I'm sure you all know "that" customer...

[Tombo46]

There are many different types of customers but few grate on me as much as this kind...

I had some flowers returned just recently, and rightfully so. They weren't up to our usual standard and had most probably been missed during rotation. I haven't had any flowers returned for well over a year so it's obviously a rarity.

Straight away I apologised and offered her a refund and told her to choose herself another bunch of equal value from outside. No excuses, just apologised and gave her back twice what she originally bought for her trouble. If ever we do have returns people usually turn away the refund and are happy to take the product again. But as I said, it's rare we ever do.

So what makes her "that" customer. She went on and on about how this wasn't meant to be like that and how that shouldn't have been like this and so on and so forth. So I tried to explain to her why it's possible she ended up with some old flowers. Showing her how they looked perfectly fine from above etc but still agreeing that they shouldn't have been like that and this is why I was giving her a refund and the choice of some extra flowers for her trouble.

She carries on....And I've had to drive all the way from my house to bring them back etc etc etc....

At this point I'm trying to figure out what she is hoping to gain from further complaint and I came to the conclusion that basically, she just loves a good moan.

I apologised once again and explained that she had been shopping with us many years and in that time has only ever had to return something once. I also said that while we try to make everything perfect, it is not possible to be 100% flawless and mistakes will occasionally be made. We do our best to make it right as it's also in our best interest for the customer to realise we have made and effort and in turn, hopefully, shop with us again. Her response?

"Well I won't be coming back"...

So what "type" of customer really grates on you...?

Hypocritically all I did in this thread is moan, but at least I admit to enjoying it

 

[quikshop]

Hypocritically all I did in this thread is moan, but at least I admit to enjoying it

Don't we all

As a distance seller its those precious moments when a customer decides to vent the frustrations of their pointless worthless existence down the phone at you that make it all worth while.

Some years ago we sent a customer an item of clothing.

Unfortunately our supplier had changed from making this item from 100% cotton to a polycotton mix and had neglected to inform us or update their own website product description.

So we sent this item out and the customer ended up with the item he ordered but not 100% cotton as advertised.

His response was unrivalled in pure manic hatred! We offered him an immediate replacement and to cover his return postage costs, but no he wanted paying at £30 an hour for the time and inconvenience in having to 'deal' with our lies and fraudulent website!

He nearly reduced our customer services girl to tears, I took over the call and ended up putting the phone down on him 3 times before he finally ran out of red-faced vein-throbbing anger. He was definitely "that" customer...

 

[Tombo46]

Don't we all

As a distance seller its those precious moments when a customer decides to vent the frustrations of their pointless worthless existence down the phone at you that make it all worth while.

Some years ago we sent a customer an item of clothing.

Unfortunately our supplier had changed from making this item from 100% cotton to a polycotton mix and had neglected to inform us or update their own website product description.

So we sent this item out and the customer ended up with the item he ordered but not 100% cotton as advertised.

His response was unrivalled in pure manic hatred! We offered him an immediate replacement and to cover his return postage costs, but no he wanted paying at £30 an hour for the time and inconvenience in having to 'deal' with our lies and fraudulent website!

He nearly reduced our customer services girl to tears, I took over the call and ended up putting the phone down on him 3 times before he finally ran out of red-faced vein-throbbing anger. He was definitely "that" customer...

and I thought I had it bad! Damn you'd need the patience of a saint!!

£30 an hour haha. You've got to love those "my time is worth" types.

I'd try the same, except I earn less than minimum wage if were talking hourly. Like so many self employed people haha.

 

[CashManagement]

Many many years ago I worked on a Customer Service desk for Littlewoods Stores, and a very angry lady came in and threw a carrier bag at me demanding a refund due to poor quality school trousers falling apart, I took great pleasure in being able to say....

"I'm really sorry but I cannot give you a refund" and before she could launch into further ranting continued "these trousers are from Tescos"

Long time ago but still makes me chuckle!

 

[Tombo46]

Many many years ago I worked on a Customer Service desk for Littlewoods Stores, and a very angry lady came in and threw a carrier bag at me demanding a refund due to poor quality school trousers falling apart, I took great pleasure in being able to say....

