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Rude Customers
By JLP | November 8, 2006
Okay, we discussed poor customer service earlier this week. Now let’s talk about RUDE CUSTOMERS. When I worked in the grocery business there were lots of rude customers. But one experience that really stood out to me didn’t happen to me. It happened to my wife.
A semester or two before my wife graduated from college, she worked in the jewelry department of a national jewelry chain. One day a lady came in and wanted to know the after-tax price of a ring. My wife grabbed a calculator and started to do the quick calculation when the lady started telling her how to do it! Here was my wife, nearly a chemical engineer and some lady is telling her how to compute the after-tax price of ring. The dialogue went something like this:
CUSTOMER: “You enter the price of the ring and mulitiply it by .0825 and then ADD that number to the price of the ring.”
MY WIFE: “Yes, Ma’am.”
She was TOO NICE. Here’s how I would have handled it:
ME: “Wouldn’t it be easier to take the price of the ring and multiply it by 1.0825 and skip that extra step?”
I know it is not right to EVER show up a customer but sometimes a person can only take so much.
Topics: Miscellaneous | 20 Comments »
November 9th, 2006 at 12:55 am
Despite convenient tag lines, the customer is not ALWAYS right. When I worked at the bank, I had a manager who would stand up for his staff. When a customer was verbally abusive (cursing at tellers) he would close their account and send a cashier’s check for the balance. “The tellers don’t get paid to take that kind of abuse,” he would tell me.
Another manager took the “customer is always right” literally. He would berate the staff when there was a conflict with customers. Needless to say, the former manager got much better performance out of his staff.
November 9th, 2006 at 2:21 am
I hate that customer is always right stuff. A good manager will stand behind his employees when they are following policy and doing the right thing.
I used to work in a pharmacy and always had people trying to give us fake prescriptions, or blaming us personally for the high costs, or blaming us if Medicaid didn’t want to pay for their 20 prescriptions…
November 9th, 2006 at 10:22 am
I was working at a bookstore in the music section and this older guy came in saying he wanted to return the cd because he listened to it and didn’t like it and wanted his money back. He didn’t have a receipt and since it wasn’t defective we told him we generally won’t do a return for that and if we did we could only give a store credit. He got angry and starting yelling and broke the cd and stormed out.
November 9th, 2006 at 1:09 pm
Did the customer yell or curse at your wife? If not, I don’t think it was a bad as you say. Telling your wife what to do was overbearing but I have seen far worse. I think what your wife did was correct.
November 9th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
Julie,
I didn’t tell my wife what she should have said. Rather, I was telling readers what I would have said.
The customer was rude in that she assumed that my wife didn’t know how to perform a basic math function.
November 9th, 2006 at 2:03 pm
Yes that’s true she was rude. My point is that, in my opinion, she was slightly rude. I am a tax preparer and have experienced far worse customers.
November 7th, 2007 at 9:42 am
i work in beauty retail, and if you don’t think a store for women only isn’t a pain in the arse! women throw product at me, curse and yell, throw money at me instead of handing it to me, blame me for high prices, it smy fault their coupon expired two days ago, they tell my manager i do things that i didn’t, they insult my physical appearance, they tell me im stupid and im a worthless minimum-wage employee who isn’t important in the real world. im only 19 and im paying for college! these womean are adults treating me like this everyday! 95% of our customers are b****es, and when we get a nice one, i shower her with service and free gifts…
December 2nd, 2007 at 12:13 am
I work in a Bookstore, and a cutomer called in and said (furious voice). “Fishing for Dummies” He yelled. I said, “Excuse me sir”, Can you please say the book title slowly, I can’t really hear you..again..this customer yelled again, “Fishing for Dummies”. I lost my patience and said, “Sir, just to let you know, we also have “Fishing for Idiots”. He slammed the phone up right away.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
why is it that customers are more rude during the holiday season when everyone should be happy and nice. If customers don’t like christmas don’t celebrate it or just shop online and save us all the headache of their own miserable lives. It’s funny during the regular year at my store we don’t get very many rude people but once Christmas comes people make it a point to complain about something. Working in retail is acutally a lot of fun i love helping customers but once someone comes at me rude they get what they deserve.
