So I’ve been working in retail for a while and seen my share of odd and rude customers, but today I had my very first “Karen”, and he was american also. (I’m not, and I’m in Australia).
The store I work for doesn’t give their bags for free, we charge for them. This guy picked an online order and then threw up a tantrum and demanded to speak to a manager when I refused to give him a bag for free. Another team member (more experienced) just gave him the bag and he just left.
That does it I guess, but it’s giving in to rude demands what sustains this kind of behavior imo. I’m not trying to protect the interests of the corporate I work for- it’s just a stupid bag ffs, perhaps ask nicely? I’ve been called off both for giving away bags for free before as well as calling for the manager to deal with “minor issues”.
So I’m asking, in general, how do you deal with these types of customers?
I mirror their body language like I’m gearing up for a fight and then make mine totally relax and talk in a pleasant voice. It breaks their brains.
Depends on the situation, but overall I first try to deescalate the customer and genuinely try to be helpful, but if the customer does not want to de-escalate or asks for absolutely outrageous demands, then I let them be whatever they want, just somewhere else.
I’ve been both a line employee and a manager. My answer depends on the situation.
I worked “everything except manager” in a restaurant that sold beer by the pitcher. There’s a local law that says you can’t sell “floaters” (a pitcher of beer with a cup of ice floating in it). Most customers who wanted one were capable of asking for a cup of ice like an adult so they could assemble it themselves if they wanted. This one guy got hot as hell about it. I told him, sternly, that it was illegal for me to serve him a floater but I’d happily bring him a cup of ice and what he did with it after I dropped it off was his business as far as I was concerned.
That shut him up. He left a tip of like … 37 cents or some shit so I paid to wait his table that night. That was as much as I was ever going to get out of him so I figured I did alright there.
With things that weren’t against the law, I’d tell them sweet as can be “That’s against our rules but I’ll go ask my manager to see if I can make an exception.” You can imagine for yourself how often I bothered actually talking to a manager and how often I did or didn’t get or grant an exception. If it actually mattered, I would ask a manager. If an American customer doesn’t like your answer, they’ll demand to speak to the manager anyway. Telling a customer no before having a manager tell you to do it anyway just invites more of the same. They’ll behave even more outrageously next time you see them.
Typically, your manager in a restaurant or retail location has only a fraction more power than you do.
As someone who has managed an in-house support team, if an internal customer is rude, cruel, or demanding to one of my employees or contractors, I won’t put up with it. I can and have, politely and firmly, told them they need to behave professionally. I’ll happily tell them that we’re not the ones who set the rules but we are responsible and accountable if we break them. And I will use my political power to make sure they regret it if they press on.
It sounds like your other, more experienced team member has decided that it probably doesn’t matter. Not being a 'Strayan, I can’t say whether they’re right or not. In an American context (outside of California anyway), I’d probably make the same call. After “checking with the manager.” 😉
One CO worker looked a rude old lady right in the eye and said “ma’am this is a place of business. When people do business they have to operate with mutual respect and trust. If we don’t trust each other to do our end of a transaction, we can’t exchange anything between us. If we don’t respect each other, we can’t exchange anything between us. I’ve been acting in trust and respect towards you, are you going to do the same for me? Because if you can’t, we can’t do business.”
She immediately stopped being bitchy and was never a problem again. It was the wildest shit I’ve ever seen.
Never lose your cool. Smile and talk to them like they are a three year old.
