Shop the bad mannered - UK retail workers under customer attack

UK retail workers are being bullied, reduced to tears, and even physically abused by cruel consumers, according to new research from Retailchoice.com, UK retail recruitment websites.

Ninety five per cent of retail staff encounter rude customers on a regular basis, with 43 per cent having to put up with bad manners between one and six times a day. Alarmingly, fifty nine per cent of staff complain of customers shouting and swearing at them, whilst an irate consumer has reduced one in five shop workers to tears. Women are most likely to weep at poor manners, with 28 per cent admitting to crying over a callous customer.

When asked to name their worst customer experience, countless respondents report incidents of being spat at, with one respondent claiming: A customer told me they would íget me the sackí and ísmash my face iní because Iíd told them the changing rooms were closed. After work I had to get security to escort me to the back of the building as they were in fact waiting for me outside the shopping centre.

It appears that females are the rudest shoppers, with 44 per cent of workers finding women more aggressive as they shop.

And itís not teenagers and the elderly that are a sufferance to serve. Retail rage is most rife amongst middle-aged Britons, with 38 per cent of retail employees finding these customers the most bereft of basic manners. Busy professionals are next in line, with 26 per cent of shop workers stating that these are the rudest customers.

Not returning items to the right place and messing up the shop by dropping things and leaving them on the floor top the list of most frequently encountered inconsiderate behaviour, according to the survey. Sixty- two per cent of staff bemoan customers trying to return goods they have damaged, with out of control children ruining shop displays another pet hate. Fifty four per cent of shop workers despair at customers who try on the entire shop and leave empty handed.

Despite the testing treatment from many consumers, the vast majority of retail workers take it in their stride. Eighty six per cent resist temptation and have never enacted an act of revenge on a customer. Of those that have succumbed to settling a score, acts of vengeance include leaving security tags on goods and banning customers from the shop.

It appears that consumers in the South West are the most aggressive shoppers, with 76 per cent of shop assistants complaining of customers shouting and swearing at them. Retail staff in the North East and Northern Ireland enjoy slightly more mild mannered customers, with 51 per cent resorting to verbal abuse.

John Salt, website director or Retailchoice commented: Clearly, there are times when the customer is not always right. In an increasingly consumer driven society, we naturally think that retail workers should behave exactly as we want them to in order to part with our hard earned cash. Yet it is clear that many customers are taking this beyond the limit of decent, reasonable behaviour. Working in retail requires people to be calm under pressure, have attention to detail, excellent customer service skills and the ability to multitask. It seems that the professional attributes of Britainís shop workers are being overlooked, and I urge consumers to think about their behaviour if theyíre looking to receive service with a smile.

Further tales of retail rudeness:

One customer used our fitting room as a toliet.

One customer told me that if I had as much money as them I would be the other side of the counter.

I was once behind the till when a woman came up to me and slapped me in the face because I over charged her by 30 pence.

An old man had collapsed in an aisle and was being given mouth to mouth (he was confirmed dead at the scene by paramedics) and an old lady wanted me to get something off the shelf above him because she could not get to it because of the first aider! She got quite irrate and showed no compassion at all for the circumstances.

Tales of retail revenge:

When a customer was really rude and paid by credit card I would swipe the card on the detagger so the electronic strip wonít work on their card anymore.
Without too much detail, due to rudeness and over the top demands, I delayed delivery dates and over charged on services or products.

When they come back in the shop again l has keep them waiting.

Threw paperwork away so a customer service problem took much longer to sort out.