Is it rude?

Question

Do you think retail workers have to be nice to customers no matter what? Is it rude of them to give customers the same bad attitude the customers are giving them? I’m a student and work in retail, customers are a pain in the ass all year but at Christmas they get so over the top. Some examples from the past few days: a woman came in the other day and wanted to buy some Nike joggers, the original price has increased by a fiver which was stated on the label. We always scribble out the old price (you can still kinda see it if you remove the sticker) and put on a new sticker. She comes over to the till and I scan them and tell her the price. She gives me an instant attitude and a rude tone and goes “Aren’t they supposed to be 37.99?” I tell her that’s the old price and it has increased to 42.99 and she yells at me “OH SO YOU’RE CHANGING THE MANUFACTURING PRICE YOU CAN’T DO THAT” that annoyed me so much so I just replied in the same stubborn and rude tone she was speaking to me and said “It’s not me, it’s not us nor the store. It comes from the company. The company buys the items from the manufacturer and can sell them for however much they want, it’s called making a profit.” I was like fuck off you stupid bitch why are you yelling at me do you really think I just increased the price just then because I didn’t like your ass face or something 🙄
Today someone wanted to order something in store cause we didn’t have the size she was looking for. I explained to her that we can’t order it for her because it’s Christmas and it’s not guaranteed that she’ll get it because there has to be more than 10 in the warehouse for us to be able to order the item to the store and by the time they get our request they might not hahe more than 10 anymore and would therefore not send us the item. She just looked at me and said in an annoyed tone “this is stupid I’m done shopping here fuck off” and I’m like “alright then bye” and she starts yelling at ke for being rude like what the fuck do you want me to say when you literally tell me to fuck off, kiss your ass?! It just annoys me and at this point I literally don’t give two shits if I’m rude to customers. I’m not gonna say “okay have a nice day xoxo” when someone is treatinge like a piece of shit over stuff I cannot control. Some of my coworkers are like me as well, others try to be nice at all times no matter how much of an asshole the customer is so I was just wondering what y’all think 🤔

Answer

Nah. I also work in retail and I’m not getting walked over by cunts who do not understand the store procedures and policy. I’m nice to you because that’s my job and I have to, but if you’re being a twat just because what I said to you isn’t convenient or whatever else, then it goes both ways. Report me, my manager isn’t gonna do anything about it so bye karen 👋🏻

Answer

I think the people who are rude cunts towards retail workers or bar and waiting staff have never actually done those jobs or they wouldn’t be as arsey. 
Sales staff don’t set the prices, it just comes up with however it scans. It’s not their fault in the slightest.

Answer

They get mad even when you don’t say anything back 🙄 they cuss at me and I just start ignoring them like...I can’t change store policies for you, I’m not getting fired for you

Answer

I will always live by “treat others how you want to be treated” whether that’s at work, home, public, etc. But if they’re being a dick to me for things that are out of my control - expect the same attitude back. Like the other person said - I won’t be walked all over by rude people who just want their way!!

Answer

I was the same way when I worked in food service. I was not going to be rude outright but I also wasn’t going to let people swear and be rude to me. Start swearing and I hang up the phone or tell you to ask for help from someone else.

Answer

Retail and other customer service workers have to take a lot of shit. It sucks, but it’s part of the job. You should always be polite and patient and remain calm.  If the situation is too much for you to handle, ask if they would like to speak with a manager. Of course if the customer is acting dangerous/crazy then by all means call security.

Answer

If people complain that badly I ask them if they want to see my manager, and/or kill them with kindness ^^;

Answer

I think if they're swearing at you then you shouldn't have to just stand there and take it. You're paid to be there yes but your job isn't to receive abuse from assholes. 
Here in west Aus there's actually a TV advert on now about treating retail workers (specifically fast food workers I think) nicer. I guess even the government has noticed that people are dickheads to retail workers 🙄

Answer

It’s honestly too hard to maintain being nice all the time. Some customers are absolutely ridiculous. They will waste your time, yell at you, curse at you. There’s a point when a manager gets called and when I was a manager I made it a point to interrupt any bad attitudes before they could wear on my employees.
I also tried not to always give the customer what they wanted just because “the customer is always right.” It’s not true 99% of the time and most of the time customers have the idea that they can treat others like shit because we chose to be in retail/customer service. It’s not right and some times customers need to be told their attitude needs to be adjusted. I usually just calmly informed them I wouldn’t help nor listen to them until they calmed themselves and if another curse word or degrading sentence was uttered, they’d be removed.

Answer

I fully believe that if a customer is being rude the worker should be allowed to at least decline service. Rude snobs don't deserve polite responses. I hate that waitresses and retail workers are forced to just smile. Its so stupid. It allows people to dehumanize them and without consequence.

Is it rude?

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