How much stick do you take from customers?

xxJudexx

I work in retail in a store that mainly sells clothes.

There have been times when a customer has been particularly rude but I have bit my tongue and been polite and just moaned when I got home.

The other day I had a customer who had brought a pair of mens trousers with a ticket that had a womens department code on it. I politely told him it was the wrong code and I would just send someone to find the correct price for him. He started getting all annoying saying 'I know my rights, you have to sell it to me for that price'. Luckily my manager was around and she pointed out, again, that it was the wrong ticket and someone would be back shortly with the price. Then he started on with 'Just because I am black doesn't mean I don't know my rights'. I have to admit I did laugh then!
Then another customer approached me and told me (in front of the first customer) that she had seen him switch the ticket over. This got customer one really rattled and he started shouting at customer two saying 'no one likes a f***ing grass' over and over again. Then he started insulting customer two about the clothes she was wearing! At this was shouting so lots of other customers could hear. It was so shocking that I said to customer one that if he carried on I would refuse to serve him. So he then started on me! he was shouting at me so I told him that I was no longer happy to serve him. I went to take the trousers to put them behind the counter and he snatched them off me! At that point I did feel that at any moment customer one was going to physically attack me, that's how heated it got.
All of this happened with my manager behind the counter about five feet away! Then my manager started being very polite to customer one, all the 'yes sir, let me help you sir'. I was gobsmacked. I then had to serve customer two and apologise not only for customer ones behaviour but for my managers.

Now I know working in retail you should expect a few rude customers but I think this went one step further. If I were customer two I would have been disgusted with the way I was treated. She had tried to help the store out and all she got was abuse from another customer!

This all happened on sunday and I want to go in and speak to my manager about it to find out what their policy towards abusive customers is. I don't want to have to be put in that situation again where I am the one to refuse to serve someone for being abusive and then have my manager not even help me out!

I think if I were put in that position again I would just walk away from the situation and let my manager deal with both customers. We do have a security guard but he isn't in every day and we are told to either call him or a manager if a situation is getting out of hand but my manager was right there so she obviously didn't think it was getting out of hand.

Am I being over the top here? Should I just let it go? What would you guys have done?

Sambucus_Nigra

No - go and find out what your manager wants you to do if it happened again, document it, and email it back to them asking 'have I got this right boss', so that next time you ignore obvious theft you are covered. Also, perhaps ask your manager why they did not step in at any point whilst you were being verbally abused.

MrSnuggles

When I was shopping I've seen cashiers enter the amount on the computer, and then the customer gives extra cash so the cashier is forced to count back lol. Made moments of awkwardness when the casher is struggling to count and everyone is watching.

I also heard someone in front of me once yell "That's a stupid question. Why the !!!! would you ask if I want a carrier bag? Does it look like I'm going to carry all this back home?!" The cashier responded with "You might have a car outside or have your own carrier bag in your pocket" and the fact he spoke back to the customer made him really angry. My guess is that customer didn't own a car and the cashier tacklessly hurt his feelings.

Googlewhacker

Whilst you may not have liked what your manager did, look at it this way...by doing the please sir etc he got the guy served and out of the shop ASAP, if he had got baulchy with the guy then it could have got alot worse and escalated very quickly.

I think what you did was spot on (bar the apologising for the manager) and yes definitely find out what is expected of you.

paddyrg

Your manager was being a diplomat, and that's why he is management. It is a useful skill. He took a very fraught situation where you were feeling physically threatened by a bullying thug, and diffused it. You don't say how it ended for the crooked 'customer', but it got rid of him, and meant that nobody got hit, no windows smashed, no customers abused/frightened out of the shop.

I don't blame you for feeling betrayed by management - but realise they probably did the best thing in that moment. Tell them how you were scared and felt undermined, they may offer some reassurance.

traumascares

Remember that the manager was in a difficult situation with only a few seconds to work out what to do. He might have been scared that you would get hurt or the situation would escalate, even if he over-reacted - remember it was a difficult situation all round.

LilMissEmmylou

See now in this situation if I was your manager I would have stepped in... but NOT to serve them! I would have backed you up and requested security remove them from the store.

I am a firm believer that people deserve respect, until the second they start showing no respect for others. Then I will quite happily refuse to serve them.

nearlyrich

I have binned customer accounts before now because of rudeness, if they can't treat me and my colleagues, in service for instance, with courtesy and respect they can stick their business and I will deal with more pleasant people. I know retail is a bit different but I think everyone deserves to be treated properly at work.

gibson123

Your Manager did the right thing, by defusing this situation and keeping you safe, if it had been me I would have followed up with a chat with you about why I acted this way and that it was no reflection on your work or the respect you deserve. There are many d**kheads in this world and this customer was one. He probably picked you carefully as someone he could intimidate and deliberately targeted you. You have to not take these things personally, the guy had and agenda and politeness and reasonableness was not a part of this.

BlueAngelCV

I don't think the manager did the right thing. This wasn't a customer being slighly bolshy, he was being abusive and physically threatening. The manager should have backed you up and called security to escort him from the building.

BUT, I can understand the argument for difusing the situation to get him out of the store quickly. If that is what the manager was doing he should have gone over to you afterwards to check that you were ok and explain what he did.

ellanutella

On a training course where I work, where most others there had been at the company for less than a month, we were told that if a customer starts swearing at us then it's our problem not the customers and instead of asking the customer to stop swearing we should find someone "more suited to deal with the complaint" if we didn't want to be sworn at. Nice introduction the company! Just wonder how acceptable it would be if I turned round with "Sir, I'm so sorry you have a !!!!ing problem but i'll sort it !!!!ing out I !!!!ing promise"....