Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

See, jerks will be jerks. Technology has nothing to do with it.

Why not give a thought to the person behind the registrar though, we could be A grade uni students, single mums, college students, broken family, junior doctors/pilots. We don't work in these places because we want to, but sometimes we do all we can to save a little money for either our family or our own studies. Just because we work these jobs does not make as stupid/inferior, so how hard is it to show a little respect, there is nothing wrong with some lite conversation.

 dogma wrote:

 insaniak wrote:

One of these statements does not appear to belong... because you do appear to be saying that customer service people are inferior, by suggesting that they are not your peer.

My apologies. They are not my peers because I am not a customer service employee, and they are not political analysts.

They are not equivalent to me any more than I am equivalent to them.

 insaniak wrote:

You don't become a lesser class of person just because you are in a job that requires you to help someone find that thing they want to buy.

I agree.

But you seem to simultaneously believe that you can treat them with a lesser respect; all that is due to mere servants? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you.

On the plus side, this thread has really put proof into the truism - "when you're on a date; watch how your date treats the waitstaff, because that is how they will treat you in a few years".

 Ouze wrote:

On the plus side, this thread has really put proof into the truism - "when you're on a date; watch how your date treats the waitstaff, because that is how they will treat you in a few years".

That's total bollocks!! I treat waitstaff MUCH better than my wife


In my own defense, dealing with my kids has led me to have no real on/off switch at the house, if the kids are acting up the wife gets the same tone, generally speaking. Leads to some fun times for sure, lol

When I worked retail, I would not help anyone on their phone if I needed to explain a point-of-sale policy such as "final sale", because I insisted the customer understand what they were getting. The rage caused by a customer trying to return a final sale item because they didn't know it was final sale due to being on their phone when they should have listened is truly difficult to describe.

Standing in line, talking on your phone, while the clerk waits for you to finish your oh-so-important conversation is rude, not only to the clerk but all the people in line behind you.

Hang up the damned phone, conduct your business, get the hell out and stop wasting everyone's time. You are not some special snowflake.

Only a special snowflake would be unable to do two things at once.

 d-usa wrote:
Only a special snowflake would be unable to do two things at once.

Please drop the internet contrarian act, it's getting tiresome.

 Grimtuff wrote:

 d-usa wrote:
Only a special snowflake would be unable to do two things at once.

Please drop the internet contrarian act, it's getting tiresome.

Report me for spam if you want.

I will complain about this stupid argument as long as people will pretend that having a conversation on a phone is magically different that a conversation with somebody standing next to you and that it leaves you to dumb to actually interact with a clerk in a friendly and polite way.

After all, it's okay for people to violate rule 1 all over this thread by calling people in suits elitist jerks, people on phones special snowflakes, and so on. But pointing out that it is no longer about being rude to servic clerks, after all you guys keep reminding me that it is okay to have a conversations and ignore them depending on how you are talking to somebody, makes me contrary.

Might as well lock this thread it it is just service employee sable rattling.

As a service employee maximum power vegetable veterinarian of six years, again, I never had a problem with someone because they were on their phone. I had a problem with them being an ass.

It was very possible for them not to be an ass whilst also being on the phone.

I agree wholeheartedly with dusa.

 tuiman wrote:
We don't work in these places because we want to, ....

Some of us do. By and large, I quite enjoyed my years working in retail. Rude customers aside, customer service can be a bit of a buzz if you're good at it. I enjoyed my job, I made a point to learn as much as I could about the products I was selling, and I knew how to smile on demand... and it is a job that is a hell of a lot easier to cope with when you know what you are doing. It's an awesome thrill when a confused parent wanders up with some garbled description of some toy that they don't know the name of but that their child has described to them and absolutely must have... and be able to say 'Yup, that's right over here...'

For every customer who is rude, or treats you like you must be a bit thick because you're working in a shop instead of transplanting people's brains, or lies to your face in order to try to squeeze a discount or a refund out of you, there are a dozen who are polite and pleasant, and every now and then there's that one who just makes your day.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 DeffDred wrote:

Absolutely not. A lot of my friends don't like going to public places with me. I'm loud, ignorant and rude. On the plus side, I can admit it.

Uh, yeah... if your behaviour is inappropriate and you realise that but refuse to do anything about it... that's not a plus side.

 d-usa wrote:
Might as well lock this thread it it is just service employee sable rattling.

Not sure where you got the idea only service employees think it rude to carry on a telephone conversation while interacting with staff someplace.

