Complaining in front of the customer

[MIGrandma]

I understand what you're saying, and have been guilty of doing it myself.

I used to work as a waitress, and when we were behind the counter making coffee, getting soda for customers, making salads, etc. sometimes we talked among ourselves and sometimes the talking was complaining. We tried to do it quietly, but I'm sure the first few tables could hear us. I'm sure people that work in offices, that don't have customers coming in and out, talk to each other and complain. It's in people's nature to complain about things in their jobs I think. But in an office it's only you and your co-workers. But in the service industry other people are always around, so sometimes it's hard to keep the complaining to yourselves. Not saying it's right, but sometimes you just have to vent, or you'll end up exploding at a customer.

 

[Nolcrest]

I just had this conversation about hearing cashiers air their grievances in front of customers the other day with DH. The cashiers at the grocery store are notorious for this. I hear them complain about each other, the customers, their hours..Yadda, yadda, yadda.

They even try to involve me in their conversation at times. I'm pretty sick of it and really think I'll speak speak to a manager about it.

This just isn't the same work ethic I was raised with.

 

[Gabes_mommy]

I understand what you're saying, and have been guilty of doing it myself.

I used to work as a waitress, and when we were behind the counter making coffee, getting soda for customers, making salads, etc. sometimes we talked among ourselves and sometimes the talking was complaining. We tried to do it quietly, but I'm sure the first few tables could hear us. I'm sure people that work in offices, that don't have customers coming in and out, talk to each other and complain. It's in people's nature to complain about things in their jobs I think. But in an office it's only you and your co-workers. But in the service industry other people are always around, so sometimes it's hard to keep the complaining to yourselves. Not saying it's right, but sometimes you just have to vent, or you'll end up exploding at a customer.

Well said. I work at a college and my co-workers and I chat behind the desk. Some of that chat is complaining. We try to keep our voices down, but if someone really wanted to I'm sure they could hear what we were saying. My co-workers and I really get along and like to chat with each other. I think it's human nature to want to communicate.

Outright rudeness is never right though.

 

[Mrs.Reese]

Gotta agree here! I am so SICK and TIRED of hearing the constant complaining. Work isn't always fun, sometimes it blows but it's work. When I hear employees complain guess what I complain. I guess that makes me a witch but oh well.

 

[bicker]

I think the corporate people who set the volume levels must think that THUMPING! THUMPING! THUMPING! music will make me buy at that store....*not*.

It isn't always just all about you.

Seriously, figure that stores like that are aiming at a different set of shoppers, folks who actually prefer an environment that you don't like.

I always try to treat people the way that I want to be treated

A perspective that, from what I can see, is relatively uncommon for consumers to practice, in stores today.

 

[Pugsley]

This just came up the other day at my post office when the guy that was helping me starting complaining to ME about a coworker. He actually stopped helping me and kept glaring at a coworker and saying how that guy was never doing what he was supposed to be doing. Then a supervisor came into the area and the guy helping me says "good, that's our supervisor, NOW maybe he'll start working!" I was shocked and commented to my husband later about how inappropriate that was. This guy also drives me nuts because he's always trying to sell us something. EVERY time we're in there he asks if we want stamps, a post office box, a passport, etc. Serioulsy... don't you think that if we wanted/needed those things we would ASK for them?

 

[bicker]

This guy also drives me nuts because he's always trying to sell us something. EVERY time we're in there he asks if we want stamps, a post office box, a passport, etc. Serioulsy... don't you think that if we wanted/needed those things we would ASK for them?

That's not always the case with every customer. Some folks actually do respond to prompting like that, and it is often considered a good sales tactic to always ask a customer if they wish to make a further purchase.

In some cases, the worker can lose their job for failing to ask.

 

[Kae]

At the kids school we have a bus driver who also works as a Cafe Monitor & he tells the kids how he hates is job. I am like that's nice.

Kae

 

[agnes!]

Actually, I do leave stores whose canned music is too loud...do it all the time. I think the corporate people who set the volume levels must think that THUMPING! THUMPING! THUMPING! music will make me buy at that store....*not*. If I have to speak up or shout to ask the salespeople/cashiers a question?....the music is too loud. ...

It isn't always just all about you.

Seriously, figure that stores like that are aiming at a different set of shoppers, folks who actually prefer an environment that you don't like.

As evidenced by my trying to be considerate when in a store, I wouldn't necessarily say I think "it" is all about me....

But ... you're actually assuming that some serious corporate thought-process goes into what the volume-level should be in retail establishments? I think that management just decides to blindly set it at whatever level and then tells employees that they are not allowed to *ever* touch the music system, that way the music doesn't get fiddled with on a constant basis by the employees, either on their own or through customer-request. But people often 'prefer' louder music because that's what they are conditioned-to, that's what they expect... I'm sure some employee lawsuits are on the way about hearing-loss due to too-loud (and required to be at that volume by management) environmental music. I often wonder if OSHA or similar local agencies ever go into stores (or certain Disney attractions!) and check the volume-level.

agnes!

