Not only do customers complain to the managers because salesclerks had the audacity to speak without being spoken to, other customers are complaining to the same manager for the clerks being cold and disrespectful for being unwilling to chat.
In retail, you can't win. No matter what you do, some customers will consider it rude. And you can't even ask, because that's even more taboo - you're supposed to be able to read the customers mind and be able to give them what they want, without offending the next customer in line, who may expect the opposite, all for the awesome reward of minimage or a tad above.
THAT'S really why I went to college and grad school studying psychology, so people would PAY me to tell them what I thought and so that I'd never have to work retail ever again.
I have had cashiers comment on things I buy. They ask me if I have had the item before, or what something tastes like. I just chalk it up to friendly conversation and chat it up.
One time however a lady in front of me in line looked at what I had placed on the belt. She looked at my items and got a really surprised look on her face and said, "Wow! You have all that healthy food and you're still extremely overweight." I could have let it bother me, but I just thought to myself, I would be extremely overweight than extremely rude!
I am STUNNED at the audacity of someone to say such a thing. You're a better woman than me. My temper is pretty bad, I would have went off on that lady! Lol! Plus, it's so ignorant for people(like that woman) to assume that someone's overweight because they eat crap all the time. It's not necessarily true.
Last edited by Fat Melanie; 09-17-2012 at 05:31 PM.
This has nothing to do with food but does have something to do with cashier's comments. I made a purchase in a dress shop and paid with a check, the cashier asked for ID and I showed her my driver's license, she studied it carefully, especially Date Of Birth and said "You have held up really well." I was too surprised to make any kind of reply.
Comments like this are meant to be nice, but basically it comes off like they're saying "HOLY !@&* you're old!" I am guilty of this myself. A few times I have almost fell out with shock when someone told me how old they really are and I would tell them WOW you look so good for your age, and later realized, that's actually kind of insulting. Now I think twice about it.
Original Poster, only you heard the tone of her voice and viewed her facial expressions and body language so only you know what happened, but it is true that people do have varying perceptions. It is also true that a lot of people don't realize how they come off. I have often been thought to be cold and rude because I deal with social anxiety and I have been known to walk around "mean mugging" as my friends say, with a frozen face, and to say awkward comments in a flat tone that often comes off as rude. I have gotten so much better once I got onto Zoloft! I don't mean that this is your problem, I'm just saying maybe it's the cashiers? Or maybe it is yours, hard to tell. But you have every right to your analysis, IMO.
It's a good idea like Artic Mama and Kaplods said to choose how bothered you get by it. I'd just smile and say something about how I love these foods. When I go to the local grocery store, there is a couple of cashiers who comment on my food, but it's more like "Oh that looks so good! I should try it! let me know how it is!" or "oooh is that on sale? Yum!" I don't look deeper into it. They're bored, they're probably hungry standing there all day, they want to make conversation, it makes them look friendly instead of ignoring the customer... and some people are just awkward.
When I was a cashier, I got in trouble several times for appearing to be rude. And then other times I was rude when I dealt with a rude customer. They would blame the cashier for things going wrong and I would snap back (not that it made it right.) Then there was the one time I found myself writing an apology letter to a lady who said I was horribly rude to her and I STILL to this day have NO idea what I did wrong. I was oblivious. I must have been giving her my mean face and not even realizing it. People tell me all the time I need to smile!
Last edited by Fat Melanie; 09-17-2012 at 05:39 PM.
The other day, I had a hand-basket full (maybe overfull) of healthy foods, when a man walks by my and makes a noise suspiciously like an "oink." Sigh. He looked like he could be my uncle, so I just wrote it off as a cough.
Goes to show how ready I am for anyone to say just about anything to me about my food or my body! I'm ready to go to war over a small noise, just because I am so sensitive!
I do not tolerate people commenting on my purchases. Good or bad. Keep your mouth shut, do your job, or I will talk to your manager.
"Wow you must really like that" is not an acceptable comment in my book.
id be more offended if these people made no eye contact, kept their heads down, and didnt say a word. theyre not robots, theyre human beings and theyre working in customer service!
My take? Life is too short. If it really bothers you, tell HER! I rarely bother with managers. A few years back there was a cashier (my age) that kept calling me Sweetie and Honey and I asked her to stop. The next day I went through her line and she did it again--I felt it was definitely intentional. I looked at her straight in the eye and said "I have asked you to stop referring to me in terms like those--I am NOT a lesbian and if I were, you clearly would NOT be my type. She never said anything to me again! Lol!
Wow, and you're proud of that??? Cashiers are people, too, and there's no excuse for treating them like trash. It's probably just habit and she slipped up. I'm from the South and everybody is "darlin'" or "hon" to me. Your reaction, to be honest, seems pretty homophobic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quiet Ballerina
Too funny! There was a sex and the city episode like this too. With Miranda.
I was going to say, I thought that scene was from Sex and the City, not Seinfield...but it was probably BOTH, LOL
As for the OP, if you really want to waste precious energy over something so ignificant, tell the cashier that it makes you uncomfortable and ask her why she does it. Otherwise, learn not to sweat the small stuff...build a bridge...and get over it. Just my 2 cents.
Hopefully most managers can distinguish between genuine complaints and people who are just plain surly in life, haha
Well, of course I know my boss wouldn't fire me over something like that, but the fact that someone would even complain about something like that is sad.
Hopefully you take advantage of online shopping as much as possible.
