If you work with the public - are you finding things are getting scarier?

[CurdinHenry]

More aggression, more delusions to a fairly extreme degree?

It should not be necessary, never mind compulsory, to use a smartphone to order a meal in a sit-down restaurant. That was Nando's the first time I went after lockdown and I've never been back.

Equally, I am not providing an email address to a retailer with no pretensions towards cybersecurity just to get a receipt for a pair of wiper blades. It's simply not necessary; it's intrusive, and I spend quite a lot of time out of the UK so when they send daily marketing emails for weeks after I unsubscribe I end up paying for every byte of roaming data it uses.

Yep! NHS all over. But we pander to it. We ended up expediting a patients fight induced broken jaw surgery over someone who had waited longer purely because they were being vile and abusive to the nurses so wanted to discharge them sooner. Just reinforces their awful behaviour tho!

should not be necessary, never mind compulsory, to use a smartphone to order a meal in a sit-down restaurant. That was Nando's the first time I went after lockdown and I've never been back.
But would you be happy if the prices went up considerably due to the high cost of staffing.

Ps. Nandos have said please come back....they really miss you. 😀

You don't deserve any rudeness or abuse.

But while I'd never say anything negative to/about you in your job, supermarkets have become increasingly unpleasant places to be and one reason is that they seemingly now only pay staff for daytime shelf-stacking (while the shops open) and are trying to attract same-day online shopping (at a premium). As a customer, I feel like a NPC in a video game as I dodge staff with trolleys who actually like I'm not there. Those who are filling baskets for a job tend also to behave differently to those doing their own shop. It's dehumanising.

Cost cutting by companies so they don't employ enough staff. Eg. Supermarkets where customers now have to scan, pack and pay for their shopping in tiny cramped areas that raise stress levels and then when you do need an assistant to verify some purchase there's one harassed assistant, usually at the other end of the tills so we stand about waiting, our blood pressures rising. Eg. Companies using AI and chat bots to answer phone queries so that customers never get the chance to explain to a real person what the issue is. Chat bots that never seem able to answer the question but then trying to find a number to speak to another human can leave you tearing your hair out. It all makes people frustrated & angry.

Governments (Tory & Labour are equally culpable) that are more interested in their grift, or that of their big business mates, so that we increasingly feel we are on our own and there's no one looking out for us or with our interests at heart. Covid where the vast majority of us followed the rules, only to find out that Johnson & his mates were partying. Partying so hard that cleaners were having to clean up vomit. Meanwhile we were attending funerals on zoom or trying to speak to our elderly through care home windows. All the while there was the grift of VIP lanes buying useless PPE. It's made us angry, cynical and given us a "they don't follow the rules and are out for themselves so that's how I'm going to be" ethos.

We see our country has gone to the dogs. It's exhausting. Most of us are anxious and feel if we don't have sharp elbows we will fall even further down.

Well prices shot up anyway, and I don't really buy into the argument about staffing costs. Most supermarkets give me a choice between manned tills and self-service checkouts, and I never see the savings for taking the lower cost option. Until I do, I won't.

As for Nando's, I've had to go back to my home country in Southern Africa (not South Africa itself) several times a year recently, and occasionally go to Nando's while there. I can happily report that in its own back yard it's still an absolute bargain, a wonderful experience with great service, and no f-ing QR code in sight, unlike the dystopian hell here.

Everyone needs to work with the public. Especially retail.
Everyone who has hurl abuse at staff, should get their conversation recorded. Then made to play them back. If they don’t flinch, cringe or apologise- they are simply horrible people.

I remember a customer trying to return some girls vests bought in Primark to my colleague. She had the receipt. My colleague said you bought these in Primark and you are in (supermarket). You have to go to a Primark to get a refund. She was furious. Stormed out with the vests to another shop down the road. Nearest Primark is 3 miles away

What are the age group patterns?

I notice how very reserved and polite my family in their 80s and 90s are compared to subsequent generations. But people in their 70s sometimes seem quite bolshie!

I would be happy. I would rather people had jobs than us all having to take out our phones to order a meal.

OMG OMG OMG 🤮🤮🤮

Dare I ask, where is this?

Not quite what I was referring to, if you want something from someone, and they ask you to fill out a form and provide an email address. You either want it so you do it or you don't want it so you don't do it. But the entitled attitude that it should be done for them because they are so important and they want this NOW .I am not talking about very elderly or disabled or otherwise impaired people

I’m not defending abuse BUT as a customer things are very frustrating. In the old days I could phone up a company and talk to a human. Now I have to go through a long menu on the phone; then provide evidence of my identity, then get told the person can’t help and they’ll put me through so I go back to an AI screening intro and start all over again

And I do get sick of humans following scripts not using their common sense

I'm a clinician in primary care and its getting worse. I've been doing this job for 26 years ... and people are now actually cunts.
Its my fault if the hospital letter hasnt arrived and I can't mind-read what the consultant wanted us to arrange.
Its my fault they didnt order their meds and now its friday and if theyre dead by monday its my fault because I didnt drop everything to write a prescription (everything's a 2 minute job to someone who doesnt do my job).
Literally everyone wants their hospital appointment expedited - because they don't want to wait ( no shit... tough luck... if everyone gets expedited we're back to square 1).
Complaints because they didn't like the look on my face.... because frankly they were talking shit.
Complaints because they turned up late, totally missed their appointment and I couldn't time travel back in time to see them.
Its fucking endless and totally soul destroying.

@Differentforgirls
Staffing is the most costly part of any business. Businesses can't hire enough staff because of the level of taxation the government puts on them.
Not their faults and costs would go up massively. It might please your idea of civic fairness, but business has to survive.

Gosh if you're late, miss an appointment without notification in advance you're kicked off the list in our health board. We do get texts though. Because honestly our post is awful.

I agree. You can still order at the till point though....we have done this in protest!

And the fear that someone, somewhere is trying to get one over on them. My husband runs his own business and is a genuinely good man who wouldn't rip someone off but every now and then he gets a customer who is convinced he's trying to charge them way over the odds, it's bizarre.

Macdonalds

People seem to think we are all thick or worthless

It's a job and I do it well

Companies need to be more willing to forcibly remove abusive customers from the premises. And the law needs to back them up on this. ROAR needs to be in effect.

Yes my friend has her own business. She’s not made any change to her hiring.

I disagree.

For example, rather than lie and say "it was lovely, thank you" when asked by waiting staff if I enjoyed my meal, I tell the truth, politely, if I haven't.

If meat was overcooked, the vegetables were cold, the kitchen staff need to know, surely?

I fail to see how that's passive aggressive.

I was honest yet polite the other week. The young man looked at me like I'd kicked a puppy! It's v strange. I obviously was supposed to say it was great when it wasn't.

Hospitality owners often say talk to us rather than leave a bad review.

I can understand that though as nearly everyone has been ripped off by a tradesperson at least once

It's not entitled to hate how so many businesses operate these days.