Everyone should work food service and retail at least once in their lives. It would give perspective to, and teach respect for, what those workers have to endure.
I hate people like this
Submitted 2 months ago by Buttflapper@lemmy.world to mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/2c6a90d0-a568-4c2b-9760-7316532b4bb5.jpeg
Comments
baggachipz@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
UmeU@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The worst part of retail/food service is the inescapable feeling of dread when you stare down the endless abyss of being stuck in that job day in and day out, forever, until you die. Only by resigning yourself to that fate does one gain the perspective needed to truly sympathize with the working class.
A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world 2 months ago
And that’s why I went to trade school at age 30. “I gotta get out of these fuckin places.”
It was a good move
Caesium@lemmy.world 2 months ago
fuck the draft, make everyone spend a year or two in the service industry after high school
RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 2 months ago
From the bottom up. No skipping washing dishes, cleaning out the walk-in cooler, scraping grills, cleaning fryers… Yeah, front of house has its own difficulties, but it’s a lot easier than the grunt work in the back.
Got_Bent@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I don’t know. Some people who experience abuse and escape it become far worse abusers when they’re in position to do so.
EleventhHour@lemmy.world 2 months ago
This is very true. I was at my retail job and a customer walked up to me while I happened to be leaning on my workstation because my back hurt. The first thing he says to me is, “when I had a fast food job, if there was time to lean, there was time to clean!“ I looked at him, and then I turned around and walked away. He had this stunned look on his face. I walked into the back room To cool off a bit before I walked back onto the floor. It was probably five or eight minutes. When I walked back out, he was still standing there, and my workstation, waiting for me.
I went to lunch.
0x0@programming.dev 2 months ago
Add call-centers to that list.
arken@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Food service and retail needs to exist, (commercial) call centers should be banned and their owners shunned from polite society.
Malfeasant@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Having worked both retail and call center, no, they’re not in the same league. People can be assholes over the phone, absolutely, but it’s quite different from face-to-face. Someone threatens to kill me over the phone, I can say “I’d like to see you try” and hang up, and the worst that happens is I get fired. In person, they can carry out the threat.
Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 2 months ago
And hospitality.
Fredselfish@lemmy.world 2 months ago
They mad because they wouldn’t acknowledge them or service them after the placed closed? What fucking Karen.
Korne127@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I’m sorry, but… no. Like, if you don’t know it’s closed and people do see you and just say nothing, that’s just… not nice. It takes three seconds to shake their head or say we’re closed something.
blunderworld@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
Here’s a tip I’ve found useful: if I show up simewhere after closing time and find that the door is locked, it’s because the store is closed.
Fredselfish@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Fuck that bullshit, she knew they were fucking closed. They shouldn’t have to explain it. I am sure there was a sign on the door. No this woman wanted them to waste time acknowledging her so she could spend 10 minutes explaining why they should service her after hours.
They were busy doing clean up after close so they could go home. Just by reading her review I can promise you she bitch if they had shaken their heads. I stare at dumb bitch too who was probably banging on the door trying get them to let her in.
Buttflapper@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Like, if you don’t know it’s closed
They literally stated that they knew it was closed
It takes three seconds to shake their head or say we’re closed something
The signage on the door explains the hours of operation, and the door is locked. Why should that have to be explained?
Mesophar@lemm.ee 2 months ago
“Just kept tossing their hair and looking at me.”
Are we sure the employees weren’t shaking their heads at the customer and they are just an idiot? I’m also assuming the doors were already locked, or they would have just walked in, and the hours are typically posted on the door. I feel that should be enough of an indication the store is closed. People don’t need to have their hands held through everything I life. Expecting a little independence from them isn’t being not nice.
Empricorn@feddit.nl 2 months ago
People like you and the reviewer need to work a service job, at least once in your lives. “Closed”, I wonder what that means?? The registers are all shut down, there’s no cash. If it’s a food place, the grill is off. They are not serving customers. So no, just because there happens to be glass or bars, they are not required to acknowledge people on the street or “be nice”. PTSD from having to literally stop people from entering grocery stores after 11:00p in a previous job…
Snowclone@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Nope, you never engage. Never ever engage. That flaming asshole who’s too self centered and ignorant to read the hours posed on the door they’re banging on and refuses to accept that the store is closed for EVERYONE including them, isn’t going to be polite, honest, or responsible. If you engage, they will immediately punish you for it. Don’t ever make that mistake.
