AIBU for refusing to sign a letter of improvement at work? Retail customer service related

[Welshlady60]

Recently at work I was made aware by my manager that a customer had complained about me to HR for my apparent poor customer service towards him.
In a nutshell, the customer had used the self service till, but his payment of around £35 hadn't gone through.
I went outside and asked him to come back into the store, explaining why. He wasn't happy as he was just about to get into his car, and he insisted that he'd paid as he 'heard the machine beeping'.

Once again, I explained that the payment hadn't been taken, and so he came back into the store, angrily tapped his card on the pad and stormed off saying that he 'wasn't trying to steal'.
I hadn't accused him of anything, and was polite at all times.

He's now made a complaint against me, which I wouldn't normally be bothered about. However, I was asked to make a statement to give my version of events, and was told that HR may most likely decide to issue me with a letter of improvement.
I've been at the store for ten years and have never had any issues, but I'm annoyed that a customer's unjustified complaint can result in me being reprimanded for doing my job, especially as I wasn't rude, he was.
Should I refuse to sign it, given that I feel it's an unfair complaint?

The customer was embarrassed because they made a mistake and I’ve absolutely no doubt as to what profile this man fits. If he feels entitled to try and get some retribution by complaining to HR. Most people would’ve forgotten about it before they’ve driven out of the car park.

It's definitely tricky. I missed my transaction failing in Pret the other day, the server politely said "Excuse me, your card didn't go through" and I put in my pin. I do think his refusal to return implies theft, but then you say you aren't supposed to follow shoplifters.

I would want to apologise to him that you thought he was a reasonable customer rather than a shoplifter, which is why you requested payment instead of calling the police, and assuring him that staff have his photo and registration plate to treat him as a known attempted shoplifter in future. This is why I am unsuited to customer service roles though!!

I think you should make a statement giving your version of events, quoting any policy/standard ways of working you followed. That might be the end of it. If not then you can challenge/appeal any formal action

If you are generally polite and accommodating to customers and have good working relationships with colleagues etc, then I'm not sure why they wouldn't look at that and apply discretion in your favour in this case. If you are not, maybe they see this as an opportunity to document it? none of us were there to witness. You will know in yourself if you might have been unreasonable with your approach. If you're adamant your approach was reasonable, you could raise a grievance. Are there cameras to see the interaction that might help? or show the customer being aggressive?

Write your own letter for your manager to sign. It will say that the company policy is to let shoplifters walk out and leave the premises unchallenged. That you do not have to deal with shoplifters. If a customer says that they have paid when they haven’t you must simply cancel the transaction to let them leave without payment. See if they will sign this. They wont sign this. You mustn’t sign their statement. I would report this customer to the police because it was theft and agression to you.

There is no way I’d sign anything, I’d email reply that you and other staff have always understood it store procedure to go after customers who haven’t paid at the self checkout and politely ask them to pay, and this is what you did. I’d attach the link to the procedure and ask them to update it saying that if customers at the self checkout have failed to pay then staff should not go after them or request them to pay so that you and all store staff know how to comply in the future.’

and fuck them. They are obviously not going to update the procedure like that!!

Do not go down that route. PP was wrong - to be theft there must be an intention to deprive, and you said that they did pay but the payment didn't go through. That is not the same thing. If you introduce the possibility of theft now, then you undermine your own argument that you were not accusing him of theft or being rude / offensive. Stick to the simple narrative. The payment didn't go through, and what you said / did.

That is made up. There was no theft. There was no shoplifting. It isn't a good excuse for being angry (not the same thing as aggression) but if you have assumed the payment has gone through and then been followed out by staff and asked to return to pay for things, it does feel like an accusation of wrongdoing (and you, like others here have claimed it was theft when it wasn't - so leaping to that conclusion) then people do become agitated / angry if they feel that they are being falsely accused of something.

There are cameras there yes, but not audio ones. I get on with all my colleagues and have a good relationship with many customers, and I would accept it if I felt I was being out of order.

I would ask HR to tell you specifically why you were rude.
Insist they find out exactly what you said which was rude.
Basically this smacks of entitled male not liking being questioned or proved wrong by a female. I bet he wouldn’t find the exact same conversation with a male rude.

