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Can I have some feedback on this please

Hollow Horse said:
Exactly this. I simply pointed out that the operation ought not to have been open.

By saying that however it was clearly a massive overreaction on my part. :rolleyes:
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I think that you were just saying what came to your mind, but the thing that people keep pointing out is that these minimum wage workers have no power whatsoever to do anything. They might even be dying to put a damn sign on the machine so people will stop bugging them about coffee stirrers, but management or whoever owns the machine won’t let them.
 
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Jumpback said:
I think that you were just saying what came to your mind, but the thing that people keep pointing out is that these minimum wage workers have no power whatsoever to do anything. They might even be dying to put a damn sign on the machine so people will stop bugging them about coffee stirrers, but management or whoever owns the machine won’t let them.
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I agree. I was being facetious. They have to work to whatever the regulations are made by the company. Cashier didn't make the rules. But by the same token you wouldn't have expected to hear "Just pay up and leave"

Not a perfect world and these are testing times. For everyone.
 
Hollow Horse said:
I'd like feedback on whether others feel I have been badly treated because I'm not sure whether to complain to the store or not.
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I wouldn't say you've been 'badly treated'. The customer service was lacking but shop workers are under a significant amount of strain at the moment; attending work in a public facing service which carries a high risk of contracting Covid-19, patience is bound to wear thin.

My first thought wasn't really about their reaction though, I was more surprised that someone would use a coffee machine that's available for all and sundry to use so heaven knows who's touched it! My local supermarket's (a chain that provides free latte, tea, americano) drinks machine has been unavailable for use since March and even when it's opened back up again, I won't be using it unless I've witnessed it being sanitised immediately prior to my use. I'll just stick with my bottle of water. It's safer :)
 
Hollow Horse said:
"Where's your carer?" he snapped.
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Answer: "I was just going to ask you the same thing, because I can't believe they let an ignoramus like you deal with the unsuspecting public!"

Hollow Horse, I feel your pain. Excuse the sarcasm above, but I just had to do it. I hope it makes you feel better.
 
Misery said:
My perception of this is... people in general are dumber than a sack of hammers, AND easily frustrated. Work retail for more than 5 seconds and you find LOTS of proof of this.

This often applies EVEN MORE to the people in charge of businesses and such. They're *usually* not very bright, though they sure think they are. Again, anyone that's worked retail knows this. The management wants you to do LOTS of stupid things. But they think those stupid things are smart.

So, people working at these places... retail locations or gas stations or whatever... not only are often not the brightest bulbs, but they have to deal with LOTS of irritating crap AND "ideas" that managers who are *REALLY* stupid put forth. And this situation, the whole COVID thing, adds like 1000% more frustration to what they have to do.

Like, the thing you mention with the stirrers? Yes, it'd make far more sense if the machines themselves were entirely off limits. But chances are, management is too dumb to spot that incredibly obvious idea. And the people you deal with at the counter, they dont get to make the choices. So even if you somehow, by some unholy miracle, get a cashier or staff member that IS smart, well... they dont get a say in the matter. They gotta follow the dumb, or they get fired. It's one of the reasons why that type of job is considered universally terrible.

Chances are, those people that barked at you were already in a very frustrated state. They've probably had lots of absolute jerks verbally attacking them even more than normal, which is quite the feat.

As for the "where's your carer?" comment, well... as I said, dumber than a sack of hammers. And "dumb" often leads to "assuming that they understand things when they absolutely know nothing". I guarantee you, even if presented with logical reasons why that comment is idiotic, the guy who said it would simply have brushed you off, and declared himself to be A: smart and B: correct, even though he wasnt.

Now, that all being said, one very, VERY simple fact of the type of job they're doing is that you do not, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, be rude to or yell at a customer that is not directly causing trouble. That's a HUGE no-no in that type of work. Personally, even knowing what they deal with, I probably would have reported them. Would have told the higher-ups that I was verbally accosted by [insert name here] at [location], was extremely disappointed in the experience, will be telling others about it, and will not use that company's services again. Even if management isnt very bright, that sort of thing is a major red flag and can indeed get results.

Frankly, it might be a good idea if you do exactly that.

Being frustrated is one thing. But acting like a turd to someone that is politely asking questions, while also making dumb and frankly offensive assumptions right to their face, is... yeah, not the way to do things in ANY business, and they should know that. It's sorta the first thing taught to anyone that enters the job market.
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These are excellent points but sadly, customer service is on the way out. I worked a very high end retail liquor store where l had to kiss my customer's hand because our prices were high and l received every insult you could think of about my clothes, about my job, about my dating status. People don't realise, we deal with rude clients. I had one man corner me at closing time and tell me he needed a girlfriend. Another guy made fun of my clothes. Other guys implied that l would have more fun going out. I stated- hey this job pays bills. But being on the spectrum, l love the repetition of counting cash. Lol. Pretty soon in retail, you start to form an opinion about 50% of customers and it's not forum friendly to state what l think.
 