 

[agnes!]

At the kids school we have a bus driver who also works as a Cafe Monitor & he tells the kids how he hates is job. I am like that's nice.

Kae

That reminds me of the time we were able to ride in the front cab of the monorail and had a female driver who complained about working for Disney the entire time we were in the front-cab.

agnes!

 

[DramaQueen]

Although I agree that employees should be professional and respectful of their customers while they are working, I have to say it would be nice if more customers showed some common courtesy as well! Maybe this is straying to far away from the topic, but I'm going to take a go at it anyways.

Oh Gosh I couldn't agree more!!! Sure, I've had my fair share of annoying cashiers/sales associates but it usually doesn't bother me all that much.
I'm also on the other end as a sales associate at a music/movie store and sometimes I find the behaviors of some customers so rude! The worst is when people talk on their cell phones when I'm ringing them up and then don't hear me when I tell them the total, and when they look on their receipt they question the total. I could have explained it to you when I was ringing you up if you weren't on your cell phone!

And people get mad at me all the time if a promotion is over, or we're sold out of something, or we don't have what they want, it's just tough sometimes to just keep smiling politely. hehe

But I definitely agree that some places don't exactly have the best customer! The movie theatre by my house is the WORST!! (and having worked at a different movie theatre chain in the past that really stressed customer service it makes me cringe when I get ignored!!)

 

[diznygirl]

Although I agree that employees should be professional and respectful of their customers while they are working, I have to say it would be nice if more customers showed some common courtesy as well! Maybe this is straying to far away from the topic, but I'm going to take a go at it anyways. In the last two days that I've worked alone I have seen so many things that make me wonder why people just can't be nice or do take the extra few minutes to be thoughtful.

I let children with mothers into dressing rooms, each time explaining the policy of only allowing 5 items into a room at a time, undoubtedly when I go to check the fitting room there is a mountain of ( I kid you not ) twenty to thirty clothing articles and hangers all over the dressing room floor. This happened yesterday and today several times. I just don't understand why, if you are going to bring more clothes in once you've been given a dressing room, you don't at least have the courtesy to bring them to someone when you are done or try and find the appropriate place to put them, rather then leaving them all over the floor for someone else to deal with later. They could have at least put them on hangers and hung them up neatly.

Other customers have been more then rude, picking up a shirt and dropping it on the floor when they found it did not satisfy their taste. Did they pick it up? No. They then proceeded to drop a few more shirts on the floor when they were not of their taste. The same customer spills their drink on the floor, sees it, and keeps walking. Never looks back, never informs anybody that they spilled anything, and never even considers cleaning it up.

I can't even tell you how many times I've gotten yelled at and told I was lying or victim to a rude comment when I told customers I could not leave the front room and that there were others working in the back that would assist them or that I had no control over the volume of the music. There were two other girls working in the back room today, both of them were ringing a long line of people up. A woman wanted a shirt that was on display and wanted to show me which one it was so I could help her find it. I told her I wasn't allowed to leave the front room and those in the back would be more then happy to assist her. She then gave me a dirty look and said, " They are at the cash register, they aren't on the floor!" I had no idea what she wanted me to do, we were extremely busy and someone is supposed to be up front at all times, she made me feel as though she thought I just didn't want to help her. The music is another story though... The music is loud, yes. Does it give me a headache? Yes. Do I have any control over it? No. Yesterday a man asked me how I could stand the music and I told him that yes it was loud, but I suppose I just got used to it after a while. He asked if I could turn it down. I proceeded to tell him that I had no control over it. He then very rudely said, " Since when?" and walked away and went to ask the next employee to turn it down. If you don't want to listen to the loud music, then don't shop in the store. That is what I really felt like saying... Well, perhaps I wanted to say it because he was only the fifth person that day to ask if we could turn it down.

It is also not fun being rudely talked too when asked to take something off a display or sell the display item on the rack. It's not my fault, it's not my rule, and it's not my policy, it's the stores policy, I am so sorry it doesn't sit well with you, but that doesn't mean you have to sit there and yell at me and tell me how unfair it is that you can't buy the shirt you wanted and how stupid it is that the company wouldn't want to sell the shirt or the jacket that you want to buy.

Yes this all happened in the last two days and it does happen all the time, but I feel as though it happened a lot in the last two days and just felt like sharing! Maybe Employees and Customers should make a compromise to be more helpful to one and other to create a good shopping experience for the customer and a good work environment for the employee. I can dream right?

The examples you mention are more indicative of the store having bad policies that don't put the customer first. I know it's not your decision, but having a store policy that won't sell the items on display, or allow you to help a customer by moving from your room is not good customer service. These things would irk me as well. I wouldn't yell at you for it, but I might speak to a manager to suggest changing the store policy to be more about the customer.

