Customer’s absurd suggestion

[Auburngal]

Customer is one of those who insists on going to us when it’s extremely busy. As per usual we are short staffed - which is the case for many retailers. Again it’s because staff leave as fed up with the rude and aggressive behaviour from customers. In fact - some customers are bullies. As when they shout at me, I get the same feelings that I got from bullying at school.

She suggested that we should be on call on our days off! What a bloody ridiculous idea! I want my days off to relax etc. If any retailer had this option- no one would take it up!

Another day, another thread by @Auburngal bashing supermarket customers. 😂

I am so tempted to tell the elderly that they are pissing everyone off with their stubborn antics. The elderly are their own worst enemies.

There is a consistent theme of ageism in this poster’s threads.

I run an independent retail business and 99.99% of our customers are really lovely.
the weird thing is that lately, customers occasionally complain if someone doesn’t greet them personally as they enter the shop. We do try and greet everybody but obviously sometimes we are serving others or miss someone out by accident. Surely this is an exceptional level of service rather than basic? I don’t think I’ve gone in any other shop lately and been greeted by staff ever so why people hold my business to such a very high standard I don’t know.
the remainder of our customer service is exceptional and we virtually never have any other complaints.

And a national campaign not to be rude to shop workers? I’m sorry if people are rude to you but if you can’t tolerate the working conditions of working in a supermarket then perhaps it’s time for you to look into changing jobs…

P.S. you are extremely rude about the elderly in your post so perhaps look at the way to speak to people as this might be why they’re being rude to you!

DH worked in a small supermarket shop during Covid.
They open at 8am. The queues at 7.50am were ridiculous with everyone getting there early to 'miss the rush'
Everyone used to complain at the length of the queue and told him he should be opening earlier.
The place was practically deserted for the rest of the day.

@Fairyliz we don't have back room staff to put on the phones, it's a call centre so everyone available is on the phone
It's literally the first 2hrs so we can't even employ people for that. There's even a callback system which gives you priority but people would rather queue for 20 mins
I do tell people when I can that it's our busiest time and give them quieter time options

Christ this post is fucking awful.
Elderly people are perfectly entitled to shop whenever the hell they like, for whatever reason. They do not owe it to you or anyone else to restrict their activities to certain days.

How dare they have the "stubbornness" to exist on a Saturday, eh?

I think it's actually you and not your customers that are the problem @Auburngal

While this doesn't apply in OP's instance you might well find that poor customer service is what makes some customers rude. No, the customer is not always right, but there is some shocking customer service out there, and people can only take so much.

YABVVU to think some people have the right to shop on Saturdays and some don’t. You’re horrendously ageist, what a vile attitude.

I worked for a while in a very “naice” deli/farm shop. We had people in ranging from the traveller community and farm workers to the estate owners, Lord and Lady xxxx. Then we had other customers who always managed to drop in little stealth boasts implying an insta lifestyle straight out of Country Living. Don’t care, love, just give us your money and feck off!

I was with you until you said you hid in the chillers whilst your colleagues were under pressure with long queues.

I worked in retail for years, customers are c*nts, and I see them being even worse to staff now. The ones who walked in as the shop was closing with a full trolley used to pee me off the most, and then they’d get annoyed as they were hurried around.

But people of any age can shop on whatever day they like 🤷🏻‍♀️

Classic response 😂they should put it the training manual and refressher courses

I hate that phrase, it has been misconstrued for too long!!!

Originally, it meant the customer's taste was the best... eg if they preferred the blue, the blue was indeed the best. NOT that any customer can be batshit crazy!!

How many ageist whiny threads about working in retail does this op need to start?

OP is utterly fixated about when "old" people are allowed to shop
im beginning to think it's not them hun it's you

As many as they like, it seems.
MN do not care about their hateful ageism and always let it stand. It's the one type of discrimination they'll happily allow.

Indeed
we will all be old one day
yet apparently posters like the op can be dicks about the elderly repeatedly
<sigh>

Yes - she lost me then too. I have served my time on a supermarket checkout in the past.

I also think her problem are made worse by her own attitude to staff and customers.

I’m a small business owner too. The way I see it is that the customer isn’t always right, but they are always the customer.

honestly when i last worked in retail 8 years ago I had a burner phone and gave that number to work! i turned it off when i wasn't due in - because without fail i always got a call to ask me to come in on a day off

Yes I think customers only tend to get heated when people are patronising to them. The sort of “calm down dear” mentality. I was in a supermarket where there’s a reduced section. An assistant brought a wire stand with goodies on it and then went to a full price shelf. I asked in a very smiley /laugh in the voice/friendly way whether she was about to unload some reduced items ( as I would have hung around for a half price Charlie Bingham)and she turned on me and was so nasty and said I was to be patient bug in a shouty manner . It was horrible (and so I DO get how staff feel when customers do the same). I just replied “blimey I was only asking “ and walked away. However I don’t think it’s always one way.
Also from the OP’s original post, it would seem she told a customer that there was no legal right to have a till open. Some ( second generation elderly 😉), are not so good on the self service, so I think it’s a reasonable request and OP was probably snarky and patronising to them.

I would never work in retail or face to face with the public. If someone is remotely arsey with me a red mist decends fast.
I can be your best friend or worst nightmare.

I would just laugh and say that you actually have a life and perhaps she should enquire about one of the positions if she thinks she can do a better job.

When I was a teacher I would often get idiots saying how easy the job was and how the holidays are amazing etc and that teachers aren’t doing enough.
My response is always that perhaps they should become a teacher or ask why they aren’t a teacher if that’s how they feel - funnily enough they never have an answer to it.

I used to work in a shop and the amount of entitled idiots I came across was shocking.
Same when I was a cleaner.
For some reason people see you as beneath them and it pisses me off.

Customers often have interesting ideas about how shops should be run. Unfortunately, so do some retail managers - there are definitely some who will treat employees as "on call". Never tell them your plans for your day off, so if you pick up the phone you're far away on a day trip somewhere or have an important medical appointment or something.