4 Annoying Customer Habits

My personality type is not one that is suited for the retail world. I know this, but bills and college tuition won't pay for themselves and I wasn't qualified for much else. Yet I forced a smile on my face and tried to help every customer to the best of my ability, as I'm sure millions of people do on a day to day basis. Whether I was top notch with my customer service or not, many people that work in retail will agree that these four consumer offenses are inexcusable.

Hey You!
I know customers probably don't know my name. That's fine, but "Hey You!" isn't the way to get any body's attention, especially if it is the person that's supposed to be helping the customer. It's rude, that's all there is to it. It's even worse if they're yelling it at an associate who is on the phone, ringing up a customer, or very obviously helping another customer. Think about it in the terms of how one would like to be treated. Would you, as the consumer, want me to drop what I'm doing in the middle of helping you to assist another customer that just showed up and started yelling "Hey you/ Yoo Hoo!/ Could I get some help over here?"? Not only is it inconsiderate to me, it's also inconsiderate to anybody I may be helping. Do unto others...

The Cell Phone
I understand that the cell phone has become an integral part of every bodies lives. It's addicting to be in touch with everybody at all times, and I'm no different. I don't care to hear the conversation about someone's husband's hernia as their browsing through the department, but I'll let that one slide. But if I'm helping the customer with anything that they might need and their cell phone goes off and they decide that the conversation over the phone is more important than my help, then I'll walk away. I only do that because essentially that's what was just done to me, and chances are there's other people waiting to be helped. I've tried to stick with the customer on the cell phone before, but I lack the patience to try and assist someone who isn't even listening to me. This goes for check out lines too. Sometimes there may be a problem with an item or a pricing issue that I didn't catch because I'm at a register all day and a customer didn't catch because they're on their phone. This usually results in said customer coming back and throwing a fit that I charged them too much and I should have known and...
Really, if the consumer had stayed engaged with shopping, most mishaps could have been avoided from the time the associate helped them all the way to the check out.

Fine, Then I'm going to (insert competitor here)!
All I ever say is "Fine. Go." This phrase will usually rear it's ugly, yet harmless head after every attempt to please the customer, but the customer is still not getting exactly what they want. It's a tantrum veiled in weak threats, because most associates know they'll see that same exact customer again a week later. So go to the competitor, please. If that what it takes for the customer to quit yelling at me over something I have no control over, then go. Before a customer even says that they should just leave. Save the breath, I've heard it countless times throughout my retail career. And I'll see them next week anyways.

You can come in and shop...
I don't mind answering the phone. Simple queries don't bother me. I don't mind the "Do you have such and such?" question. I do mind when it reaches over five items. I'll gladly tell what we carry and any other questions, but if the customer is just shopping over the phone then I'm going to tell them we can't hold the items and that they should come in and pick them up. Which is what they should have done in the first place. Come in and shop. If leaving the couch is not an option, then use the internet. The internet is a lot faster than I am, it won't have to run back and forth between the phone and every department in the store, and the information is laid out right there. Either option is much more convenient for both parties.

As in any retail store, the consumer is the reason for the business. Customer service is always a priority. It's only fair then to ask that a consumer have the same amount of consideration when dealing with an associate. They are there to help, not to be slaves or personal shoppers, or someone to use as a punching bag. The job itself is already thankless, there's no reason to not treat an associate with common courtesy. Besides, you wouldn't want to be the person that threw a tantrum that they're all talking about in the break room, now would you?