 

[bicker]

But ... you're actually assuming that some serious corporate thought-process goes into what the volume-level should be in retail establishments?

Hollister, for example.

I think that management just decides to blindly set it at whatever level and then tells employees that they are not allowed to *ever* touch the music system, that way the music doesn't get fiddled with on a constant basis by the employees, either on their own or through customer-request.

You say "blindly" I suspect because what they do doesn't meet with your own personal approval. However, again, there is no reason to believe that you're their intended audience. The folks who shop there, shop there because of the environment they create there. It doesn't have to be a place where everyone wants to shop -- there is no such place, because "everyone" encompasses too many diametrically-oppositional perspectives that there is no way to create everyone's ideal shopping environment within one store.

But people often 'prefer' louder music because that's what they are conditioned-to

I think your comments are patently and needlessly insulting to folks who like shopping at those places. They have a right to like what they like, without having been "conditioned" to like it, any more than you were "conditioned" to like what you like.

 

[kaytieeldr]

This guy also drives me nuts because he's always trying to sell us something. EVERY time we're in there he asks if we want stamps, a post office box, a passport, etc. Serioulsy... don't you think that if we wanted/needed those things we would ASK for them?

THAT you need to take up with the Postmaster, or at least the Supervisor or Manager on Duty. It's now part of the Clerk's job, and the goal is to increase sales and so, revenue.

But ... you're actually assuming that some serious corporate thought-process goes into what the volume-level should be in retail establishments?

Absolutely. Do you think there's not? Do you think there aren't studies and research on every aspect of your (well, the targeted) shopping experience?

 

[bicker]

Do you think there aren't studies and research on every aspect of your (well, the targeted) shopping experience?

And Disney's the king of this sort of thing. Expect that from the minute you walk into a Disney gift shop, most every aspect of the experience has been thought-about, tweaked to test various variations, etc.

 

[dismom2]

It is also not fun being rudely talked too when asked to take something off a display or sell the display item on the rack. It's not my fault, it's not my rule, and it's not my policy, it's the stores policy, I am so sorry it doesn't sit well with you, but that doesn't mean you have to sit there and yell at me and tell me how unfair it is that you can't buy the shirt you wanted and how stupid it is that the company wouldn't want to sell the shirt or the jacket that you want to buy.

I have to admit, one time, over twenty years ago, I was shopping for a formal dress and the only one left in my size was on the mannequin, but when I asked if I could purchase it I was told no--that they can't take it off the mannequin. I didn't yell at the girl, but I did complain because the item was for sale and they wouldn't let me buy it. I couldn't understand why someone there couldn't just put another outfit (or the exact same dress, which they had more of) on the mannequin so I could purchase it. I was so in love with that dress I didn't even want any of the others. I was told that someone from the outside comes in once or twice a month to chance the outfit on the mannequin and they couldn't do it. I still think that was poor business practice---afterall, they lost a sale, and a customer left unhappy. Fortunately, I found another at a location really far away from my house (which I found on my own--nobody offered to call around for me--which I don't expect, but appreciate when stores offer do that).

I agree that you shouldn't get upset with the salesperson who is just making the rules, which is why I usually try to speak to a manager. Most of the time they try to be accomodating, then everyone is happy.

As for employee's complaining in front of customers: I agree that it is very unprofessional. Do it in the break room, or out of ear shot of customers. I have bitten my tongue many times at work. I understand that customers can be rude---very rude---unfortunately, it's a fact of life that can't be avoided.

 

[just4today]

But ... you're actually assuming that some serious corporate thought-process goes into what the volume-level should be in retail establishments? I think that management just decides to blindly set it at whatever level and then tells employees that they are not allowed to *ever* touch the music system, that way the music doesn't get fiddled with on a constant basis by the employees, either on their own or through customer-request. But people often 'prefer' louder music because that's what they are conditioned-to, that's what they expect... I'm sure some employee lawsuits are on the way about hearing-loss due to too-loud (and required to be at that volume by management) environmental music. I often wonder if OSHA or similar local agencies ever go into stores (or certain Disney attractions!) and check the volume-level.

I especially don't get why some gas stations have the music cranking on their outdoor speakers loud enough to hear a mile away. Really? I've already stopped there and gotten out of my car to pump gas. The loud obnoxious music is not going to influence my purchase at the point. In fact, if I had the slightest inclination to go inside and buy a coffee or something like that, I would not do it just so that I could get away from that unholy racket faster.

 

[Arielle22]

Cashiers at my supermarket frequently talk to each other when ringing me up and bagging. Only once have I complained, when 2 young men were discussing how easy a girl was.

I have been on both sides of the counter, spending 5 years as a retail mgr at a large clothing store. I always told my cashiers to never tell a customer " I can't ..." but to page me so I can get the customer the assistance they required.

