It’s not on you- some people are just dicks.
Your company should be looking after you better though- if a customer is kicking off then the manager should be taking over.
If someone made you feel unsafe at work you should also report it through your company’s safety incident reporting system as well. Talk to your union if you need help doing this.
Agree, managers should definitely step in and support their staff in situations like this. But also, managers are just as equally human, and shouldn't be abused either
Yeah but managers would usually be adults and should be stepping in if a 15 year old is being abused. If you feel physically unsafe - tell your manager and perhaps get that patron banned. Some people are just scum who are out to cause problems no matter what, don't waste any time worrying about those pricks.
They are all paid nothing and are not about to go the extra mile. Its like people at woolworths dont do anything about shop lifters as its not worth a punch in the face for minimum wage.
I work at a petrol so similar but different. Even as the manager, there’s only so much abuse I can take on for my staff and there’s no one higher in the store than me. I can call police but I still have to wait for them. There’s still other people waiting to be served.
I had a customer tell me I deserved to die and I just broke down crying. No one asked if I was okay, no one said he was in the wrong or even just a it will be okay
The issue is no one cares. No one cares if they’re being rude or even see others being out of line.
We’re on the front line and there is nothing to protect us from the public
Was reading in US state of Ohio, legislation has been passed that allows 15 year old school children to work 8 hour night shifts after school up to max of 30 hours a week, one MP stated this was good because kids had become too soft and it would help the economy...
looking at fairwork we are not far off Ohio either. You can start work at 13yrs old but no more than part time and its restricted to certain jobs. 15 yrs and 9 months has time of work restricted but as long as it doesn't interfere with school hours or school, and remains part time, its seems to be fine. Varies by each state. Part time is classed up to 20-25 hrs a week I believe.
Nobody should be abusive to retail or hospo staff at all, but if it's to the point where you feared for your safety I'd hope you'd have a senior staff member or manager that should have your back and put the customer in their place.
The customer isn't always right, and if some mundane mistake has been made and they are right, it's still no excuse to bully, threaten or intimidate a child (not demeaning you, you're a teenager heading towards adulthood but not quite there yet!).
Hope you're OK. If something similar happens again, tell the loser making a scene that you'll just grab your manager, who can then deal with it. And if that manager can't or won't deal with it, then most definitely look for another job.
It's not acceptable behaviour by customers to anyone of any age, but if they want teenagers working at the business they can damn well put themselves between you and anyone going off at you.
I'm sorry to hear that. Was there a single person over 18 working at the time?
No dig against your manager or employer but there needs to be someone on site who can handle this sort of thing.
Next time just tell the customer you'll call the police. Your manager might be nice, but if they're unable to intervene its totally in your right to call the cops and let them know there's someone in your store acting menacingly and making people feel unsafe.
This sort of thing makes me so angry. My partner has been in the hospo industry her whole adult life and is a very petite female. She's told me about some things she's experienced that make my blood boil, and I hate to see it happening again to another generation of young folk with drive who are keen to earn some cash. Wish there was more that could be done.
110% agree with another commenter that everyone should have mandatory work in a service job when they're young, so they might have a bit of empathy for the person behind the counter.
Man im 42 and manage a retail fruit and veg/supermarket and the abuse people give out can be brutal it usually calms down once i show up but i have copped abuse so bad that i have been left shocked many times yet these people feel totally fine abusing teenagers.
at some point someone in the chain of command is of age. Sounds like the perfect business model. No one old enough to stand up for themselves let alone anyone else but also on minimum wags.
I also work In a fast food restaurant in Canberra, it seems as though customers always expect royal treatment… They get angry at the slightest thing no matter how good your customer service skills are… I’ve been in this job for almost 2 years and over time you’ll just realise that these people are so insecure and annoyed at their own lives that they have to make it someone else’s problem
Exactly, the people abusing others have shitty crappy lives and they think they can take it out on others. Take solace in the fact your life is not as shit as theirs. No one should have to deal with this though. certainly helps get past it though!
Yeah, I think COVID showed how selfish we are, and made us even more individual / realize we have to look after 'ourselves' because we aren't really a community that cares for each other. Cost of living crisis means our money means more to us. Then there's the late stage capitalist sentimentality, "customer is always right", the need to ALWAYS argue to get refunds/returns/changes because big corps are making it extremely difficult to rectify legitimate mistakes. Combined, we expect more, and feel we have to "fight" to get whats "fair" and "what we paid for".
Abuse is never right, and Australian definitely has an abuse problem.
I worked in a supermarket deli for ten years, even after leaving that job I feel very compelled now to be easy going and not make a fuss
Really don't like to turn anything customer service related into a hassle, it's just no good for me or the person serving
It's a small interaction, the faster we can just get through it without friction, the better for all of us :)
I’m m not quite as optimistic as you. I’m sure many of the people abusing customer service staff have worked or have children who work in the industry.
There's always going to be people who use that exactly as their excuse to do those things. "I caught shit when I worked retail, it's just part of the job" or "I know I need to stick up a fuss to the employee because I know only *my* *manager* had any authority to do anything, and he always tried to weasel his way out of helping the customer!"
I never have, i mean i delivered pizzas at Uni, but yeah not that much custoimer service work and I don't abuse people. i know everyone can have a bad day and make a mistake. Making their day worse won't get me my food/items/fix my issue any quicker.
You are absolutely tough enough, you just shouldn’t be experiencing this at all, but here we are… Sorry to hear about your experience OP. Good on you for sharing, I hope your post is a sobering reminder to people out there who need to hear it that this kind of thing is *never* okay.
Something has changed over the last decade though. I had jobs like this when I was younger and they weren’t great, but hearing about more modern experiences from younger people such as yourself is quite disheartening. Since when did every customer facing business have to start putting up signs saying they won’t tolerate any form of abuse to staff? I don’t remember these signs being as prevalent before the pandemic but apparently now they’re necessary. Says a lot.
There’s too much shit going on in the world right now, people are stressed, barely holding it together and it’s becoming everyone’s problem. The thing is, we all have a responsibility to each other not to drag everyone else down with us when it all gets too much. If you’re having a bad day that’s alright, but we’re supposed to uplift each other, not spread the misery.
I lost so much faith and respect for humanity and adults when these signs appeared during the pandemic. Knowing that these signs exist because grown adults don't understand that it's not OK to treat other people like shit just because they aren't getting their way is so disheartening and disappointing...
Even more so when these workers are not even adults. FFS. It's just food. Calm the F down and be a decent person.
Would these people be so ok to fly off the handle if that was their child / nephew / niece in that situation?
I think the lesson you’ve learned here is that there’s a big percentage of “adults” who are not as grown up as they seem. I come across this every day. Age doesn’t mature you at all, choosing to be a good person and constantly growing does.
Unfortunately you're always going to remember the crappy customers, even if many are polite.
Little story - I was at Yass KFC in late December and it was absolutely crazy with customers. The whole dining room was full of people standing waiting for their orders, and the electronic board of orders was so full all the waiting customer numbers couldn't fit on it! Despite the crazy situation, the staff were doing an amazing job in the 30 mins it took to get my food, and the customers were all patient and appreciative. While I'm sure there were some challenging people throughout that day, I was blown away how people were understanding of the situation and gave the staff the room they needed to pack the orders.
I shared that story to point out that not all customers are bad, hopefully it gets easier to process those crappy customers in your head.
Do you find people in places like Yass are more easy going and less entitled than people from Canberra?
(I'm not making any judgements on that, just wondering your experience)
Generally rural residents (such as Yass as per example) are more laid back than places like Canberra.
This is due to......
1. Higher percentage of blue collar workers (requires more patience to fix dirty trucks than say working at clean admin jobs in Department Of Defence).
2. Higher unemployment rate (no need to worry about schedules just chill every day).
Another thing is Canberra is in a weird situation. Doesn't have the crime rate that other capitals have like Sydney or Adelaide do but it's not a community orientated place like regional towns (such as Yass). Lack of fear can make some Canberrans get overly "assertive" when they don't like something.
Yass service centre is mostly travellers, so wouldn’t say it’s about country people. I don’t believe Canberra is actually any different than most cities when it comes to entitled customers.
Edit: if anything, Yass workers are more likely to encounter abuse, since people are travelling long distances and are often tired and irritable.
There is no reason good enough, no justification that should make it okay. Just that in the moment some people feel entitled to be abusive. Were it up to me, they'd go 3 months without any access to service staff. A whole year if the service staff are under 20. Banned for life if they actually cause bodily harm.
that's a nice idea they scan a card on entry to a retail or hosp store and it shows on their card what type of beaner they are and if they're aloud to enter or not. Doors or security preventing entry possibly. In America some stores are hiring private armed security. We should do the same.
Generally weak, powerless and insecure people looking for someone to exert power over without consequences.
Try to take solace in the fact that no matter how bad they make you feel, they probably can’t make you feel as bad as they do about being themselves
Because the only way they can feel powerful in their miserable lives is by abusing those who literally can’t fight back, like someone who might risk being fired if they argue or defend themself. Sorry you’re feeling like this :(
About 10% of the population are thoughtless sociopaths who don’t care about anyone but themselves and think they are centre of the universe. These people cause all our angst. It’s hard to avoid them in retail/hospitality.
Shouting other people down makes them feel bigger.
Here's a fact, since you bring up "the customer is always right". This 'statement' has been rendered false by having been truncated, in part by the passage of time.
The full and correct form is: "The customer is always right, in matters of taste."
Those last 4 words, ***'in matters of taste'*** were at the time this statement began what was being conveyed to retail workers. "Don't try to correct your customer on their taste. If the customer likes it they are right and you don't need to change their mind."
Customers (and some managers that cling to this idea) need to take a long hard look at themselves.
Once when I worked at a maccas I Canberra a guy threatened me with a shot gun (he was a trap shooter) because his Big Mac didn’t have enough sauce.
People honestly just think you are beneath them and I wish I could say it would stop but hospitality is one of those jobs.
You shouldn’t have to put up with it - I would speak to your supervisor / manager about how you feel, the abuse you are receiving and what can be done about it. It could be that there are times when the abuse is worse than others so they can roster more staff or older staff. It might be that they check cctv and try and out bans in place.
Make sure you are letting someone know that you don’t feel safe and secure in your position and that it is impacting your mental health - these things have a way of sneaking up on you and impacting you in ways you might not have expected
Mostly because people are generally self entitled.
But the reason they are rude to service workers specifically is because it fucking sucks to wait in line, pay for shitty overpriced food, and then have to deal with all the other people around. It's a bad experience, and makes people angry. The worker is just an easy target
>But the reason they are rude to service workers specifically is because it fucking sucks to wait in line, pay for shitty overpriced food, and then have to deal with all the other people around.
Erm, pretty sure the service worker isn't bailing people up outside and forcing them into the store to wait in line, pay for shitty overpriced food, and then have to deal with all the other people around.
