Customers - what do Retail workers do that annoys you?

Release MeRelease Me Posts: 3,666
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I went into a shop today and never got a thank you from the shop assistant, staff like her who serve you have no manners! Its always the women that do it the most!

Anyway else encountered rude Retail workers?
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  • parsleyisfunparsleyisfun Posts: 4,164
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    Release Me wrote: »
    I went into a shop today and never got a thank you from the shop assistant, staff like her who serve you have no manners! Its always the women that do it the most!

    Anyway else in counted rude Retail workers?

    Encountered. :)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 26,389
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    I am a retail worker but also a shopper so I guess I can answer.

    Was in Tesco a few weeks ago and was waiting for ages for someone to come and serve me at the deli counter. This staff member she was cleaning and didn't see us. When she did see us she put down her cleaning materials, didn't wash her hands and put on a single glove to serve. I said to her that she had just been cleaning and she should wash her hands and she just wandered off.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,631
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    Release Me wrote: »
    I went into a shop today and never got a thank you from the shop assistant, staff like her who serve you have no manners!
    I hate that too. Also if staff are talking amongst themselves when they're supposed to be serving you, or the "helpful" type who pounce on you as soon as you walk in the store when all you want to do is have a quick look. Just a few reasons why I prefer online shopping these days.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,418
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    I was in a small Tesco store the other day, the shop had no carrier bags at all because of a delivery problem or something. They only had the 9p ones which we were expected to buy. I only had a few items so I could carry them home without one.
    The cashier kept apologising and I kept saying "it's fine, I understand it's not your fault, don't worry!" and she had some sort of breakdown on me! She told me she'd been getting abuse for it all day from customers, she had an operation a week ago and wasn't feeling well, she should have gone home an hour ago but her manager won't let her... I didn't quite know what to say to that :eek: I mumbled something like "I hope things get better for you, love..." and left quickly!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 10,848
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    When they huddle in groups, avoiding eye contact with customers so that they can talk about their night out - it annoys me because they're not getting paid to socialise.
  • CharlieCharlie Posts: 1,777
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    Tell me the thing I want urgently is out of stock but can be ordered in for Tuesday.
    I want it NOW!! :D
  • g-bhxug-bhxu Posts: 2,594
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    At Deli counters - There's always 4 or 5 behind the counter but only 1 person serving.

    Assistants trying to sell you what is called associated goods. e.g when you buy a tin of paint, they try to flog you a brush or roller, or when you buy a pair of shoes they try to sell you shoe polish.

    Assistants trying to sell you extended warranties!

    You're just looking in a shop when you get the "Can I help you, sir?"

    When you get the "If it's not on the shelf then we're out of stock at the moment" answer when they can't be @rsed to look in the stockroom.

    Sorting out the dog-eared notes to give you in your change.
  • PhilH36PhilH36 Posts: 26,281
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    g-bhxu wrote: »
    When you get the "If it's not on the shelf then we're out of stock at the moment" answer when they can't be @rsed to look in the stockroom.

    That's not necessairily true if the staff member you are asking is the same one who put the last of the stock out and knows there is no more in the stock room
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,016
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    When you walk in and get jumped on right off the bat, "LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE! I do not need any assistance!", of course this is amplified by the number of times this happens in the same damn shop during a single trip. Really are retail workers too simple not to understand basic body language. If I need assistance, as an adult, I can always ask, you people are not an enjoyable part of the shopping experience.

    Then when you do get help - this mainly applies to PCWorld -, they have not got a clue how to, either that or they try and make you buy something more expensive which is above the specification in which you need. The sheer lack of product knowledge in certain shops is appalling, personally if I need something specific I will research it first and then come out and buy it, which means I do not need any assistance, at all!

    Now lets look at when you have bought an item to the till, or are running up a transaction, no means no. I do not want your extended warranty, I do not need to start a finance agreement, I do not want replacement cover, I do not want your store card, I don't care about all the other things which I could buy to go with this product, I just want to buy the damn thing and leave the shop.

    I do understand to be stuck in retail obviously means that certain people can't do any better, so I do make allowances, but just a little common sense and awareness would be appreciated. So next time I am on the phone and they decide now is a good time to engage with me, don't be surprised to be picking your teeth up off the floor and trying to remove a phone from your ass.

    As a customer my needs are little, when I shop I'm not looking for new friends or company - assuming I am alone at the time - leave me alone unless I need help, and should I need help, I am fully capable of asking for myself. If I get as far as the till, keep chitchat down to the necessities - for example "that will be {#INSERT VALUE}, please". The amount of crap which is pushed at the till now in some places is beyond a joke and mostly irrelevant.

