To make people work at least a month in retail and customer service

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Worked in retail for a supermarket for 8-9 years then 14 years customer service. I can tell which people have not worked in retail or customer service.

I doubt that they would be rude, abusive towards staff if they have worked in the sector. As I have asked these people the question have you worked in retail both as a customer and when working. Everyone I asked said no. I said that question in a neutral tone.

I believe that everyone needs to work in retail the busiest time of the year- ie December for at least a month. If this doesn’t change their attitude towards the staff, then nothing will as nasty people.

Even on 22/23 December one year I had customers asking for more tills to be opened. ALL of the tills were open!!

Yep, anything customer facing is tough these days. Especially where people are stressed (doctor's, hospitals, schools, anything financial etc).

I've been dealing with some horribly stressful stuff recently and been on the phone at my wits end when the person I'm speaking to doesn't understand the issue that I've very carefully explained to them. But I always try to end the conversation with an apology of some kind and a recognition, when it's the case, that I'm taking it out on the wrong person. But I'm also almost over the top with my thanks and gratitude when people do help.

when I was interviewing for staff for a customer facing role i found people who’d worked in a pub had transferrable skills. Good in a crisis, dealing with difficult customers, multi tasking .

My aunt worked in retail all her life and she is eye wateringly rude and dismissive towards waiting and shop staff. It has got to the point in the past where I've apologised to waitresses for her rudeness.

I don't know if it's because of a lifetime of other people being rude to her she's getting her own back, or if she's just rude. The latter I think.

I worked in retail 20 years ago and current customer service levels are shocking. We were taught on the checkout to say hello and thank you. At my local Sainsbury’s the staff has conversations with each other on their headsets ignoring their customer. You may not be this type of customer service but this is what I see day in day out

I tell you now. Training in retail is non existent. When an aunt started to work for a supermarket that was about to open 45 years ago, she was taken on a mini bus of about 10 others to another store for a whole week at full time hours, when most of them were part time. About 2 other stores did this. She learned everything. Over 3 weeks the new staff got their training

I started my supermarket job in the late 00s, we were given 3 days training and shadowed by an experienced colleague after that.

Now, the few former colleagues that work for the supermarket that I did tell me that training doesn't exist, bar the bailer or if heating up bread, using the ovens. Earlier this year, they had some new starters and the manager went into the chiller and asked them to grab a roller cage and put the delivery out. No mention of rotating the date, checking that the product matches the ticket. My friends had to waste time in rotating the stock correctly, putting stuff under the right ticket. Some were completely stupid. Cottage cheese in the double cream. Its not even in the same aisle. They even said to the new staff check the dates. They don't.

The main problem is now with retail is that they hire students that CBA putting much effort into their work. As retail, its very difficult to get many hours on your contract. Many supermarkets do 12-16 hours contracts. OK for a student. Not for many who just want a few more hours. 20-26 hours, you will get more interest from mature people.

Same could be said for teachers or the nhs

Yep...calm down retail, come teach and yes, I've done both.

Perhaps the solution would be that NOBODY is allowed to comment or speak till they have worked a week in the job.

want to complain about food. Show the kitchen certificate
teaching? Show a week work experience in the school
waitress is stressed, show that you could do better
so on so on

might make for a six month compulsory make people be normal and civil world.

I think CEOs of shops/energy companies etc should spend a month working in their own customer service in December. Then they might rethink the model that all of them have adopted, of removing anyone with decision making responsibility from what happens at ground level.

Back in Ye Olde Dark Ages when I had my first office job, we had phones on our desks and people could ring up and talk to us. If there was a problem we would sort it, alongside all our duties we performed to keep the company ticking over.

Now those same customers get put through to a call centre - or, increasingly, a chat bot - staffed entirely by people who can't make judgement calls because they're not authorised to. Same in supermarkets and even banks etc, all the operations are centralised, local staff even at section management level have no autonomy, staff reporting to them aren't trained and the processes have become an end in themselves. Add in all the automation, scan your receipts, pack your own bags, read your own electric meters, download a billion apps and learn how to work each different one bullshit and hey presto you've created an opaque and alienating environment with no point of satisfactory engagement.

Tbh, having a job of any kind should be a pre requisite for politicians. Not this career politician thing

I hate to break this to you but assholes are just assholes. They act like they do for that reason,
not because they don’t have experience of working in retail.

I have never been rude or nasty to retail staff, so not sure what making me work that job would achieve.
Just be a decent human being.
And I have had retail staff be rude to me. If you are having shit day, don't take it out on your customers.

The main difference in retail and other public facing jobs is the power relationship. In the relationships with NHS staff, the police, statutory bodies, the public either needs them or is required to obey them, which puts them in the power position.
In retail, its the business who needs the customer so the power balance is the other way round. Retail customers know they have other options if the relationship breaks down so have little to lose, so basically don't need to bother to behave well if they don't feel like it.

I think everyone should be a social worker for a month. I’m abused far more regularly than I ever was working for Asda. At least Asda et al have a zero tolerance to abuse, you’re treated like you’re nothing in social care.

No job is perfect. You chose that job. Everyone knows that working with the direct public is difficult. Why don’t you look for another job?

I have worked in retail, it was my go-to vacation job. But teachers, nurses, doctors, the police etc all get the same poor treatment. Manners seem to have been replaced by a sense of total entitlement.

I really enjoy working in retail & enjoy working with the public.

Yes some can be rude & unreasonable but with good customer service training it can be very rewarding.

I think proper customer service training (in it's true sense not just retail) is undervalued & alot of public service professionals would benefit from it.

Customer service training is used in a lot of NHS organizations - it's just renamed to suit the specific group but the principles are the same.

I worked in retail and hospitality for years before I was a nurse , I’m afraid to say nursing is way harder than any off the retails jobs I did

I find it odd that you seem to think, or claim to have found, that majority of people haven’t OP.

I’d have thought that majority of people have done at some point, as they tend to be the sorts of jobs that people take while studying or as a first job. I have worked in retail and in several different hospitality jobs in the past.

I have worked in retail. For every rude customer there a lazy, rude retail worker.

Witnessed this just yesterday at Aldi. I got ignored. They just chat to each other.

Yep! I was 16 working on the tills in Sainsbury’s. The amount of people that complained to me about tills not being open, staffing, stock etc - like it had anything to do with me 😆😆

YABU because customer service isn't for everyone and if some people are forced to do it, can you imagine how many upset customers there would be?
I agree that it's a great skill to have but some people just wouldn't be willing to do it or have the patience for it.

Tesco stopped this practice a while back to improve customer service, now they just talk to one another.
The Co op still use headsets and the staff use them to wind each other up.

The headsets should only be used for these instances:
. Getting an item from the shop floor to checkouts as customer picked up a damaged one.
. Finding product on shelf and quote barcode as customer picked an item with damaged or missing barcode. Think things like packs of ham, sticker on back is missing but ok to sell as use by date at the front
. Asking a long serving colleague does the store sell (item)
. Organising breaks and finding out who goes home at what times and who is coming in later.

Should not be used for chatting about non work issues