There is nothing positive to achieve from being vile towards retail staff. Why act this way?

[uihd]

Yesterday evening I bought a few items from a supermarket on the way home from work. There were some customers being very rude and disrespectful towards the staff. It has got worse in the past 5 years.

Why do people think it’s ok to act like this? What do they want to achieve with this attitude? Do they realise that people are leaving retail and avoiding looking for work in the retail sector due to their behaviour?

Nothing positive can be achieved from acting like this. If people get a kick out of this, they are just pathetic people.

The staff in supermarkets have no control over
. Prices
. Stock availability
. Products that have been discontinued. Both in store stop selling it and brand stops making it
. Staffing issues
. The number of self checkouts installed
. The law
. Company policies
. Lottery rules

I have done my share in working in retail. Never I want to do that again

Then putting the items in a bag or, with couples, one scans whilst one holds onto the bag. It’s quicker to scan things without putting into bag(s). Then pack once payment has been made.

Then get customers who scan something then place on the floor if it’s something bulky like loo roll or in their DC’s hands as it’s a toy or bag of sweets. When I was on self scan, I used to cancel the bagging prompt for the latter. As otherwise, got a screaming DC unable to understand that can’t hold it. Just a little thing to keep everyone’s sanity going

And even when you explain to people why they keep getting the unexpected item in the bagging area they completely ignore you and keep doing it then start moaning how crap the machines are and how I need to get more tills open.

Right. Imagine being rude to Becky on a till because you're fed up with the electricity company.

Gawd yes...sometimes there are queues at our local tip but so what...patience please everybody !. The workers there are probs on minimal wage too...worst of both worlds.

Why do people think it’s ok to act like this?

They behave like that because the shop lets them get away with it.

Most retail managers are spineless and end up taking the easy option and never stand up to customers.

Throw them out and ban them from coming back. See how many shops they try the same shit in again!

I worked in retail as a student prior to 2008, where we had a lot of staff and there were no self checkouts and people were incredibly rude then. I think it’s a power thing and them taking out their bad mood on you as they know you can’t be rude back to them.

I work in the NHS now, the amount of patients that every time they’re in a bad mood or upset about something completely unrelated decide to get on the phone or come to an appointment and pick a fight with us over nothing, or something very very minimal/not our fault is unreal. Once I’ve managed to de-escalate the situation 9 times out of 10 they will tell me they’re stressed or upset about something in their personal life.

I’ve got one patient who has done this that many times that I just ask her what’s going on now. She called four times in one day recently to rant at various different staff members about how awful the service is and start another argument about a minor situation (something which was actually just a misunderstanding on her part not anything we did wrong) we had just spent an hour discussing and resolving together. Every time I thought the situation was resolved she would call back an hour or two later to argue and shout about it again, if we don’t listen to her for as long as she wants to rant at us she just goes to PALS and they email the ops managers who tell us to phone her again, so it’s very frustrating.

It’s surprising how many people will default to abusing someone they know can’t “fight back” when they’re upset or stressed.

Unfortunately, it does tend to be older patients who do this, younger ones just don’t bother engaging and turning up to appointments when they’re upset or stressed.

It’s got nothing to do with Covid or Brexit. It just poor manners and some peoples feelings of superiority.

My aunt was incredibly rude so someone on the phone one day. She had a go at them and slammed the phone down. They were just trying to do their job. About two or three minuets later the phone rang, she answered it and this person said “ don’t slam the phone down on me you fucking old bag” then the phone went dead. If you could have seen her face, I haven’t laughed so much in years. She totally deserved it.

Honestly, staff should be allowed to stand up for themselves and give back as good as they get, then the problem would largely go away.

I have worked in retail for 20 + years and I think it has got worse. Staffing levels are half or less what they were 3 or 4 years ago and yet we're still expected to deliver exceptional customer service as well as deliver bigger and bigger sales targets. If we say we need more people to do that they say well why when you're not making target - yet if you manage to smash your target one week where you were absolutely run ragged,, it will be see you don't need more staff! It's a lose lose situation except for the CEOs of course!!
I always say to customers thank you for waiting , and smile. I won't say sorry for the wait as that implies it's my fault.

We also had a promotion . A free gift with purchase. The promo started on Saturday and we ran out of the gifts late on Monday. The amount of complaints and abuse we've had is another level !!
But a)the email to customers about the offer does say while stocks last and b) us on the shop floor have zero control over how many emails were sent to customers V how many gift products we were supplied with.

Yes that one as well

Supermarket i worked at is in a town centre. Customers come into the store and queue up to get a lottery ticket. Nothing else! Moaned about the queue.

Down the same road, there are two other shops with lottery machines and get served with very little queuing. Why can’t they get their tickets from these shops?

What’s your point. Repeating the same thing over and again doesn’t change it. The why is the important part. Understanding the why can help change it.

Absolutely they wouldn't dare speak to you like that on the street so why are they suddenly Billy big balls when your at work

People used to be brought up
to be obedient, respectful and even deferential. A society where the church/ Scouts/Guide still played a role meant people learned to think of others before themselves.
Now children are brought up that they are the centre of the universe, are indulged, gratified and learn no respect. In addition, life is fast-paced and stressful. This combination leads to impatience and rudeness.

Although I absolutely agree with everything you said its really not the younger generation that are the problem customers. Maybe occasionally with ID issues but overall they come in get what they want go through self scan and leave.

Yeah because it’s not like retail managers have bills to pay so want to keep their jobs.

We saw what happened to the Morrisons manager who tackled a regular shoplifter so why would any retail staff put their jobs on the line at a time when employment opportunities are so bad?

This is one of the main reasons I shop online. It's miserable going into many shops these days.

He wasn’t a manager. And if they had banned the customer like I said, he wouldn’t have felt the need to tackle the customer. Problem solved

Bollocks. One particular day I had a nightmare with a self checkout. The scales were broken or something because it wouldn't register most of my shopping, I had a trolley full and it was getting closer and closer to closing time (I would have been out much quicker if it had worked properly.) I would have happily taken a baseball bat to the bloody thing! I was so frustrated, but I didn't take it out on the staff.

Automated check-outs should be banned, and shoplifters should be able to be beaten by staff. If you don't want to be beaten, don't shoplift, it's quite simple really. And the same goes for people who verbally or physically abuse shop staff.

Not bollocks - absolutely borne out by repeated studies of violence against shopworkers, where frustration is one of the leading non-criminal causes of violence and abuse. e.g.
https://usdawlive.b-cdn.net/live/media/bzjmwbbt/fff-survey-report-2025.pdf
https://library.college.police.uk/docs/TAYLOR-Its-not-part-of-the-job-report.pdf

So would you be OK if you were falsely accused of shoplifting with having a baton taken to you before the truth was established ? Or a baton taken to your children in the same position? If you accidentally mis-scanned something and it didn't go through the till, is a disabling beating justified? And what about the effect on staff delivering the beating? Most people don't actually enjoy inflicting physical violence on each other and are damaged by the process of doing so....

"Quite simple" 😂. Yeah, I'd love it if I had a 17 year old daughter get a job in Tesco and day 2 of the mandatory training was 'beating up shoplifters'. What a silly thing to say.