Professionalism question...?

Question

What would you have done in this situation? Was I unprofessional, and was I justified in my reaction?
I work at a major chain grocery store. Last night our credit/debit/food stamp card pin pads went down. We could only accept credit cards, any cards that required a "pin" number were not being accepted. This was a system wide problem. I know that it affected stores in at least 2 states.
Well, I put signs up on the front doors, and all the registers. One guy comes in, ignores all the signs. Comes to my register, I explained BEFORE he unloaded all his groceries that we could only accept cash or credit cards, the EBT and Debit pins were not going through. He said "Ok". I get the order rung up and he pulls out a food stamp card. I told him, "I don't think it will work, our system has been down, but we can try it". When it doesn't work he goes off, "This is f**king bulls*it!! You should take my f**king card!" I said, "I'm sorry, but it's a system problem."

cont'd...

He yells, literally yelled, "F**k your system! I want this stuff!" I'm getting steamed, but calmly answered, "I'm sorry, it's a program error. If I could fix it I would. But please, I don't deserve to be cussed at."
He comes back with, "F**k you, bi*tch"...
That was the last straw..... "I haven't been a witch, yet. But if you don't leave right now, I'll call the police and show you what one really is." He stomped out, still flinging curses around.
After all this a customer at another register had the audacity to ask for a manager because I was "unprofessional".
What was I supposed to do? Let him curse me and just take it like a doormat? I never once cursed back, and repeatedly explained to the retard that our system was down. If he was embarassed it was his own stupid fault for missing 6 different signs posted at eye level, 2 of those were on the doors, seen before he even got INSIDE.

Oh, and I did use the word "witch". I'm very careful to never curse when I'm at work. I try not to at any time, but I am very aware at work.

I don't know, yet, if the other customer complained or not. I'll find out this afternoon. I'll update when I find out.
We are a union shop, so all they can do is gripe at me, and try to write me up. I work in customer service, and when managers leave for the night, I am responsible for the store until I leave. If they try to write me up, I won't sign it, I don't feel I did anything wrong.

Oh, I guess I forgot to mention, the managers were all gone for the night. I was "it".

Answer 1

No matter what his problem was, he has no right to curse at you and verbally assault you. If you had a manager in the store, I think it would have been better for you to call the manager over and let him argue with him about it as opposed to threatening to call the police BUT I don't think you crossed any line by what you did. I may have worded it differently but a store is within its' rights to call the police to have a beligerent customer forcably removed.

I'm just curious, what did the manager do when the other customer reported you?

As an afterthought - on a personal note - I get peeved with people on foodstamps who have an attitude to begin with. Here you are working to pay taxes that give him his foodstamps and he's getting an attitude with you. If I'd been in line behind him, I'd of told him to get a damn job and then he could pay cash and not have to worry about the system taking his damn card. So, you were a LOT nicer than I would have been about it.

As another afterthought, in response to "whiskey...": The customer never has the right to curse at you and call you names and verbally harass and assault you. It is against the law and you are within your rights to call the police. In most cases, it would be best to let the manager handle that decision but any manager who would let a customer treat their employees like that is not a good manager! The customer is NOT always right.

Answer 2

No, I think you did the right thing. You tried the nice approach and you were patient until he started getting nasty.

What I would do is this. Be proactive about the incident. Instead of waiting for them to come to you to talk about it, go to the manager and tell them what happened. Give them all the exact details and tell them that after your repeated explanations, the man became very angry and you were VERY concerned for yourself, the other customers and employees. You felt that letting him know that you were willing to call the police if he continued was the only way to get him out of the store (which obviously worked). Be sure to tell the manager that at no time did you use foul language. Also be sure to tell the manager that you warned the man ahead of time of the computer situation.
It will look much better for you if you go to managment first and let them know. It will show that you have nothing to hide because you did nothing wrong. You could approach it by saying you wanted to bring it up to avoid any problems like this in the future. That way not only do you come accross as having done nothing wrong, you are offering a solution to the problem (such as, in the future, it might be a good idea to be more specific in letting people know about these kinds of computer problems. Maybe ask people "how are you paying for this" when that happens ) Again, this will put you in a more favorable light.


This guys response was probably out of embarassment of having to use food stamps in the first place. And he was probably mad at himself for not paying attention. Don't take it personally. He's the one with the problem, not you.

Answer 3

I think you responded quite politely given the situation - much better than 9 out of 10 people would have, just in my honest opinion!

Since the managers were gone for the day, and in your job you essentially become the management, then you acted appropriately in your capacity. The only additional things I can think of that could be done were these:

1) Be forthcoming with information. Provide your customer with full contact information for a manager and let them know when the manager will next be available. This will show confidence in your decisions and let the customer know that you're treating them in a way that is acceptable to the store. (And you were, or at least, were in my opinion).

