So what do you think the problem really is?

[Retail Associate]

I think the companies create the majority of the problems.

How can one expect customers to behave like civil human beings and adhere to store policy (such as no returns without a receipt) when they've learned from experience that if they whine long, loud and hard enough, management will give in to their demands?

How can one expect customers to treat retail clerks with respect when they've just witnessed a manager screaming at clerks, at the top of his lungs, about coats that "need to be picked up RIGHT NOW!!!"?

Do retailers really think their employees care about a company who continuously cuts hours to save a buck or two?

Do retailers really think a person making minimum wage (or just above) wants to give 110% to a company that couldn't care less if you can afford to put food on your table?

I couldn't care less about the company I work for because they don't care about me. The lousy pay, the abusive SC's and the morons in management have all contributed to my lousy attitude at work.

[FTGTF]

The only issue I have is with the "customers is always right" attitude and it's relationship with a sucky customer is this.

I bought a fridge once. And I have a small rear door on my house. I measured everything. I knew that I needed a clearance of 29 inches. So I went to buy the fridge. Went to a place and made sure with the salesperson that it would fit. The fridge was going to be a tight fit with the doors on, but the sales person assured me that they would be able to take off the doors. Needless to say the fridge didn't get delivered because they don't take the doors off on that model. So I had to return it and I called them and they told me to come back tomorrow, and I could exchange it. So I came back the next day. I couldn't return it because it wasn't in their system. I was told to come back the next day. I did. I still wasn't able to return it, but at that point I came back twice. So I did put my foot down a bit and got the person to allow me to swap fridges. As the sales person came to help me with finding the right one the person at customer service said the sales person. Make sure he picks one that fits this time so he doesn't return another one. So we went to look at fridges again, and according the this sales person nothing would fit into my house. I asked do they take doors off any models, I was told I had to come back tomorrow or call during the day to figure that out cause he'd have to call the warehouse. So long story short I had to pull "the customer is always right" attitude to get my money back. Because it was already over 24 hours since it went back to the warehouse, and I needed a fridge to replace my dead one 3 days ago.

Now I'm sure there was a chance that the way that person at the service desk saw it I was the dumb dumb that picked out the wrong fridge. I came in and demanded my money back before it came into the warehouse.

And I'm sure that there was a chance that the manager just gave me the money to shut me up cause I was being a sucky customer.

And for me if the sales person had just said at the least "I don't know if the doors come off" the whole issue would have been avoided.

[Worker-Intellectual]

And for me if the sales person had just said at the least "I don't know if the doors come off" the whole issue would have been avoided.

I think that's another issue... it's hard for people to admit they don't know at the best of times, but when they are dealing with customers it's even harder for a variety of reasons. I've seen a lot of people just BS with customers to get them to leave them alone.

[AFpheonix]

I think there's a few things that come into play.
1) the availability of goods and services are so good these days, that people are genuinely taken aback if they can't get something right away.

2) People expect to get more for less, so overhead has been slashed so much that there simply isn't enough salespeople (or good enough pay for them) to offer service that people used to get a long time ago. People don't seem to understand that time is money, and if you want to take advantage of someone's time and expertise, that they'll have to pay for it in the form of higher product prices.

3) People are asses.

[AirHostess]

Deffo 'the customer is alright right' motto does not help.
Unmotivated and poorly trained staff-due to bad management and SC's wearing customer service staff down. And often, bad pay.
The fact that the general population are stupid.

[shelly2jn]

With regard to the way customers treat retail workers, I think the problem lies in the fact that they just do not see us people. We are merely there to serve them and have no feelings, needs, wants or requirements of our own. I treat people how I expect to be treated and always have done. To the vast majority of people though, we are just faceless robots there to do their bidding. A classic example of this was when I was at my second job and a work colleague from my day job came to my counter. I greeted her, she ignored me. I rang her through, bagged her items, took her money and not once did she look at me. Now this is someone I have numerous conversations with on a daily basis. When the transaction finished I said thank you and followed it up with see you at work tomorrow. Then and only then did she look at me and realised who I was. I think she was a bit embarassed at the way she behaved but in all honesty it's indicative of society today and the way we interact with others. There is no one more important than myself so sod everyone else!

[Mark Healey]

Condensed and edited by Mark

People are greedy

The people in marketing departments don't often work on the shopfloor

Take into account that statistically half the customers are of below-average intelligence.

Selective memory

Let's factor in that all companies are money-driven.

Societies have grown

I'd like to add that customers don't get any feedback about their behavior. We are supposed to be nice to all of them so they think what they're doing is OK.