 DeffDred wrote:

 Alfndrate wrote:
And that attitude is exactly why people in food service spit in the food of the people they make it for...

Subway makes their sandwiches right in front of you. So no worries there.

You have no idea whats mixed into that mustard bottle... there is that age old adage... don't feth with the people that make your food. And as it has been said man, if you're being rude in public and you recognize this bit do nothing to fix it... that's not a good thing, nor is it "keeping it real". Social decorum is something we all have to deal with.

I have no problem with people being on the phone while at the checkout. I return the favor and everything is alright. Lay your purse on the table, I'm doing the rest myself. No interaction needed.
Thank you for the extra 5€, Mr. Show-off-your-Iphone. <- obviously that was a joke. taking tips is not allowed.

Also this 10x :

 insaniak wrote:
For every customer who is rude, or treats you like you must be a bit thick because you're working in a shop instead of transplanting people's brains, or lies to your face in order to try to squeeze a discount or a refund out of you, there are a dozen who are polite and pleasant, and every now and then there's that one who just makes your day.

The real fun stuff begins at the manager level where I'm normally doing my duty. Food retailing yields so many possibilities to feth off people, bad mood has seldom a chance to settle down. So dealing with the one rude customer a day is no problem.

 Weltenwolf wrote:
IThe real fun stuff begins at the manager level where I'm normally doing my duty. Food retailing yields so many possibilities to feth off people, bad mood has seldom a chance to settle down. So dealing with the one rude customer a day is no problem.

I particularly enjoyed a customer who wanted a discount for buying two bicycles (at the same time!!!one! For the record, we made around $5 profit on each bike sold at full price, so we didn't discount, regardless of how many of them you wanted to buy.) When I said no, he asked to speak to the manager. I told him that I was the manager, to which he replied 'You can't be the manager. The manager would give me a discount.'

There's a certain logic there. Somewhere...

 Ouze wrote:

But you seem to simultaneously believe that you can treat them with a lesser respect; all that is due to mere servants? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you.

I think you are.

The respect accorded to a servant is not lesser than any other form of respect, it is simply the respect accorded to a servant. In the same vein I accord a certain form of respect to my boss, but not the same form of respect to my father, my mother, or my peers.

insaniak wrote:

 Weltenwolf wrote:
IThe real fun stuff begins at the manager level where I'm normally doing my duty. Food retailing yields so many possibilities to feth off people, bad mood has seldom a chance to settle down. So dealing with the one rude customer a day is no problem.

I particularly enjoyed a customer who wanted a discount for buying two bicycles (at the same time!!!one! For the record, we made around $5 profit on each bike sold at full price, so we didn't discount, regardless of how many of them you wanted to buy.) When I said no, he asked to speak to the manager. I told him that I was the manager, to which he replied 'You can't be the manager. The manager would give me a discount.'

There's a certain logic there. Somewhere...

I always made a point of leaving the room, then returning and re-introducing myself as the manager. Good times.

Something I picked up on from the original article. While the actual article, its headline and its editing seem to support the cashier, the statement from the customer is obviously heavily biased towards herself. I very much doubt she ever said the words "I'm sorry"... or if she did, they were heavily sarcastic. I also doubt the cashier was *as* rude to her as she's making out.

There's also no counterpoint from the cashier (who I'm guessing "couldn't be reached for comment").

Far from being impartial, or biased one-way, I think it's the first time I've managed to see news that's biased towards both sides!!

I've been a cashier and refused to wait on people on a cell phone. At different stores. (A sub sandwich chain that you're familiar with, and a gas station you probably aren't.) If someone comes up to the counter while talking on their cell, (without telling the person to hold on or some such) I just walked away, and refused to wait on them. If they got huffy afterwards, I just told them I was trying to be polite and not interrupt their conversation. It never went any further than that. (I got a couple middle fingers and couple choice words now and then, but no one ever went to a manager over it.)

Being on the cell phone is one thing. Not putting it down for the second it takes to handle your transaction is unbelievably rude.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 insaniak wrote:

 tuiman wrote:
We don't work in these places because we want to, ....

Some of us do. By and large, I quite enjoyed my years working in retail. Rude customers aside, customer service can be a bit of a buzz if you're good at it. I enjoyed my job, I made a point to learn as much as I could about the products I was selling, and I knew how to smile on demand... and it is a job that is a hell of a lot easier to cope with when you know what you are doing. It's an awesome thrill when a confused parent wanders up with some garbled description of some toy that they don't know the name of but that their child has described to them and absolutely must have... and be able to say 'Yup, that's right over here...'