Also HR sound shit. You cannot go on subjective perception. They have to deal with facts. Again I can guarantee he cannot give specific, quantifiable examples.

This is crazy behaviour from your company...

What else did they expect you to do? someone left without paying for items and you went back after them and asked them to come back to pay.

I would bet that they did it on purpose and were trying to steal, so this is why they were annoyed you caught them, so of course they are going to say you were 'rude'...

What else did your managers expect you to do?

I would get advice from ACAS if you are not in an union member.

I would lodge your own complaint stating that you did nothing wrong and you don't understand what else you should have done and ask why they chose to believe the words of a potential shoplifter above yours.

This.

If you start talking about theft and shoplifting you are likely going to be seen as saying that you thought he was trying to steal and your whole defence is that you didn't, he tried to pay but the payment didn't go through (and everyone knows that happens sometimes it's not uncommon for the bank to request a pin check for a transaction from the machine) and so you pointed that out to him politely and asked him to return to complete the transaction.
Him becoming angry and what he read into that is not within your control.
You didn't think he was trying to shoplift and you didn't accuse him of that, you simply told him politely that his transaction wasn't successful. That in itself isn't an accusation of anything. I've had it happen to me as a customer and to customers I'm serving.
Ask for clarification of how you were rude, what exactly you did or said that made the interaction rude. Because I bet there's no specifics quoted other than accusations of being rude and possibly about your tone or facial expressions/body language which is a) subjective and b) hard to prove either way.

And people know that so when they become aggrieved they use the 'But the staff were rude' because it's pretty much a slam dunk, because to refute that opens the door to the customer saying you're accusing them of lying.

Lots of older men react like that to being asked to do something or corrected. It’ll be because he’s embarrassed, ashamed and doesn’t like to be told he’s in the wrong (even very gently and kindly). That type of reaction is absolutely text book. Sorry you’re having to deal with it OP, your employer should be supporting you.

I see what you're saying, and I'd never accuse anyone of theft from the self service, because there could be a genuine reason for the transaction not completing.

However, I do think that people who genuinely believe their transaction has gone through before leaving the store are usually apologetic when they come back in, and those that that know it hasn't gone through tend to react negatively when they are asked to come back. Once again, I wouldn't ever accuse them of theft, or even imply it.

Once you're in and around the til area, there will be cameras to prove your version won't there?

Just ask them if it is policy to let people go who havent paid. If it is, youre sorry you wont make anyone pay again

There isn't any audio footage, so it's my word against his really. I don't know why this has bothered me, we're used to getting customers taking to us like we're nobody's bad it's all water off a ducks back usually.
I don't think it's the complaint that's pissed me off as much as the fact that I may have to receive an improvement letter, for doing my bloody job!

• like we're nobody's and it's like water off a ducks's back

@Welshlady60 don't sign it. Instead insist they explain to you exactly what you supposedly did wrong and how you should have tackled it.

I don't think they will be able to do this as by the sounds of it you did it right - the person mistakenly hadn't paid and you politely pointed this out and asked them to come and pay.

If it was a genuine mistake by the customer then I don't see why they objected. People only tend to react like that if they were hoping not to get caught...

I'd be questioning why I was getting a letter of improvement when I had followed what was general practice and if they wanted me to do something else, then they need a letter of improvement to sort their own processes and procedures out to inform you how to proceed the next time this happens.

Have I understood right that you've never been told to go after customers whose card has failed or given any guidance on how to do it? If that's not true then who told you that's what you should do?

I agree with you. An improvement letter implies YOU need to improve. Which, from what you've said, you don't.

I'd open a grievance after speaking to ACAS

Don't do this. There is no realistic evidence of theft. You have to prove that the customer had an intention to take the goods without paying. Given that he went to the till and used his card and it just didn't go through, the chances of proving that are realistically tiny.

I was approached by a member of staff as I was unlocking my car, to say that my card hasn't gone through. It turned out I'd used my Tesco credit card for the first time and didn't know that you need to tap it twice, as the first time it just registers your clubcard number. Heard the beep, thought I'd paid.

He was very polite and didn't make me feel like I'd shoplifted, but of course I was mortified and apologised profusely.

Assuming that you were genuinely polite and pleasant (are you sure you were?) then I'd refuse to sign the letter, and ask exactly what they expect you to do the next time it happens.