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Having worked in retail for a few years i agree with Woodworking Joel that the issue is to be addressed with the manager not a member of staff who's often as i was doing as i was told in a badly paid job where i was very much underemployed, often it's better to let niggles go the world isn't always a fair and reasonable place and i don't feel he was taking a negative stance just for the sake of it and i also feel that he as we all do had a right to express his opinion, please don't take this the wrong way.
 
Aspychata said:
These are excellent points but sadly, customer service is on the way out. I worked a very high end retail liquor store where l had to kiss my customer'shand because our prices were high and l received every insult you could think of about my clothes, about my job, about my dating status. People don't realise, we deal with rude clients. I had one man corner me at closing time and tell me he needed a girlfriend. Another guy made fun of my clothes. Other guys implied that l would have more fun going out. I stated- hey this job pays bills. But being on the spectrum, l love the repetition of counting cash. Lol. Pretty soon in retail, you start to form an opinion about 50% of customers and it's not forum friendly to state what l think.
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Yeah, I had this pizza delivery job where the customers game was to order a pizza and refuse to answer the door. Then they would call back and complain to the call center that the driver never showed up and you had to take a completely free, fresh hot pizza out to them for no tip. I got sick of this game and at 10:30 at night I pounded very loudly on their door for about 3 minutes in an apartment complex until they eventually gave up and answered the door. I risked losing my job and maybe even a police report for disturbing the peace for doing this, but I didn't care, I was tired of this. Part of the problem was call center was separate from the store, so it was even difficult for the store manager to address this problem.

It sometimes even seems like companies almost purposely make it hard to get through to someone who might have the power to address a problem, they just hire low paid employees and give them no power and force them to uphold company policy so higher ups don't have to debate customers. Usually the customer tells off the low paid employee and then loses interest. Game theory or something.
 
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The thing seemed to go wrong when you started complaining to the cashier. If you would think about it for a moment you would see they are in no position to fix or alter the situation. If you had to complain asking to see the manager would have been better. No one is going to give you there pen or pencil to stir with!
 
When you work retail jobs, you have to follow the rules that were put in place. They weren't trying to upset you by not giving you a stir, and regardless of how ridiculous you felt it was, they were only doing what they were told to do, so you shouldn't be upset with them. They may be dealing with a lot of people who are constantly questioning decisions that they themselves did not make. It IS asking a lot for them to consider you when the rule was put in place for everyone to follow. Maybe look outside of your perspective and what you wanted in the moment and realize that working retail especially during these times, you cannot please everyone. Feel gratitude that you can still go out and get yourself a coffee. Have humility and realize that maybe the other person sensed confrontation in your interaction even if that wasn't how you meant it. The worker is there to enforce the rules, she didn't make them. To me from an outside perspective, when you followed up with "Well that's ridiculous..." you have just then become confrontational to something that she cannot change. All she can do is sympathize with you, but that to me sounded very confrontational. I've worked at starbucks and I've had customers that do that and it doesn't feel good, and I cannot predict where that conversation is going to go. Just think outside of your perspective.
 
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I experienced a customer rip into a young assistant so horribly that i turned to her and said if she had a problem with company policy to please take it to a manager and not the assistant who was only doing their job, she told me to' mind my own buisness!!' often customers want to vent and project rubbish on retail staff as they feel they can, in one company i worked a customer was so rude to me and then complained about my attitude to a manager who made me apology to the customer, i was very annoyed but needed the job so did as i was told.
 
Hollow Horse said:
I am on my way to meet friends at the beach. I go into a local supermarket (they are not one of the major stores) to buy some food and drink.
Noticing a Costa coffee dispenser, I chose a white Americano. Once it had completed, I found there were no stirrers.

There was a queue of customers and three cashiers serving.
"Excuse me, there are no stirrers, how can I stir my coffee?"

The young girl cashier nearest said that under directions from Costa, they were not allowed to hand stirrers out anymore.
That told me that they probably had them and could have provided me one but that is not to say I did not understand the rule.

What I did say was this.
"But that's ridiculous. If you have a device that is only offering 80% of the deal, why don't you close it down?"

I was not saying this loud. I don't think I was rude. I just expressed my feeling.
Overhearing that, a staff member at the other end interjected and said.
" Why are you having a go at our staff! "

To which the girl cashier added.
" Just pay up and leave"

Later in the day at the village post office where they know me, one said "She said WHAT?" They also think that I should report it to a support worker and make a formal complaint, because of what followed.

I explained to this man that I had autism and that I found this situation challenging and stressful owing to his aggressive tone. On that information...
"Where's your carer?" he snapped.

Anyone who knows the current economics of adult social care would understand that cutbacks have left us really short of hours. I used to have two hours a day seven days a week. Also people like this may not know that we have to pay independently from our benefits

In any case did he really imagine, unless the condition was severe, that everyone , say, with Aspergers have full time carers

He then went on to declare that he used to work with autistic children and so knew about these things.

