u/Electrical-Rest6430

During a busy spring season, I was running from one end of the store to the other, bringing cash to registers, doing overrides, putting out fires, and even unlocking propane tanks for customers. I had walked by the customer service desk at one point, and one of the associates at the desk was calling me over to unlock a propane tank for a customer who had just purchased one. While walking by, I told them I was responding to do an override on one of the outside registers and a line was building, and that I would meet the customer outside to unlock the tank right after. I did the override and then walked over to the cage up front where we kept the tanks locked, and the customer was waiting. I don't know what the customer was told or wasn't told, but from the moment I stepped over to the cage, he started questioning me. Questioning why not only it took so long to unlock the tank, but why I walked by him when the associate asked me to help him, and didn't do anything. I reminded him that I told the associate that I would unlock his tank after I did the override for the customer that I was called to do beforehand. This customer with the tank was even standing at the desk when the associated called me, and when I walked by. I also reminded the customer that was the first call I received about unlocking his tank for him, and it was only about 3-4 minutes from when I walked by the desk to when I arrived at the propane tank cage. It got to the point where I was being pretty much interrogated about skipping by him, and not being responsive, and blah blah blah. I unlocked his tank, and as soon as he gave me the old one, I confirmed he had what he needed, I told him that "You have what you purchased, we're done" and walked away to address another customer. He wasn't done, but I sure was.

While the dude wasn't loud and beligerent, it was the feeling that I was in an interrogation room that was getting under my skin. All over a $20 tank exchange. I had no time to go back and forth with him over pettiness.

I once had a customer that told me that he was going to slap the shit out of me. This was all because he wanted to purchase some flooring that was on a pallet in top stock, and it was taking too long to get the reach machine and close off the aisles because of customer traffic. I confronted him because he had climbed one of the ladders for employees only, and was attempting to rip the pallet open to grab some boxes for himself, which is extremely unsafe.

A while back, I had an ASM (Assistant Store Manager) that would do his best to avoid coming over to address a customer issue. If a customer, in-person or over the phone, wanted to speak to a manager, I would ask what it was regarding, and sometimes they wouldn't want to tell me. I didn't want to push it out of them, especially if they were clearly irate. Every time I called this manager letting him know that a customer wanted to speak with him, he would respond with, "Well what do they need a manager for?" or "Well what do they need specifically?". I would tell him that I asked what it was regarding to see if it was something I could assist with, but they just wanted a manager and that was the end of it. I would get either attitude, moaning and groaning, questioned, scolded, or all of the above. I would also avoid calling this specific ASM for customer issues, but sometimes he was the only one on, and I didn't have a choice. There was a day where I was so fed up with this ASM, that I came very close to putting him on speaker so the customer could overhear him and know exactly who they would be dealing with, but I didn't have it in me.

I don't mind dealing with certain issues that I know I have the power to resolve on my own, but once a customer insists on speaking with a manager, that should be the manager's que to step in and do what they are getting paid their bigger salary to deal with.

People should not have kids if they don't intend to watch over them while their shopping. There were countless times working at the big box home improvement stores where I would see random kids running through the aisles, and no adults that are in charge of them in sight, or in sight, but not "present".

One time, I was working in one of the aisles, and a woman was shopping at one end of the aisle. Her kid was at the opposite end, attempting to climb up one of the steep rollable step ladders we have. They are locked, and gated off with an 'Employee's Only' sign. However, if that doesn't stop grown adult customers from using the ladder when they shouldn't be, it's most likely not going to stop a child from crawling under the sign and climbing up. I was closer to the kid so I kindly let him know to not climb up those ladders, and that he could get hurt. The woman looked over my way, and didn't say anything. Nothing. I asked the kid where his mom was, and he pointed to the woman, so I told him to go over to his mom. While she didn't confront me for telling her kid nicely to not climb the ladder, which I was full prepared to respond and call her out on her lack of parenting, her saying absolutely nothing to her kid is infuriating on it's own. No "Get over here!", No "Don't Climb That". Honestly, the employees have enough to deal with, and it's definitely not their job to watch your kids and parent them, THAT'S YOUR JOB!

When I was working as a sales specialist, a customer who had scheduled a measurement for a carpet install called. He was a character from the start. He demanded more carpet samples be sent directly to his house even though the maximum number of free samples that could be ordered were sent to him already (10), and he acknowledged that he received them. He wanted samples for the carpet we sold in-stock only, and I informed him that we couldn't ship those directly to him, they were samples that stores received in-stock only to keep above the carpets we sold by the foot on the back wall of the store. I let him know that when he came in to review his quote from the measurements, he can grab the free samples of in-stock product he wanted but we just couldn't ship them to him. He wasn't having this, and jumped right to calling me"Stupid" and telling me "F*** YOU!" The call then abruptly ended before I could say a word.

This is where it gets interesting. A few days later this woman and her daughter came in to finalize their carpet install after the measurement was completed. After sitting them down, and pulling up their quote and measurement details, it didn't take long for me to put the pieces together. This woman was the wife of the dude who told me "F*** YOU!" over the phone a few days prior. She was the exact opposite and very pleasant to work with. Not only this, but I knew this woman very well, as she was one of my mom's best friends for almost 40 years. Apparently, her and her husband's relationship was near it's end (for many obvious reasons). I finalized everything for her, and I informed her of exactly how her (soon to be ex-husband) treated me over the phone which she was not informed of (no-surprise). She and her daughter were not happy at all, considering she's known me since I was little being the son of one of her high school best friends. My mom was informed of this over dinner and drinks with her, and she ultimately flipped out on him over the phone, and the way he treated me was the final tipping point for my mom after years of the way he treated her best friend, and couldn't do anything but watch in disgust.