    Shop assistants are the reason automatic tills are becoming popular, likewise the internet provides much better company than the store ever could. Any shop assistants reading this may not like me, good, don't approach me!
  • bspacebspace Posts: 14,303
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    when you're browsing in a shop
    perfectly obviously just looking through things
    and one comes up going 'can i help you sir' with that implied
    what are you doing in here, you couldn't possibly afford, you're far to old, must be a shoplifter etc etc

    the when you don't just walk straight out and finally find something that's wearable amongst the heaps of tat
    they've all vanished
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 543
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    g-bhxu wrote: »
    Assistants trying to sell you what is called associated goods. e.g when you buy a tin of paint, they try to flog you a brush or roller, or when you buy a pair of shoes they try to sell you shoe polish.

    Assistants trying to sell you extended warranties!

    You're just looking in a shop when you get the "Can I help you, sir?"

    I agree that these three are all annoying, but I suppose it's more management to blame for setting these policies and instructing the assisstants to carry them out.
  • 5 a day5 a day Posts: 12,556
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    When I give in a £10 or £20 note, the assistant scans it through a machine checking for fakes; that's fair enough.
    But they always look offended when I get a note in my change from them, and hold it up to the light to check it's genuine.
    Can't have it both ways :p
  • BumbleSquatBumbleSquat Posts: 7,176
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    sfj39 wrote: »
    I agree that these three are all annoying, but I suppose it's more management to blame for setting these policies and instructing the assisstants to carry them out.

    Exactly, although I think some customers actually believe retail staff want to pester them. It's all basic instructions from some bigwig in an office who doesn't even deal with the public day in day out.
  • d0lphind0lphin Posts: 25,353
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    Like bubbsy it also annoys me when you get ignored by the staff and they carry on a conversation amongst themselves, as though you're an inconvenience to them.

    An extreme example was many years ago, I put my kids in the play area in a supermarket, and as I went to collect them I heard the workers talking about oral sex, in front of young children:eek:

    Also when you are making polite conversation with staff and then you get too much information, I didn't need to know about their drunken night out, or their boyfriend's snoring keeping them awake.:rolleyes:

    When staff as you if you need any help packing, and you just know they don't mean it! My mum once said "yes please, if you don't mind" and the cashier said "I do mind actually", but she'd picked the wrong person because my mum very loudly shouted "this lady doesn't want to help me pack" an the supervisor came scurrying over and helped her!
  • SheffieldladSheffieldlad Posts: 296
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    I hate workers in sport shops!, they are obviously min wage useless idiots.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 443
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    Do cinema workers count as retail? They are selling me something...

    Went to buy a ticket for Rec 2 the other day and as she was pressing all the little buttons on the screen she was like "you do know it's in Spanish?"

    Obviously I know it's in Spanish. It's a sequel so there is a good chance I've seen the first one.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 26
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    When you go into clothes shops and you find the perfect pair of shoes/dress/jeans whatever but they don't have your size out on display (not talking sale items here). You go up to a sales assistant on the floor and ask if they have it in the store room and they say "no, only what's out". It's bloody annoying when it's clearly just a lie because they can't be bothered going down to the stock room to check. Especially when you go back the next morning and find said item out on the shop floor now..in your size.
  • HelixHelix Posts: 1,485
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    boogienow wrote: »
    Do cinema workers count as retail? They are selling me something...

    Went to buy a ticket for Rec 2 the other day and as she was pressing all the little buttons on the screen she was like "you do know it's in Spanish?"

    Obviously I know it's in Spanish. It's a sequel so there is a good chance I've seen the first one.

    To be fair there have probably been lots of customers complaining that they weren't told that the film is in Spanish. A lot of things like this that retail workers end up doing is down to the stupidity of other customers.
  • PhilH36PhilH36 Posts: 26,281
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    This reminds me of when I was in the US in the late eighties,was in a Walmart looking for a few cds. One of the albums I wanted they didn't have the cd but did have the cassette tape version so I decided to get that. So I've got four cds and a tape,cashier puts them through the till,holds up the tape and says 'You do know this is a cassette'? Duh....I think I can tell the difference between a tape and a cd somehow!
  • Sherry TrifleSherry Trifle Posts: 2,022
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    Really annoys me when I'm in a hurry and the till staff are chatting to each other instead of serving. :mad:
  • GlenGlen Posts: 12,076
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    boogienow wrote: »
    Obviously I know it's in Spanish. It's a sequel so there is a good chance I've seen the first one.
    "Obviously" you think she is telepathic?