You don’t work for the customer, you work for the store. It’s not always a crime to go along with a customer, but it’s always a negative when they want to push you to violate policy, change prices, complain about Mike in sporting goods for having a mustache, or ‘‘I’ll be real quick I sware’’ shopping when the store is closed. They will always punish you.
I eventually figured out that when a customer gets shitty, more than half the time if I say ''I work for the store and I’m responsible for [the dumbass shit you want me to do], if I violate store policy I’ll be fired" they suddenly realize this isn’t a game, and stop acting like a can of smashed assholes.
itchick2014@midwest.social 2 months ago
The best solution I have seen to this was the guy I worked with, sick of people shaking the doors repeatedly while we were redoing signage after close exclaimed at some door shakers: “what the fuck you doing bro?!” Those of us in the store lost it and the customers walked away embarrassed. From your comment, I can tell you have not had a job that works with the general population directly like retail. You lose patience pretty quickly with others trying to complain to get their way, push boundaries, and sometimes just be assholes. You should try it sometime. It is quite enlightening.
butwhyishischinabook@lemmy.world 2 months ago
It takes fewer seconds for assholes like you to fuck off though, sooooooo…
CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 months ago
My initial instinct is to agree with you, actually, but according to the rest of the thread that’s a bad idea, because most people aren’t as nice as us. I’ve never had the displeasure of that kind of job.
I’m impressed with how downvoted this is. RIP.
intensely_human@lemm.ee 2 months ago
I’ve worked retail and food service and I would go to the door and let people know we’re closed.
(a) I have no problem saying no to people, and (b) sometimes there’s an emergency or something and they need help, or they’re trying to notify us of a problem we can’t see.
I haven’t found my time saturated by this basic courtesy. Maybe I’ve lived in nicer areas, but in all my years of service experience I haven’t seen the waves of assholes people talk about.
AA5B@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Sometimes it’s just pure obliviousness and you really need to speak up.
One of my embarrassing moments was shopping at a teacher store to supply my ex’s classroom. We were kind of enjoying the afternoon so taking our time, no big deal. Then the store people started coming over more frequently to ask if we needed help. No thank you. Eventually we make our way to the register and were shocked to discover the store closed half an hour ago. wtf, why didn’t someone kick us out, or at least stop being so damn polite and tell us they were closing since we clearly didn’t realize it? I’ll never forget the cringe of keeping people so late, and we were just enjoying leisurely shopping that could have finished long since
lemmyseikai@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I worked retail at a store that had a rule that we DO NOT rush customers out if they come in before we lock the doors. We were NOT allowed to mention we were closed and we were NOT allowed to roll out merchandise to the aisles.
Corportate was cobfused on how our store had so much overtime when customers would regularly walk in a minute before close, stay an hour and buy nothing.
prettybunnys@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Worked at a staples store in the early 2000s and we’d make an announcement that the store was closing 30 minutes before, 15 minutes before and then another when we closed.
Nobody was rushed out by employees but we still let them know.
fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
This is what I liked about working for McDonald’s. Oh it’s 12:01 and you rolled into the drive thru? Nah fuck off we’re closed.
pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online 2 months ago
I worked at fuddruckers in high school, and the owner would jump over the counter and haul ass across the restaurant to lock the door in people’s faces. It was amazing.
Surprisingly, the restaurant didn’t last long.
intensely_human@lemm.ee 2 months ago
At my last job I wasn’t allowed to mention that my shift was over to a customer.
ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
My favorite tactic used by several of the coffee shops near me is they start slowly turning the music louder. People naturally start leaving once it’s too loud to think or talk. Place I used to work at we’d turn off half the lights and everyone would just show up at the register no confrontation needed. People were fine with it a vast majority of the time but occasionally there would be someone who asked us to turn the lights back on so they could keep shopping
AA5B@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I like the one with turning off half the lights. That seems like an effective signal while not being confrontational.
x00za@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
So you first told them you’re closing right? Or just plain up acted like they meant absolute nothing?
violetring@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The thing is, you don’t know if the customer is just an asshole or oblivious. So, I could confront you and risk being yelled at (which I really don’t want to deal with at the end of a shift), then stand around waiting for a half hour, OR I could skip the yelling and just stand around waiting for a half hour.
