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?
Generally, if no one is going to account for it, just cave. They’re one asshole out of tens of not hundreds of customers you will help today. The time it takes to enforce the policy is probably not worth the cost of whatever they are bitching about. Worse comes to worse, check with your manager, they are paid to deal with jackasses, and have the authority to override charges or deny transaction and eject the customer from premises.
Source : Worked Front end sales, Floor sales, Sales management and Ops Management for a Big Box retail store for 4 years.
Yes, let’s reward that behavior with a treat in front of other people.
This is a situation that’s a one-off where someone not used to the normal customer experience reacted unreasonably. If you give in and allow their behavior to override the rules of doing business with that establishment, you not only encourage that person to continue acting out to get their way, but you also send a problematic message to the customers watching this interaction.