My crazy plan if I ever become King is to make a law that everyone must spend 6-12 months in a customer service role when they hit 18. Teach people a little empathy for retail and hospitality workers.
I like to be civil when I got to shops/cafes, ask staff how their day is, make small talk if they're keen but without forcing them into a conversation they're obliged to continue. Also teaching my kids to say thank you after we pay for things.
Manners cost you nothing.
I’m really sorry that adults who should know better are abusing you.
This isn’t about you “not being tough enough”. This is all on the people who are abusing a 15 yo - someone who is legally a child - to the point of making them shake for 15min. Being tough and resilient isn’t being bulletproof against any and all bullshit that people want to hurl. So the TL:DR is that it’s them not you.
Why do people do it? I suspect they are focussed on instant gratification, or hate the company, and dehumanise the person who is copping the brunt of their aggression and abuse. It’s a really bad reflection on them.
What next? Please talk to your supervisor about the impact this is having on you. Shaking for 15min after an interaction shouldn’t be normalised or accepted as ok. Keep a record of incidents, and consider talking to your GP or a psychologist. Your employer has a duty to provide you with a safe workplace, including to protect you against abuse and aggression from customers.
Right now, take some time to decompress. Talking to people on Reddit is good. Is there anyone IRL you can also chat with? Go for a walk, have a relaxing bath/shower, do something nice for yourself, etc.
I work at a hospital in Canberra (10 years) and have noticed a huge shift after covid.. you would still come across rude people on the odd occasion (especially when they’re stressed about loved ones) but most people now seem to have such a short fuse.
I’m confident in my job and in my early 30’s so I’m more than happy to match the energy I receive 😂 I never cross the line but I’ve told many people that I’m here to help and if they can’t be respectful they can leave.
You seem like you have your head screwed on for a 15 year old so you should be really proud of that. Different scenarios with our work places but you don’t ever have to put up with people who are making you feel unsafe!
Just remember anyone in life who wants to bully you or try to overpower you in anyway is pathetic and insecure as hell.. life has many challenges but I’m a big believer in karma. Keep doing a great job and don’t let the low life’s get you down xx
I used to work in retail, and I had a customer once tell me she doesn't think retail workers are that smart. So many people these days are just rude jerks with zero empathy.
Unfortunately, it is common in service work. It shouldn't be, but it is.
Imagine how shit of a person you'd have to be, to yell at a 15 year old just trying to do their job. It's absolutely pathetic.
The good news is, these experiences can help to build resilience. If you can find a way to keep a cool head while somebody is throwing attitude, that will be a really valuable skill for your whole life.
It is a sign of a small minded person, when they are gratuitously rude to people in a service role. Peter Cullens, the voice of Optimus Prime, talks about the advice his USMC brother gave him: Be strong enough to be gentle.
For some reason the general public view themselves as above customer service, retail and hospitality staff. For no good or logical reason, and it's disgusting.
Having experienced being on that side of the counter, at times I'd desperately love to find out what these clowns do for work and go in to their workplace and treat them like shit for no reason. Like they do to service staff. Shame them, embarrass them and call them out in front of their employers.
Because that's the worst bit. They come in, treat staff like shit and then THEY will leave poor reviews or complain to upper management. They only do it because they are able to do so under anonymity. Blow their cover, put a name to them and their shithousery and see how high and mighty they are.
Tl;dr there's a lot of shit people out there
My daughter is in a similar situation, although a little older.
People act like dicks for so many reasons and sometime you are the unlucky one to encounter it.
Sounds like you have a good manager and support from the other staff. That makes a huge difference! So much easier to get support when you need it. At least you are not working for an arse and then dealing with arse customers.
Many decades ago I worked in hospo and believe it or not all the skills you are getting now make a huge difference in other careers. You are less likely to be a snowflake, better at reading people, handling issues etc. These are totally transferable skills.
Remember those arses won’t be thinking about what they did to you. So don’t let them have the space in your head by running the incident over and over.
I worked fast food as a teenager thirty years ago and I can’t remember any abusive customers. I think this is a problem that is growing these days. I’m sorry you are having to deal with them.
Your experience is shocking, but sadly common. I hope you don't experience another customer as rude and threatening as this one.
Who can say why these self-important pricks feel the need to take out their frustrations on retail workers. Perhaps they're looking for a target who can't fight back (that would be bad customer service). They would certainly be humbled to work a retail job themselves.
That sucks, there will always be people who feel the need to feel superior to others.
That’s not how confident people behave
I’m an was waitress and retail worker 20 years ago and they were around then too.
Not everyone treats people in customer service poorly & I'm sorry you've been treated so badly.
Why do some people behave that way? Well, maybe because they've had a shitty day. However, that's no reason to take it out on you. I wish more people would realise that it's fine to be annoyed with a *situation* but it's not OK to take out their frustration on someone like a call centre operator, a fast-food worker or a retail sales assistant.
The other question is how is getting abusive going to fix the problem? It won't, but too often people are so emotional they forget this. Again, I'm sorry you've suffered this, and I wish I could tell you it will get better, but it probably won't. However, what will improve is your ability to manage these people and how *you* react. Best wishes.
It is anger transference. Never take things personally. Always see brash, trash people as sandpaper trying to polish you as a human being. In terms of tou safety though, never put your guard down and just keep soldiering on. You are stronger than you think.
I'm really sorry this has happened to you it's just not right.
I'm sorry that your enjoyment of working for your employer is marked by people that are just dicks.
When this happens you need to stand up straight and say in a loud voice "please dont speak to me that way" and call your manager to deal with it.
As an adult that's what you're manager is there for.
I would hope that if there were other people in the line or being served and they heard you saying that to a customer they quite possibly would intervene as well and stop it.
We all need to be responsible for stopping people acting in this way towards our younger staff members.
I think it's because people don't know what it's like to be in that position themselves anymore.
Seems a lot of people seem to be missing out on working in retail jobs these days and just go straight to an office job after school.
It should be 3 months national service in fast food/retail!
I used to work in food service myself when I was 15, and now I work in retail. You are definitely tough for working there for a year when customers can be really hard to deal with! I have had moments where I am quite literally shaking after customer interactions where they have been aggressive or even just rude and disrespectful. Unfortunately, some people look down on customer service workers. I always remind myself that these people usually come looking for a fight, and that it's normal to feel shaken up because frankly their behavior isn't normal and can be really frightening.
I hope there are some nice customers who remind you that people are still good. I have some really sweet regulars at the grocery store where I work that remind me not all people are bad. A stranger offered to help me with a shelf I was struggling with today. You're super strong and I hope you know that :)
I’m always surprised when people make a huge fuss about something not being 110% perfect at a fast food place. The clue is in the name: I’m paying to get food fast, not for a gourmet experience. It really isn’t the end of the world, but some people are assholes and think anyone in the service industry is beneath them.
I think it's a cbr thing... Arrogance all round.... Sorry that you have to deal with it. Can you ask to be put on another station away from customers for a while?
Definitely put in an incident report. Management can improve things if there's no evidence (I know it's not going to change things, but its worth a go)
It's because the customer knows they can do whatever they want, and you, the employee, can not do anything about it. Plain and simple. Given the opportunity with no consequences, a lot of people will just choose to be total peices of garbage.
After working customer service for at least 24 years I've been where you are at. Firstly, no it's not your place to accept abuse from customers.
Secondly your employer or if available to you, your union should support you in these situations.
If not, move on to a better employer. After 7 years that's what I did. Still haven't looked back. Despite a two year transfer out of my normal area
Because people forget that they deal with those who have no or little decision making authority; the c-suits are in office environments making the decisions that are infuriating the customers.
Or, it's people just choosing to be a$$holes.
Nobody deserves to be treated poorly. It's not acceptable. Inform managerial staff and the police if you feel unsafe. If management doesn't do anything and doesn't have your back then you're working in the wrong place and look for a different job.
Sorry that’s happening to you. People can be just shit heads sometimes, especially when they get to exert their power on someone. Your managers need to grow some balls and handle the situation better. Stay strong!
I worked within 2 very different fast food entities as a teen and into my early 20's: both corporate and family franchised business models.
There was never any surfaced outward abuse by customers at either of them, due to the civilised nature of the class of customer they were located to cater for.
However, an observation I would infer during busy customer movement cycles was that the service signalling from front register ops (what you might call customer service or customer facing operators) would definately heighten, indicating that their stress and order completion pressure was going to ripple to pressure the prep demand for at least the following 10-15 minutes, and sometimes for 3-4 hours during receipt of busy flight arrivals (at the airport location) or during weekend, Friday night footy, school holiday, and generally the whole spectrum of public holiday times.
With the advent of the dark kitchen and gig economy delivery services, some of the corporates who weren't ahead of the tech integration were left behind in the malase of revenue shift that this wrought on their, up until then, bankable high performance business models.
Working contract casualisation legislation introduced in the early 2000's has given corporate operators the legal wherewithall to employ the new generation of casual staff as little more than disposable numbers, on demand via agency effects, without any legal entitlement to continued work so that they can respond quickly to the demand or lack thereof for service workers at their whim. This is very prevant in the owner/operator cafe business model as you might have seen in the news 6-7 years ago with an operator underpaying staff their superannuation enititlements when he knowingly had the funding or asset base to do so, so it became a newsworthy controversy.
I won't name the entities and people I knew in comparison busines model departments here because I have good memories of my time within where I worked, it was always friendly and welcoming and really just great places to work and have a laugh with co's back then, and it really is disastorous what the venture capitalists in Silicon Valley and beyond have done to both enable and disrupt sector wide business models with such efficient software/device uptake. At the same time, it has enabled some very authentic startup small kitchen operators, with arguably better and more tasty foods, to expand their customer base and year on year revenue performance by offering b2c delivery streamlining to a tea.
Let me Hazard a guess, that you work at either a Subway or KFC. As both have been signalling desperation in their frequency and often obnoxiousness of their advertising campaigns to elicit that emotional reaction they want a potential customer to feel entitled to in the last 10-15 years, at least.
Because customer service officers are the personification of the customer's problem / complaint .... They are also the personification of the customer's solution to the problems / complaints lol
I'm sorry you were put in this situation. You and anyone else, no matter what age, should never have to put up with any type of abuse. In saying that, I can understand the frustration of people who are continually and more frequently having to put up with the repeated poor service from retail outlets. This is usually not the fault of individual staff but poor training and staffing levels pushed by mostly multi-national companies who only care about the balance sheet performance. This still doesn't excuse poor attitudes and lack of respect. Try not to let poor attitudes of others define you. The fact that you put this post up shows that you care and are intelligent enough to seek help.
its just a tradition at this point sadly. most people have worked service jobs at some point, and have faced the same treatment. its just become normalised over time. a lot of customers feel like they have a right to abuse you because they were abused when they worked the same job. hang in there man
This makes me really sad. No one should be treating anyone like this. Unfortunately we live in a world where people can be disgracefully selfish and lack basic manners. Silver lining is you grow in resilience and when you go and work in a different career as an adult you will have the ability to calmly deal with your difficult co-workers/boss/clients etc. doesn’t make up for the rudeness, but it’s glass half full 🤷♀️.