I work at a restaurant inside a park. We open an hour after the park opens, and one of the store entrances is attached to the park welcome building. The doors for that entrance do not securely lock, and can be opened, with a bit of struggle, while locked. You know it’s going to be an interesting day when you have to kick people out BEFORE we open. We don’t turn the lights on until open, but every couple weeks people still manage to get in and expect to be seated.
You can hear them struggle with the door from across the room. They walk into a dark restaurant. You say “I’m sorry we don’t open for another 15 minutes”. Most of the time their response is not to apologize and leave. I’ve heard the open ended statements “Well we’re here now”, or “your doors were unlocked”, or even the more presumptuous “can we eat in the trolley?”. They are still made to wait outside and are inevitably mad about it.
I will choose to avoid confrontation anytime I can, as most of the time I don’t have a choice.
NikkiDimes@lemmy.world 2 months ago
My boyfriend and I did this by accident in one of the big ass multi floor arcades in Akihabara. By default, service in Japan is so polite, and people are often very indirect, so the employees kept giving us subtle cues to leave that we were both oblivious to. Eventually, we caught on and were like, “Oh shit,” so we headed to the exit. Most of the employees had gathered to wave off customers as they left, but they all looked pretty pissed. We were the last two customers in the building, and they closed the doors behind us.
I still feel so horrible. It doesn’t help being foreigners and falling right into bad stereotypes 😭
cheesymoonshadow@lemmings.world 2 months ago
As someone who works retail, I’m pretty shameless when it comes to kicking people out. I do it politely and with a smile but I have no problem telling customers we’re about to close or are closed.
MutilationWave@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I’ll never forget when my wife and I accidentally entered the 15 items or less line at the grocery with a full cart. Why didn’t they say no?
Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Whenever this is posted, a couple Karen’s crawl out of the primordial ooze to remind us they’ve never worked retail and are incapable of empathizing with the workers (I count 2 of them in this comment section right now). I could never work retail again, people like this are as soul crushing as the manager who will reprimand you because of their 1 star review
hate2bme@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Had people knocking on the door 2 minutes before we opened the other day. I acted like I didn’t see them and waited until 1101 to open just to be petty.
technomad@slrpnk.net 2 months ago
People like that will be mad either way. There’s no right answer.
Phegan@lemmy.world 2 months ago
They were closed, they don’t owe you shit.
Qbanrev@lemmyf.uk 2 months ago
I hate bad customer service but this isn’t it. Complain about a cold 6.99 fastfood burger or a racist server who won’t serve you. (3 times in the last year for me🤣)
HawlSera@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Ugh. .
I’m white but I have enough nonwhite friends to know racism is still very much alive.
Sorry that happened to you.
paddirn@lemmy.world 2 months ago
“I knew I got there too late, but they didn’t even acknowledge me to tell me what I already knew and which was completely obvious due to the locked door and lack of acknowledgement. How rude!”
I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I also hate people who fall for rage bait.
ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net 2 months ago
I’m more furious they left a shit review.
These reviews fuck with business, especially without context. Map apps while driving only show you the value.
Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 2 months ago
So much work to hate 95% of everyone
Lightor@lemmy.world 2 months ago
It’s that what this comment is? Everything is either bait, trolling, or not real. Only fools react to things on the Internet.
deltreed@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Writes a bad review when all he had to do was look at the store hours on the sign. Did he also need their personal confirmation that they were closed? People are getting so strange in 2024.
CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
They’ve always been like this
kamen@lemmy.world 2 months ago
In addition to that there’s usually also working hours on Google Maps that are up to date for most businesses.
Steamymoomilk@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
PSA dont be a assbag
I have a few friends that work retail and we have talked about nightmarish customers. Shop closes at 7:30 every Friday 2 people walk in at 7:10-7:30ish For service that takes 30mins to complete for one person. They DEMAND they get the service, to which the tools to do such service are already put away by 7:10. Some times my friend bends to there requests, but i keep telling him. Closing time is closing time and your doing the equivalent of teaching your dog to eat off your plate. Its ok for now, but will come back to bite you.
