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work problems
Raiku
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
theres been problems with certain customers at my store. back in november a man comes in and starts mumbling(mind you i have a hearing disability along with my aspergers) i ask him "i couldn't hear what you were saying. could you please repeat it?" he flips out over it and i tell him that i have a hearing disability. and he says its no excuse for saying the word what. he then demands to see the manager and tells her i was being a racist towards him(thats what she told me later when i got written up for it). he gets a $20 gift card and later on he comes back in with his daughter and she starts going off on how stupid i am for falling for that trap(?). he comes in again on black friday with a coupon that expired and my coworker who rung him up tells him we cant take it. he threatens her life over it. i call up our manager and she says she cant do anything about it because she didnt see it happen.. next we've got these 3 people who come in and do stuff that should get them banned from any store. they shove other customers, cut in line, insult my coworkers and demand discounts for everything. if anyone complains theyre labled anti semetic and say they have connections to the CEO and have us all fired. both me and my friend tried to tell corporate about this stuff(store manager wouldnt let him leave on a busy day despite the fact that he kept on throwing up) and they want out names, despite the fact that this stuff is supposed to be annonymous.
id like to switch jobs but theres none out there thatll hire me or pays as well(i make 8 an hour but still). so what am i supposed to do? i know the stuff these people are doing is illegial but i think if i complain ill lose my job and i need it to help my family.
id like to switch jobs but theres none out there thatll hire me or pays as well(i make 8 an hour but still). so what am i supposed to do? i know the stuff these people are doing is illegial but i think if i complain ill lose my job and i need it to help my family.
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1. Just give the customer what they want. Don't worry about it.
2. Find coworkers who will have your back.
3. Find a manager or mangers who will have you back.
In my opinion, the problem here is that your manager is not willing to support his/her employees. This is a serious managerial issue that needs to be addressed.
Next up, never respond to them. Just excuse yourself and say you really can't help them and direct them to the store manager or whoever is responsible. Refrain from saying anything or making any comments, just immediately inform the person in charge. Handle complaining customers the same way you would handle shoplifters i.e. never get involved directly.
Hope this makes sense to you.
People like the old guy in particular, when a manager becomes involved and it becomes clear the manager doesn't want to play their game, they generally disappear. Some of them are just out to get something for nothing and will give up a bad mark, others are genuinely angry for a no good reason and will take his business elsewhere, because obviously your whole store is run by assholes as big as you. If they try to make trouble higher up, higher up talks to the manager, manager says the guy's an asshole, guy gets the shaft there, too.
Your manager doesn't just have to support the employees, they have to stick up for the company. Your store is being victimized to the detriment of your workers, the detriment of your other customers' experience (that second bunch, you've probably already lost sales, even customers over), and to the tune of at least $20 by the sounds of it. That's not just leaving your employees out to dry, that's hurting your store's and your company's revenue.
I would try and find a similar job (i know you said that there isn't anything better, but at this point its time to bail) you need and deserve a better work environment. Just hold on long enough to get a better job.
IF they do something against you, then its time to talk to your states employment board, labor relations board, or something similar.
If nothing else, the documentation might help in a hearing with your state employment board or an unemployment case (like if you get fired for treating customers poorly, you might be able to show that there's a history of this sort of thing here, and you can get unemployment while looking for a new job instead of being left out to dry).
Best of luck! Retail is no fun, doubly so when your manager doesn't back you up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6qT0eeZb3Q
This. Nothing is going to change. Just shrug it off and don't let it get to you and in the meantime look for something else.
You get these kind of customers everywhere. I work at a supermarket in a fairly high-income neighborhood and I have to deal with obnoxious customers, like, every time I work.
The sense of self-entitlement amongst some people is really astonishing.
you poor, poor bastards
You would in a lot of places here, too. Some will be a bit accommodating if the customer's being unreasonable but at least have some legitimate gripe, but the vast majority of stores draw the line pretty quick if pushed, and very few will take an intentionally belligerent customer's side. Some will toss them a discount or honor their expired coupon, but to write up the employee on it at the same time is a different matter.
