COVID-19 Tips for handling rude guests? (Esp. in softlines)

[theveeem]

Hello all...

I’m going to make this short, sweet, and absolutely 111% honest because CRIPES there is a global pandemic occurring.

Soon I will be returning to work, and I absolutely fear my critical gut reactions to disgusting, self-involved, scourge of the earth me-first gimmee-gimmee JERKS out there who are already destroying our local targets with their grimy little paws days BEFORE our state lifted the order to shelter in place.

It makes me sick.

Tips, please. Advice from fellow front-softliners who are being yelled at for closed fitting rooms. I’ve already designated a BRL as the Weeping Galley, should I need to go back and squeeze a breath in. Or some tears out. 😂

That being said, I genuinely do not want to lose my job.

But I am also of the mindset that THIS IS SERIOUS no matter *where* one lives, because we are all connected. We truly, truly are.

It is very difficult to be living in a place where people have missed the point entirely.

All help is welcome and appreciated.

🙂

 

[happygoth]

I'm jumping on the coattails of this and would love to hear how fellow Style TMs are handling things. By the time my leave is up I'm sure the fitting rooms will be open and I can't even.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Oh wait, we have only 1 person scheduled all week as mid....a tl in the am. Just say for safety concerns, it closed.

 

[Dog]

Kill em with kindness

 

[OK Then]

Ditto to be kind. I politely but firmly remind them it is for their safety and that there are signs everywhere saying don’t try on clothes in the middle of the sales floor. We removed most of the mirrors on the floor to discourage people from trying on clothes.

And when they bitch about it I blame other guests who didn’t follow the rules (even though I know they were trying to do the same thing).

And when they call me or the rules stupid I let them know we would rather lose their business than one of us losing our lives. Then I walk away happy that they can’t read my lips behind this mask.

Honestly most of the time I try to let it roll off my back. But I will admit that this whole thing has made me realize that a good portion of our guests are absolute garbage. I rely on the nice ones to keep my faith that not everyone is a dipshit.

 

[Shani]

It's hard to deal with. The last shift I had before we went on overnights, I was kind of rude to two customers. One was bitching about pillows and the other was whining because we didn't have a specific version of Tylenol.

Now that we're back on mornings, I'll really try not to snap at anyone, but I'm not being friendly to those people either. I can't do it. They want niceness from me, they need to be nice also.

I have been pretty blunt with the people I've seen coming back every truck day looking for more stuff I know they already have. If they gripe to me about us being out of something, I say "well, blame the customers who come in here every truck day just to hoard more of it a little at a time." Tends to shut them up.

 

[Kaitii]

here in tech we say fuck off without actually saying fuck off

 

[Louiethe3]

My favorite thing to tell those who have lots of trouble grasping this health & safety concepts is something along the lines of "Target & I would rather sell a few less clothes then you catch COVID-19 from clothes other guests have touched and die." That makes it sound like we care about guests over business & the word die adds some seriousness to it. You can insert whatever item guests are upset about.

 

[Bufferine]

A couple weeks ago I went online to the target Facebook. I was feeling down and needed to see a Little encouragement. I know I’m no nurse but a little appreciation.
It was all complaints. Why weren’t cashier changing their gloves after each person. How discussing and lazy we were because some saw used gloves in the parking lot and we weren’t cleaning them fast enough. Drive up should have a person that is outside at all times and just handed packages. We are getting to close to guests. The list goes on.
My rude guest trick is smile and sing my ABC’s in my head and kind of nod.

 

[Fluttervale]

I'm in market but I just don't respond. I've come up with a pretty convincing "I'm too stupid to yell at" over the years.

Just say that it's a corporate rule and you don't know why. And if they don't say it direectly to you, then don't allow the passive aggression to work by responding anyways.

 

[Yetive]

Ask to be taught to prep or pack SFS. Explain your fears and that you would like some time away from guests every day. We have single coverage in style all day, and that person is pulling flexies half the time anyway. Our VM is not doing VM stuff for her whole shift on any day she works. This isn't a way to deal with guests, but could help you ease back in.

Be firm and polite about your distance. We have stickers to wear about keeping 6 feet distance. I have told guests that I am observing a 6 foot social distance, and none has reacted badly--all have kept their distance. I find that if you say, "in these unprecedented times," and, "abundance of caution," people react pretty well, but not always. Focus on your own safety.

 

[tracemick8824]

Try to remember that some days you will be able to handle the rude guests better than others and that’s okay. Talk to your TL or team members if you have a difficult interaction so you can take 5 minutes or so to walk away or maybe do something else where you’re not interacting with guests. I had to do this yesterday while on register. There was a lull and I went and did some price audits around the store just to walk around. It helped. It’s easier said than done but try not to be hard on yourself. Good luck and be safe! ❤️

 

[happygoth]

I'm hoping that the fact that most people are wearing masks now, as well as my agressive physical distancing, will help to ease my fears. When I first went on leave, no one was wearing masks and the steps to increase physical distancing were just beginning to be implemented.

