"You are not very nice to your customers!"

July 26, 2012 5:57pm CST
I work in fashion retail. Often customers read signs wrong (i.e. they think that "buy one get one 29.90" is really "everything is 29.90" or if one shirt in the store is 40% off they think that every shirt in the store is 40% off). Therefore, at the cash register, it is not uncommon for customers try to argue with the store's employees. Sometimes when they do not get their way, they even demand to speak to a manager about the situation. There is a similar reaction that customers have when the total of their items are just under a number of dollars required to use a coupon (ex. $30 off $100 purchase). The company's coupon policy is that even if you spend $99.99, you can not use the coupon, because this amount is not $100 or greater. I can understand where a customer would get frustrated with this, especially when the cheapest items in the store cost $7. However, customers are not always so understanding of the fact that the employees can fired for "giving" away coupons and that we are just doing our jobs. You may think that this is not giving a coupon away, but since no such coupon exists that $30 off is redeemable on any purchase of $99.99 or any value below it, the employee would technically be making this coupon up. In addition, codes are entered into the register, so at a later date cashiers' transactions can be checked for abuse. Well, today I had a customer who was angry when I told her that both of her coupons say on the back that they can not be combined with any other coupons, therefore, she could only use one coupon on her purchase. Then when she chose the better coupon and just missed the required amount that needs to be spent in order to use the coupon, she became more angry and stormed off to find another item. When she returned and I finished her transaction, she critized me for not smiling at her and told me that I was not kind to the customers... I had treated her like I do every other customer, beginning with "How are you?," "Did you find everything alright?," etc. Do you think that she mistook my neutral facial expressions as a sign of being rude or that she was unhappy about the store's coupon policy and became angry with me when I did not "bend the rules" for her? I honestly don't know myself.
2 responses
@doroffee (4222)
• Hungary
27 Jul 12
I worked at a counter in a mall, too, and I know how annoying people can be. Some of them except their butts to be kissed just because they are customers and they think they can do anything to a salesperson, they feel superior and say the customer is always right. I had most problems with people who demanded a bargain. I know, there are counters looking similar to ours in markets where you can bargain, but not in a MALL... It wouldn't even have crossed my mind before to ask for a bargain at a mall counter... especially some people not ask, but expect bargains just "because I bought two items". Also, there was one time, when a person bought some pillow covers before Christmas as gifts, and later she returned them and demanded the money back, when the pillow covers didn't have any problems with them, just she changed her mind, or the gifted one didn't like it. And she called me a liar when I told her that in this case she could choose stuff for their price, but not get a whole refund, because in our country's laws it is said if the product purchased is flawless (not torn, not ripped, functioning properly), the seller has the right not to give the money back... which is a good law, because if it wasn't the case, people would bring back stuff they've used for years and buy stuff without thinking, and it would cause a huge problem for shop owners. And she kept on saying she heard it in the radio... she might have, but in the radio they sometimes say untrue things, but, I think, the case was she didn't listen to the news properly... because yes, there is a chance to get your money back, IF THE PRODUCT WAS FAULTY. Not when you just change your mind on a whim. Another time, a person speaking my language only a little bit and another language which I didn't know told me I serviced him bad because I talked too fast(!!!) and was chewing gum, that's why he didn't understand me... he knew about 2 words in my language, but yeah, the only thing because he didn't understand me was the gum...
27 Jul 12
I did not know that was a law. That is very interesting to me as both a shopper and a sales associate.
• Australia
27 Jul 12
Hi, I can understand your situation. Cause I am a mart cashier and I always deal with confliction between staffs and customers. According to my experience, just keep a smile on your face and give customer as more discount as you can.