If you are going to show up close to closing time, and they are still willing to serve you. TIP THEM WELL, Ive done it a few times which im guilty of, but ive made it worth there while.
There was one time in 2023 that my friends and i wanted to get together for some wings. We stopped by a dinner on the out skirts of town at 10:30pm and they close at 11:00. We went and i asked if they would still serve us, because i know its late. And i dont wanna be an asshole. They served us, me and the boys eate our wings caught up on life and left a heft tip on the table.
There was one time this year we went out to a local car hop, and it was 8:30 and they closed at 9. The girls serving and taking the orders did a great job, and it was 98° outside all day. So because i dont go out to eat a whole lot and id rather give my business to mom and pop shop. Rather than the local mega corp. We all pitched in and left a 40% tip which the meal for all of us was about $60. When she came to take the tray from the car window, she asked if we needed anything else. And i have her the tip of $36. Her face lit up, and asked if this was a mistake? I said it was on purpose and to have a good night. She smiled and thanked us, and we left. Altought the tip hurt my wallet quite a bit, to which my brain kept reminding me of the $36 i lost. It felt good to help sombody out especially that most likely has delt with alot of shitty people in shitty weather.
setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 2 months ago
There is always going to be a divide between people who have done restaurant closings and those that haven’t. Some people who haven’t done it will not see any issue with showing up 10 minutes to closing and ordering everything on the menu. You can’t change their minds.
The last time I was traveling and absolutely had no choice but to go into a Chiplote 20 minutes to closing (it was the only place for miles still open), I made sure to be flexible about only asking for things that hadn’t been put away already. I ended up getting what seemed like quad portions and free chips. Be nice to servers and they are nice to you.
Morcyphr@lemmy.one 2 months ago
If a business can’t or doesn’t want to provide their service after 7pm, their closing time should be 7pm (or earlier), not 730pm. It’s not “assbag” to go into an open business and expect to receive whatever service they allegedly provide, and it certainly doesn’t warrant extraordinary tips.
daggermoon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I wish all customers were like you
CeruleanRuin@lemmings.world 2 months ago
If I was one of those employees, my response would be to smile and wave, maybe give a thumbs up, and go back to ignoring them. They can interpret it how they like, and only I know for sure that it means “Lol, you’re getting nothing from me, you dumb buttmunch.”
Bakersfield@lemmy.world 2 months ago
buttmunch
I haven’t heard that since the Beavis and Butthead days. LOL, thanks for taking me back.
lulztard@lemmy.world 2 months ago
This person does not complain about not being served ten minutes after the establishment having closed, but about the fact that not one of the four employees could be arsed to let the guest know.
kamen@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I don’t know what platform this is, but such a review should be moderated in some way. If an employee treats you badly during normal service, then fine, it’s justified to drop a negative review, but if you’re as incompetent as to be unable to understand that nobody is obliged to serve you outside of the stated working hours, it’s entirely your problem and it shouldn’t affect the rating of the establishment.
zephorah@lemm.ee 2 months ago
One of the many definitions “Asshole” is applied to.
Kalkaline@leminal.space 2 months ago
I was at a hardware store yesterday, locally owned. I didn’t look at the hours before I walked in but they started turning off lights within a few minutes of me walking in, so I walked out without buying anything and went to a big box store. I want to support the little guys, and I respect the time of the workers, but at some point I need to get the stuff I need and my hours at work to align exactly with the hours of the little guys. 🤷
rustydrd@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
English isn’t my first language. What does “tossing one’s hair” mean?
Fades@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Good
sweetpotato@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
Is this supposed to be ragebait or what? This review is obviously non-sensical end of story
Linkerbaan@lemmy.world 2 months ago
All good but not all good
drathvedro@lemm.ee 2 months ago
I wouldn’t jump on to blame on the customer. In fact, have my own hill I’m fighting right now where I’m not completely in the right. Who knows, maybe the working hours were not visible, or maybe there was no closed sign at all. In any case, this made at least one person mad and is a perfect opportunity for a business to do a retro and check if they might need to do something about it. It’s much more valuable than a thousandth review from someone who had a great time… or didn’t, but didn’t care to review either. And, unless your business is genuinely bad, even a Karen once in a while shouldn’t affect the total score a bit.
blunderworld@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
If my retail experience is any indication, acknowledging customers in this situation is a bad idea. Before you know it, the conversation turns to “I just need one thing!” Or “I promise I’ll be really quick!” and you have to become the asshole to tell them no… Even though the store hours are clearly listed on the front door.