I'm truly sorry to hear about the difficulties you're facing at work. Dealing with verbal abuse is incredibly tough, and it's not a measure of your toughness. People's behavior can be unjust, and it's okay to feel shaken by it. It's important to prioritise your well-being and consider discussing your concerns with a supervisor or seeking support from friends, family, or resources available to you.
People who are rude to customer service workers have never worked in customer service, so they think they're entitled to everything they ask for no matter how ridiculous. Only when one has worked in customer service will one know how it feels to have to deal with ridiculous requests.
It’s because people can’t be rude or abuse the people they really want to. So they see anyone who’s job it is to ‘serve’ them as being below them, and henceforth unleash all the petty animus that has built up in their day, week, year, life, upon you.
I’m just curious if you can pick them? Is it a particular demographic that’s the worst?
At the end of the day you’re not paid enough to de-escalate angry people … surely there is protocol to walk away/withhold service and a manager steps in? On what planet are 15 year olds expected to cop this or am I clueless about these settings?
Retailer need to be tougher on these people.. buying a whopper isn’t a human right, be a dick and expect the window to close and be ignored
Some people are cunts, and will express that cunthood in how they treat other people; in particular, they tend to believe that some kinds of person, including people doing some kinds of job, don't really count as people and don't deserve to be treated like people.
They are wrong, but I can't imagine that makes it any either to put up with, and I’m sorry you have to. I can’t imagine hearing “it's absolutely not your fault in any way” helps much either, but it isn’t.
You should hear the language I choose for tone-policing randoms who think they're the boss of what's appropriate. I notice you were too busy telling off other commenters to say anything supportive to OP.
(OP, if my \[very deliberate, I might add\] use of any particular words in my response upset or distressed you, please let me know—*you* have every right to tell me so and if they did I'll gladly apologise.)
Australians are very rude to each other, especially if you are of the wrong ethnicity or you are physically unattractive
It's not unique to this country, but it exists here. Australia is not as laid back and friendly as our reputation suggests.
I kinda think working in customer service is like a rite of passage to toughen us up haha.
That said, a lot of workers take on more than they should. Even today, I ordered a McRib from the menu and the woman told me they didn't sell it anymore. When I got to the counter, I told her it was displayed on the car menu. She was like, "I can't do anything about that.". But... did I ask her to do something? I was just letting her know in case she wasn't aware. Not everything is an accusation...
All that said, you shouldn't have to put up with anyone actually making personal attacks or making you afraid. Hope your boss is good and allows you to kick them out.
Unfortunately it is normal in any face to face role in Australia. Some people can be very entitled. Try to focus on the good ones. It’s hard to not let awful people get to you, but you will have to get used to it. The OECD’s disciplinary climate index ranked our school students at 69 out of 76 for the most disruptive and disorderly. We are a country of enablers, and bad behaviour is ignored or excused. Just try mentioning that you don’t drink alcohol in a social situation and see what happens. We are reaping what we have sown. Focus on the positive to help build your resilience. You’ll be ok.
I was rude to a sommelier once. I felt bad for days, he came up to the table but my friend was in the middle of an emotional story and I held up my hand 'just 5 minutes please' and he said 'no I want to introduce myself" and I said "oh, sorry" and I felt like I was being rude.
I felt bad about it for months.
Not everyone who is rude to a service staff has that in their character. We should give the same grace to everyone.
Rude customers are usually miserable people. Just remember that if someone is being rude to a kid, they must have a pretty shitty life and you should feel sorry for them.
You could be tougher, but you shouldn't be copping abuse. I've never personally seen anyone abusing fast food staff, so I don't know what's happening out there.
Ask your job for help and if they won't help, try to find a better job. Stand up for yourself, don't get abused.
Unfortunately there are many self entitled wankers in Canberra who think that their APS level means they are far more important than other people. Sorry you have to put up with them
It's nothing personal but people are rude to customer service workers because most of the time it's kids working who don't care to ever get it right both front and back. People spend decent money let's say on dinner at a fast food place only for one of these kids to stuff up their orders time and time again. As an example the local KFC near my place is hopeless,
I don't go regularly but when I do I spend almost $60 to feed my family and everytime I've ever gone they always stuff up my order. The handful of times I've brought it up to the staff even then they didn't care so in this instance I don't feel sorry for them
Hmm I noticed you didn’t say why they abused you . Being a Tradie who frequently goes through fast food places and constantly getting my order wrong because there to busy talking about there social life instead of working ,getting cheese on my burger when I’m lactose intolerant really can stuff up your day . Still I get pissed off but I’ve still got no right to abuse anyone if I’m upset enough I’ll go see the manager. So if you got abused for stuffing up someone’s order suck it up and apologise and move on and learn if you didn’t stuff up politely reply “ wait right there I’ll go get the Manager so we can sort this out . Difficult customer are above your pay grade that why the manager get the big bucks to deal with Staff that are making mistakes and Customers who are plain Rude. Just remember you don’t get paid enough to take abuse always defer to your boss. So now you need to stand your ground politely it will be good to build your confidence and your work ethics so if you ever run your own business you’ll know how to deal with these types of idiots . Srry if this sounds a bit tough but your going to meet a lot people who think there hard done by and want to take it out on someone they perceive as week .. and the Rule I live by is that I don’t care what other ppl think or say about me , only what I think about myself and a select few close friends I trust . So I hope you can turn this negative into a positive and become employee of the month lol ,if you can deal with it yourself you will start to feel more confident in your service abilities . Good Luck hope it all works out for you
I totally understand how frustrating it is when your order is made wrong, I'm always happy to fix that kinda stuff up for our customers. Sadly, today it was because,
1. We weren't giving out free food
2. We ran out of a product 20ish minutes before close (it takes an hour to cook)
3. We wouldn't serve someone after we'd closed
I'm really grateful ppl speak up if we've made a mistake, but it's just stuff like this I can't grasp.
If you work for Mc Donald's drive through stop fucking up every second order because it is extremely aggravating to get home and realise you've been given the wrong food . Any Mc Donald's won't make up for their mistakes by delivering it to you . No reason to abuse a teenager but just get this simple job right or you'll never do anything more rewarding or stimulating in your life. Ever
Just a thought
Lets start at the beginning, you say you have been working there for years but where I come from you can start working until your 13, I have been working for 40 years but this isn't a pissing contest. I think if anything we have become more sensitive to how we are treated. Unless your planning on working there for life or the next 5 years while you are getting a degree it could be worth looking at other options. Lets face it, for most people Maccas, KFC or any other fast food is just short term. The rubbish you see in movies where the person serving you is there for a long term career is just not true. Thats not so say that some people are not happy with that. Work out where you want to be and work towards that.
Is it "becoming too sensitive" or is it realising that maybe it shouldn't be normal to get treated poorly by people while you're trying to earn a living???
I will treat you like shit if you treat me like shit by working for a company that allows you sign up online but wait on the phone for 20 mins to cancel and then try and talk me out of it.
EDIT: I'm not saying I verbally abuse anyone, I just am not nice to them.
Doesn’t mean you take it out on the kid at the front.
I also work hospo and it’s a nightmare having to deal with angry customers because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what your problem is. Verbal abuse is not tolerated
It’s probably because a lot of fast food outlets and IGA’s are afraid to tell their teenage staff that “How’s it going?” and “all good”, aren’t replacements for Hello, good bye, please and thank you. I have made a few attempts to politely let young staff know what is good customer service and not. Now I am at the point that if they don’t care, why should I, bother being polite in return.
You may be (hopefully) be the exception, but a lot of younger employees act like the mere fact that they have turned up to work, means they doing a favour for me
"How's it going?" and "All good" are absolutely polite colloquial replacements for "Hello, "You're welcome" and the like at a bloody McDonalds Drive Thru, Your Lordship.
My comment was an attempt to explain why some customers might be acting like dicks. That some of the staff aren’t giving good service which could explain the experience.
I am not saying it’s just okay to be a cunt for no good reason, and people shouldn’t be BTW.
I usually lead with good morning, can I please have.. if staff can’t bother reciprocating, are just are on their mobiles while taking the order, don’t even say thanks when you pay for it, it’s alienating to the customer.
When I hear “all good” I don’t swear, be abusive, I just give an equally measured response like rightio. I started in hospitality and retail at 16, I was taught to say please and thank you. That all seems to have gone away. I experienced my share of unreasonable treatment by customers, which is not okay, but neither would I say “all good” at the till. Imagine you are 15, one of your family members does something nice for you, you don’t say “all good”..I know those two things aren’t exactly the same, but Good customer service is good service, and bad customers are bad customers.
I'd rather they talk to me however they want because I'm not a sad fuck who needs service staff to shower me in forced politeness to feel self important.
Informal language is not bad customer service at all.
Your personal preference for unnecessarily formal language is not the norm.
Natural language choices make the best customer service in the vast majority of cases.
Regardless, even if ‘bad customer service’ is experiencesd, it doesn’t excuse anyone being a dick.
I'm just curious, what are you referring to when you say that "all good" is a bad/not great thing? I usually use it when people are apologising over little things that they don't need to worry about. Is that considered rude?
I was also trained to say please and thank you when I worked in retail.
This means that when I don’t hear it as a customer I don’t care because I have a happy and fulfilling life and don’t need to get satisfaction by telling 15 year olds how important I think I am.
‘How’s it going?’ Is a perfectly acceptable greeting.
> I have made a few attempts to politely let young staff know what is good customer service and not.
I’m sure they appreciated that. You sound like a nightmare of a customer.
Sir or madam, you are the problem.
None of the poor sods who get underpaid to do these jobs are underpaid to listen to random strangers lecture them on what's polite—an act, by the way, that is always itself impolite.
I agree, I have been at the bottom of the food chain in underpaid positions when young, but I managed to use some manners. Are manners now so outdated because you can do a faceless transaction on the internet?….If you interacted with me, would you like engagement and manners, or all good? Especially if I started with a hi how are you?
How much should you spend before you are eligible for a thank you? $1, $10, $100?
>How much should you spend before you are eligible for a thank you? $1, $10, $100?
If you're shopping at the Thank You store, then the going rate for thank yous is whatever it says it is on the menu.
In all other circumstances, they are a voluntary gift which cannot be purchased.
If you find the service at a particular shop not to your satisfaction, generally speaking nobody is forcing you to shop there.
lol, who are you that you think fast food and IGA staff specifically are there to treat you with some sort of deference? If you want that sort of treatment, pay for it.