January 12th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
A few years ago, I had a tongue ring. I had a customer come in who was very angry because we would not take his credit card when he sent it in with an employee. I was explaining the policy to him when he noticed my piercing. He told me I was a stupid wh**e who sucked c**k. He still shops here, no one stood behind me on this guy. And people wonder why cashiers just don’t give a s**t about the customers…
March 4th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
I work at a hardware store…and had to deal with customers that were harder to deal with then any of the products I had to learn about at this establishment. I have been in the retail insdustry for almost 20 years. I get cursed at, spit on, objects thrown on, and abused in so many ways with words everyday…and I go on. Every once in a while, you just get fed up with it. Yesturday, March 3, 2008 at around 3:30pm at the paint desk, a customer came up quick and asked where the paint was for re-painting a tub, while I was color-matching paint for a (unsensitive, one-sided errogant witch) customer. I said, you probably need oil-based paint for that, the customer that asked the question, (with a nasty tone) said “no no, there is a paint for such. My co-worker happens to be near by, so I said do you what paint and where? Just as she was answering the question, the color-match witch said in a “know it all” tone said its down that aisle at the end. Then I said , “well I don’t know everything in the world” After mixing the match, The witch said, ” you know I managed stores larger then this, and you would’ve been fired on the spot, for saying that…this is your dept, your sopose to know everything…you need an ajustment” I just listened, what I wanted to say is…Well let me tell you something, I’m sure glad I don’t for you, because you are a one-sided know it all, who never endored real problems in life. I normally take the abuse, but every once in a while, I’m human, and I slip…gee…give me break!
August 4th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
I work at a bank and it has made me pretty much hate people. Everyone has a complaint about something. My account is overdrawn and it’s the bank’s fault, you are ripping me off, why can’t you cash this check that isn’t made out to me, why are you holding my $10,000 deposit when I have a balance of $4., add up my checks servant, you are taking too long, there aren’t enough people working here, blah blah all day long. I came into this job really liking customer service and being nothing but totally over accomodating, but now after 7 years I have learned people just like to bitch.
November 17th, 2008 at 9:06 am
Fear not fair citizens of Retail, for I am hot on the rude customer trail! Fain a customer be rude to me, lest he or she finds themself instantly transported by way of the magic Transfer to swell forever in the netherworld of AUTOMATED TELEPROMPT! MUAH HA HA HA!
Take that, Rudy Rudester!!!!
MUAH HA HA HA!!!!
December 4th, 2008 at 1:55 am
One thing I hate more than people who speak rudely to me is when a customer doesn’t even anknowledge me. They place their products down at the register and don’t even make eye contact. No ‘hello’ or anything. Or when I say ‘hello’ to them they don’t even respond. That is becoming more and more common by the day.
After 7 years of customer service, I am the politest person when I am the customer in other shops. I know I’d like to be treated. Another thing that annoys me, is when a customer is also in the business of customer service themselvf but are still rude to me. You’d think that they of all people would know how it feels to be treated rudely, yet they are still rude to others.
I really am starting to develope a very low opinion of the general public
January 14th, 2009 at 6:29 am
I agree with Sarah about her feelings for people after cashiering for over 5 years. At this point, I could care less about losing my job after dealing with so many rude customers. It is a lose, lose situation for cashiers; you don’t say anything to avoid a confrontation, your rude. You say one word; your rude. You look at customers in what they feel is a “wrong way”; your rude. And Billy, I too, have developed a very low opinion of the general public. Most customers should stay home and take their meds first before coming out in public.
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Would’nt you agree that customers have been more rude with in the past few years? I have worked at Sonic Drive-In (modern fast food restaurant in Louisiana) for four years now and I have noticed that customers have been more rude within the past few years. Sonic Drive-In is very up beat and fun. It is a service requirement that we wear skates when delivering food and drinks to customers. Even if it is not a requirement to wear skates I would recommend doing so because it is fun, the service is much faster, and it represents the WOW experience that Sonic Drive-In wants its customers to appeal to. Dealing with customers is part of our job, and we get our fair share of rude customers. But I find it nearly impossible to deal with when customers are delibrately trying to make me upset. For as long as I have been working at Sonic it was not until recently has someone tried to trip me intentionally while i am working on my skates. I even had some convict me of stealing thier credit card. This is a VERY serious offense. Later she found out that it was in her side door panel where she put it. Not only am I noticing a difference in adults, but children as well. Some comments that these children say I swear is coming straight from thier mom and dads mouth, like “That is false advertisement!” When does a child fully understand what false advertisement is, as well as an adult. I understand that people have bad days and I have successfully learned how to deal with rude people regularly, but these actions are definitely unacceptable and hard to deal with. Are parents teaching thier kids manners? Does the economy have anything to do with a more stressful life? Does being healthier mean you will be happier?