Or if you agree even once, the conversation could easily become “but you did it for me/my friend last time!”
I’ve literally had people sneak into the store using an exit, then act all indignant because I tell them to leave. You give some of these fuckers an inch, they’ll take a mile.
dharmacurious@slrpnk.net 2 months ago
My favorite way out of that situation was to tell them that the registers were automatically shut down at closing. Literally no way to ring up a purchase. It worked most of the time
zero_spelled_with_an_ecks@programming.dev 2 months ago
That’s why there’s the JADE acronym. You never justify, argue, defend, or explain. That makes them think there’s a chance if they just counter every single thing you say.
LunarLoony@lemmy.sdf.org 2 months ago
“Can’t you just do it on paper?”
dohpaz42@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I usually lead with, “That’s out of my control,” or “that’s above my pay grade.” Most of the time people get it.
MutilationWave@lemmy.world 2 months ago
My go-to was the ovens have already entered shutdown mode and cannot be restarted. There was no such thing of course.
MutilationWave@lemmy.world 2 months ago
They did it for me last time is the bane of all service jobs. I managed a pizza place for years that would sometimes get up to over 200 food products per hour. You could see about the first 20 of them at a time on the screens. There was no way to indicate modifications that weren’t available in the POS. I personally trained every new employee on phones and till.
I would tell them you’re going to talk to a lot of assholes. There will be the person that wants extra cheese on their cheesesticks. You have to tell that person no. You cannot sell anything that can’t be entered into the computer.
Every day during the insane dinner rush I’d either get employees coming over to say hey extra cheese on the cheesesticks on order 215. We’re on order 175. There is no way those cheesesticks are going to get extra cheese.
No time to correct the employee, no time to call the customer back. Or the other which was worse. The customer would escalate the call to me. “They did it for me last time!”
Wasted my fucking mid 20s to early 30s there. It permanently ruined my mental health.
intensely_human@lemm.ee 2 months ago
One rule I try to remember is that overserving Customer A means underserving Customer B.
This is also true for traffic, where being overpolite to the person in front of you means screwing over the people behind you.
Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Don’t forget “Every other location does it.”
Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Yup! You learn REAL fast, that if you just don’t make eye contact they’ll eventually go away.
CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
When I worked at McDonald’s I used to keep the DriveThru headset on after closing while I was doing paper work to tell people “sorry, we’re closed” if they drove up to the speaker board. (Mind you, the building lights and menu board lights are off at this point. Something we call a “clue”.)
That stopped after one too many people screamed “FUCK YOU!” into the speaker board (for us following our posted hours and me politely informing them instead of ignoring them.)
You quickly adopt a policy of “just ignore them and they’ll figure it out.”
Snowclone@lemmy.world 2 months ago
There’s also a lot of stores with a policy that tills can’t be counted or processed unless everyone is accounted for and all doors locked, if you have to reset that process it can be an extra hour of work.
CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
There’s no way your order is worth me turning everything back on, unless it is way too large to be something quick.
mean_bean279@lemmy.world 2 months ago
These days I’m usually against the death penalty, and I know it seems a bit harsh to advocate for this… but people entering in an exit door should be absolutely blasted with an Anti Aircraft gun (thanks Kim Jong Un for the idea!). It absolutely rustles my jimmies.
BallsandBayonets@lemmings.world 2 months ago
Half of Costco’s customers would be blasted!
I’m all for it.
davad@lemmy.world 2 months ago
My wife worked at a rental office for an apartment building and had the same experience.
perishthethought@lemm.ee 2 months ago
For a moment I thought this was a reply to the McDonalds headset comment and I was so confused, lolll
intensely_human@lemm.ee 2 months ago
It’s only a bad idea if you’re bad at holding boundaries. You can acknowledge them if you’ve developed the ability to say no to people.
x00za@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
It completely depends on where you’re from.