If you're going to mistreat someone at their job, keep in mind that they may be closer to home, and not as much of a stranger as you originally thought.

It's frusrating when customers place a large order online, and then show up at the service desk immediately afterwards expecting it to be ready, and then throw a tantrum when it's not. They receive the email confirmation that the order is placed, and assume it's ready, even though the email states "We will notify you when your order is ready". It's crazy how many times I have to tell people that they will receive a follow up 'Ready for Pickup' email when ACTUALLY READY. Yet again, it's probably a tall order to expect these people to actually read what's sent to them.

I remember that one customer did this with a water heater that he ordered. He came in literally 10 minutes after he placed the order to pick it up, and blew up when it wasn't waiting for him at the front with that big blue name tag on it, even though he confirmed that he never received the email for pickup. The associate in applicances was in the process of getting it down from topstock with the order picker because it wasn't on the bottom shelf as the customer came in. He then charged back to where the water heaters were to "grab it himself" and then confronted the employee in the back who was up 10 feet in the air grabbing it (it was the only one we had). As he was yelling at her asking why it wasn't already picked, one of the managers (who was alerted by customer service) came up behind the customer and tried reasoning with him. This was to no avail as the customer's behavior escalated to name calling and threats. The manager shut this down fast, and told him to leave, and he could come back the next day to pick up the water heater given he had cooled down. We didn't see this happening as the dude was shooting out curses and demanded names to complain to corporate and blah blah blah the whole way to the exit. The manager almost called the police when the dude started charging back at him, and with a fluke of common sense, turned back to his vehicle. The dude never came back for his water heater, and the order was eventually cancelled. Obviously not very essential nor an emergency need.

Working in the flooring department was a massive daily migraine. Tiles would be broken on the floor and left there. Boxes of plank flooring that were sold by the case only would be ripped open, with planks missing from the box, and some scattered all over the place (once these were opened and planks missing, they could no longer be sold at full price so would have to all be re-taped and discounted). Storage totes and lids were sold together, but that didn't stop them from stealing the lids. People would also try to return cut carpet, which was a flat no for multiple reasons. One of the worst departments in a store like this to maintain, and I don't miss it at all!

I worked in retail for over a decade, and I learned a lot from my experience. Most importantly, I know how to treat everyone with respect.

First, there is such a thing as boundaries. If you are an hourly employee, and off the clock, you are not obligated to work off the clock nor provide any customer service off the clock. Especially, if you work for a company that has a specific policy prohibiting you from working off the clock. Whether you are off the clock and still have a company shirt on or not, it's your call whether you assist a customer or not while off the clock. I believe in setting boundaries, and making those boundaries clear if necessary. Employees should not be required to help customers when they are not clocked in, especially when they demand help, and their rude about it. They also shouldn't be required to flag another employee down after they made it clear they were "off".

Second, I believe in descalation and effective communication, but I also don't believe in rewarding poor behavior. If a customer complains, it's important to listen and hear their side, along with the employee's side. If the employee/manager was definitely in the wrong, an apology should be given. However, an apology should not be given if no wrong was done, as that will set a negative precedent going forward. You can acknowledge the customer's complaint, while addressing the reality politely. If you repeatedly apologize or make an employee apologize for no wrong on their part, it can create unnecessary negative feelings towards others. The bottom line, if it is determined that my employee did nothing wrong, and the customer was clearly being disrespectful, I won't hesitate to stand up for my employee, as it would be done professionally but sternly. If anything, I would ask the customer to leave the store before I allow anything to escalate. Simply telling a customer everything that they want to hear just to "appease" them may seem like the best solution in the present moment. However, this can and will lead to more damaging consequences in the future, especially damage to morale.

For example, if you have a young child who you bring with you on your shopping trips, they may always ask or demand that you buy them something they want. You may say "no" at first or repeatedly, and then the yelling and tantrums begin. Your child has a full blown meltdown in the middle of the aisle, so you give in and buy them what they want just to "appease" them. Your child has now figured out what they can do to push you into giving them what they want. At the present moment, it may seem like your doing the right thing to descalate your child's tantrums, but you don't realize what lies ahead. Fast forward 10-15 years and your child is a teenager who is out of control, and their child tantrums have escalated to violent behavior and verbal abuse. The problem is, it's increasingly difficult to control that behavior when they are a teenager and tell no, without expecting any push back. If you put your foot down at the beginning, while not stooping down to your child's level, it may seem hard at first, but overtime, the odds of a positive precedent being set are much higher.

If you continue to "appease" rude and entitled behavior just to stop a customer's tantrum, that behavior will just escalate on it's own, because you decided to take the easy road. The later it is when you finally put your foot down, the more explosive the reaction will be.

I feel that there should be a balance. Accountability on the employee/manager's end when appropriate, but also accountability on the customer's end when appropriate as well. A customer shouldn't be defended if the employee/manager clearly did nothing wrong and were being mistreated, and an employee shouldn't be defended if they were clearly in the wrong (but not demoralized)

Life is hard enough, and retail employee's jobs are difficult enough. They don't deserve to treated like crap just because they choose to be employed somewhere.

Customer: You "Are Stupid", "Are Incompetent", "Don't Know Your Job", " Are Useless", "Are Lazy"

Me: "I'm deeply sorry that you feel that way."