For every customer who is rude, or treats you like you must be a bit thick because you're working in a shop instead of transplanting people's brains, or lies to your face in order to try to squeeze a discount or a refund out of you, there are a dozen who are polite and pleasant, and every now and then there's that one who just makes your day.

This, by the way. I loved working at the gas station. (Although I did notice that people gave less respect to gas station attendants than to telemarketers.) There's always going to be folks who just want to act like a bag of dingleberries, but the vast majority of customers just want to get in, get their crap, and get out. Even as a gas monkey, (which had the highest percentage of dingle-bags out of any job I've had) the real weiners were comparatively rare.

I've worked as a cashier in Sainsburys before, and to be honest, I have a suspicion that the customer has exaggerated a bit to get some sort of compensation. The attitude towards customers, well in my store at least, was "they can do no wrong, and we'll even go against store rules and belittle the staff if we have to". I can't tell you how many rude customers we got there, not only ones on their phone but others who see a cashier as some sort of lower life form, as if they're about to yell "pack my bags, you peasant".

You try to stand up for yourself in such a scenario, they kick off and begin to argue. Your supervisors will do anything short of literal brown-nosing to make them happy. I even had a guy try to buy cigarettes for his son who may have been underage. Not wanting to risk it I turned him away, so he comes back with the supervisor, who then orders me to serve him, and I still refuse, at which point the supervisor's giving the typical "I'm so sorry for this sir, I hope this hasn't ruined your experience" speech etc etc. It's pathetic, the attitude of some of them.

Seriously speaking, I'd applaud the staff for sticking up and not serving the customers, it seems to be the spineless attitude of the rest of the store management that's really put this story in the spotlight. The customer could also have got some manners and hung up when being served.

 dogma wrote:

 Ouze wrote:

But you seem to simultaneously believe that you can treat them with a lesser respect; all that is due to mere servants? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you.

I think you are.

The respect accorded to a servant is not lesser than any other form of respect, it is simply the respect accorded to a servant. In the same vein I accord a certain form of respect to my boss, but not the same form of respect to my father, my mother, or my peers.

I was talking about suits earlier in the thread.

Edited by AgeOfEgos

OP Dose this go both ways? if you were a customer and the person was on the phone.. would you want them to stop there convo just to serve you... when they can do there job and talk on the phone at the same time?.... I've work in retail and served people while they were on the phone.. I the one person that I did ask to "get off the phone" was the one who was more engrossed in the phone call than what i was doing.. and wasn't using the Eftpos. "swap card enter account/pin" I looked at her for like 1min. and the Que was long.. so i asked 'If you don't want to be served go the back of the Que... she looked at me and asked what did i say? "your more interested it the phone call than to be served then more to the back,NExt... Had the support of the other customers... She felt silly... ..If you can do both, do it.. If not.. (i wonder why i get in trouble with the boss so often? )

 SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
everyone has a breaking point. much like the quotation from Mallrats, "the customer is always an [MOD EDIT - Please don't try to avoid the expletive filter. Alpharius]."

I assume, from the vigorous defense of cell phone usage, that simple politeness is now an inconvenience.

Really this is what I've gotten out of this entire thread. I find it highly improbable that the phone call you're having during the whopping 30 seconds of the day, maybe even the week, while checking out is going to be extremely important. Is it possible? Well sure, but is it likely? Hell no. You're just being an arse and refusing to acknowledge it.

 Necroshea wrote:

 SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
everyone has a breaking point. much like the quotation from Mallrats, "the customer is always an [MOD EDIT - Please don't try to avoid the expletive filter. Alpharius]."

I assume, from the vigorous defense of cell phone usage, that simple politeness is now an inconvenience.

Really this is what I've gotten out of this entire thread. I find it highly improbable that the phone call you're having during the whopping 30 seconds of the day, maybe even the week, while checking out is going to be extremely important. Is it possible? Well sure, but is it likely? Hell no. You're just being an arse and refusing to acknowledge it.

/thread

There is definitely a group of people being an arse, and they are in this thread.

 d-usa wrote:
There is definitely a group of people being an arse, and they are in this thread.

Finally someone recognizes my talents!

Of course it's rude .. the sad fact is that a lot of people just aren't brought up with manners.

