I work in retail as a manager and im currently 6 months pregnant, As you can imagine i am tired,moody, emotional all of the above and more. Today is my first day back after a weeks long annual leave and 1 day of sickness as was experiencing reduced movements so had a stressful day yesterday. For what I am about to say I am not blaming on the fact I am pregnant at all I take full accountability for what ive said to the customer but I am worried that I could get into trouble in work (just dont want to lose my job i can deal with a warning or anything) Ive also worked in retail now for many years and never have had anything like this happen where i’ve responded in such a manor so im hoping my manager can see that.
Ive had a bad day in work i must be emitting bad energy and being blunt. Ive had really rude customers today who are just looking for arguments and im really in no space mentally to take it today so ive just been staying silent and letting them go on. However i just had an older lady who wanted to use a voucher up as it was expiring today. She wanted an item that we dont currently have in stock, We are unfortunately a small branch so wont stock entire ranges and there is a huge flagship branch just a 20 minute bus journey away. I gathered she wanted to do an online order and still use the paper voucher but I had explained to her it stated on the voucher that it can only be used on items purchased in store and not on online orders or orders placed in store. She still asked me to order the item and use the voucher to which again i explained unfortunately i cannot do. (As silly as it sounds The company i work for genuinely doesnt have an option on the till to even let me override an online order as that would have been the only option in the case to ensure she got the money off) The customer kept telling me this is not her fault to which i confirmed its not her fault at all but unfortunately if she wanted to use the voucher she would have to buy items she could pick up from the shelf as all items are subject to availability and its not certain we will always have in stock the item you want.
She then started saying that she would be complaining to head office as it’s not her fault and i was not helpful in the situation( she wanted to use the voucher on the items we did not have in stock and was NOT giving in so there truly was nothing i could do for her) At this point i realised i was still holding her voucher so i placed it ontop of her purse that was placed on the counter, unfortunately the voucher slid straight off the purse and on to the floor and i immediately told her i was sorry and that it was an accident to which she replied ‘ you will be’ My face must have dropped when she said this and my whole demeanour would have changed because she then asked for my name my role and said i needed retraining to which i responded, Thats okay, if its retraining i need im sure i’ll get it. She started to walk away still trying to be rude to which i said ‘ I am sorry it must just be the pregnancy hormones’ Which she then turned around and looked at me in disgust and said ‘is that what you are’ I said well yeah i am 6 months pregnant… and im sorry if you feel like ive been rude but ive just been dealing with some really crappy customers today and i started tearing up. to which she then got even ruder so i threw down the pen i was holding (idk why i done this lol) and i walked to the back. She was then complaining to the mt colleague that she worked in a library when pregnant up until her due date and she never treated anyone like that and that not everyone is like me and cant use it as an excuse. I realised i needed to go sit down and get away from hearing her which meant i had to walk past her again and she was still going, i was so upset and embarrassed that i had cried infront of everyone that it turned to anger in the moment and when i walked out and she was going i repsonded ‘i really dont care’ i cant really remember what she said after but i knew she was carrying on so i shouted ‘shutup’ as i was walking away infront of all the other customers and colleagues and she just walked out. Now i know i am 100% in the wrong for the last comments i made but i really felt in that moment that i couldnt control the words coming out of mouth but i do know i wanted to say alot worse and im glad i didnt.
Now im fully aware this is probably going to go to disiplinary as i shouldnt have treated any customer like that regardless however i am scared if i could lose my job over it? Id be fine getting a warning as i know i deserve it and ive never gotten one before.
What are reasons i could use to not get sacked in the situation or are there none that are excusable?