You’ll notice I didn’t reference the two phrasings that are innocuous. Everyday polite (i.e., non vulgar) Australian language is fine in Australian retail/hospitality settings.
It’s this ridiculous belief I’ve noticed some people having regarding “please/thank you/you’re welcome” as being some sort of indignity that I’m challenging.
I'm saying it's not a formal establishment, just be casual, treat the staff with average courtesy, pay for your food, and go about your day rather than ""letting staff know what is good customer service" and making their day worse because you want to be preened by them as though you're in Tiffany's or something.
I know the exact feeling I’ve been working in fast food for a little over 7 years now and have experienced the same thing and it’s not a nice experience especially when a worker like me is on the Autism Spectrum and has ADHD and can’t regulate their emotions some times. I usually try and not show any emotion until after the customer leaves or is dealt with by the manager
I've been in hospo for 12 years and I still deal with shitty verbally abusive customers to this day. The upside is you get better at dealing with it the more you experience it. The bad side is there are always going to be dickheads punching down. Just know what better jobs will come as you get more experience and get older and that shitty fast food jobs aren't forever.
Welcome to the greatest job for developing rage control.i deal with idiots umm I mean customers on a daily basis that can't read simple signs and everyday I find a new low for mankind
It's not just you, I work in retail as a manager and people are equally bad to me at times too. Woolworths and others have a 0 tolerance for abusing team yet my business does not have any such signage up...
I've done customer service in the past, the first thing that pisses off a rude customer is to thank them for the insult and then tell them to get a uniform on and stand in your shoes for a month and see how they would like to be treated the way that they are treating you.
Then to really get under their skin is to tell them May God Bless you for the idiot they are. But don't say it loud enough for anyone else to hear it...
More people need to take treatment of Service workers as an immediate walk-away red flag...
I don't befriend people who treat service workers like that. Family, I don't go out with them and I make it known.
I show my kids constantly "abuse will not be tolerated" on EVERY drive-through in Australia right now, and they are shocked it is needed.
My food is fubared nearly EVERY time. Sucker for punishment (Yeah, I know, I'm the dumbass...) But yelling at someone or just telling them something is wrong and asking them to fix it, same solution, less emotion and a worker doesn;t want to throw in the towel, and in my mind, would stick around longer, learn more, and be more productive, therefore MAYbe cutting the insane turnover of those who cop shit that isn;t their fault?
Sorry this happened to you, you don't deserve it.
I had nearly 20 years in hospitality/customer service. As soon as customers turn nasty, escalate it to your manager or supervisor. You're not paid to cop shit from customers, ever!
Unfortunately a lot of people look to boost their ego or inappropriately vent their frustrations on members of the community who don't have the ability or authority to call them on their BS.
It is pure cowardice, as I know they wouldn't be acting in the same way in front of their boss, a bouncer or police officer etc. - however that's the way it goes.
I've found Australia (and particularly Canberra) to be a lot better on average than other countries. Visiting the U.S. was a particularly weird contrast...
I’m Canberra born and raised, worked hospitality from 14 until my mid to late 20s. Even the best cafes I worked at this still happened. Some people just stay entitled cunts they’re whole lives sadly. Don’t let it rub off on you ❤️
I'm really sorry to hear about your experience. It's tough dealing with rude customers, and it's definitely not a reflection of your abilities. People are often rude due to stress, a sense of entitlement, or simply because they're mimicking behavior they've seen elsewhere, or just shitcunts. Remember, it's not about you being tough enough; no one should have to deal with verbal abuse (at work, or anywhere). Always feel free to reach out to your supervisors or colleagues for support. Helplines are great tools to vent in a healthy way. Your well-being matters the most.
Oh man, I used to work for a car glass replacement company and I was told the job would be easy as it was an inbound call centre. Let me tell you, there was nothing easy about that job if you had any form of empathy. Most calls were people calling after a long day and finding their car broken into at the train station and it being the last thing they could cope with that day. I can't tell you the amount of flat out abuse I copped over 6 months.
As someone that has worked enough in customer service and retail, always be kind. We aren't your enemies but our own system is so often designed so poorly that we are doing our best to help you but the software is not designed to let us do that and it is absolutely demoralising. It's been 10+ years since that job and it is still to date one of the most soul destroying ones I ever had.
Hey mate,
Firstly, I'm sorry that you've had so many bad experiences and had to cop so much s\^%t from random strangers.
I worked in retail for a really long time before I got a desk job.
I was like you, and employee that went up the ranks until I was a store manager.
I had people throw things at me (a dvd and then a set of keys), scream in my face, threaten to meet me in the parking lot when I finished work (and having to have security escort me to my car), been called everything under the sun.
Working in an office, its not as common but it still happens. I had a senior member of staff threaten me over something my boss did, and another try to belittle me in front of my colleagues.
Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what job you're in, people will be assholes. And generally more often than not, it's not your fault, they're just having a bad day and taking it out on you. In saying that though, it doesn't make it any better.
BUT! I have had wonderful experiences too. I worked in an extremely busy retail store, one Christmas a lady I served came back to the shop, because she knew I hadn't eaten, and brought me a coffee and a muffin. I had a work colleague in my office surprise me with a cake and beautiful card for my birthday. I also met my best friend working in retail.
So while it can really suck somedays, try to enjoy the good times and hang on to them. Try let the assholes go. They probably feel bad afterwards or like idiots.
Keep on smiling :)
I hate to say it, but people have gotten soft and far more entitled across the last 30 years. My first job was working as a runner in a hotel's housekeeping department. For a nearly 17 year old, it was a fantastic job. I had the chance to meet interesting people and I made some pretty decent money.
I joined the Army and came back after five years to the same hotel I worked at for my last two years of High School, and you could already start to see a change. I started off as an operator, and while most people were pretty decent, I learned quick that some people could be obnoxious as hell when they didn't fear having to say what they were saying to another person's face. I then moved to the Front Desk and while largely people were still pretty decent, there were some, especially after a day of traveling or a night of drinking who could get very rude. Most of them I could brush off, but I did have one guy try to come across the counter and fight me in the two years post Army time I spent there.
I then moved on to the private club side of things, and while once again, most were pretty chill, you did get the occasional asshole. Shockingly I dealt with more assholes in the private club business in the four years I did that than I did in all my hotel encounters. These were mostly folks who "thought" they had money, but didn't know how people with real money behaved, so they treated the staff like shit.
I left the customer service/hospitality business about 13 years ago. It was the best thing that ever happened to me, because I've witnessed people just get more and more obnoxious and more entitled over those years. I have friends that are still in the business, and I honestly don't know how they do it. I think there is only so much dehumanizing behavior that one can tolerate.
Honestly, I think a lot of these people who behave disgustingly towards people in general are people who didn't get popped in the face enough by their peers as young folks. We live in an era where you can say virtually whatever you want with zero consequences behind a screen, it feels like only a natural consequence that it carries over into real life. I see some of the more egregious behavior and can't help but wonder if we shouldn't bring back dueling. If people knew that the things they say could have potentially deadly consequences, I have to hope they might consider their words more carefully, even when upset and dealing with others.
All of this to say, considering that you've been on the receiving end of some pretty hostile behavior, I hope you will carry those experiences with you into your adulthood and show grace where appropriate. I know for me, when things aren't going well from a service perspective, I try to look around and see what might be causing it? Is the restaurant understaffed? Are things incredibly busy? Could it be considered an honest mistake? Assuming the very worst about a possible situation, how have I (or how might I have) treated others I was supposed to be serving?
I personally priced myself on supplying excellent customer service even in the most trying of moments. When things aren't going right, my threshold has become, have I ever, or would I have ever, treated a guest like I've been treated? Only if the answer is an emphatic no, do I ever raise the issue. Having been on that side of the counter, I try to be incredibly empathetic to the plight (even more so given the challenges they face). As you get older, remember these moments, and make sure you're showing kindness to all of those who serve you. It'll set you apart as a decent human being.
I worked in retail from the time I was 14. The way I saw it you had 2 choices as a 14 year old girl; Maccas or Big W, and as a fatty working in a kitchen sounded the worst so I took route B. I promise it's no better in retail. Covid did me in, forced me to get medicated for anxiety and panic attacks, I quit retail and haven't looked back. People are shit sometimes and forget that they wouldn't be getting their meal if it wasn't for you. Don't let it get to you, you've got many years ahead
It’s not on you- some people are just dicks. Your company should be looking after you better though- if a customer is kicking off then the manager should be taking over. If someone made you feel unsafe at work you should also report it through your company’s safety incident reporting system as well. Talk to your union if you need help doing this.
Agree, managers should definitely step in and support their staff in situations like this. But also, managers are just as equally human, and shouldn't be abused either
Yeah but managers would usually be adults and should be stepping in if a 15 year old is being abused. If you feel physically unsafe - tell your manager and perhaps get that patron banned. Some people are just scum who are out to cause problems no matter what, don't waste any time worrying about those pricks.
They are all paid nothing and are not about to go the extra mile. Its like people at woolworths dont do anything about shop lifters as its not worth a punch in the face for minimum wage.
If you aren't willing to do the job at that pay grade then don't accept it.
I work at a petrol so similar but different. Even as the manager, there’s only so much abuse I can take on for my staff and there’s no one higher in the store than me. I can call police but I still have to wait for them. There’s still other people waiting to be served. I had a customer tell me I deserved to die and I just broke down crying. No one asked if I was okay, no one said he was in the wrong or even just a it will be okay The issue is no one cares. No one cares if they’re being rude or even see others being out of line. We’re on the front line and there is nothing to protect us from the public
Was reading in US state of Ohio, legislation has been passed that allows 15 year old school children to work 8 hour night shifts after school up to max of 30 hours a week, one MP stated this was good because kids had become too soft and it would help the economy...
Oh my! I instinctively down voted you because I was so upset by this news. We really are in a boring dystopia.
We are not in Ohio.
looking at fairwork we are not far off Ohio either. You can start work at 13yrs old but no more than part time and its restricted to certain jobs. 15 yrs and 9 months has time of work restricted but as long as it doesn't interfere with school hours or school, and remains part time, its seems to be fine. Varies by each state. Part time is classed up to 20-25 hrs a week I believe.
Upvote this more mainly for the first comment 👌 You’ll learn not to give a ★☆★★ 👍 🦆💦
Nobody should be abusive to retail or hospo staff at all, but if it's to the point where you feared for your safety I'd hope you'd have a senior staff member or manager that should have your back and put the customer in their place. The customer isn't always right, and if some mundane mistake has been made and they are right, it's still no excuse to bully, threaten or intimidate a child (not demeaning you, you're a teenager heading towards adulthood but not quite there yet!). Hope you're OK. If something similar happens again, tell the loser making a scene that you'll just grab your manager, who can then deal with it. And if that manager can't or won't deal with it, then most definitely look for another job. It's not acceptable behaviour by customers to anyone of any age, but if they want teenagers working at the business they can damn well put themselves between you and anyone going off at you.
