Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Dear Abby??

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Dear Abby??

    When I read this, I actually got pretty upset. SC's are bad enough without encouragement:

    DEAR ABBY: I work in retail, and I'm having a problem I am not sure how to handle. Customers almost constantly touch my hands and shoulders. I feel it is an intentional invasion of my personal space.
    Many customers have grabbed me by the arm to pull me with them to find where certain items are located. I have a friendly face, and I'm willing to help people, but I do not like being touched. What can I say to make it clear to customers that this is not OK? -- NICKI IN MARYLAND

    DEAR NICKI: Discuss this with your supervisor, and ask if your employer has a policy in place regarding touching. One way to solve the problem would be to make sure to stay out of arm's reach. Another might be to see if there is something else you can do in the store that would give you less contact with customers.
    If that's not possible, consider looking for a job in something other than retail. But to tell someone that a touch on the hand, arm or shoulder is unwelcome could lose you -- and the store -- a customer, and I don't recommend it.


    Umm, What? A retail worker is a person like any other person (a person's a person no matter how small, right?). If somebody's doing something that's making me uncomfortable, I have the right to tell them to stop it. But suggesting that someone should find another job because they don't want to be groped by strangers? Bad play, Abby, Bad play.

    That, combined with a recent news article that announced that chain retailers were now going to allow 'haggling' or 'price negotiation' makes me weep for the future of retail. And renews the desire to get that doctorate.
    "Even arms dealers need groceries." ~ Ziva David, NCIS

    Tony: "Everyone's counting on you, just do what you do best."
    Abby: "Dance?" ~ NCIS

  • #2
    I tend to agree. That kind of feels like Dear Abby is crossing a line into retail workers being less than customers, as far as their rights go. Everyone has the right not to be touched by strangers if they don't want to be, thank you.
    "In the end I was the mean girl/or somebody's in between girl"~Neko Case

    “You don't need many words if you already know what you're talking about.” ~William Stafford

    Comment


    • #3
      Clearly Dear Abby has never worked in retail. Customers who do not respect your personal space are usually the ones that also have outrageouse demands and expect to be given stuff for free. Those are the ones worth losing.
      Am I sad because I am looking forward to the day when the people I will be dealing with will no longer be able to talk back?

      Comment


      • #4
        Retail workers do have fewer priveleges than the customers ... since they are employees of the store and the customers are, well, customers. A customer can say "this product is horrible" ... and, the retail worker should refrain from doing so.

        Still, there are lines one should not cross. And, touching is most definitely one of them.

        I think that Abby (or whoever is writing for her now) is trying to point out that this will unavoidable. In a perfect world, nobody should touch you if you don't want it. As we all painfully know, this world is far from perfect.
        "Always stand near the door." -- Doctor Who

        Kuya's Kitchen -- Cooking, Cooking Gadgets, and Food Related Blather from a Transplanted Foodie

        Comment


        • #5
          I think it's her daughter, Pauline Phillips that's writing it now.

          I saw that today too and it really pissed me off. As a sales associate the customer can expect me to be polite, to help them find product, to direct them to where they need to go. None of that requires me to touch them or for them to touch me. I usually like Abby but I think this answer was really off the wall. Does this mean I can touch the customer? Can I grab their arm when they are headed to a restricted area? Can I put my hand on their shoulder and be all chummy?

          I have to say, I have over 4 years in retail and I have NEVER been touched by a customer unless it's a tap on the shoulder to get my attention.
          My formula for living is quite simple. I get up in the morning and I go to bed at night. In between, I occupy myself as best I can.---Cary Grant

          Comment


          • #6
            this isnt the first time she has said something like this

            im fairly sure the last time this clearly sucky customer wrote in saying a waitress outright called her Fat..... abbey didnt even consider that perhaps it was a misunderstanding or that the customer was exaggerating.

            before that it was a clerk asking how to politely deal with a customer on the phone.... abby's answer was "wait"
            I wasnt put on this earth to make you feel like a man ~ Mary Bertone

            Comment


            • #7
              Huzzah! I was wondering when someone on this forum would bring up Dear Abby. I read her article today and, like the rest of us here, was dismayed and upset at her response. With any social interaction, there's a time and a place for certain human behavior. I don't see people walking up to strangers on the street and touching them while asking when the next bus will arrive. Abby's take on the matter was way out of date and in need of a reality check.

              I've noticed that Abby has recently had a bout of retail and/or customer service-related topics. Anyone else notice this? Can't say I always agree with her views, but today's article annoyed the heck out of me.
              A lion however, will only devour your corpse, whereas an SC is not sated until they have destroyed your soul. (Quote per infinitemonkies)

              Comment


              • #8
                I've noticed her attitude towards all service workers in general, especially retail and food service. I say a couple of us need to "open her eyes" with some opinion letters, honestly.
                "I, too, am saddened by the lack of hookers in this thread." -LingualMonkey

                Comment


                • #9
                  Dear Abby is good. But when she talks about service workers, it gets under my skin. It is clear that she has never worked for the public.
                  Under The Moon Paranormal Research
                  San Joaquin Valley Paranormal Research

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    What would possess someone to touch a stranger, retail worker or not? I have never touched a retail worker unless they were handing me bags. That is such a foreign concept to me. You'd better believe someone grabs my arm to pull me somewhere, they're going to lose a hand...

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      She probably wrote that in response because when she goes to stores she does that sort of thing to retail workers.

                      Anyone getting in your personal space is not okay, ever. I don't care if it's a tap or a flat out grope. You don't just "deal with it" or "find a new job". Someone mentioned that Abby was trying to get across that its unavoidable at times, but let that customer touch a person with a lot less tolerance and them getting punched in the face will also be unavoidable.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I can't believe anyone would basically say to "deal with it" over touching....

                        I once had a co-worker (known for being "touchy") touch me. Don't know what my response was (I thought I just turned), but she immediately froze apoloziged and said she'd never to it again (with me saying nothing other than "it's ok, I just wasn't expecting it").
                        If I ever had a customer do that.... I don't even want to know what that response would've been. Not even the touching itself -- but not everyone is comfortable with being touched - and no one in retail should expect even being touched; and it sure shouldn't be treated as acceptable.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Perhaps the next time "Dear Abby" or whoever's writing that column decides to get all hands-y with a retail wage slave, said retail wage slave should return the favor and just rub his/her hands around her body, so she knows how they feel.

                          As others have said, it is blatantly obvious the column writer hasn't worked a day in retail. Nobody should have to suck it up and deal with unwanted touching just because "it will keep the customer coming back"
                          Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

                          "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            "Dear Abby,

                            An advice columnist suggested something ridiculous. It is obvious the columnist has no experience with living in the real world...

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I have bubble problems; ie, if someone gets inside my bubble, I will make sure they have a problem. -.-
                              People who don't like cats were probably mice in an earlier life.
                              My DeviantArt.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X