2) Make contact with your manager ASAP to explain the situation, in whichever manner you'd feel they would prefer. If there's a work e-mail, leave one for them to check in the morning, leave a note on their desk or in the best place to ensure they will see it when they first come in in the morning, or call them at home, if you have a number and know they would not mind being disturbed.

3) Record your recollections of the incident, in detail, in writing, ASAP. It's important for you to be able to remember things exactly as they happened if the customer comes in the next day, two weeks or two months from now to make a complaint about the situation. Get all those details in writing as it happens.

Sounds like you're already a long way toward being a customer management pro, and I wouldn't be surprised if you find yourself in a management position before long, should you want one!

Answer 4

I've worked in a school corporation for years. My superiors are 2 Assistant Principals and 1 Principal who holds a doctorate. Every year the corporation spends thousands of dollars to send them all to management conferences. They must ditch the meetings because their leadership skills stink. One is undiagnosed Manic Depressive and the other two are bullies to staff and students. I can honestly say that the toxic work environment at this school is the worst I've ever experienced in any job I've held over a 40 work history. I realize that all schools are under the gun to state and federal gov to "perform" and that these individuals are performing in "knee jerk" reaction to what they are told to do by the Superintendent's office. As the saying goes, " Do Do runs downhill". LOL The sad thing as I see it is that the only people who are really losing are the students and dedicated staff. Staff lose their jobs but for some reason in our corporation no administrators are being let go. I'm just putting my time in, hoping that they don't find a reason to fire me in the next 3 years when I'm eligible to retire. Yes J, IMO professionalism doesn't exist for some bosses. What I've observed is that they will lie and cheat if it means that they will get ahead to the expense of all others.

Answer 5

You did everything within your power to avoid that situation. You posted signs, you explained the situation before you even rang him up.
Noone deseves to be yelled at or belittled ANYTIME, but you went above and beyond and took the high road the first time, allowed him a chance to be a gentleman, when he shot back with a personal attack, you were no longer obligated to show curtosy.

I work customer service via the telephone and we are trained to be polite at all times, however if we are being verbally assaulted, we can disconnect the call.

You did nothing wrong. You didn't use any words as a personal attack BACK at this guy (I most likely would not have been as poised as you) You used a word that HE had instigated into the conversation when he directly attacked you, and you were STILL not verbally attacking him, you just showed him in no uncertain terms that he was not allowed to treat you that way.

Good for you!!!

Answer 6

I can understand your position and do not at all condone what the customer did to you, but in fact, you should have handled it differently. True, the customer was an idiot, and was acting in a hostile manner, but you should have referred it to your manager rather than "threatening" him with the police.
Like it or not, you do work in a service industry where the credo is "the customer is always right", even in situations where he clearly wasn't. It was not your position to ask him to leave, that is a management level decision.
I am very sympathetic to what you went through. I worked in the service industry for years at a major theme park in Orlando. I had to deal with many rude/irate guests when an attraction was inoperable but we had to deal with them all not only with kindness but with a smile as well.
You should have apologized to the customer for the misunderstanding - even though there wasn't one on your part - and offered to have your manager come out and find a solution for him. In a perfect world, you manager would have called the cops and you would have had the satisfaction of seeing this jerk hauled away in handcuffs.

Answer 7

What would I have done in this situation? I would have done mostly the same, except after the first cussing I would have called my manager over to handle it.

Was I unprofessional, and was I justified in my reaction? You weren't unprofessional at all. Next time though, don't retaliate just let some one higher than you handle it. That way, the blame will fall on them.

Answer 8

lol you have the audacity to tell me i'm not engaged becausewe went through a pregnancy and haven't gotten married yet? you should be more careful before coming to quick conclusions. there are many reasons why people go through pregnancies without getting married. especially when there are health issues that require you to be on bedrest or in the hospital.

oh well, i'm not really concerned--you work at a grocery store. lol. now that, my dear, is a shame. professionalism? no one cares if you're professional or not. you work at a grocery store. lol. just thought i'd put you in your place. which, in terms of income and education level, and intelligence--is below me. see-ya!

Answer 9

you should have called a manager the first time the guy flipped out after you were polite and apologetic. there really was nothing else you could do for him even if you had wanted to. i think the other customer got uptight when you told the customer the witch line, that may have come across a little rude to them, not your fault, dont sweat it.

Answer 10

You did your best to pre-empt any problems. But maybe he (and you) didn't realize that also meant no food stamps could be processed.

It happens.

The guy was probably just having a bad day and not in the mood for such problems.

Today is a new day. Forget it. You had the right instincts, trying to pre-empt problems and explain things, and that's the most important thing. Very professional.