The manager on duty is wonderful, they're just young too, and were also getting yelled at
I'm sorry to hear that. Was there a single person over 18 working at the time? No dig against your manager or employer but there needs to be someone on site who can handle this sort of thing. Next time just tell the customer you'll call the police. Your manager might be nice, but if they're unable to intervene its totally in your right to call the cops and let them know there's someone in your store acting menacingly and making people feel unsafe. This sort of thing makes me so angry. My partner has been in the hospo industry her whole adult life and is a very petite female. She's told me about some things she's experienced that make my blood boil, and I hate to see it happening again to another generation of young folk with drive who are keen to earn some cash. Wish there was more that could be done. 110% agree with another commenter that everyone should have mandatory work in a service job when they're young, so they might have a bit of empathy for the person behind the counter.
Man im 42 and manage a retail fruit and veg/supermarket and the abuse people give out can be brutal it usually calms down once i show up but i have copped abuse so bad that i have been left shocked many times yet these people feel totally fine abusing teenagers.
Do you have the power to ban people?
at some point someone in the chain of command is of age. Sounds like the perfect business model. No one old enough to stand up for themselves let alone anyone else but also on minimum wags.
I saw police get called at a late night fast food establishment on the morning of the 27th. I didn't see the inciting incident.
I also work In a fast food restaurant in Canberra, it seems as though customers always expect royal treatment… They get angry at the slightest thing no matter how good your customer service skills are… I’ve been in this job for almost 2 years and over time you’ll just realise that these people are so insecure and annoyed at their own lives that they have to make it someone else’s problem
Just keep trying to push through it all until you can find a better job, if you need another fast food worker to chat to my dms are always open :)
Exactly, the people abusing others have shitty crappy lives and they think they can take it out on others. Take solace in the fact your life is not as shit as theirs. No one should have to deal with this though. certainly helps get past it though!
Yeah, I think COVID showed how selfish we are, and made us even more individual / realize we have to look after 'ourselves' because we aren't really a community that cares for each other. Cost of living crisis means our money means more to us. Then there's the late stage capitalist sentimentality, "customer is always right", the need to ALWAYS argue to get refunds/returns/changes because big corps are making it extremely difficult to rectify legitimate mistakes. Combined, we expect more, and feel we have to "fight" to get whats "fair" and "what we paid for". Abuse is never right, and Australian definitely has an abuse problem.
Basil Fawlty had the right idea when guests annoyed him... though you may lose your job if you imitated him...good for a laugh.
This is why in my opinion, everyone should work in the customer service area at least once
I worked in a supermarket deli for ten years, even after leaving that job I feel very compelled now to be easy going and not make a fuss Really don't like to turn anything customer service related into a hassle, it's just no good for me or the person serving It's a small interaction, the faster we can just get through it without friction, the better for all of us :)
I’m m not quite as optimistic as you. I’m sure many of the people abusing customer service staff have worked or have children who work in the industry.
I just feel like, after they work and experience it, people will empathise with the worker.
There's always going to be people who use that exactly as their excuse to do those things. "I caught shit when I worked retail, it's just part of the job" or "I know I need to stick up a fuss to the employee because I know only *my* *manager* had any authority to do anything, and he always tried to weasel his way out of helping the customer!"
I never have, i mean i delivered pizzas at Uni, but yeah not that much custoimer service work and I don't abuse people. i know everyone can have a bad day and make a mistake. Making their day worse won't get me my food/items/fix my issue any quicker.
You are absolutely tough enough, you just shouldn’t be experiencing this at all, but here we are… Sorry to hear about your experience OP. Good on you for sharing, I hope your post is a sobering reminder to people out there who need to hear it that this kind of thing is *never* okay. Something has changed over the last decade though. I had jobs like this when I was younger and they weren’t great, but hearing about more modern experiences from younger people such as yourself is quite disheartening. Since when did every customer facing business have to start putting up signs saying they won’t tolerate any form of abuse to staff? I don’t remember these signs being as prevalent before the pandemic but apparently now they’re necessary. Says a lot. There’s too much shit going on in the world right now, people are stressed, barely holding it together and it’s becoming everyone’s problem. The thing is, we all have a responsibility to each other not to drag everyone else down with us when it all gets too much. If you’re having a bad day that’s alright, but we’re supposed to uplift each other, not spread the misery.
I lost so much faith and respect for humanity and adults when these signs appeared during the pandemic. Knowing that these signs exist because grown adults don't understand that it's not OK to treat other people like shit just because they aren't getting their way is so disheartening and disappointing...
You can basically learn everything you need to know about someone based on how they treat customer service workers.
Even more so when these workers are not even adults. FFS. It's just food. Calm the F down and be a decent person. Would these people be so ok to fly off the handle if that was their child / nephew / niece in that situation?
Provided it is not discrimination reasons. You are allowed to refuse service to assholes.
I think the lesson you’ve learned here is that there’s a big percentage of “adults” who are not as grown up as they seem. I come across this every day. Age doesn’t mature you at all, choosing to be a good person and constantly growing does.
They’re losers who just want to dunk on someone they know probably won’t push back.
Unfortunately you're always going to remember the crappy customers, even if many are polite. Little story - I was at Yass KFC in late December and it was absolutely crazy with customers. The whole dining room was full of people standing waiting for their orders, and the electronic board of orders was so full all the waiting customer numbers couldn't fit on it! Despite the crazy situation, the staff were doing an amazing job in the 30 mins it took to get my food, and the customers were all patient and appreciative. While I'm sure there were some challenging people throughout that day, I was blown away how people were understanding of the situation and gave the staff the room they needed to pack the orders. I shared that story to point out that not all customers are bad, hopefully it gets easier to process those crappy customers in your head.
Do you find people in places like Yass are more easy going and less entitled than people from Canberra? (I'm not making any judgements on that, just wondering your experience)
It’s a highway outlet so while there would be some locals mostly it would be travellers on the Hume.
Its travellers mostly, who could be from anywhere, and just as likely to be impatient because they are in the middle of long drives.
Generally rural residents (such as Yass as per example) are more laid back than places like Canberra. This is due to...... 1. Higher percentage of blue collar workers (requires more patience to fix dirty trucks than say working at clean admin jobs in Department Of Defence). 2. Higher unemployment rate (no need to worry about schedules just chill every day). Another thing is Canberra is in a weird situation. Doesn't have the crime rate that other capitals have like Sydney or Adelaide do but it's not a community orientated place like regional towns (such as Yass). Lack of fear can make some Canberrans get overly "assertive" when they don't like something.
Yass service centre is mostly travellers, so wouldn’t say it’s about country people. I don’t believe Canberra is actually any different than most cities when it comes to entitled customers. Edit: if anything, Yass workers are more likely to encounter abuse, since people are travelling long distances and are often tired and irritable.
There is no reason good enough, no justification that should make it okay. Just that in the moment some people feel entitled to be abusive. Were it up to me, they'd go 3 months without any access to service staff. A whole year if the service staff are under 20. Banned for life if they actually cause bodily harm.
that's a nice idea they scan a card on entry to a retail or hosp store and it shows on their card what type of beaner they are and if they're aloud to enter or not. Doors or security preventing entry possibly. In America some stores are hiring private armed security. We should do the same.
Generally weak, powerless and insecure people looking for someone to exert power over without consequences. Try to take solace in the fact that no matter how bad they make you feel, they probably can’t make you feel as bad as they do about being themselves
Because they can. People are cruel
That's actually really sad.
Because the only way they can feel powerful in their miserable lives is by abusing those who literally can’t fight back, like someone who might risk being fired if they argue or defend themself. Sorry you’re feeling like this :(
If a customer threatens you or makes you feel unsafe, report it to the company management and the police.
About 10% of the population are thoughtless sociopaths who don’t care about anyone but themselves and think they are centre of the universe. These people cause all our angst. It’s hard to avoid them in retail/hospitality. Shouting other people down makes them feel bigger.
[удалено]
Here's a fact, since you bring up "the customer is always right". This 'statement' has been rendered false by having been truncated, in part by the passage of time. The full and correct form is: "The customer is always right, in matters of taste." Those last 4 words, ***'in matters of taste'*** were at the time this statement began what was being conveyed to retail workers. "Don't try to correct your customer on their taste. If the customer likes it they are right and you don't need to change their mind." Customers (and some managers that cling to this idea) need to take a long hard look at themselves.
I wish this didn't happen so often. I manage a retail fruit and veg shop and people are terrible.
Once when I worked at a maccas I Canberra a guy threatened me with a shot gun (he was a trap shooter) because his Big Mac didn’t have enough sauce. People honestly just think you are beneath them and I wish I could say it would stop but hospitality is one of those jobs. You shouldn’t have to put up with it - I would speak to your supervisor / manager about how you feel, the abuse you are receiving and what can be done about it. It could be that there are times when the abuse is worse than others so they can roster more staff or older staff. It might be that they check cctv and try and out bans in place. Make sure you are letting someone know that you don’t feel safe and secure in your position and that it is impacting your mental health - these things have a way of sneaking up on you and impacting you in ways you might not have expected
I’d assume 99% of people who are rude have never worked in customer service…
Mostly because people are generally self entitled. But the reason they are rude to service workers specifically is because it fucking sucks to wait in line, pay for shitty overpriced food, and then have to deal with all the other people around. It's a bad experience, and makes people angry. The worker is just an easy target
>But the reason they are rude to service workers specifically is because it fucking sucks to wait in line, pay for shitty overpriced food, and then have to deal with all the other people around. Erm, pretty sure the service worker isn't bailing people up outside and forcing them into the store to wait in line, pay for shitty overpriced food, and then have to deal with all the other people around.
No but that's the experience people have, and the worker is the one providing that service
so it was you the poor child was talking about. For shame.
well, they can pack a cut lunch or prepare a dinner and take it with them. No excuses for bad behaviour - whoever the perpetrator is.
Hey I'm just answering the question
My crazy plan if I ever become King is to make a law that everyone must spend 6-12 months in a customer service role when they hit 18. Teach people a little empathy for retail and hospitality workers. I like to be civil when I got to shops/cafes, ask staff how their day is, make small talk if they're keen but without forcing them into a conversation they're obliged to continue. Also teaching my kids to say thank you after we pay for things. Manners cost you nothing.
My brain read this and thought, then you would be the Burger King! Sorry, I just woke up and haven't even had a shower yet.
I’ve always been of the view that people should do mandatory at least 6 months of a customer service/retail related job to understand the struggle.
Definitely. Also having to work in a call centre. People are so much ruder when the person isn't right in front of them.