Thanks,
Relieving Work Stress
January 24th, 2009 at 8:52 am
I work for an “upscale” car dealership and it amazes me how incredibly ignorant customers are. They wanna pretend they’re big shots with big money driving a fancy car (usually the cheapest in the product line) but they are shocked when it comes time to pay the service bills. I’ve seen people divide up a $200 bill into three different credit/debit cards! Drive a freaking Kia if you can’t afford the high end logo. As if it’s the cashiers fault the prices are high. These customers made these choices to buy the car(most likely to show off) and then it catches up to them. It’s so frustrating, especially in the last month or so EVERY customer is a complainer. EVERY one wants service for free. If everybody got everything for free how would companies stay in business? I’m glad these wannabees are losing their shirts with the recession-get a reality check and LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS!!!!! Sorry for the rant, I’m just so tired of getting flack for customers who make bad financial decisions. P.S. THE CUSTOMER IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT and managers/owners need to take some responsibility. They’re the ones who keep caving/teaching customers that this is acceptable behavior.
February 4th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Would we have a different opinion about customers if we lost our jobs because we were being replaced by robots. Technology is advancing tremendously, even some doctors are worried about losing their jobs to the new robots that do surgery more precisely and efficiently. I know if I lost my job I would think about customers differently.
February 12th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Do not spoil customers! One of our regular customers, like many others, at Sonic Drive-In was received a 1/2 off drink coupon that does not expire. This is very silly when you think about it because we give 1/2 off drinks from 2-5 everyday, but because our regulars spend so much money a year we are very polite. This one customer took it way to far. The way Sonic works is that you press the little red button and somebody is readily available to take your order, well this one regular customer refuses to press the button any more. Seems silly that he is being so rude when we give him 1/2 off. This situation is especially difficult when we are busy. He confronted me the other day and said, “I am different than all of the other customers, I want you to be here to take my order when I get here.” To say the least I was not too happy. I found this information to try to resolve the issue next time I see him. Maybe it can help you.
1. Customers want help even if you can’t solve their entire problem. If they see you as making a genuine effort on their behalf, they are much less likely to be hostile towards you personally.
2. Customers Want Choices – ….They do not want to feel helpless, or trapped, or at the mercy of the “system”. …..Offer choices whenever possible.
3. Customers Want Acknowledgment – People want to feel you are making the effort to understand their situation, and their emotional reactions to it. Often, the simple act of acknowledging that a person is upset will help to calm them down, provided the acknowledgment is phrased and “toned” correctly.
Next time I see him I am going to press the button, for him, and take his order, for him, politely, but enough for him to realize how silly and inconvenient he is being. Granted I am giving in to his rudeness, if I do it this way it is a little more convenient and he can’t say he didn’t get service, possible trying to get me fired later.
July 13th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Ah, rude customers… I love them and strongly dislike them with a burnining passion at the same time. Some days their arrogance and/or ignorance can be quite amusing and other times I’d rather just walk away to keep from speaking my mind. I would agree however that the trend is getting much worse every year.
I’ve worked in retail, unfortunatly, in my 22 years of living for the past 5 years and what an experience it has been. Sure I could be off in a nice career making much more and dealing with much less but the reasons why that hasn’t come to be are a story for another time. It just seems that everyone, foriegners and locals alike, here in America have gotten used to the American lifestyle. It’s all about me, me, me,… now, now,now… No one stops to take the time to show anyone any consideration especially when it comes to those who work.
I mean sure, all companies have a policy where the customer is always right and you treat them with respect. How do they expect me to go out of my way to wait hand and foot on a customer who is going out of their way to be a complete jerk? I don’t get paid $8.50 hr, with as much knowledge as I have with computers and as helpful to most customers as I am, for you to try and walk all over me. I love it when people ask me something about computers, I answer them, and then they turn around and tell me I’M wrong. Really? Then why bother asking me in the first place?
What happened to the good ‘ol days that I hear about, given I wasn’t even born at the time, where people respected each other so much more and appreciated whatever help they were given. Instead we have people who are used to getting everything they want and believe that the world is owed to them on a silver platter. These people need a wake up call and fast, otherwise they are headed for a rude awakening.
In response to Hope, if I were to lose my job today thanks to robots I wouldn’t care considering I would probably be hired on again as a tech for said robots. My opinion of customers wouldn’t change because as much as costumers seem to hate us they need us. Who wants to talk to a robot? Who wants to be sliced and diced in a hospital by a robot. People want human interaction no matter if they want to admit it or not, which is why there will always be jobs for people. Main point is the chance of that happening is slim and even in the off chance it were to happen I would still think rude customers are rude and need an attitude adjustment because there is simply no need for it.