Customers’ behaviour has made colleagues leave

[Hmlp]

This year had:
. Colleague A left because he was grabbed by the wrist and told to FO
. Colleague B said to me that she will work another Christmas and retire after that. She mentioned this in Jan. Three months later she left
. Colleague C has worked for company for 45 years - first 5 years at a different store. She handed in her retirement notice as she is getting fed up with customers’ behaviour. She came home on Thursday in tears - the first time in 45 years. She is not retiring until next month.
. Colleague D had two weeks off sick and handed in her notice as customers have upsetted her.

These colleagues will not be replaced as according to head office we are 320 hours over a month!

We are stressed. We can’t cope as it is. No idea how HQ say we are 320 hours over when it feels 320 hours under!

Customers need to understand that shouting at retail and hospitality workers is bullying and totally unacceptable. What happened to treat others as you wanted to be treated yourself? Ie don’t talk down to retail workers like they are piece of dog shit on your shoe.

We can’t say to customers that we are 320 hours over. They will go ballistic.

Any ideas on how to stop customers being rude and bullying

I've been applying for supermarket jobs. I was hoping it would be better than working in a school. It sounds like the same shit different environment.

I'm guessing this is Tesco who give six sorts of shiny shite about their staff's wellbeing. Been told on more than one occasion that if I leave there are 10 others who'd have my job. Funny that, as we can't recruit for toffee.

I work in a bookies, and have always had the backing of my managers and from the company as a whole. We don't tolerate and kind of abuse, no one should.

You are very lucky. I worked for over a decade in a well know store. I have had stuff thrown at me, verbal abuse, threatening behaviour. Our managers would be called and they would be all ‘very sorry for your upset…here’s a gesture of goodwill’ and would hand the customer a £10 voucher because we didn’t refund something that was unacceptable to refund based on the company policy and the training we’d done!
The thing is, this taught the customers that the more they kicked off and behaved badly, the more ‘reward’ they would get for their bad behaviour. We even had regulars who would get £20/£30 back each week for absolutely nonsensical things, they made it their mission to get half their shopping refunded each week.
Someone actually brought back a melon that was on a bogof and demanded a full refund, so they basically ate the free one and wanted their money back. ‘here’s a refund and your £10 voucher sir’. Ridiculous!

It was, as pp mentions, Tesco.

I really feel for the staff at our local sainsburys - I try and do my shopping first thing on a Monday morning to avoid the rush but there is still a queue for the only open till. They have 8 till staff off sick currently, it’s not sustainable. Lots of them are now wearing body cameras.

I had the opposite experience this week in Tesco. The check out operator was so rude to me that I was still upset hours later. I too have voted with my feet and am shopping at another supermarket. Were a large family and food and petrol for us all is a big part of our spending. We’ll be spending it elsewhere for a month.

Well like naughty toddlers, it's about the repercussions.

If the manager came over, told them to leave their shopping and leave the store or security would escort them and the police would be called if they kicked off, fewer people would do it.

If the manager dishes out a £10 gift voucher because the cashier had the audacity to ask the 17 to for ID, they won't.

You need to look for somewhere better

I guessed Asda too! The volume of staff they have on the shop floor is breathtakingly low, the shelves are empty, the prices scanned don’t match those advertised and they will have two on the tills on a Friday morning because “customers want to do self checkout” - and so 20 oldies who are bad on their legs stand in endless queues stoically for their turn to pay. Shocking.

the staff are baring the brunt of the managements poor decisions.

at ours I have noticed the regular staff who used to be jolly and ask about your day are heads down and miserable or missing.

I feel for you OP x

I am not condoning bad behavior from the public, or disagreeing with you, however shop staff have too become very rude. I am surprised if someone is polite tbh. It’s not uncommon to be ignored, whilst staff chit chat, then staff sit and wait for customers to go through the motions of paying without so much as a hi, buy nor leave. Everyone needs to be more aware of others.

I work in customer service (phones) and got called a snowflake last week because I told him not to swear at me. At least I can hang up the phone though. Feel for you OP.

Something I’ve noticed is a massive rise in expectations from consumers. Transactions used to be straightforward. Now it’s really often that there’s a special request or a question or some kind of complication the customer wants solved, a ‘bespoke’ solution of some kind. That’s fine, ish, but it takes time and that means more staff. And there aren’t more staff! It’s gotten quite adversarial in that sense where you’re just waiting for someone to kick off that their special unique need isn’t being accommodated

Though actually, I wonder if the rise in expectations is linked to the rise in prices, in my business at least. People are paying more for the product so they want more service to make up the value… or something

25 years tescos here it’s got a lot worse since Covid managers won’t back u up at all and say sorry to the customer even if they have just called you every name under the sun

Elderly customers can come in when they want to. If they struggle with technology it's not their fault. That could be you one day.
What are the other problems?.

Aren't the staff protected from verbal and physical abuse ?

If you were being abused in the street you'd call the police, so why not do the same at work ?

Do you have a union at work .

Sounds shit, I've worked in hospitality in the past so have experience of dealing with rude guests.

However, I won't shop in our local Tesco because (most of) the staff are so rude!

If you've had enough OP, apply for non-customer facing jobs instead, it's the only way to avoid dealing with this shit. I know people should know how to behave, but sadly, you'll always get abusive people.

Colleague A left because he was grabbed by the wrist and told to FO
That is assault, he should have called the police and had the customer arrested and charged.

Exactly. Why didn't management follow up?

I have really made a point lately of aaking shop staff how they are - and finish by saying hope the rest of the day goes well. I have worked in retail myself and know how brutal it can be but from what l hear it has got so much worse.

Are you the manager?

If so then shuffle your staff to cover the hours you need them.

Your colleagues being on antidepressants doesn't necessarily mean the job is responsible for this. a lot of people are on antidepressants

If you're not management then quit

Working in retail can be scary, especially for women. I used to work in a phone shop and my god the abuse you would get for faulty / out of stock phones and unexpected phone bills was just crazy. The shop was in a rough corner of town too and it got pretty scary sometimes! In saying that I then transferred to a posher bit of town and the abuse was no better, just different. On more than one occasion male colleagues had to step in to protect me and my female colleagues, not to mention the lecherous comments and patronising older men who knew more about technology than I did 🙄🙄🙄

Anyway all that to say I'm so sorry you're having to deal with this, I can't believe how people don't understand how you are just making an honest living. Sounds like your working environment is very stressful 🙁

I don't think OP is saying that elderly customers can't come in when they want or saying they're wrong for not doing technology, rather that HQ aren't allowing in the staffing for this happening and that stretches everyone very thin at those times because they are getting large volumes of customers, including customers that need more help and therefore take longer and there isn't enough in the staffing to deal with that.

In fact I didn't read anything negative towards the elderly customers, when they shop or how they shop from OP. She describes another customer venting about it.

So it's interesting you've responded as if she has got a personal issue with the older customers and when/how they shop and blaming them for the issues when it's quite clear to me she's blaming lack of staff/hours as decreed by HQ.

I have worked in call centres and you had to give three warnings “I’m warning you not to swear at me” They carry on swearing “That’s your second warning for inappropriate language”. Then still swear “I’m afraid you are still swearing at me. I’m going to terminate this call. Please call back when you have calmed down. Goodbye” (click)

In retail only management and security can throw out abusive customers.

Im struggling at my work in the supermarket. Today a colleague coming in wearing uniform handing her notice and said she’s refusing to work her notice as fed up with customers. No idea what she’s going to do as she’s 54 and had loads of health issues. Got a rod in her back, taking shit loads of painkillers. Not my problem about what she does next

Well that's what it sounded like.