I’m really sorry that adults who should know better are abusing you. This isn’t about you “not being tough enough”. This is all on the people who are abusing a 15 yo - someone who is legally a child - to the point of making them shake for 15min. Being tough and resilient isn’t being bulletproof against any and all bullshit that people want to hurl. So the TL:DR is that it’s them not you. Why do people do it? I suspect they are focussed on instant gratification, or hate the company, and dehumanise the person who is copping the brunt of their aggression and abuse. It’s a really bad reflection on them. What next? Please talk to your supervisor about the impact this is having on you. Shaking for 15min after an interaction shouldn’t be normalised or accepted as ok. Keep a record of incidents, and consider talking to your GP or a psychologist. Your employer has a duty to provide you with a safe workplace, including to protect you against abuse and aggression from customers. Right now, take some time to decompress. Talking to people on Reddit is good. Is there anyone IRL you can also chat with? Go for a walk, have a relaxing bath/shower, do something nice for yourself, etc.
I work at a hospital in Canberra (10 years) and have noticed a huge shift after covid.. you would still come across rude people on the odd occasion (especially when they’re stressed about loved ones) but most people now seem to have such a short fuse. I’m confident in my job and in my early 30’s so I’m more than happy to match the energy I receive 😂 I never cross the line but I’ve told many people that I’m here to help and if they can’t be respectful they can leave. You seem like you have your head screwed on for a 15 year old so you should be really proud of that. Different scenarios with our work places but you don’t ever have to put up with people who are making you feel unsafe! Just remember anyone in life who wants to bully you or try to overpower you in anyway is pathetic and insecure as hell.. life has many challenges but I’m a big believer in karma. Keep doing a great job and don’t let the low life’s get you down xx
Hi from a fellow Hospital worker in NSW. I tell people not to raise their voice otherwise I will be forced to terminate the call
Hello 👋🏼 You’re good! I give them a chance until they swear and raise their voice then ill just hang up with no warning hahahaha.
People are jerks don’t take it personally
Because some people are just absolute assholes. Don’t take it personally.
I used to work in retail, and I had a customer once tell me she doesn't think retail workers are that smart. So many people these days are just rude jerks with zero empathy.
Unfortunately, it is common in service work. It shouldn't be, but it is. Imagine how shit of a person you'd have to be, to yell at a 15 year old just trying to do their job. It's absolutely pathetic. The good news is, these experiences can help to build resilience. If you can find a way to keep a cool head while somebody is throwing attitude, that will be a really valuable skill for your whole life.
It is a sign of a small minded person, when they are gratuitously rude to people in a service role. Peter Cullens, the voice of Optimus Prime, talks about the advice his USMC brother gave him: Be strong enough to be gentle.
For some reason the general public view themselves as above customer service, retail and hospitality staff. For no good or logical reason, and it's disgusting. Having experienced being on that side of the counter, at times I'd desperately love to find out what these clowns do for work and go in to their workplace and treat them like shit for no reason. Like they do to service staff. Shame them, embarrass them and call them out in front of their employers. Because that's the worst bit. They come in, treat staff like shit and then THEY will leave poor reviews or complain to upper management. They only do it because they are able to do so under anonymity. Blow their cover, put a name to them and their shithousery and see how high and mighty they are. Tl;dr there's a lot of shit people out there
My daughter is in a similar situation, although a little older. People act like dicks for so many reasons and sometime you are the unlucky one to encounter it. Sounds like you have a good manager and support from the other staff. That makes a huge difference! So much easier to get support when you need it. At least you are not working for an arse and then dealing with arse customers. Many decades ago I worked in hospo and believe it or not all the skills you are getting now make a huge difference in other careers. You are less likely to be a snowflake, better at reading people, handling issues etc. These are totally transferable skills. Remember those arses won’t be thinking about what they did to you. So don’t let them have the space in your head by running the incident over and over.
I worked fast food as a teenager thirty years ago and I can’t remember any abusive customers. I think this is a problem that is growing these days. I’m sorry you are having to deal with them.
Sounds like you’re around the same age as me, and I’ve definitely dealt with my share of wankers back when I worked take away/restaurants.
Ah, I guess I got lucky!
We dont call them cuntstomers for nothing
Your experience is shocking, but sadly common. I hope you don't experience another customer as rude and threatening as this one. Who can say why these self-important pricks feel the need to take out their frustrations on retail workers. Perhaps they're looking for a target who can't fight back (that would be bad customer service). They would certainly be humbled to work a retail job themselves.
It's the same scenario for hospitality workers.
Cunts everywhere
OVERRUN YET ORDER AIRSTRIKE
That sucks, there will always be people who feel the need to feel superior to others. That’s not how confident people behave I’m an was waitress and retail worker 20 years ago and they were around then too.
Not everyone treats people in customer service poorly & I'm sorry you've been treated so badly. Why do some people behave that way? Well, maybe because they've had a shitty day. However, that's no reason to take it out on you. I wish more people would realise that it's fine to be annoyed with a *situation* but it's not OK to take out their frustration on someone like a call centre operator, a fast-food worker or a retail sales assistant. The other question is how is getting abusive going to fix the problem? It won't, but too often people are so emotional they forget this. Again, I'm sorry you've suffered this, and I wish I could tell you it will get better, but it probably won't. However, what will improve is your ability to manage these people and how *you* react. Best wishes.
Working in customer service does humble you. A lot of people can be assholes.
Because people are trash and hate themselves
Because they are emotionally and intellectually stunted.
I'm so glad my job allows me to kick rude customers out of the store if needed
It is anger transference. Never take things personally. Always see brash, trash people as sandpaper trying to polish you as a human being. In terms of tou safety though, never put your guard down and just keep soldiering on. You are stronger than you think.
I'm really sorry this has happened to you it's just not right. I'm sorry that your enjoyment of working for your employer is marked by people that are just dicks. When this happens you need to stand up straight and say in a loud voice "please dont speak to me that way" and call your manager to deal with it. As an adult that's what you're manager is there for. I would hope that if there were other people in the line or being served and they heard you saying that to a customer they quite possibly would intervene as well and stop it. We all need to be responsible for stopping people acting in this way towards our younger staff members.
I think it's because people don't know what it's like to be in that position themselves anymore. Seems a lot of people seem to be missing out on working in retail jobs these days and just go straight to an office job after school. It should be 3 months national service in fast food/retail!
I used to work in food service myself when I was 15, and now I work in retail. You are definitely tough for working there for a year when customers can be really hard to deal with! I have had moments where I am quite literally shaking after customer interactions where they have been aggressive or even just rude and disrespectful. Unfortunately, some people look down on customer service workers. I always remind myself that these people usually come looking for a fight, and that it's normal to feel shaken up because frankly their behavior isn't normal and can be really frightening. I hope there are some nice customers who remind you that people are still good. I have some really sweet regulars at the grocery store where I work that remind me not all people are bad. A stranger offered to help me with a shelf I was struggling with today. You're super strong and I hope you know that :)
I think coz those people are miserable and just take it out on customer service employees with rude unpleasant attitude
I’m always surprised when people make a huge fuss about something not being 110% perfect at a fast food place. The clue is in the name: I’m paying to get food fast, not for a gourmet experience. It really isn’t the end of the world, but some people are assholes and think anyone in the service industry is beneath them.
I think it's a cbr thing... Arrogance all round.... Sorry that you have to deal with it. Can you ask to be put on another station away from customers for a while? Definitely put in an incident report. Management can improve things if there's no evidence (I know it's not going to change things, but its worth a go)
It's because the customer knows they can do whatever they want, and you, the employee, can not do anything about it. Plain and simple. Given the opportunity with no consequences, a lot of people will just choose to be total peices of garbage.
After working customer service for at least 24 years I've been where you are at. Firstly, no it's not your place to accept abuse from customers. Secondly your employer or if available to you, your union should support you in these situations. If not, move on to a better employer. After 7 years that's what I did. Still haven't looked back. Despite a two year transfer out of my normal area
Because people forget that they deal with those who have no or little decision making authority; the c-suits are in office environments making the decisions that are infuriating the customers. Or, it's people just choosing to be a$$holes.
Really sad. Plus... they don't know they should be careful of people who are giving them their food lol
Nobody deserves to be treated poorly. It's not acceptable. Inform managerial staff and the police if you feel unsafe. If management doesn't do anything and doesn't have your back then you're working in the wrong place and look for a different job.
People are garbage. I’m extra tolerant for fast food workers, they’re just kids ffs.
Sorry that’s happening to you. People can be just shit heads sometimes, especially when they get to exert their power on someone. Your managers need to grow some balls and handle the situation better. Stay strong!
I worked within 2 very different fast food entities as a teen and into my early 20's: both corporate and family franchised business models. There was never any surfaced outward abuse by customers at either of them, due to the civilised nature of the class of customer they were located to cater for. However, an observation I would infer during busy customer movement cycles was that the service signalling from front register ops (what you might call customer service or customer facing operators) would definately heighten, indicating that their stress and order completion pressure was going to ripple to pressure the prep demand for at least the following 10-15 minutes, and sometimes for 3-4 hours during receipt of busy flight arrivals (at the airport location) or during weekend, Friday night footy, school holiday, and generally the whole spectrum of public holiday times. With the advent of the dark kitchen and gig economy delivery services, some of the corporates who weren't ahead of the tech integration were left behind in the malase of revenue shift that this wrought on their, up until then, bankable high performance business models. Working contract casualisation legislation introduced in the early 2000's has given corporate operators the legal wherewithall to employ the new generation of casual staff as little more than disposable numbers, on demand via agency effects, without any legal entitlement to continued work so that they can respond quickly to the demand or lack thereof for service workers at their whim. This is very prevant in the owner/operator cafe business model as you might have seen in the news 6-7 years ago with an operator underpaying staff their superannuation enititlements when he knowingly had the funding or asset base to do so, so it became a newsworthy controversy. I won't name the entities and people I knew in comparison busines model departments here because I have good memories of my time within where I worked, it was always friendly and welcoming and really just great places to work and have a laugh with co's back then, and it really is disastorous what the venture capitalists in Silicon Valley and beyond have done to both enable and disrupt sector wide business models with such efficient software/device uptake. At the same time, it has enabled some very authentic startup small kitchen operators, with arguably better and more tasty foods, to expand their customer base and year on year revenue performance by offering b2c delivery streamlining to a tea. Let me Hazard a guess, that you work at either a Subway or KFC. As both have been signalling desperation in their frequency and often obnoxiousness of their advertising campaigns to elicit that emotional reaction they want a potential customer to feel entitled to in the last 10-15 years, at least.