"I'm really sorry but I cannot give you a refund" and before she could launch into further ranting continued "these trousers are from Tescos"

Long time ago but still makes me chuckle!

And I bet you never received an apology!

I've had that a couple of times. People returning produce only for me to say "sorry, you bought this from Tesco, It say's it on the punnet..."

 

[CashManagement]

Nope - no apology - but a great feeling of smugness!!

 

[Tombo46]

Nope - no apology - but a great feeling of smugness!!

beats any apology hands down. In all seriousness though. Can you ever imagine making that sort of mistake and not apologising for it? I think the sort who kick off like that are the sort that think they don't owe anyone an apology. It wasn't her fault. It was yours for not being Tesco!

 

[Steve_g]

See i don’t work with customers face to face, i have to deal with keyboard warriors who have little manors and like to throw accusations and incorrect consumer laws all over the place, people who feel hard done by you and expect the world in return.

I had a customer recently on eBay, purchased a £2 item to the USA with £1.60 shipping, they expected a tracking number for this (tracking costs us £8 and isn’t guaranteed by RM) a week after the purchase they went happy we hadn’t provided the tracking number and decided that we must be scammers and thieves and reported so with a nice red dot on our feedback.

So, although we are a reputable limited company with 25k happy customers on eBay alone it was all a ploy... to lure him into a false sense of security to scam him of this £3.60... really? how dense are these people?
Also don’t like people who think a quick Google and their opinion makes them more qualified then a real certified industry expert
Steve

 

[Jet Virtual]

Firing isn't only for bad employees but also for bad bosses and bad clients!
Fire whoever annoys you in life and live in peace.

 

[Doodle-Noodle]

We hand paint toy boxes and memory boxes, made only to order and completely to customers' individual requirements. Generally speaking, memory boxes can incorporate absolutely anything - we do them for weddings based on the couple's chosen colours, anniversaries, boxes for people who have passed away which can have anything at all from the person's hobby, favourite place, the church they were married/buried at etc.
Toy boxes tend to be slightly less specific - people buying for girls generally want something pretty with fairies, angels, pinks & glitters, while for boys it's football, cars, trucks, trains, dinosaurs etc.
We'll paint more or less anything really, in whatever colours the customer wants, put names, date of birth or whatever. Lots of choices, but it's not rocket science, seems pretty clear to me what sort of service we are offering.
We photograph what we have done so that customers can have an idea, but no 2 are ever the same.
A few months ago, customer comes in - wants a toybox for her grandaughter. Lovely I say, what would you like on it? She doesn't know, so I show her the photos of previous boxes to help inspire her. About 13 photos in she says "I want that one but I wanted one with (some silly made up name) on". I tell her that since we paint all our boxes completely by hand she can have whatever she wants on it. "But have you got one with (some silly made up name) on" she says. I say no, we would paint it especially for you. She says "But can you get (some silly made up name) - that one says Emily on it".
In the end this particular customer chose a pink fairy theme which would have been fine, but then wanted a Man Utd badge painted on it because her son in law is a Man City fan and she thought it would be funny.
I actually turned the job down in the end as it would have looked awful!.

 

[David Griffiths]

Many many years ago I worked on a Customer Service desk for Littlewoods Stores, and a very angry lady came in and threw a carrier bag at me demanding a refund due to poor quality school trousers falling apart, I took great pleasure in being able to say....

"I'm really sorry but I cannot give you a refund" and before she could launch into further ranting continued "these trousers are from Tescos"

Long time ago but still makes me chuckle!

Also a long time ago, a friend of mine was working at Burtons, and an irate customer came in to complain about a suit that he'd purchased.

My mate had to explain that he needed to return the suit to Burtons the Tailors, and that he was actually in Burtons Biscuits. Didn't even offer the bloke a Wagon Wheel or a Jammie Dodger!

 

[kulture]

We recycle our boxes. We had a customer who ordered a set of Halo figures. So we boxed them up in the most suitable sized box we had. It happened to be a Gears of War box. Two days latter we had this extreemly angry customer complaining that we sent the wrong goods. She was non-stop ranting and raving about how we were stupid, ruined her son's birthday, etc etc etc. We apologised, said we could not understand what happened, we were sure we sent Halo figures. She said that we certainly had not, we had sent Gears of War figures which her son would hate. We simply could not work out how it could have happened. Eventually we worked it out... we asked her if she had opened the box...She had not. We had sent out exactly what she had ordered.

