Pet Store Employee Berated for Giving Good Advice

[1L19]

As a neutral party I am often compelled to step in if a situation develops which is similar to the original poster's description. Some day it's going to get me shot but my goal is to take the attention off the sales person and redirect it to me. Primarily because, as I'm not an employee, I can say whatever I want and I won't get fired.

Americans are an entitled society and, like many have mentioned, don't want to hear anything other than confirmation of their own bias. I've spent a lot of time working in customer service and I think setting boundaries is a good thing. If anyone starts to get hostile I immediately respond that I will get my manager and they would be happy to assist the customer. Basically you ole them into a fire hydrant because the manager isn't going to get fired and is well equipped to eject the trouble maker from the store.

Violators of rule number one when it comes to dealing with other people should experience negative consequence:

1. Don't be a jerk

 

[1L19]

Been following this with keen interest. For my mind, it is a perception thing. Yes the pet store guy was probably thinking in the interests of the pet owner and the fish for better satisfaction and quality of life but rather than saying Oscars have needs that not everyone can meet; and really, unless he has degree in ichthyology, who is he to say that ? Perhaps it was said with good intentions but read it again with an air of smugness. Fishing keeping is a very personal thing. I guarantee you, if you said that about someone's parenting skills it would be on like Donkey Kong. A better way would have been be to say I believe or I strongly urge you to consider ....

Others have followed up saying if they were in his place they would have no issue if a customer leaves empty handed on the same basis. On the surface i agree with the sentiments but guarantee you that customer and their money aint coming back, that's a sale you didnt make that day and future custom. Your KPI takes a hit and Head Office only crunch numbers on the money you brought in.

Ive seen it here - a young chap, who was dispensing advice which wasnt overly pragmatic, he got chewed out a few times and hasnt returned since. Is that quality assurance and customer satisfaction ? Then of course there are aggressive and belligerent types, but the better person knows when to walk away rather than antagonise.

The primary role of a sales person is to give information. If it's come to the point where we are picking and choosing the exact words a person is supposed to use I'd call that pedantic. I'd definitely say flipping out on a sales person who is trying to help you and save you money is way more out of line than saying "everyone" instead of "I believe". After all, the sales guy was on the money with his comments and his intent was obviously to assist the customer in making a good decision. Another quality of Americans, deliberately ignoring context so they can justify their bad behavior.

If I have a store I want that customer to leave empty handed. It's not like their behavior is going to improve when they return. If they are being disruptive and scare other customers away then that's a lot more lost revenue than one jerk who shouldn't be there in the first place. Of course that's just what I believe.

 

[GaryE]

I think there are two conflicting views of how to keep a store running here. If the goal is short term profit with no eye to sustainability, then you agree an Oscar is ideal for a small tank as long as the customer has money. He or she has a predictable bad experience, and probably leaves the hobby. Most shareholder driven aquarium stores seem to follow that model.
The return customer model is the one where 'angry oscar man' leaves empty handed, and goes to the chain store to buy his fish. With good advice, people come back, and a community is built up to sustain the business. The great majority of people are smarter than the entitled customer, and you build with them.
Which is better? If I want fish to match my carpet and curtains, then the chain, quick buck place is ideal. If I want to make a pastime of it, then the good info model is ideal.

I just moved to a new to me city, and I've found several stores of the second type - locally run, kind of conscientious places. I've also wandered into two I wandered right out of - chains where no one seems to care much. One of the good stores is a start up, but all the others are well established, been there for years places, so both models work in their own fashions.

 

[Back in the fold]

The real question here is - why be a jerk to someone working the low wage, crummy hours, dead end job that is retail ? It's tough enough to keep the wolf away from the door these days without flak from jerks.

 

[Uberhoust]

@Back in the fold 's comment really summarizes the point I was trying to make. Social commentary can be difficult for me. I don't know if I would say retail is dead end, someone has to do it, but overall there is no reason to be a jerk right off the bat.

 

[Back in the fold]

@Uberhoust What I mean by dead end is the way that "The Man" is taking away everything from the working class. The trend now is a 32 hour week. The poor working stiff just lost a day off his 40 hours. Besides that, if they get you under 32 hours they can gyp you out of benefits. The only way out in retail is to go for a supervisory position where you are encouraged to hold the workers under the hob-nailed boot of management while you work salary and put in 60 hours of work for 32 hours pay. Meanwhile the CEO's make millions in pay, benefits and stocks. That CEO has to cut the throat of the workers to pay the stock holders their ever increasing dividends.
Workers of the world unite ! You have nothing to lose but your chains !

 

[Deleted member 149562]

If you want an example of the worst customer/staff relationship ever....and lads, when you get married you'll not hear or know about any of it when you see the love of your life walking up the aisle in that dress.....the bridal shop.

If hubbies to be saw what their brides to be were capable of whilst choosing a wedding dress and then bridesmaid dresses....you would run away from the altar quick smart (even quicker if you saw your future mother-in-law's behaviour)

The saying of never work with children or animals needs updating to never work with brides to be and their mother's.

Back when I got married I chose the dress by myself, I knew what I wanted, found it and that was that.

But there were some seriously evil bridezilla and motherzilla types...and don't even mention the bridesmaidzillas....there is no way that I could work in a bridal shop cos I would be punching lights out in all directions. The way some of the customers treat the staff is abominable. Some might think that reality shows like "Say Yes To The Dress" is all scripted and that brides and their various klingons could not be as bad as they are portrayed but they are a thousand times worse.....I would rather sit in a cage with an unfed tiger than work in bridalwear.

 

[1L19]

If you want an example of the worst customer/staff relationship ever....and lads, when you get married you'll not hear or know about any of it when you see the love of your life walking up the aisle in that dress.....the bridal shop.

I guy I know owns a company that sews custom wedding dresses and he's told me many horror stories and some of them are almost impossible to believe. He freely admits though that working with the "zilla" directly lead him to his number one hobby. In his bedroom he has a walk in gun safe with about 200 firearms. He has one that's actually named "Zilla" and you'd think it would be an AR or a .50 cal but no... Zilla is a taser and he says it's the weapon he'd most like to use at work everyday.

 

[GaryE]

The real question here is - why be a jerk to someone working the low wage, crummy hours, dead end job that is retail ? It's tough enough to keep the wolf away from the door these days without flak from jerks.

I think for some people. being a jerk isn't a choice. They are what they are and you just have to figure out how to respond. Deep down, you can't take them seriously, but when your boss is also a jerk, you have a problem.
When I worked in printing we did a job for a guy giving stress management seminars. I was bringing the box up from the back where we printed it when he arrived and demanded it be there immediately. When the cashier asked him to hold on for just a second, very politely, he attacked her with an umbrella, and she was only saved from the metal point because a guy passing behind him tackled him. Her was really trying to stab her.
No charges allowed - he was a customer after all. I didn't go to his stress management talk, no credibility!
Jerks can be violent, political, mouthy - but they're all jerks and working with the public exposes you to them. The hardest ones can be lawyers who are jerks and threaten lawsuits the worker has no money to defend against. We used to get that a lot when I became a teacher - threats of lawsuits because college students handed in no work and flunked courses.
I have met some really belligerent fishkeepers though.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

There a lesson I take from all of this: Stressful situations cause people to hoist their true colors. All the acting and pretense gets stripped away and a person's character is laid bare. So practice being the person you want to be when things are good, work on cleaning out what's inside, so that when things go south you won't change into a monster.