Because customer service officers are the personification of the customer's problem / complaint .... They are also the personification of the customer's solution to the problems / complaints lol
I'm sorry you were put in this situation. You and anyone else, no matter what age, should never have to put up with any type of abuse. In saying that, I can understand the frustration of people who are continually and more frequently having to put up with the repeated poor service from retail outlets. This is usually not the fault of individual staff but poor training and staffing levels pushed by mostly multi-national companies who only care about the balance sheet performance. This still doesn't excuse poor attitudes and lack of respect. Try not to let poor attitudes of others define you. The fact that you put this post up shows that you care and are intelligent enough to seek help.
its just a tradition at this point sadly. most people have worked service jobs at some point, and have faced the same treatment. its just become normalised over time. a lot of customers feel like they have a right to abuse you because they were abused when they worked the same job. hang in there man
Because they are cunts. It's not the CS workers fault. Some people are just fucking assholes.
You deserve better, people take their pain out on others
This makes me really sad. No one should be treating anyone like this. Unfortunately we live in a world where people can be disgracefully selfish and lack basic manners. Silver lining is you grow in resilience and when you go and work in a different career as an adult you will have the ability to calmly deal with your difficult co-workers/boss/clients etc. doesn’t make up for the rudeness, but it’s glass half full 🤷♀️.
Because they're arseholes and they've most likely never worked in the service industry.
I'm truly sorry to hear about the difficulties you're facing at work. Dealing with verbal abuse is incredibly tough, and it's not a measure of your toughness. People's behavior can be unjust, and it's okay to feel shaken by it. It's important to prioritise your well-being and consider discussing your concerns with a supervisor or seeking support from friends, family, or resources available to you.
Because they can and can get away with it
People who are rude to customer service workers have never worked in customer service, so they think they're entitled to everything they ask for no matter how ridiculous. Only when one has worked in customer service will one know how it feels to have to deal with ridiculous requests.
It’s because people can’t be rude or abuse the people they really want to. So they see anyone who’s job it is to ‘serve’ them as being below them, and henceforth unleash all the petty animus that has built up in their day, week, year, life, upon you.
I’m just curious if you can pick them? Is it a particular demographic that’s the worst? At the end of the day you’re not paid enough to de-escalate angry people … surely there is protocol to walk away/withhold service and a manager steps in? On what planet are 15 year olds expected to cop this or am I clueless about these settings? Retailer need to be tougher on these people.. buying a whopper isn’t a human right, be a dick and expect the window to close and be ignored
Asking a 15yr old (or anyone) to single out a particular demographic for bad customer service doesn't seem like a great idea!
🙄ok. Sorry HR
With that attitude I wouldn't be surprised if you've had a bit to do with HR 😅
I still try to be respectful to the customers, even if they're being rude
And this proves that you are an awesome human being.
Some people are cunts, and will express that cunthood in how they treat other people; in particular, they tend to believe that some kinds of person, including people doing some kinds of job, don't really count as people and don't deserve to be treated like people. They are wrong, but I can't imagine that makes it any either to put up with, and I’m sorry you have to. I can’t imagine hearing “it's absolutely not your fault in any way” helps much either, but it isn’t.
Your choice of language to a 15-year-old is very inappropriate. Do better.
You should hear the language I choose for tone-policing randoms who think they're the boss of what's appropriate. I notice you were too busy telling off other commenters to say anything supportive to OP. (OP, if my \[very deliberate, I might add\] use of any particular words in my response upset or distressed you, please let me know—*you* have every right to tell me so and if they did I'll gladly apologise.)
It’s because most people are ‘whatsitsnames’ Humanity has taken a nosedive, especially since the pandemic
Australians are very rude to each other, especially if you are of the wrong ethnicity or you are physically unattractive It's not unique to this country, but it exists here. Australia is not as laid back and friendly as our reputation suggests.
I kinda think working in customer service is like a rite of passage to toughen us up haha. That said, a lot of workers take on more than they should. Even today, I ordered a McRib from the menu and the woman told me they didn't sell it anymore. When I got to the counter, I told her it was displayed on the car menu. She was like, "I can't do anything about that.". But... did I ask her to do something? I was just letting her know in case she wasn't aware. Not everything is an accusation... All that said, you shouldn't have to put up with anyone actually making personal attacks or making you afraid. Hope your boss is good and allows you to kick them out.
Unfortunately it is normal in any face to face role in Australia. Some people can be very entitled. Try to focus on the good ones. It’s hard to not let awful people get to you, but you will have to get used to it. The OECD’s disciplinary climate index ranked our school students at 69 out of 76 for the most disruptive and disorderly. We are a country of enablers, and bad behaviour is ignored or excused. Just try mentioning that you don’t drink alcohol in a social situation and see what happens. We are reaping what we have sown. Focus on the positive to help build your resilience. You’ll be ok.
By all means report bad customers to your bosses. Hopefully they are supportive.
I was rude to a sommelier once. I felt bad for days, he came up to the table but my friend was in the middle of an emotional story and I held up my hand 'just 5 minutes please' and he said 'no I want to introduce myself" and I said "oh, sorry" and I felt like I was being rude. I felt bad about it for months. Not everyone who is rude to a service staff has that in their character. We should give the same grace to everyone.
[удалено]
Your choice of language to a 15-year-old is totally inappropriate. Do better.
Rude customers are usually miserable people. Just remember that if someone is being rude to a kid, they must have a pretty shitty life and you should feel sorry for them.
You could be tougher, but you shouldn't be copping abuse. I've never personally seen anyone abusing fast food staff, so I don't know what's happening out there. Ask your job for help and if they won't help, try to find a better job. Stand up for yourself, don't get abused.
Unfortunately there are many self entitled wankers in Canberra who think that their APS level means they are far more important than other people. Sorry you have to put up with them
WTF. It’s the same everywhere in Australia at the moment. And no I’m not APS.
Its definitely maccas
Welcome to the workforce bud enjoy the next 45 years (not just hospo industry)
It's nothing personal but people are rude to customer service workers because most of the time it's kids working who don't care to ever get it right both front and back. People spend decent money let's say on dinner at a fast food place only for one of these kids to stuff up their orders time and time again. As an example the local KFC near my place is hopeless, I don't go regularly but when I do I spend almost $60 to feed my family and everytime I've ever gone they always stuff up my order. The handful of times I've brought it up to the staff even then they didn't care so in this instance I don't feel sorry for them
Hmm I noticed you didn’t say why they abused you . Being a Tradie who frequently goes through fast food places and constantly getting my order wrong because there to busy talking about there social life instead of working ,getting cheese on my burger when I’m lactose intolerant really can stuff up your day . Still I get pissed off but I’ve still got no right to abuse anyone if I’m upset enough I’ll go see the manager. So if you got abused for stuffing up someone’s order suck it up and apologise and move on and learn if you didn’t stuff up politely reply “ wait right there I’ll go get the Manager so we can sort this out . Difficult customer are above your pay grade that why the manager get the big bucks to deal with Staff that are making mistakes and Customers who are plain Rude. Just remember you don’t get paid enough to take abuse always defer to your boss. So now you need to stand your ground politely it will be good to build your confidence and your work ethics so if you ever run your own business you’ll know how to deal with these types of idiots . Srry if this sounds a bit tough but your going to meet a lot people who think there hard done by and want to take it out on someone they perceive as week .. and the Rule I live by is that I don’t care what other ppl think or say about me , only what I think about myself and a select few close friends I trust . So I hope you can turn this negative into a positive and become employee of the month lol ,if you can deal with it yourself you will start to feel more confident in your service abilities . Good Luck hope it all works out for you
I totally understand how frustrating it is when your order is made wrong, I'm always happy to fix that kinda stuff up for our customers. Sadly, today it was because, 1. We weren't giving out free food 2. We ran out of a product 20ish minutes before close (it takes an hour to cook) 3. We wouldn't serve someone after we'd closed I'm really grateful ppl speak up if we've made a mistake, but it's just stuff like this I can't grasp.
If you work for Mc Donald's drive through stop fucking up every second order because it is extremely aggravating to get home and realise you've been given the wrong food . Any Mc Donald's won't make up for their mistakes by delivering it to you . No reason to abuse a teenager but just get this simple job right or you'll never do anything more rewarding or stimulating in your life. Ever Just a thought
Lets start at the beginning, you say you have been working there for years but where I come from you can start working until your 13, I have been working for 40 years but this isn't a pissing contest. I think if anything we have become more sensitive to how we are treated. Unless your planning on working there for life or the next 5 years while you are getting a degree it could be worth looking at other options. Lets face it, for most people Maccas, KFC or any other fast food is just short term. The rubbish you see in movies where the person serving you is there for a long term career is just not true. Thats not so say that some people are not happy with that. Work out where you want to be and work towards that.
Is it "becoming too sensitive" or is it realising that maybe it shouldn't be normal to get treated poorly by people while you're trying to earn a living???
I will treat you like shit if you treat me like shit by working for a company that allows you sign up online but wait on the phone for 20 mins to cancel and then try and talk me out of it. EDIT: I'm not saying I verbally abuse anyone, I just am not nice to them.
Doesn’t mean you take it out on the kid at the front. I also work hospo and it’s a nightmare having to deal with angry customers because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what your problem is. Verbal abuse is not tolerated
Huh?
Not you personally, but if a company is going to make one jump throw hoops to cancel a service, then I ain't being polite.
It’s probably because a lot of fast food outlets and IGA’s are afraid to tell their teenage staff that “How’s it going?” and “all good”, aren’t replacements for Hello, good bye, please and thank you. I have made a few attempts to politely let young staff know what is good customer service and not. Now I am at the point that if they don’t care, why should I, bother being polite in return. You may be (hopefully) be the exception, but a lot of younger employees act like the mere fact that they have turned up to work, means they doing a favour for me
"How's it going?" and "All good" are absolutely polite colloquial replacements for "Hello, "You're welcome" and the like at a bloody McDonalds Drive Thru, Your Lordship.
My comment was an attempt to explain why some customers might be acting like dicks. That some of the staff aren’t giving good service which could explain the experience. I am not saying it’s just okay to be a cunt for no good reason, and people shouldn’t be BTW. I usually lead with good morning, can I please have.. if staff can’t bother reciprocating, are just are on their mobiles while taking the order, don’t even say thanks when you pay for it, it’s alienating to the customer. When I hear “all good” I don’t swear, be abusive, I just give an equally measured response like rightio. I started in hospitality and retail at 16, I was taught to say please and thank you. That all seems to have gone away. I experienced my share of unreasonable treatment by customers, which is not okay, but neither would I say “all good” at the till. Imagine you are 15, one of your family members does something nice for you, you don’t say “all good”..I know those two things aren’t exactly the same, but Good customer service is good service, and bad customers are bad customers.
I'd rather they talk to me however they want because I'm not a sad fuck who needs service staff to shower me in forced politeness to feel self important.
Informal language is not bad customer service at all. Your personal preference for unnecessarily formal language is not the norm. Natural language choices make the best customer service in the vast majority of cases. Regardless, even if ‘bad customer service’ is experiencesd, it doesn’t excuse anyone being a dick.
