What irritating things do customers do at your specific job?

Question

After asking my last question I realized that people are absolutely ignorant about what goes on in the food service industry behind the scenes if they have not worked in the industry. What things irritate you at YOUR job that deals with the public (if your job applies...food service, sales, banking etc..) that oblivious customers do? This could be helpful for all of us! Sometimes people dont mean to be rude, they just have no clue they are pissing you off. Lets help eachother by educating eachother on these things.

Answer 1

you asked and i will be glad to answer this one as there are many things that the general public does that annoys me. i work at a major retail store, as a cashier most the time, so this is where i will direct most of it.
1) talk on the cell phone while i am trying to ring up their groceries or waiting to get paid for them.
2) stand there and can obviously see i am out of room to bag the groceries but unless i personally start handing them bags they won't touch them
3) hand me stuff to ring up that their child has chewed on throughout the store
4) wait until i have already closed the register drawer and than ask if i can change a bill for them
5) stand there the whole time watching me ring things up, and than wait till the end and ask, "what did that ring up as?"
6) had me coupons that have already expired or clearly says "on 2" and they only buy 1 but still think they should get the coupon
7) wait till everything is rang up before they start writing their checks.
8) stand in front of me and sit something on the shelves they decide they don't want instead of just handing it to me saying they changed their minds.
9) Think its MY fault they could not find such and such, that the price did not ring up right, that they could not find something, that the lines are so long, etc........
10) let their bratty kids push the buttons, turn the turntable, grab everything in sight, etc......and not say a word
11) put heavy stuff on top of their bread and want me to get them a new loaf because it is squashed. ( i have made a point of telling a customer she had to pay for it anyway since she is the one that did it)
12) having customers that realize they don't have enough money to pay for everything, but the stuff they put back is the meat, frozen foods, etc that has to be thrown away, instead of the cd's, jewelry, and clothes.
13) having customers want me to page so and so just because they are too lazy to look for them themselves, or let their kids run throughout the store while they shopped.
14) having customers tell me they have cases of pop or water, cat litter, or whatever on the bottom of their cart, but have the upc code facing down and expect me to pick them up to scan them
the list goes on and on, but these are the ones that come to mind most often.
there is one more, probably the most annoying.
having a customer go through the express lane with a cart full of groceries.
can't wait to hear from others. lol.

Answer 2

Get mad at me for things I can't control (the prices, the cooks making a mistake, company policies like adults not being allowed to order kids meals, etc.)

Make a huge mess...and I mean literally tossing food all over the floor around their table. A lot of parents seem to think it's fine to allow their children to smash up crackers and throw them everywhere.

Not reading the menu before they order, or not paying attention while they're ordering (usually because they're on the cell phone) so then they discover once they get their food that it has something on it that they don't like, and of course bring it back and want us make a new one for them (and the old one just goes in the trash since of course it would be against health codes to serve it to someone else).

When some sports team or other huge party shows up unannounced, and then they get mad that we're understaffed and it takes longer for them to get their food. Let is know ahead of time and we can be prepared!

Answer 3

Rudeness and complaining, to the point of bitching about high prices or items marked wrong or us not knowing the exact price.
I work in a grocery store, every week we have over 500 items on sale. We have TWO people responsible for changing prices, sometimes they miss something.
We are a relatively small store in this chain, and we don't always carry all the stuff carried by other stores in the area. (Our store is 20 years old, one of the oldest in the area).
It's not the fault of the front line people when things ring up wrong.
Be patient, we WILL fix the issue, just stop being an a.sshole about it.

Answer 4

1. A customer being impatient with a worker who is trying to give good service.
2. Customers waiting in line, then when it's their turn to order, they stand their reviewing the whole menu in all three languages.
3. A customer digging for correct change.
4. Dirty, nasty customers.
5. Loud mouth and/or vulgar customers.
6. Customers who threaten to call your 1-800 number if you don't give them whatever.


Here is a list of things employee's do that aggravate customers.
1. Ignoring their presence. How long does it take to say "I'll be with you in just a minute.
2. Dirty, nasty, vulgar, and/or loud mouth employees. Especially if they are in the back and the customers here it in the dining room.
3. Not cleaning the restrooms.
4. An employ giving attention to their friends and not to the customer.
5. Employees giving bad product to their customers.

I hope this helps you.

Answer 5

I've received my food service sanitation certification and have a lot more respect for people who work in the food service industry than I did before. I am an etiquette consultant and event coordinator and think that people should possibly watch videos that goes behind the scenes of food service.

Answer 6

Hoping you include nurses. I understand that our patients are in the hospital for help. In my job it's psychiatric help. I guess what I'd like to see is some indication that they know we're human beings too and never deserve to be cursed at, hit or spit at. Not too long ago, I got sick in work. I became nauseaous and could not life my head off the desk. Another nurse came in to take over for me and everyone got their medications on time. But-as I was being wheeled down the hall to the ER (where it was discovered I had a brain anuerism) a few of the patients followed the wheel chair asking me when I would be giving them their sleeping meds.I should add that it's an open unit and the patients are high functioning adults.

Answer 7

When I was a card dealer, part of my job was to sell game tokens (chips) for money. If a customer gave me a bigger bill, like a $100, I was required to hold it up to the light to look for the strip inside it.
So many people would tell me, "The money is good. I made it fresh this morning."
After I'd heard that a hundred times, it got very irritating.
Another thing, I sure got tired of people getting angry with me when I won their chips, and took them away. Gee! That's what happens when you gamble. If you don't like losing, don't play. I don't twist arms to make you stay there!!!

Answer 8

I work in a grocery store (produce dept.) and people will complain about the prices or say that they can get it at another store cheaper. Then why don't they go there?! They don't understand that the produce gets to the store via plane, train or truck which takes fuel to operate. Gas is expensive these days! Sheesh...they think the stuff magically appears!

Answer 9

I work as a wholesale vendor at several retail stores. I am not employed by the stores. My shirt names my employer, not the name of the store. Everybody always asks me where such and such is. That is my biggest pet peeve. My second biggest is when they realize what I do, they all make one of the same 4 dumb jokes. Like I haven't heard that a million times, idiot!!!

Answer 10

Please, get off you phone long enough to acknowledge the cashier, or person at drive-through. I don't mind if you talk in line, but, please, hang up while you're face to face with someone who works at the store. Do not sneer at us when we ask you questions while you are on your phone. Our manager makes us ask if you'd like paper or plastic, or if you need salt or ketchup. We are not purposefully interrupting your important call. If you do not want to deal with the hassle of interacting with another living human being, use the self check out.