Current Events > Those of you who have ever worked on retail or fast food what percent ...

(+) Yeah! (+)

...of your customers would you estimate were completely unreasonable or pretty awful? Have heard many say the vast majority of customers are at least ok, do you agree with that?

The vast majority were actually pretty reasonable in the city I worked in. Maybe 5% were completely rude and unreasonable and the rest would usually de escalate if you calmly explained why you couldnt do what they wanted.

It's like 1%

Probably about 5%, maybe even less. Then you got about 20% after that that are just kinda dicks, 70% neither here nor there, and the rest are actually pleasant people.

5% but the bad ones really stick around as a bad memory

2 - 3 percent, but some stay with you forever.

Most were fine. The assholes really stand out for being extra shitty. One of the worst customers I had was some lady who decided she wanted to walk in and grab a cart five minutes til closing (10:55), and proceed to take an hour just wandering around the store to buy 3-4 things. Claimed she "didn't know" the store had closed despite all the lights turning off and floor cleaning equipment being out.

Otherwise, it was mostly assholes who though yelling at high school girls made them a man.

anttttt posted...

5% but the bad ones really stick around as a bad memory

Indeed the bad ones were rare but man do you not forget them. I was handing out drinks in the mcdonalds drivethru at 15 during the mid 90s. I notice a guy standing at the window so I go see what he needs. I said hi and was very nice and he replies with "yeah I'd like some syrup for my fucking hotcakes!" I guess my coworker forget it and the guy had to turn around so I get the frustration. We had a lot of fun with that phrase for the rest of the summer anytime we asked for something

Most are fine. 2-3% might be rude. Then there's the 0.1% that are so atrocious you can't help but remember them later. Also, at least in my experience, the public was ruder on the weekends. I guess during the week people are generally too tired to act up.

In the case of fast food specifically you might also encounter people pulling a prank in the drive-thru: ordering a bunch of stuff and then just driving off instead of stopping at the window to pay(might be less of an issue at McDonald's though, since they have separate pay windows).

Only like 6 months or so of retail but less than 1% for me personally, some were less pleasant towards my female coworkers though.

Only ever had one person actually act out towards me over a price tag being wrong but our manager handled it quick enough anyways. All my coworkers seemed to hate cashier duty but i really didnt mind the people myself, so i gladly took it over stocking when possible.

Umbreon posted...

Most were fine. The assholes really stand out for being extra shitty. One of the worst customers I had was some lady who decided she wanted to walk in and grab a cart five minutes til closing (10:55), and proceed to take an hour just wandering around the store to buy 3-4 things. Claimed she "didn't know" the store had closed despite all the lights turning off and floor cleaning equipment being out.

Otherwise, it was mostly assholes who though yelling at high school girls made them a man.

You stayed an hour extra? Tell her she has to leave! Must.

About 5% sounds right. Although we had one summer where he were getting into heated arguments with customers every other day.

Smallville posted...

You stayed an hour extra? Tell her she has to leave! Must.

Oh if it were up to me, I'd personally toss her ass out at 11:05, and that's me being polite about it.

Unfortunately, the managers are taught to bend over backwards so they can't even give a "X minutes until the store closes" warning. Because kings and queens aren't treated like that.