 

[FlowTeamChick]

Re: fitting rooms - a bit suspicious that the restroom near the pharmacy was used as a fitting room yesterday. Didn't see the guest go in there with a bunch of items, but she was fussing with a dress on a hanger after exiting and there was a pile of various items left on the bench that's there for pharmacy guests waiting.

 

[Captain Orca]

Standing on line when Karen crawls up your bumper: "get away, move, you're standing too close to me." Use your Mom voice, Dad voice, Captain voice~

 

[can't touch this]

Magdump them with kindness

 

[Captain Orca]

I personally think the momvoice is best, good kids being kids will freeze when a good mom lets loose!

 

[Captain Orca]

The dadvoice will push a rambunctious little boy's buttons with marginal effect. The momvoice when correctly presented is uni-gender and stops them all.

 

[commiecorvus]

I've talked about this before, so if you've been on the board for a while this will be boring.
Now this tends to work for me because I'm big, furry, and have a resting 'I Hunt People Like You For Sport' face.
What I use is aggressive politeness.
It's a variation on the kill them with kindness only adding in being really intense, loud, sarcastic, and in their space.
They can't object because you are saying all the right things and following all the right protocols but they really don't want to continue the experience any longer than is absolutely necessary.
The more obnoxious they get the louder and more obsequious I get.
For the people who are so egocentric that they don't get I'm having fun at their expense it works fine because they are happy and leave.
For the ones who are uncomfortable with being confronted they leave.
For the one who realize they are being made fun of but can't do anything because you haven't broken any rules they leave.
So, the end result is they all leave.

 

[Shani]

We are getting to close to guests.

Huh? WE are getting too close to the guests? No no no, definitely the opposite at my store. These people won't stay back for anything. You're trying to work in an aisle and they waltz right in and stand behind you while they take their time browsing products.

I've started parking my U-boat at the end of the aisle I'm working in on the "front" side and asking guests if I can grab something for them. A lot of them are actually cool with it and are good with me handing them stuff. If they ask to go down the aisle, I say "please give me a second to get to the other side" and I'll get out of their way. If they enter the aisle from the other side, that at least gives me time to move away.

One of our vendors made a big sign for her cart telling people to keep their distance because she said nobody respects her space either.

 

[theveeem]

Thank you to the moon and back for your honest input and thoughts, guys. I’m quite lucky to have stumbled upon this wonderful community here at thebreakroom... 😊

As with how this whole re-entering the workplace during a global pandemic while living in a relatively unaffected state home to naive and arbitrary views on the actual severity of what is occurring... 😬 well, you might see me accepting a cold one in our chat forum come evening on a daily basis. 😂

 

[Bufferine]

I've talked about this before, so if you've been on the board for a while this will be boring.
Now this tends to work for me because I'm big, furry, and have a resting 'I Hunt People Like You For Sport' face.
What I use is aggressive politeness.
It's a variation on the kill them with kindness only adding in being really intense, loud, sarcastic, and in their space.
They can't object because you are saying all the right things and following all the right protocols but they really don't want to continue the experience any longer than is absolutely necessary.
The more obnoxious they get the louder and more obsequious I get.
For the people who are so egocentric that they don't get I'm having fun at their expense it works fine because they are happy and leave.
For the ones who are uncomfortable with being confronted they leave.
For the one who realize they are being made fun of but can't do anything because you haven't broken any rules they leave.
So, the end result is they all leave.

Can you please post an example.

 

[Tarshitsucks]

My advice is keep wipes such as Wet ones near by so if somebody comes a little too close you can use those. Try to keep some sort of cleaner on hand and do your own sanitizing don't trust your store to do for you. If guest gets too close don't be afraid to step back. When you get home change clothes right away and wash up. I know you said you didn't want to lose your job but quitting is always the safest option but not financially the smartest.

 

[commiecorvus]

Can you please post an example.

Me, "Can I Help You Find Something!?" This is said with a WTF are you doing tone.
Karen who has a huge stack of clothes in her arms, "I want to try these on."
"I'm Sorry But The Dressing Rooms Are Closed During The Pandemic." Inflection is important.
Karen, "But, how am I going to know if these will fit for my protest dinner party?"
"I'm Sorry But Right Now That Isn't An Option." Again inflection but with much more emphasis.
Karen, 'Where are the mirrors? At least I can look."
"I'm Terribly Sorry But There Aren't Any! Can I Help You Find Anything Else?" Volume has gone up but also inflection of the words.
"Then I don't want any of these."
"I'm So Sorry To Hear That. Let Me Know If There Is Anything Else I Can Do For You." Sarcasm, volume and inflection
"I want to talk to the manager."
"I'm Commiecorvus, The Team Leader. How Can I Help You?" Said with very Cheshire Cat Grin. The kind of look you might give someone if you planned to keep them in your basement and make a skinsuit out of them.
Very shocked face, runaway, runaway.
Bye Karen.