Snooty customer story!

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merryone

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Jun 24, 2008
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brighton
I'm working on the deli counter in a supermarket. I'll try and cut a long story short. But a youngish fella late 20's i'd guess, bearded looked like a uni type as opposed to a chav, nicely spoken but not posh iykwim asked for about 12 slices of hand carved organic ham. Now that costs a small fortune, and in the past nine times out of ten you'll tell the customer the price...lets say £14 and they'll say...Omg I'm so sorry I didn't expect it to come to that much, I'll leave it, or I'll take half of it, alternatively, they'll take it, then dump it somewhere else in the shop (in a chilled cabinet if we're lucky). Thing is, if it's got too warm we have to throw it away, if it's still chilled then because it's been cut, we have to sell it on the same day and knock a few quid off- Trouble is, if customers see it's already cut, they don't think it's fresh, so we usually end up having to sell it for 49p per 100g to get rid of it! What we normally do when we're cutting it, is place it on the scales to give the customer a running total, and most of the time they'll tell you to stop cutting and say...that's enough. Bit more difficult when the customer has asked for a specific number of slices, because we've got to be very careful not to imply to the customer that we don't think they look as though they can afford it!!! Anyway, I'd cut 6 slices and proceeded to put them onto the scales - He said " that's only 6 slices - I asked you for 12" I said, I know, we just do this so the customer can see "how it's going".....He gave me a glare and said "if it makes you happy"...I glared back and said " No, it doesn't make me happy, a lot of customers like us to do this" - "whatever" he said...carried on cutting, slice number 8 broke in two, so I put the 2 pieces together (common practice) and cut piece no 9...I said 9....He angrily barked 8 and said broken pieces and bits don't count...Ok, I'll take the broken slice out if you like....Do what you like he said ...at that juncture I'd have truly liked to have punched him in the face but I don't think I would have gotten away with it, so I just carried on cutting. Finally I gave him his £15 packet of ham, which he snatched from my hand and walked off...."You're welcome" I said in the most sarcastic tone...WHAT A *%£! Thankfully we don't get too many arseholes like that...I was flabberghasted!

I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, and I honestly try not to, but even the most "well heeled looking of customer" with a trolley full of smoked salmon and bottles of champagne, will often baulk at the prices of cut ham...and this is not because they can't afford to pay for it, they, like a lot of people expect more for their £15 lets say than a few small slices of ham! Thankfully most customers will only ask for one or two slices, or a weight in grams, so putting it onto the scales is a natural thing to do, and like I say the majority of customers take less than they originally asked for!
 
It's like pick and mix - you are always flabbergasted at the price of the bag considering they are hardly luxury chocs but sweets you has as a kid for a few pennies.

Even if you buy prepacked ham it comes as a surprise how few slices there actually are as they have been fanned out in the pack.

To me your system seems very sensible- obviously he had a specific reason for exactly 12 - I just hope some poor critter didn't ask for MORE!
 
Funnily enough I served the same bloke yesterday, and he asked for the same order I noticed that he'd bulk bought some other items which made me think perhaps that he was buying stuff for his place of work, or his own business maybe. I thought, right lets just get on with it I'm not gonna give him a reason to be snotty with me again. So I cut 12 fairly thick slices of this extortionately priced ham without incident, told him the price which was £14.87 (if I remember correctly), he said ok, I leant down to get a bag to put in and noticed that the price had settled at a slightly higher amount.Occasionally the scales go off kilter if they're not zero'd properly, so I took the ham off the scale, the scale was ok, so I put the ham back on and sure enough it was the higher price and said sorry about that. He said in a haughty tone, that's fine - you obviously pressed the wrong button first time, snatched the bag out of my hand and swanned off. Next time I see him at the counter, somebody else can serve the jumped up ar$e!
 
Do you know he was a purchaser and not a dumper?

I work in a supermarket too and have encountered a few ignoramas like that but the vast majority IMO are lovely or I would have left years ago.
 
Do you know he was a purchaser and not a dumper?

I work in a supermarket too and have encountered a few ignoramas like that but the vast majority IMO are lovely or I would have left years ago.

No he bought it ok, or stole it lol, cos eventually the dumped stuff works its way back to us!
 
Imho he has to look in the mirror at himself and live with his miserable self ....feel pity for him ....try to count to ten next time ..the public these days can be so rude ...we all have bad days but there really is no excuse for rudeness ...actually sometimes the posher the ruder ....I have lost count I've left a door open for people that sound posh and not even a hint of a thanks .....and yet one young girl whom I assumed wouldn't say thank you was extremely polite bless her ...some people are just nasty for nasty sake ...they need to have some real issues in life ...if that's all they have to worry about then they need to visit people who have real hardship and upset ( rant over :mysmilie_11: )
 
I think a lot of customers regard shopworkers as second class citizens, especially when they're selling mundane items like groceries. Maybe if you worked in a techy type of store, the customer would possibly know less than you about the product and need to to explain the workings, and the guarantees etc, but when you're sat there in front of a checkout just flashing barcodes through, or stood behind a counter serving lumps of cheese or ham, customers think they can talk to you how they like! For example they'll expect to be served whilst they chat to someone else on a mobile phone, they point, click their fingers, often don't even bother to say please or thank you. I think the fellow in question here was under the assumption that I thought that I had taken one look at him and thought "He won't have enough money to buy all that ham" and it got his back up. After I'd explained how customers generally like to see a running total, one would have hoped he could have been a bit less defensive and said something like, no problem, or it's for work don't worry, or that's fine, I know it's gonna come to a lot, carry on! He might have had a reason to get a bit shirty with me if I'd have said on his request "are you sure?, it's very expensive you know", or made the suggestion that he choose something a bit cheaper - Just an ar$ehole with a big chip on his shoulder!
 
I always try to be friendly and pleasant to everyone when I am out and about shopping but it does get my goat up if I open a door for someone and they barge through without a look or word. I usually say in a loud voice about not being an unpaid doorman for morans.

The one thing which bugs the hell out of me is when staff just ignore you standing there (be it cafe, shop or bank etc) without acknowledging you with something like "ill only be a sec I have to complete this or else.......".and worse still if they won't interrupt their own conversation to serve you.

If I did that at my work I would get my p45 pretty damn quick.

As for fellow customers who think you are queuing for the good of your health grrr! If I know I'm next in line and someone acts decently I will often say for them to go ahead if they see in a hurry but if they just jump in front without a by your leave I will tackle them and ask where they left their manners. Unfortunately they usually look at me as if I am something on the sole of their foot but they have picked the wrong person because I can be very stubborn if I think someone is taking the piss.
 
Well, I for one, appreciate your kind of serving. I have no idea what something looks like in grams so someone who does it like you and tells me the price as they go along gets a huge :up: from me.

Just serve the pr!ck happy in the knowledge that that is exactly what he is - and Karma'll get him somewhere along the line.
 

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