Are sales assistants now trained to be miserable?

I think they wouldn't last a day in comission sales! Those people that you see all miserable are there collecting a paycheck. Don't let they frowning faces fool you, they are already thinking about all of the fun they are going to have when they finally do get paid. For them work is an inconvenience. If you have ever met anyone in commission sales, like shoes, or selling suits at a place like JC Penny, or selling jewelry, you will notice a huge difference in their body language and how they treat you. To them every customer is their job and thier business. The next time you are out shopping in your local mall go and see a clerk working in one of those type of places and watch how friendly they are. They know how to make a sale if they are properly trained. I used to do it myself. I had regular customers that came to see me when they needed something. I knew them on a first name basis. This sort of thing is very rare these days, but once you find peple that are willing to work like that then you'll know that not everythin gin this world has gone sour!

I have noticed that a lot of them don't bother even looking at their customers when they're totting up the shopping or whatever, when I've worked in shops, I've always tried to be polite and friendly and at least smile at people, even if they are annoying, when I was running a shop, I tried to make sure the staff greeted the customers in an acceptable manner, I didn't expect them to give them a false smile or anything, but a polite hello and saying please and thank you were ALWAYS expected.

I think it's a new rule so the customers will go quickly. The sales assistants in most of our local shops are friendly and will chat, except in Woolworths where they seem to employ only miserable staff. If a shop assistant smiles at you when your in Coventry it's usually because they're leaving that day. It makes shopping an even more miserable experience.

I mostly see miserable ones. I think the best mood a shop assistant is capable of nowadays is indifference. I'm sure there must still be one or two who are friendly, they are usually the young lads who have recently started!

Well they aremt trained to be that way yet they are miserable most the time. I have been lucky because i am a attractive lady so i always get good service from the men anyways but i have seen what you mean and friends that work in sales say its from so many customers coming in the same way which makes no sense what ever happened to treat others as you wish to be treated. If your friendly it can be contagious.

Most Singapore sales assistants are just pure idiots.Bad customer service attitude,poorly trained.

I have worked in retail and it is not easy work. I found that for me it was hard to always stay positive when people would lose it on you. I do not think its the sales assistants, it is the customers. I believe that customers abuse the statement: The customer is always right. That is a load of s##t. We do what we can to help them find what they're looking for, but there are those who are abusive. Common decency has gone into the toilet. I still smile and tell people to have a nice day and thank those who have helped me. It reminds me of a guy I hung out with a while back, we would not tip in restaurants. Why? He would say, "They chose to work here, they could get something better if they wanted." Here the customer was wrong.