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?

Its not what I think or what you think, its about what you are employed to do and what the people, who have the authority tell you to do and how to do it, have told you to do or not. I have had to deal with people who have been complained about in the NHS because they were doing what they genuinely thought was right but in fact they should not have been doing. It was nothing actually wrong but something that got them into a difficult situation where there was a complaint made by a patient's relative. What actually saved their bacon in that case was that they were doing what everyone else was doing, that nobody should have been doing it, and that no proper guidance had ever been given to them about what to do in those circumstances.

I’d say i am happy to sign that if I can have a letter detailing that what I did was wrong. That if a customers payment doesn’t go through you are not to challenge them in case they are offended and you are just allowed to let them leave. I’d want that signed by the Head of HR.

Does the customer have any supporting evidence that you were ‘rude’? For instance did they film the incident and provide the recording? Or was there an independent third party witness? Did anyone else witness the incident? Have allegations of rudeness or other poor behaviour been made against you in the past? If not, then it’s just an allegation of rudeness and it’s their word against yours. Sign nothing. Give them a written account of your side of the incident.

I agree with this. He shouldn’t have gotten as far as his car. He should have been challenged before leaving the shop.

Yes!!! precisely this!!! They are doing something that no one in authority has told them to do or how to do it!!

Well, it’s a valid point. If you’ve been allocated to man (or woman) the self service tills you should be keeping an eye out and realising fairly quickly that a transaction hasn’t gone through. Certainly before the customer actually leaves the shop.

But if we're not supposed to ask people to ensure their payment has been made on the self check outs (even if that means popping outside) , then that should be part of company policy. As far as I'm aware, it's not.

again yes precisely!!

Some self scans do not have staff allocated to them. You can have one person on the main till that has to monitor 3 self scans at the same time. If you are serving a customer at the main till you can't watch the self scans at the same time.

How would you do that? I don’t work in a shop but I see how busy it is. There has to be receipt scanning at the exits.

I feel for you op this is a tricky one. Definitely don't sign anything or agree that you were wrong in anyway. I find it odd HR is even involved as generally your manager would have had a chat with you informally and that would be the end of it. Is there a chance they are trying to manage you out the door?

My friend was a store manager many years ago probably over 20 years now. I remember her telling me once that store staff on any level couldn't follow customers outside the store as the store insurance wouldn't cover staff should anything happen. Obviously that could be different nowadays but worth maybe looking into. This would give you another bow to your arrow incase you need it. ie you wouldn't be protected outside the store so the store policy should be that you just let customers go if they leave the store (hope that makes sense)

In our store, we're not standing behind people at the self service, we're also actually serving on our own manned till alone. So we not only serve but also have to watch the checkouts at the same time, with a screen facing us telling us everything the person is scanning through.
Also, there's a time delay after the person taps their card on the pad, and so it doesn't tell us immediately that the transaction is paid. Often, we can see the transaction has gone through before the customer leaves the store, but on occasions, especially if the customer rushes out, t's impossible to know until they've just left, hence why we have to call people back.
It's not that we're not being diligent, it's a mixture of the time delay and people not waiting around for 20 seconds or so.

I’d get advice from ACAS

This comes on them and their training. You need to be aware of what to do in these situations - do they think it would have been better had you let him leave?

again yes precisely!! You are making a decision that is not yours to make.

The customer contacted HR instead of my manager, which shows they clearly want to have me 'put in my place'
Thing is, 20 years ago self service tills weren't a thing, so your friend must've just been referring to shoplifters.

We assume that people using the self checkouts are not shoplifting (even though many do on there) and many make genuine mistakes by assuming the payment has finished, so we call them back to ask them to complete the payment,

So what do you suggest we do? Can you enlighten me?
I've already explained that staff are questioned if there's too many walkouts.

I've worked I retail. Its a thankless job, where you can't do right for doing wrong. Keep us updated OP please x

Thank you, will do

I am not going to suggest what the staff in general do. You could ask them what you should be doing if you can't find a written down procedure. Say that you didn't believe that you had been rude (and ask if the complainant has said PRECISELY what you said to him that he took exception to, but understand that it might be triggering/embarassing/unpleasant for someone to have been stopped after they had left the store "because we know what onlookers can be like don't we?" Say that you just want to be clear about what the company expectation is and where you can find it in print please? Say that you are not sure how an improvement letter will help the situation if there isn't written information about what you should be doing and therefore what you did wrong and how you can improve. Your attitude should be calm, objective, eager to help and understand.

The shop just needs to decide how much it want's to lose to thieves really, doesn't it.

Again yes.

It's not been an issue me going outside to ask him to come back in. The issue is apparently my 'rudeness' towards him. But, even though I asked what the customer had said that I'd said, I was told that she wasn't allowed to say.
It's difficult to defend myself when I've no clue what he's told HR I've said. All I know is that I was polite, but the customer could tell them anything he wants to make me look bad

but but but. you have never been told by someone who has the authority to do so that you should be following people out of the store and stopping them. It has never (so far as you know) been a part of your job requirements or store policy. Not saying the bloke isn't being an obnoxious shit but can you not see that being stopped outside the store in the carpark and asked to return to the store is more likely to trigger a complaint, regardless of what you said, than the same thing while still in the payment area? I am also concerned that they expect you to answer an allegation without telling you the detail of that allegation....and again the "calm puzzled eager to help" vibe. You may have "inadvertantly" said something but how can you know not to say it again if they don't tell you what it was?

He’s embarrassed by the situation and want someone to take the shit for him.
if there’s a better way of dealing with situations like this sign the form, if your happy you worked within the guidelines your work operates on don’t sign. If it’s the matter, comment that you don’t agree for abc reasons