Customers still went away angry sometimes but we tried.

 

[FireDancer]

I am the I.T. coordinator for a financial institution and I would never go down to the lobby or a branch and complain about our members, my job, or anything else. It is just not professional. It isn't only customers though, as a member of the management team (though not directly of the front line staff) I would never complain about the company, its policies, or co-workers on any level in front of the staff. That is also unprofessional.

No matter what you job is part of the focus needs to be on how the rest of the company, and management, perceive you. If you are not focused on this you will probably find the corporate ladder doesn't reach as high as you would like. George Kalogredis started as a busboy at the Contemporary resort and is now the president of the Disneyland resort, I imagine he didn't do a lot of unprofessional behavior to climb that high. Al Weiss, his boss, started at another low lever position in the company. How you carry yourself in front of your co-workers, managers, and customers is important.

 

[descovy]

I am with you... manners have to go both ways. My hugest pet peeve as a cashier is people who can't get off their cell phone. Seriously, can't you can call back later after you check out?? I am not a machine... I am a human, and while I don't expect us to be best buds, a little I-acknowledge-you-exist would be nice.

I ask "How are you today?"and you have the gall to give me the "shush" finger because you are on the phone?

Or you go to the returns desk, on the phone, and just throw your bag at me. What? No explaination? Don't want to talk to me? Or even give eye contact?

I give good customer service at work, and I expect it as a consumer. So I am a polite customer as well.

Clerks that barely grunt hello? Spend the day with customers who when asked "How are you today" pretend they don't hear you.

Clerks that gossip amongst themselves? Spend the day with people barely looking up while gossiping on their cell phone.

Both are wrong, but it does cut both ways.

Although I agree that employees should be professional and respectful of their customers while they are working, I have to say it would be nice if more customers showed some common courtesy as well! Maybe this is straying to far away from the topic, but I'm going to take a go at it anyways. In the last two days that I've worked alone I have seen so many things that make me wonder why people just can't be nice or do take the extra few minutes to be thoughtful.

I let children with mothers into dressing rooms, each time explaining the policy of only allowing 5 items into a room at a time, undoubtedly when I go to check the fitting room there is a mountain of ( I kid you not ) twenty to thirty clothing articles and hangers all over the dressing room floor. This happened yesterday and today several times. I just don't understand why, if you are going to bring more clothes in once you've been given a dressing room, you don't at least have the courtesy to bring them to someone when you are done or try and find the appropriate place to put them, rather then leaving them all over the floor for someone else to deal with later. They could have at least put them on hangers and hung them up neatly.

Other customers have been more then rude, picking up a shirt and dropping it on the floor when they found it did not satisfy their taste. Did they pick it up? No. They then proceeded to drop a few more shirts on the floor when they were not of their taste. The same customer spills their drink on the floor, sees it, and keeps walking. Never looks back, never informs anybody that they spilled anything, and never even considers cleaning it up.

I can't even tell you how many times I've gotten yelled at and told I was lying or victim to a rude comment when I told customers I could not leave the front room and that there were others working in the back that would assist them or that I had no control over the volume of the music. There were two other girls working in the back room today, both of them were ringing a long line of people up. A woman wanted a shirt that was on display and wanted to show me which one it was so I could help her find it. I told her I wasn't allowed to leave the front room and those in the back would be more then happy to assist her. She then gave me a dirty look and said, " They are at the cash register, they aren't on the floor!" I had no idea what she wanted me to do, we were extremely busy and someone is supposed to be up front at all times, she made me feel as though she thought I just didn't want to help her. The music is another story though... The music is loud, yes. Does it give me a headache? Yes. Do I have any control over it? No. Yesterday a man asked me how I could stand the music and I told him that yes it was loud, but I suppose I just got used to it after a while. He asked if I could turn it down. I proceeded to tell him that I had no control over it. He then very rudely said, " Since when?" and walked away and went to ask the next employee to turn it down. If you don't want to listen to the loud music, then don't shop in the store. That is what I really felt like saying... Well, perhaps I wanted to say it because he was only the fifth person that day to ask if we could turn it down.

It is also not fun being rudely talked too when asked to take something off a display or sell the display item on the rack. It's not my fault, it's not my rule, and it's not my policy, it's the stores policy, I am so sorry it doesn't sit well with you, but that doesn't mean you have to sit there and yell at me and tell me how unfair it is that you can't buy the shirt you wanted and how stupid it is that the company wouldn't want to sell the shirt or the jacket that you want to buy.

Yes this all happened in the last two days and it does happen all the time, but I feel as though it happened a lot in the last two days and just felt like sharing! Maybe Employees and Customers should make a compromise to be more helpful to one and other to create a good shopping experience for the customer and a good work environment for the employee. I can dream right?