Customer service. It’s something that is drilled into your head from the first day you work in retail but to be honest, giving good customer service to certain people can be a little difficult.
After working in one of the busiest Morrisons stores in Wales for over 2 years, I can tell you from experience that giving good customer service can be difficult. In this article, I won’t be complaining about my job, I mean, it does (just about) cover the bills; but instead, I’ll share my experience and ever-changing opinion on how easy it is to give good customer service.
On October 2013 I had only been working for 2 months and I was yelled at by a customer because she thought I shook my head at her when she was leaving. In reality, I had just turned around to ask my colleague a question. She didn’t believe me and I had to sit there whilst she shouted at me for a couple of minutes. This was the first time I had been shouted at by a customer and not only has that incident stuck with me and still makes me upset and frustrated, it also made me realise that customers can be hard work. In this year alone I’ve been spat at, pushed, had people yell in my face, had someone jab me in the back and had someone pull paracetamols out of my hand because I wouldn’t let them have over the restricted quantity amount. I know I’m not the only one this happens to as I hear and see it most days. I’ve realised that despite how hard you try to give good customer service by smiling and being polite, some customers are so far up their own bums to realise that broken self-scan machines, incorrect prices, etc., are not always your fault. I could type for hours about my experiences and thoughts but to keep it short and sweet, I’ll finish off here. Retail is a drag. If you’re thinking of getting into it, be prepared for slow days and a few tears. People can be brutal and sadly, it’s something you’ll just have to get used to. As much as I dislike it though, I do have SOME great colleagues (emphasis on the ‘some’), and some great stories I can tell.
This is quite a broad article but in short, customer service is hard because customers are mean!
Comment below if you have any difficult customer stories to share. I love hearing that this hell doesn’t just happen in the store I work in!
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Some of the people there are horrible :(I don’t understand why people act like that because they wouldn’t do it to people tehy actually know. I literally could not work in retail for this exact reason!
It’s so hard to not just completely lose your cool during these situations. Full marks for patience and professionalism!
Sorry that happened to you, poppet. I managed to survive 2 years at Tesco relatively incident-free – mostly because I worked on nights and had minimal contact with customers because of that. I remember one occasion that sticks in my mind though:
A customer dropped a glass bottle of ale on the floor that was pretty much in the way, which wasn’t a problem, so I rushed off to get a mop bucket to clean it up. My manager noticed it had happened too, so he was watching to make sure nobody slipped while I was gone, and my other colleague collected the glass. Except when I was mopping it up, because I am totally useless, I accidentally knocked the mop bucket over and all three of us, my manager included, were in absolute hysterics.
A customer complained at us for not following health and safety and claimed she ‘could have broken her neck’. Bearing in mind that my own manager had cordoned the entire corner off because it was a slippery hazard. I was screwing after. I was so frustrated.
Great job, I am impressed.
Sorry that happened to you, poppet.