Later on I thought that even if that was true, it might explain why he now worked in a lo-fi supermarket.

What could they have done better?
They might have been pleasant and welcoming instead of arrogant and aggressive.
They might have offered me anything, like a pencil or pen, just to stir the sugar through.

I'd like feedback on whether others feel I have been badly treated because I'm not sure whether to complain to the store or not.

It's a situation that could happen to anyone, of course, but here the autism aspect is relevant because the staff showed total indifference and overall were downright rude. I hope they don't treat all their customers as dismissively.
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Grocery workers are busy and working hard right now, risking their health to serve us, for low pay. They're withholding stirrers to protect you and other customers. Most people would be thankful the coffee is available at all. Yet you come in there and complain which probably frustrates them and makes them feel unappreciated. Sure, they could have been more sensitive and catered to your autism but the fact is people aren't perfect. Lots of other people have problems too and they can't cater to everyone.

You could complain you were treated badly but they could also complain you treated them badly by giving them a hard time. I'm sure they had to put up with other customers complaining about other stuff and giving them a hard time before you entered. My advice is to accept that no one is perfect (neither you nor them) and move on. Don't make their job more difficult by filing a complaint. They were probably doing the best they could and didn't intend to be rude or insensitive.
 
Aspychata said:
These are excellent points but sadly, customer service is on the way out. I worked a very high end retail liquor store where l had to kiss my customer's hand because our prices were high and l received every insult you could think of about my clothes, about my job, about my dating status. People don't realise, we deal with rude clients. I had one man corner me at closing time and tell me he needed a girlfriend. Another guy made fun of my clothes. Other guys implied that l would have more fun going out. I stated- hey this job pays bills. But being on the spectrum, l love the repetition of counting cash. Lol. Pretty soon in retail, you start to form an opinion about 50% of customers and it's not forum friendly to state what l think.
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Oh yeah, I know.

While I dont work anymore, when I DID work, it was almost all retail stuff. One of the only jobs that wasnt retail was working in this weird unmarked building for a bank, babysitting these 2 machines that were supposed to sort checks at lightspeed. They screwed up every 5 seconds and most of the job consisted of running around in a panic trying to prevent them from doing things like shredding the checks or just spraying them into the air. It was like a stupid stressful comedy routine that 100% consisted of things going wrong due to machines that were clearly designed by drunken monkeys with a hammer. There werent any moments to relax, since the things just kept pulling that crap. It was like Windows in job form: every day, they'd find new ways to screw up.

I also had a very brief job at a vet (had to stop due to allergies). I once spent a decent amount of time sorting bags of cat poo by alphabetical order. Yes, really.

....Yet I'd take those jobs over ANYTHING retail any day, period. Heck, I'd do both of them at once, run around those machines while juggling sacks of cat turds. Anything but retail. Retail is just THAT FREAKING BAD. And the sad thing? Most of those people you have to deal with, the jerks, the mean ones, many of them probably HAVE worked retail themselves, since it's so common for people to start there. They know how bad it is, somewhere in that rotting brain of theirs. They experienced it. Yet they STILL act that way. Ridiculous.

As I think I mentioned in a whole different thread, when I talk about the general public, random strangers, I dont use the word "people". I use the word "idiots". All. The. Time. It wont even occur to me to do otherwise. "Yeah, nice day to go to the park, there's not many idiots there right now!" that sort of thing. Permanent part of my speech patterns at this point, thanks to the retail experience. IRL, anyway. Online I can "curate" what I say a bit before I hit post.
 
I can only say what I would do in such a situation, Whether or not others agree is their prerogative. If it is a business I visited regularly I would have asked VERY loudly that a manager be called over and it be explained I can take my business elsewhere if your staff wants to get ugly with me. If it was a place I don't normally visit I would have just left the merchandise at the checkout and walked away.
 
I find that a lot of people, even people who have worked with people on the spectrum, don't fully understand what a spectrum is. I have friends that have worked with children on the spectrum and are used to a certain set of behaviors and don't make the connection that it doesn't apply to all of us. My friend who is a confirmed diagnosis, had a baby four years ago, and people treat her like she's incapable and will talk down to her her when in reality she's a fantastic mother, better than some of the mothers I have known. some people like the post office worker is only aware of a handful of people on the spectrum and so that's the image they have ingrained in their mind, and is unaware that some of us are fully functional adults. I have this issue with my father, who has known other family members on the spectrum and thinks that I would act exactly as they do if I was really autistic. we eventually Theirs a book I really wanna read titled "Funny, You don't look Autistic".

As far as the supermarket cashier, I imagine that they acted that way (although it's inappropriate regardless of the reasons) because of right now they are getting harassed a lot because of the pandemic and a lot of unreasonable customers. I don't know if that's the reason they acted the way they did, it's just a guess. Right now nearly everyone is a tad touchy and prone to take offense a little easier than normal. Again it's just a guess.
 
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