That is so true, it has happened when I was with my mom. She tends to be the outspoken one compared to me so when we noticed a cashier being rude and giving us attitude my mom wasn't going to stand there and tolerate it so instead of acting up like her she decided to deal with it by telling her where is your boss and just like that she went from miss attitude to yes Ma'am and trying to help my mom out a little more in hopes she would change her mind. It's just common sense remind yourself that you're at work before you take out your bad day on customers because there will be someone who will not tolerate it and instead of being rude in return they will simply call the boss to let them handle your attitude.
I have become quite an expert in dealing with rude cashiers. I don't react at all to their moody behaviour. I just smile and act as if nothing in the world can affect me, especially not an annoying little persons, whoever they may be, cashiers, receptionists, people in all walks of life. I simply ignore them, and they hate to be ignored. Sometimes when they try it on too hard, I just tell them to pull themselves together or I will inform their superiors. And if they don't have any superiors, then I tell them to be ashamed of themselves. It always knocks them off their balance.
I think your mom had the right attitude, the employees need to remind themselves that they are there to do a job, not to be rude to people, do that on your own time however much you want, but not while at work. The only problem sometimes with calling the manager is that when the manager is also an employee and not the owner, you can see that they don't care, you are just wasting your breath.
When I feel like getting upset at a rude cashier, I often take the time to remind myself that they probably have been working a long day and have been dealing with rude people. It still is a little funny that there are quite a few that are non-cordial but they work in customer service.
I try to be polite anyway and just pay for my stuff and get out of there as fast as possible. I'm not going to let one brief interaction with a rude person ruin my entire day.
I agree wholeheartedly with what you have to say. Understanding where cashiers are coming from and by extension where anyone working in the service industry is coming from is a valuable tool to improving yourself. Anyone can have a bad day. More often than not, after you've been forced to scrub down a bathroom stall where a customer let it overflow, you'll be having a bad day, too. I give these people the benefit of the doubt unless they truly are being hostile for me just because I am a customer. I understand that people aren't enthusiastic all the time, and nobody should expect a retail worker to be that way. I always tell the cashiers to have a nice day, and always thank them when they hand me my groceries / whatever else I'm purchasing. I also agree on the point about business owners. It is their store, they should have some pride in it and be glad that they are afforded a position of non-menial labor in comparison to their employees.
That's a good philosophy to have. I'm going to try to take your advice when someone seems to be short with me for no reason, but sometime it is just too difficult to not give them a disdainful look.
If someone is rude to me, I tend to shrug it off and continue smiling and speaking to them with respect. However, if they really get on my nerves, that's when hell breaks loose. I still continue smiling, but I let off this certain sense of sarcasm that shows them that I'm tough enough to not be messed with. My fake smile is perfect for making people stop being rude to me. I think of clever things to say as comeback, but I still keep up my fake smile.
I just go about my business. It's not like I'm likely to see the person again, and I can usually handle a few seconds of rudeness unless they're completely obnoxious. It's an awful job, and I understand that stress can sometimes get to people.
I don't understand the point in getting upset over things like rudeness to begin with. I mean, yeah, they're being bad at being an employee, but making a scene out of it or trying to match their level of rudeness seems sort of debasing to me.
With the obvious exception of the cashier truly rudely announcing the customers purchases to the people in the store, I find your opinion exceptionally rude and diminishing. There is no reason that you should become "infuriated" because a cashier is friendly and trying to chat with the customers. Maybe that is how they pass the extremely tedious time in their jobs. I do agree that they should do their best to keep the line moving, but customers who are rude to friendly cashiers, loudly sighing, saying rude things like "hurry up" etc. are the type of people I as a customer have been known to tell off. There is no excuse for that type of nastiness. It only shows that the person thinks they are better than not only the cashier but also the other customers in line. And truthfully they simply are not. As far as a legitimately rude cashier, it depends upon the situation. The only time I will get very upset is when cashiers completely ignore children trying to make purchases. I have sent my children up to the counters and have had them wait while cashiers look at them and turn away. Children are still people. They should be shown respect, the same as the cashiers themselves should be shown respect.
Being rude back is NEVER the best way to handle someone who is rude to you. Having been a cashier before you know that there are all manner of things that can contribute to having a bad day that may affect someone's attitude. I had to get a passport a few years ago and I went to one location only to find out they were closed; went to another and had an issue... the woman at the office seemed to have a bad attitude. She was the only person there and there was no signage; when I tried to ask a question to be sure I was in the right place, she snapped at me. Other people waiting had some complaints about her as well. When my turn came to sit in front of her I found she had a completely different attitude. I think the best thing is to practice compassion; smile at the person and say "Bad day, huh?" This often throws people off-guard. If that doesn't work, it's better to address the problem with a manager than to confront the cashier. I read an article where a woman did this once and was offered a "secret shopper" arrangement. She wasn't paid for it, but she was compensated in trade with products and free services.
This is exactly the kind of attitude one should take when dealing with overly rude cashiers. Confronting them will only agitate the situation, as you said, but deferring to them and being kind to them when they were harsh with you will oftentimes make them change their tune. Sometimes these people go entire days without being treated with empathy and respect and that naturally is reflected in their work.
When handling rude cashiers I tend to just don't pay them any mind unless their really rude then I ask them to speak to their supervisor. I just dont like those that are really rude and I think they should be reported if they are really rude.
I am of the mind that the rudeness determines what I will do. If it is just general snarkiness then I leave it alone. I figure they are having a bad day. If they make inappropriate remarks or comments I politely inform them of the rude and inflammatory nature of said remarks. If the comment back about that, THEN I tend to consider speaking with their immediate supervisor. I only go to a store manager when no one else is available or it is something extremely inappropriate like the cashier who told me to perform an anatomically impossible action upon myself just because I needed her to verify a price. I was overcharged by the way. It was proven when the manager got involved.
Maybe I've been lucky, but I have never really encountered a "rude" cashier. I've encountered ones who clearly did not want to be at their job, but I never thought I've been "attacked" by a cashier or anything. I would deal with them like most other rude people though: Just ignore them, smile, and be on my way. There's no reason to get in an unnecessary fight and there's likely a reason that cashier is particularly mad or rude that day. If it's bad enough, you can report to a manager.
Exactly, it depends a lot on the level of rudeness, if it's something minor just ignore them, if it's serious, report it to a manager.
I don't really encounter rude cashiers too often. I am quite a bubbly and smiley person and so am usually met with the same response. Sometimes however I feel I am getting quite a cool and collected response which doesn't offend me, just leaves me feeling like either they were miserable or didn't like me. If I had a really rude cashier, I would do what someone else suggested and leave the lot on the till but then I would send an email to head office, explaining EXACTLY why I had done what I had and that I was very upset and offended. You never know, you may receive a voucher as a goodwill gesture.
When I was a kid my parents always told me to be kind to those who are rude to me and watch how quickly their attitude changes. Almost 100% of the time when someone is rude to me and I am kind to them back their attitude immediately changes. When someone is rude to you they are expecting you to be rude back, when they see you have a kind response it catches them off guard and 99 out of 100 times they will be kind to you as well.
I don't think I've ever had a rude cashier. I wonder if some people did something to antagonize the cashier. I've experienced an apathetic cashier who clearly didn't want to be there, but at $8 an hour I might expect as much.
