Why do some stores hire and keep unfriendly people as cashiers?

Well...it is sad that we don't have better attitudes ALL the time... but I can relate. I work at Sam's. You would not believe customers. I do the chef events and cook all day long for our Sam's store and let me tell you...you get people that think they can touch the food..take it off the grill...steal your gloves.... insult you because you are making lamb instead of chicken...it goes on and on and on.

One day I was doing the demo for slim fast and I asked this woman if she would like to try it. She looked at me and said....NO THANK YOU ...B...tch!

Then you have the wonderful mothers who drop food on the floor and the kids are well mannered enough to want to pick it up and they say....No honey...leave it there...that is what SHE is here for!

Then you have the ones that drop a box of crossants on the floor and kick it as hard as they can to get it out of their way so they don't have to pick it up and then you have to move carts etc and do the picking up while they stand there and laugh.

let me tell you...some cashiers and people deal with a LOT of hell when it comes to the public. You can only smile and laugh and joke for so long and then you just stop trying the rest of the day or you would kill them.

So if you run across someone who is not smiling...maybe something happened that they are working out. Give them a break. They are there to help you ! You can't blame them entirely....watch the public first...they are the ones that test us minute after minute after minute.

I had a man one day...and he reached in and tried to take a hamburger out of the pan ... I said...please don't touch the food. we will be happy to help you and the samples are over there. I am just cooking them here. He smiled and reached in the other pan and I stopped him again and said...please don't touch the food.... he walked away and came behind me and reached over me and tried to take one and I said...SIR PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE FOOD! he laughed and said...oh I am joking...can't you take a joke?

Listen...I am cooking...people can get burned and when you have to put up with people who do this stuff you can't watch and take care of business and they are purposely trying to agitate you. When you cook for hundreds all day long...and you put up with this all the time it is difficult to remain smiling.

I might not smile for a couple minutes after that...I have to calm myself and deal with other idiots and that isn't easy. We aren't made of stone.

Last week I put frozen chicken breasts in the oven and someone wanted a sample. I said...sorry....I dont' have any just yet but come back in about 15 minute and I will have one. I turned to go get another bag to put in when this one came out and when I got back TWO were taken out of the oven...FROZEN CHICKEN...RAW!

Then I went on break and when I came back I saw a woman pulled out another demo's cart and was getting somethng out the cart. I said....WHOA...can I help you? She said.. I wanted a sample...and she isn't hear. I said...you can't do that. She said...I did...I got two meatballs and they are good...where ae they?

Now listen..if someone touches the spoons or food we have to throw it out. We CONSTANTLY have the health dept in there checking us and we never know when they are there. We have stricter guidelines than resturants and fast food places...so we are VERY CAREFUL!

so next time you are in what you call the lower end grocery stores...you might find they are dealing with people who dont' have manners or common sense or STEAL things and make life miserable. We might need a minute to get ourselves together again and you are there at that time they are trying to bite their tongues and get some cool back.

I wish we weren't human and could be trained to smile through all the abuse we take...but it is difficult when we have to make sure the public gets the best of us when we get the worst of them.

I have to say I work with wonderful people...and even if they are kids they are good. Walmart and Sam's does not hire just anyone...they are good people. But when you deal with people who poop on the floor in the bathroom and walk in it and you have to clean it up...when you deal with people who steal and have kids that throw things and actually come up and HIT YOU because you don't have something for them and the parents laugh and say oh..are you having a bad day honey...we will have to talk about that...and NOT APOLOGIZE for HITTING A STRANGER? etc...you aren't talking about US but CUSTOMERS that make us a little iffy at times.

I know we go out of our way to help customers find things...and even when I do chef events I try to make things special. One day I was doing iced coffee with those hazelnut proulines...and kids can't drink coffee...so i put whipped cream and cookie in the cup so they could have things too. We all do that....and the vendor pays for it. If someone can't have something If I can I will find something else for them....that is how much I care about customers. I talk all day long teaching people how to cook etc....but sometimes I just shut up and stay quiet and keep my head down to get over an insult or a bad attitude customer! But we rebound.

So those of you who judge...aren't there. Wait a few minutes and you will see someone entirely different ! Next time you see someone who seems stressed out or unfriendly...just give them a gift and smile and say I hope you have a good day. It might not get an immediate response but it sure helps us to recover.