Was in the queue at a cafe the other day and some guy came back to the till to have a go at the check-out girl as she'd accidentally ripped his receipt, obscuring the total. In between a shaking head of disbelief he said that he wouldn't be able to claim back the VAT on his sandwich..(?!), and she ended up looking through the bin for the other part of the receipt.

I think having worked in retail or not you have to sympathise. I was next in the queue and, seeing she was a bit crestfallen, I brought up whether the guy seriously wanted to claim VAT on a sandwich.. we both had a chuckle about it and agreed that the guy was a tosser..

 Pacific wrote:
Of course it's rude .. the sad fact is that a lot of people just aren't brought up with manners.

Was in the queue at a cafe the other day and some guy came back to the till to have a go at the check-out girl as she'd accidentally ripped his receipt, obscuring the total. In between a shaking head of disbelief he said that he wouldn't be able to claim back the VAT on his sandwich..(?!), and she ended up looking through the bin for the other part of the receipt.

I think having worked in retail or not you have to sympathise. I was next in the queue and, seeing she was a bit crestfallen, I brought up whether the guy seriously wanted to claim VAT on a sandwich.. we both had a chuckle about it and agreed that the guy was a tosser..

I do the same. Can't say it's because I feel sorry for the attendant, but more about how ludicrous some people are and how they seem to have been raised by savages.

There was one time I took my niece and nephew to a nearby mcdonalds so we could grab a bite to eat and they could blow some of that near limitless energy. Well, as we're waiting in line, this rather thick women barges up to the counter with a burger in her hands and starts going on about how they've gotten the burger wrong 3 times or whatever, and she demands they fix it. When they glance my way I casually throw a hand gesture her way, showing them I'm in no rush so just deal with the crazy women before she get's even more unbearable. Once they had her fixed up and she storms off, I walk up to the counter as the employees are kind of having that look of people who just dealt with someone of that nature. Never missing a beat, the first thing I said was "Let's be serious for a moment here people, surely I'm not the only one who thinks she'll eat whatever you give her", only to have everyone bust out laughing. Mission accomplished.

People should be called out for bad manners, like really. I tend to notice that people tend to lose their spine when after they think they're going to 1v1 the teller, they get a piece of someone not even working there.

 tuiman wrote:
I dont understand why people are against this, I work at subway and you would not believe how iterating it is to try and make someone a sub when they are engaged on their cell phone, making me hold up every time he/she tries to listen to something important. Its just outright rude behavior and I support this person.

I think it sort of comes down to the customer thinking that because people in retail are in the low jobs that they can look down at us. I'm a uni student and also junior pilot, I need money, there's no need for my customers to instantly treat me like a bit of dirt from under there show. So show some manners people.

This. I was behind someone that would not get off their accursed phone. Just because you have time, doesn't mean that the avatar of Angron (who did not take his meds this morning) behind you has the patience and tolerance to wait while you tweet or tell your friend about your neighbor's cat's habits. Further, if you continue talking on the phone, and hang around lo genoughto obstruct me, you have no reason to be in the express checkout lane. I'm fine with. People on their phones in checkout, so long as they pay attention to what's gong on around them, and are capable of acknowledging that the universe will in fact go on if I run them over in the parking lot. I have the same allergic reaction on every escalator. I don't know what it is about north America, but PLEASE walk on the escalator!!! Walking up the steps cuts your time on the escalator in half and prevents you from bing jammed with someone's but in your face, and many, many other reasons....

Back to phones! Another reason to get off the darn phone is to watch and make sure the clerk doesn't choose to swipe that one bag of chips and a coke bottle a second time, and get a free snack courtesy of your credit card...

All spelling and grammatical errors in this post can be attributed to this worthless damn garbage ipad. Never buy one.

Having worked in retail for many years I just thought I'd offer my 2 cents on this.

Being at a cash desk and trying to ring someone up while on the phone can be an exercise in frustration. I've lost count of the number of people who have been having an in depth conversation on a phone and been completely oblivious to things like being told the total so they know how much to hand over, asking them to sign to authorise their credit card etc. That's leaving aside instances of forgetting the product they just bought, their change, their receipt, and/or their credit card.
Now add in complicating factors like trying to follow the canned interactions you're meant to follow while a manager is in the vicinity, having to ask about service agreements, asking them to confirm their age or other personal details, or the customer airing their dirty linen in public. I'm sorry but if a conversation is that important then you should be giving it your full attention.

That being said I have never refused to ring someone up because (s)he was on their phone.