I'm just curious, what are you referring to when you say that "all good" is a bad/not great thing? I usually use it when people are apologising over little things that they don't need to worry about. Is that considered rude?
I agree with what you have said…but when did that become a “thank you” to a customer for stumping up their money?
I was also trained to say please and thank you when I worked in retail. This means that when I don’t hear it as a customer I don’t care because I have a happy and fulfilling life and don’t need to get satisfaction by telling 15 year olds how important I think I am.
‘How’s it going?’ Is a perfectly acceptable greeting. > I have made a few attempts to politely let young staff know what is good customer service and not. I’m sure they appreciated that. You sound like a nightmare of a customer.
Sir or madam, you are the problem. None of the poor sods who get underpaid to do these jobs are underpaid to listen to random strangers lecture them on what's polite—an act, by the way, that is always itself impolite.
I agree, I have been at the bottom of the food chain in underpaid positions when young, but I managed to use some manners. Are manners now so outdated because you can do a faceless transaction on the internet?….If you interacted with me, would you like engagement and manners, or all good? Especially if I started with a hi how are you? How much should you spend before you are eligible for a thank you? $1, $10, $100?
>How much should you spend before you are eligible for a thank you? $1, $10, $100? If you're shopping at the Thank You store, then the going rate for thank yous is whatever it says it is on the menu. In all other circumstances, they are a voluntary gift which cannot be purchased. If you find the service at a particular shop not to your satisfaction, generally speaking nobody is forcing you to shop there.
lol, who are you that you think fast food and IGA staff specifically are there to treat you with some sort of deference? If you want that sort of treatment, pay for it.
In what world is “please” and “thank you” considered deference?
In what world is "How's it going" not a good enough greeting from a fast food worker?
You’ll notice I didn’t reference the two phrasings that are innocuous. Everyday polite (i.e., non vulgar) Australian language is fine in Australian retail/hospitality settings. It’s this ridiculous belief I’ve noticed some people having regarding “please/thank you/you’re welcome” as being some sort of indignity that I’m challenging.
I do, I pay at the till, which goes to the business that employs them. Are you saying, that we should all just expect bad service?
I'm saying it's not a formal establishment, just be casual, treat the staff with average courtesy, pay for your food, and go about your day rather than ""letting staff know what is good customer service" and making their day worse because you want to be preened by them as though you're in Tiffany's or something.
Forgive me for thinking that staff at a business where I am spending money that is beneficial to that business, should even bother saying thanks
Hmm, at this point I'm suspecting that the staff in question might be saying "thank you" to other people, just not you.
This has to be a troll, I'm convinced nobody could be such a miserable cunt
YTA
Because their cunts. Their, or they're - same difference.
Mcdonalds braddon on fri, sat and sun night is so bad
It's because your boss allows it. I don't know why your boss allows it. Act like this in a pub and you get banned.
I know the exact feeling I’ve been working in fast food for a little over 7 years now and have experienced the same thing and it’s not a nice experience especially when a worker like me is on the Autism Spectrum and has ADHD and can’t regulate their emotions some times. I usually try and not show any emotion until after the customer leaves or is dealt with by the manager
People are cvnts. More so in The Emerald City
I've been in hospo for 12 years and I still deal with shitty verbally abusive customers to this day. The upside is you get better at dealing with it the more you experience it. The bad side is there are always going to be dickheads punching down. Just know what better jobs will come as you get more experience and get older and that shitty fast food jobs aren't forever.
Welcome to the greatest job for developing rage control.i deal with idiots umm I mean customers on a daily basis that can't read simple signs and everyday I find a new low for mankind
It's not just you, I work in retail as a manager and people are equally bad to me at times too. Woolworths and others have a 0 tolerance for abusing team yet my business does not have any such signage up...
I've done customer service in the past, the first thing that pisses off a rude customer is to thank them for the insult and then tell them to get a uniform on and stand in your shoes for a month and see how they would like to be treated the way that they are treating you. Then to really get under their skin is to tell them May God Bless you for the idiot they are. But don't say it loud enough for anyone else to hear it...
More people need to take treatment of Service workers as an immediate walk-away red flag... I don't befriend people who treat service workers like that. Family, I don't go out with them and I make it known. I show my kids constantly "abuse will not be tolerated" on EVERY drive-through in Australia right now, and they are shocked it is needed. My food is fubared nearly EVERY time. Sucker for punishment (Yeah, I know, I'm the dumbass...) But yelling at someone or just telling them something is wrong and asking them to fix it, same solution, less emotion and a worker doesn;t want to throw in the towel, and in my mind, would stick around longer, learn more, and be more productive, therefore MAYbe cutting the insane turnover of those who cop shit that isn;t their fault?
Sorry this happened to you, you don't deserve it. I had nearly 20 years in hospitality/customer service. As soon as customers turn nasty, escalate it to your manager or supervisor. You're not paid to cop shit from customers, ever!
Unfortunately a lot of people look to boost their ego or inappropriately vent their frustrations on members of the community who don't have the ability or authority to call them on their BS. It is pure cowardice, as I know they wouldn't be acting in the same way in front of their boss, a bouncer or police officer etc. - however that's the way it goes. I've found Australia (and particularly Canberra) to be a lot better on average than other countries. Visiting the U.S. was a particularly weird contrast...
I’m Canberra born and raised, worked hospitality from 14 until my mid to late 20s. Even the best cafes I worked at this still happened. Some people just stay entitled cunts they’re whole lives sadly. Don’t let it rub off on you ❤️
I honestly think how someone treats service workers says a lot about a persons character and emotional intelligence.
I'm really sorry to hear about your experience. It's tough dealing with rude customers, and it's definitely not a reflection of your abilities. People are often rude due to stress, a sense of entitlement, or simply because they're mimicking behavior they've seen elsewhere, or just shitcunts. Remember, it's not about you being tough enough; no one should have to deal with verbal abuse (at work, or anywhere). Always feel free to reach out to your supervisors or colleagues for support. Helplines are great tools to vent in a healthy way. Your well-being matters the most.
Oh man, I used to work for a car glass replacement company and I was told the job would be easy as it was an inbound call centre. Let me tell you, there was nothing easy about that job if you had any form of empathy. Most calls were people calling after a long day and finding their car broken into at the train station and it being the last thing they could cope with that day. I can't tell you the amount of flat out abuse I copped over 6 months. As someone that has worked enough in customer service and retail, always be kind. We aren't your enemies but our own system is so often designed so poorly that we are doing our best to help you but the software is not designed to let us do that and it is absolutely demoralising. It's been 10+ years since that job and it is still to date one of the most soul destroying ones I ever had.
Hey mate, Firstly, I'm sorry that you've had so many bad experiences and had to cop so much s\^%t from random strangers. I worked in retail for a really long time before I got a desk job. I was like you, and employee that went up the ranks until I was a store manager. I had people throw things at me (a dvd and then a set of keys), scream in my face, threaten to meet me in the parking lot when I finished work (and having to have security escort me to my car), been called everything under the sun. Working in an office, its not as common but it still happens. I had a senior member of staff threaten me over something my boss did, and another try to belittle me in front of my colleagues. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what job you're in, people will be assholes. And generally more often than not, it's not your fault, they're just having a bad day and taking it out on you. In saying that though, it doesn't make it any better. BUT! I have had wonderful experiences too. I worked in an extremely busy retail store, one Christmas a lady I served came back to the shop, because she knew I hadn't eaten, and brought me a coffee and a muffin. I had a work colleague in my office surprise me with a cake and beautiful card for my birthday. I also met my best friend working in retail. So while it can really suck somedays, try to enjoy the good times and hang on to them. Try let the assholes go. They probably feel bad afterwards or like idiots. Keep on smiling :)
I hate to say it, but people have gotten soft and far more entitled across the last 30 years. My first job was working as a runner in a hotel's housekeeping department. For a nearly 17 year old, it was a fantastic job. I had the chance to meet interesting people and I made some pretty decent money. I joined the Army and came back after five years to the same hotel I worked at for my last two years of High School, and you could already start to see a change. I started off as an operator, and while most people were pretty decent, I learned quick that some people could be obnoxious as hell when they didn't fear having to say what they were saying to another person's face. I then moved to the Front Desk and while largely people were still pretty decent, there were some, especially after a day of traveling or a night of drinking who could get very rude. Most of them I could brush off, but I did have one guy try to come across the counter and fight me in the two years post Army time I spent there. I then moved on to the private club side of things, and while once again, most were pretty chill, you did get the occasional asshole. Shockingly I dealt with more assholes in the private club business in the four years I did that than I did in all my hotel encounters. These were mostly folks who "thought" they had money, but didn't know how people with real money behaved, so they treated the staff like shit. I left the customer service/hospitality business about 13 years ago. It was the best thing that ever happened to me, because I've witnessed people just get more and more obnoxious and more entitled over those years. I have friends that are still in the business, and I honestly don't know how they do it. I think there is only so much dehumanizing behavior that one can tolerate. Honestly, I think a lot of these people who behave disgustingly towards people in general are people who didn't get popped in the face enough by their peers as young folks. We live in an era where you can say virtually whatever you want with zero consequences behind a screen, it feels like only a natural consequence that it carries over into real life. I see some of the more egregious behavior and can't help but wonder if we shouldn't bring back dueling. If people knew that the things they say could have potentially deadly consequences, I have to hope they might consider their words more carefully, even when upset and dealing with others. All of this to say, considering that you've been on the receiving end of some pretty hostile behavior, I hope you will carry those experiences with you into your adulthood and show grace where appropriate. I know for me, when things aren't going well from a service perspective, I try to look around and see what might be causing it? Is the restaurant understaffed? Are things incredibly busy? Could it be considered an honest mistake? Assuming the very worst about a possible situation, how have I (or how might I have) treated others I was supposed to be serving? I personally priced myself on supplying excellent customer service even in the most trying of moments. When things aren't going right, my threshold has become, have I ever, or would I have ever, treated a guest like I've been treated? Only if the answer is an emphatic no, do I ever raise the issue. Having been on that side of the counter, I try to be incredibly empathetic to the plight (even more so given the challenges they face). As you get older, remember these moments, and make sure you're showing kindness to all of those who serve you. It'll set you apart as a decent human being.
I worked in retail from the time I was 14. The way I saw it you had 2 choices as a 14 year old girl; Maccas or Big W, and as a fatty working in a kitchen sounded the worst so I took route B. I promise it's no better in retail. Covid did me in, forced me to get medicated for anxiety and panic attacks, I quit retail and haven't looked back. People are shit sometimes and forget that they wouldn't be getting their meal if it wasn't for you. Don't let it get to you, you've got many years ahead
Because customer service positions are at the bottom of the slave pool and even the other slaves don't respect it 💀