Problem is, there's a damn lot of managers who just don't care to actually run their stores and instead just sit back in the office handing out write ups when somebody makes them get up. And there are people who prey on that kind of store. Which is why a lot of people suggest getting out of the job - it's more a management problem than a customer one.
I saw the exact same behavior when I lived in Ireland. My mates who tend bar in Manchester see it too... it's definitely not an American thing.
xbl - HowYouGetAnts
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whoo boy.
I was not meaning to say that only in america does this behaviour occur. But seeing these assholes getting catered to is something completely alien to me.
I can be an entitled rude shithead to staff, sure. But it won't get me any coupons is what i'm saying.
Somehow this feels like the concept of "the customer is always right" has been taken to an extreme level.
Hevach helped to enlighten me though.
?
No, it's not an American thing, it's a spineless (on the manager's end) and asshole thing ('customer'); of which the world has in abundance.
My last retail gig, which provided WHOLEsome FOODs, was actually pretty good about this. A dirty old coot pulled at the apron strings of girl working, and two seconds later the manager was up in his face making him apologize. The company takes it seriously from other store stories as well.
So OP, no, this will not change as long as that manager is working there. They are either being bullied by someone above them, or simply don't care. Neither of which you can fix.
Sorry, didn't see you got a card for that. Though not sure I agree crappy managers are 'an American thing' either, but geopolicital boundires are not relevant to the advice, so I'll leave it.
Resaurants too! I can think if at least three who's corporate motto may as well be 'Fuck our Employees, hard!' The problem is that corporate a lot of times doesn't give a fuck about the people on the front or their well being, which is why nothing changes except your sanity level.
Document instances with the customers and always inform the manager and tell your side of events, document his response.
If you get one of these customers pass them off to your manager immediately, don't argue with the customer directly. If they bring in an expired coupon, don't tell them there is a problem, just tell them something like, "The system isn't reading this correctly, let me get someone over here to help." and then page your manager over and hand it over to him to deal with. If he constantly lets the customers get away from crap like this then you need to document it and let his boss know possibly.
If it's a repeat problem customer that comes back in then alert the manager covertly before the customer is even helped. Perhaps the manager can be observing the situation from nearby casually without bringing it to the problem customer's attention so he sees/hears it first hand and can step in.
If this kind of thing is a real issue and your boss won't do any of these things to help out the employees in properly handling these situations and instead leaves the employee out to dry and then writes them up when the customer demands to talk to the manager then you need to deal with the next in command above them and if nothing is done or changes then you have little option but to look for a different job or continue to suffer this stupidity.
You should be instantly escalating these incidents. The minute a customer raises their voice, don't even let them get an accusation out. Politely inform them that you're going to get the manager and he/she will deal with the problem. Just turn and walk away from them. You're a peon there. It's not worth getting worked up over. At all.
Yeah you hit it on the nail here.
Looking for a new job is fine and all, but workplace problems can, TO A CERTAIN DEGREE, often been overcome by behaving correctly. OP's situation is a situation in which the only thing he can do to resolve the issues is directing them to the manager, so the manager can take care of those customers.
theres also another part id like to address. ever since the first incident, ive developed a fear for black people. i think everytime i see one theyre gonna attack me then say theyre allowed to do it because theyre black(which happened to me a few times growing up) or start calling me ethnic slurs or just flat out call me a racist just for fun. i need help on taking care of this issue as well
I'm confused. Are they black or Jewish? I mean, you can be both, but it's a little rare.
And who would ever say "I'm allowed to kick your ass because I'm black."? These issues you're going to need to get professional help with, because this is actually you being racist.
EDIT: Ok, made a little sense of it from the OP. Two different groups.
well it happened when i was younger one of my bullies would beat me and call nme a stupid white boy which is where the stuff i mentioned earlier stems from. i dont ever want to be labeled a racist nor be afraid of black people. i want to be able to get rid of this fear