Susanna

Probably because the cashier is very efficient and has a good work ethic despite not being Miss Congeniality 24/7

or maybe they have seniority...

or maybe (but unlikely) they belong to a union that keeps them from getting fired simply because of the caprices and petty whims of customers who think a cashier is their "inferior" and that the cashier MUST always be subservient, kowtow to them or kiss up to them simply because THEY are the customer!

Yes, there are some unfriendly and even rude cashiers/sales associates out there, but when I worked in retail full time for 3 years, I found it was usually the CUSTOMERS who were the unfriendly and rude ones...and if the associate or cashier was "rude" they were usually provoked by the customer! Problem? The store tended to side with the customer even if it was clear the customer was in the wrong...all because of that bullsh*t about "the customer is always right." They only say that because they're afraid of losing business. The retail industry cares more about making money than they do about the morale of their workers!

Despite doing a good job, and getting customer service awards and even kind letters written to corporate from customers about my great customer service and excellent work ethic, truth be told ... I HATED working in retail and was so glad when I finally could leave the field. Why? Well, because of the small but very emotionally destructive contingent of customers who treat sales clerks like a 2d class citizen simply because of the job title and duties. They think you are their slave or something. Most of the time, the customer treated you as though you were a pest when you're just doing the job you are PAID to do...or they'd be really snobby and they'd talk down to you as though you were 2 years old, or they'd talk to their friends about you as if you weren't even there to hear them! I'd even seen some customers when angry go so far as to actually physically ASSAULT sales clerks or scream profanities at them or make very loud and pointed personal insults about the clerk that would reduce that clerk to tears in front of other customers!

and this was all happenening when I worked for one of the more upscale retail stores that is now a part of the Macy's chain! Whenever I'd see customers behaving badly, I tend to think, gosh, wonder how those people act when they go into 7-11 or wal-mart? or do they speak that way to their husband, their children, their minister or doctor? HUMPH!

I'll bet half of those people wouldn't last one day in retail...at any level.

I think that a lot of them are stressed out or bored. I would be stressed out if I had to face lines and lines of people at Wal-mart. I often see teenagers at checkout that don't even smile at me. I am always polite to them and thank them. They might be kind as long as you continue to respect them. What is Safeway? I go where the best prices are I don't care if people are friendly or not. Wal-marts are crowded and not the best place to be at 5pm but they have deals and items from sweatshops. It's a good place ot go for groceries and toiletries.

What I personally cannot stand is when they talk with their friends and have their buddies lounging all around me watching. I appreciate people who can maintain some professionalism. Trust me, they probably don't want to work there in the first place!

I think that stores are loosing their emphasis on having employees be happy and we are now seeing a younger generation of people (generally speaking) that have less respect for jobs and people in general. Consumers are also partly responsible as people are less inclined to be respectful in general towards clerks by doing things like talking on the phone at the register and disregarding people. I also have noticed that when I am nice to cashiers they often act as they are surprised by the kindness. Stores like Safeway are cashing in on having good policies and practices, I know I avoid stores that are notoriously rude and unprofessional.

SUZETTE -I AGREE WITH YOU - yes, some cashiers are such a low life idiots, and have NO basic polite behavior. Those are needs to be fired as their managers who hire them in the first place.

Yes, they perform well at the interview and while the various stores have their own methods in trying to weed out the grumpy "customer losers" there will always be some who will get in under radar. The only way a store will be aware of a socially backward misfit is for the customers to complain.

That's odd. The Walmart here always has friendly cashiers. It must be the managers.

Because there aren't enough people reporting them. People just leave and condemn the entire store. Take action and report them to a manager.

Suzette - Just what are you expecting from people who are A)typically kids B)paid just above minimum wage and C) you aren't at the ritz after all - you were talking about Walmart! Really? You aren't expecting world class service from someone who is just able to pay the rent with $20 to spare are you? That's a ridiculous view.

Modify your expectations based upon the wage you know these folk are paid and the respect they get every day. It's people like yourself who expect these children to fall all over themselves helping you that is the problem.

Think because they know the proper way to ring in at the register and don't want to get a disgruntled former employing getting crazy and killing others.

I just heard about this on the news today and thought "Aren't they a Christian metal band? Innocent until proven guilty.