    The fact that it is a sequel is irrelevant, plenty of people will see a sequel when the haven't seen other film in the series.
    And no doubt there will be some people who don't read a review and know it's subtitled and make a fuss afterwards for not being told.
  • GlenGlen Posts: 12,076
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    jorrai wrote: »
    Now lets look at when you have bought an item to the till, or are running up a transaction, no means no. I do not want your extended warranty, I do not need to start a finance agreement, I do not want replacement cover, I do not want your store card, I don't care about all the other things which I could buy to go with this product, I just want to buy the damn thing and leave the shop.
    How about politely saying no to any requests?
    Do you think that the staff ask you these questions just to annoy you, or do you think they are doing the job their employers pay them to do?
    I do understand to be stuck in retail obviously means that certain people can't do any better...
    How do you know they "obviously can't do any better"? You have no idea why they are doing the job they are doing.

    You sound like the kind of moron customer which no-one likes having to serve.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 5,219
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    The Tesco near me has automated checkouts. They are all clustered in one area and it's not always easy to see which ones are free, as several will be out of order on any given day.
    Instead of a simple system of flashing lights or automatic announcements like they have in Sainsbury's, they have one member of staff shouting out the numbers as they come free. There are one or two who shout in the most confrontational and pissed-off manner ever, and it winds me up. I don't want to be bellowed at while I'm waiting to pay for my kiwi fruit and spaghetti.

    I know it's petty, but there you go.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,418
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    jorrai wrote: »
    When you walk in and get jumped on right off the bat, "LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE! I do not need any assistance!", of course this is amplified by the number of times this happens in the same damn shop during a single trip. Really are retail workers too simple not to understand basic body language. If I need assistance, as an adult, I can always ask, you people are not an enjoyable part of the shopping experience.

    Then when you do get help - this mainly applies to PCWorld -, they have not got a clue how to, either that or they try and make you buy something more expensive which is above the specification in which you need. The sheer lack of product knowledge in certain shops is appalling, personally if I need something specific I will research it first and then come out and buy it, which means I do not need any assistance, at all!

    Now lets look at when you have bought an item to the till, or are running up a transaction, no means no. I do not want your extended warranty, I do not need to start a finance agreement, I do not want replacement cover, I do not want your store card, I don't care about all the other things which I could buy to go with this product, I just want to buy the damn thing and leave the shop.

    I do understand to be stuck in retail obviously means that certain people can't do any better, so I do make allowances, but just a little common sense and awareness would be appreciated. So next time I am on the phone and they decide now is a good time to engage with me, don't be surprised to be picking your teeth up off the floor and trying to remove a phone from your ass.

    As a customer my needs are little, when I shop I'm not looking for new friends or company - assuming I am alone at the time - leave me alone unless I need help, and should I need help, I am fully capable of asking for myself. If I get as far as the till, keep chitchat down to the necessities - for example "that will be {#INSERT VALUE}, please". The amount of crap which is pushed at the till now in some places is beyond a joke and mostly irrelevant.

    Shop assistants are the reason automatic tills are becoming popular, likewise the internet provides much better company than the store ever could. Any shop assistants reading this may not like me, good, don't approach me!

    While these things irritate me immensely, please remember it is not the customer assistant's fault. It's management who force them to make idle chit chat, who force them to harrass you as soon as you walk in the door. If they refuse to they're out of a job. Retial staff probably hate it just as much as you do. If you want to complain, aim your frustrations at their management.

    Places like PC World don't train their staff to use the products they're selling. They're mostly students on minimum wage trying to earn a bit of spare cash on their days off from uni, cut them some slack. :)
    I used to work in a cinema and customers expected me to know the ins and outs of every film showing! When it was my day off the last thing I wanted to do was watch films, and I certainly didn't get paid to watch them! I'm not a film buff at all, I was just desperate for a job and I managed to get one there. Much the same as those who work in PC world I expect.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,370
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    PhilH36 wrote: »
    This reminds me of when I was in the US in the late eighties,was in a Walmart looking for a few cds. One of the albums I wanted they didn't have the cd but did have the cassette tape version so I decided to get that. So I've got four cds and a tape,cashier puts them through the till,holds up the tape and says 'You do know this is a cassette'? Duh....I think I can tell the difference between a tape and a cd somehow!

    It's a tricky situation when you're a retail worker - we used to have people bring back Blu-Ray DVDs all the time because they didn't 'work' in their DVD player, but it's insulting to ask if someone knows the difference when they're actually buying in the first place.
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