Rude Customers >:(

elisebutt65

I was going to add to this about some of the daily abuse I get from students, but reading some of the posts maybe I should have thought about that before studying for 5 years to get qualified and then doing my teaching practice.

I do have a colleague going through a grievance procedure with the union from being bullied by one of the older students. She's 20 as compared to the average of 16/17 and thinks that gives her the right to ride roughshod over everyone else, including teaching staff. When I have to deal with her now, I pass her up the line to my boss as I refuse to take her cr@ p anymore. Pity really as I'm the one who has to write her job & UCAS reference next year.
She'll find out about the cliched reaping & sowing.
I don't think parents bother to instill P's & Q's anymore, let alone respect for others.

(written on iPhone, so please excuse any spelling & grammar oddities)

zagfles

antrobus wrote: »

So it is. But that doesn't mean to say that you can't later have a good old moan about the the idiots you've had to deal with today. It's the same with doctors, taxi drivers, receptionists, or anyone who has to deal with the public; once they get together down the pub, they're full of little anecdotes about the general insanity that they sometimes have to deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Absolutely! Fortunately (or unfortunately!) most of the customers I deal with now have more than a couple of brain cells.

Many years ago I spend the summer working in a small computer shop, once a woman came in complaining the computer she'd just bought doesn't work. We connected it up and switched it on in the shop and it seemed perfectly OK. She said it wasn't doing that at home, she plugged it in, switched it on and nothing happened.

After chatting for a bit she started saying what a day she'd had, she got home from the shops and wanted a cup of tea but the kettle wasn't working, so she had to boil water on the gas cooker, but the ignition switch wasn't working so she had to go down the shops for a pack of matches! Then she asked how come the computer works here but not at home :rotfl:

chewynut

zagfles wrote: »

Disagree totally. If you work in any customer facing role then it's your job to take criticism/complaints from customers about any aspect of your company, even for stuff that you have no control over yourself. When you interact with a customer, you are "the company" to them. As long as the customer doesn't get personal about it (which IME is rare).

I've worked in customer facing jobs all my working life and it's part of the job, often I've agreed with the customer ranting down the phone to me, yet I've had to put the company point of view across. Doesn't phase me at all as I know the rant is directed at the company, not me personally.

That's awesome for you, special snowflake.

But what are you meant to say when customers whinge about paying prices that are a lot cheaper than the shop or the cafe down the road?

zagfles

chewynut wrote: »

That's awesome for you, special snowflake.

:rotfl:

But what are you meant to say when customers whinge about paying prices that are a lot cheaper than the shop or the cafe down the road?

Explain why you charge more, eg better view, more attractive staff, better location, that you don't gob in their tea like the other cafe...

Or agree with them and say you'll pass their complaint onto whoever sets the prices, rather than taking it personally.

Fiddlestick

s_b wrote: »

you mean you are the company clone then?
the one who does as the company says to the letter
the bore at company does always spouting company mantra
its one of the reasons i left wordspeak big business
i am human i may work for you but touch me stab me doth i not bleed

I don't know if you bleed or not, but if we !!!!! you and stab you will you learn to capitalise your pronouns?

vyle

To balance things out, I did serve a most delightful lady and her son today. They made a point of coming to me because I'd served them before. They were friendly, and even though her son was no older than 9, he was explaining a lot of the more technical things to his mum and being something of an interpreter for some of my replies, and asking perceptive questions that his mum hadn't thought of.

After I'd finished with them, she sought out my manager's manager to praise me, then a bit later, the kid came over to thank me because I'd "done a lot" for them.

Made my day.

Esqui

Today has been great here too - I had no rude customers out of 500-odd people. Some lovely people, in fact - even despite a few potentially problematic issues.

You might have the odd rude person, but when you have a customer for whom you've made their day, it's wonderful. Particularly in mine and vyle's line of business, it's sometimes easy to forget that we're helping them find an item that could well change their lives - knowing that you've done it in a positive way is great, and one of the reasons most people love working in retail

Rupert_Bear

arcon5 wrote: »

Oh I hate post offices. There's always a huge queue full of elderly ladies whining about the size of the queue and the cost of stamps, the Chav with his crap music playing out on loud speaker and a person that smells.

You finally get to the cashier and they seem to always be deflated and lifeless - probably from a day of being moaned at.

I enjoyed the days when you went into a crown post office to transact some business and the clerk hardly recognised you as a fellow human being. Now I go into one even to buy a stamp and they want to sell you something. The last time was a post office telephone.

s_b

Fiddlestick wrote: »

I don't know if you bleed or not, but if we !!!!! you and stab you will you learn to capitalise your pronouns?

oh dear looks like i rattled another primary school teachers cage:D
now now dear skool tommos remember;)
hope the polo starts eh:rotfl:
and have you polished your jesus sandals:p

charlies_mum

You should try working behind the counter in an Antiques Centre. Everyone asks "what's your best price on this" ? Fine except when what they want is only £1 !