but there is no description of rudeness, just him getting very upset and complaining.

It's the customers' behaviour that is making people leave. A colleague is retiring next week after 33 years working has said to me the last four years have been the worst. Yes the pandemic has created 90% of the rude, impatient, aggressive customers. Obviously before, there were just a few rude customers.

She doesn't get her state pension for 5-6 months. But her other private pension is available and received a reasonable inheritance from a spinster/childless aunt.

There needs to be a national campaign to highlight to the general public that their behaviour needs to change. Plus they are causing staff to leave retail, go on antidepressants (like me) and cry.

Whatever happened to the phrase "treat others as you wanted to be treated yourself"?

Remember Manners Matter

Banning customers is probably one of the ideas that will teach customers a lesson. So they go to other supermarkets, be rude, aggressive etc and then banned.

Slowly but surely they would be banned from every supermarket in a 5 mile radius. If these people don't drive - then they are even more screwed.

I think Tesco can block customers' club cards from using the scan n go handsets.

I take calls for GP practices

The crazy sense of entitlement, in addition to staff shortages is astonishing

All ages - the older ones were rudest.

‘Why did you take the job if you can’t handle the public being rude’

Also said by the, ‘you’re on benefits so can’t afford to be fussy about what work you do’ brigade.

Like everyone in retail is in their dream job of choice.