Instead of apologising, she started ranting on about us using the wrong box and confusing her. We hung up.

 

[thegascupboard]

We sell products for model railways. These include 1/76 scale fences, hay bales, concrete bollards to name a few. Only last week we had a web order for 4 packs of hay bales and i thought i'd better explain these aren't real, fullsize hay bales - how can we even get 4 hay bales POSTED by RM for less than £24 all in!?

 

[mhall]

Our most hated customers are the ones we get on a daily basis who, after wandering around, picking everything up, messing everything up say "well, at least I know where you are.......and wander out"

Our well versed and friendly response is "yes, at the very least!"

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Our most hated customers are the ones we get on a daily basis who, after wandering around, picking everything up, messing everything up say "well, at least I know where you are.......and wander out"

Our well versed and friendly response is "yes, at the very least!"

This is what puts me off going into brick and mortar shops these days to be honest.

If you go in to have a look, but can't find anything you would like to buy, you either feel guilty for making them think they could have a sale, or you feel like the owner is annoyed at you.

If I pass a shop and the owner is just sat there in silence, looking at me, waiting, I just don't even bother going in.

 

[mhall]

This is what puts me off going into brick and mortar shops these days to be honest.

If you go in to have a look, but can't find anything you would like to buy, you either feel guilty for making them think they could have a sale, or you feel like the owner is annoyed at you.

If I pass a shop and the owner is just sat there in silence, looking at me, waiting, I just don't even bother going in.

We don't mind anyone not buying, although it is rare, we will happily chat or not, as the person wishes, but we know what the phrase means. We would rather they give us some form of feedback - it is the customer equivalent of a member of staff saying "Can I help you?"

We will gladly send you to a competitor if that is better for you, we will help you with your inspiration because that is what a good Retailer does - we are not desperate for the sale. We know that if we are nice you will come back at some point. The trouble is everyone is so guarded and assumes we are going to jump down their throat. PLEASE TALK TO US, we are NICE people and we are not going to pick pocket you or force you to buy something that is wrong for you or out of your budget. That said, we will help you to buy, because we are good at it, but you won't regret it.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

We don't mind anyone not buying, although it is rare, we will happily chat or not, as the person wishes, but we know what the phrase means. We would rather they give us some form of feedback - it is the customer equivalent of a member of staff saying "Can I help you?"

We will gladly send you to a competitor if that is better for you, we will help you with your inspiration because that is what a good Retailer does - we are not desperate for the sale. We know that if we are nice you will come back at some point. The trouble is everyone is so guarded and assumes we are going to jump down their throat. PLEASE TALK TO US, we are NICE people and we are not going to pick pocket you or force you to buy something that is wrong for you or out of your budget. That said, we will help you to buy, because we are good at it, but you won't regret it.

Unfortunately, people are defensive as they tar everyone with the same brush. For every retailer who will have the no pressure approach, there is a retailer who will make it very awkward for the potential customer to say "no". People would just rather not take the chance.

The fact is, people simply don't like saying "no". There may be a myriad of excuses people make which passes the blame for not buying on to something or someone else, where in reality, they simply don't want to buy it and don't want to have to explain why.

I'm sure you didn't mean it as it seemed. I just thought that "most hated" was a little severe.

 

[josor]

Our most hated customers are the ones we get on a daily basis who, after wandering around, picking everything up, messing everything up say "well, at least I know where you are.......and wander out"

Our well versed and friendly response is "yes, at the very least!"

Nearly as bad as the customer that comes in and says " nice to see a proper menswear shop in the town" to then say "not buying anything today" and promptly walk out without even browsing.

 

[Huddlebuy]

Well, it's very often in retail industry to find 'that' customers especially with some brands having generous refund policies. With your loyal customers you think you're in a safe place and they wouldn't throw attitude of an 'that' customer but that's really not the case.

In my recent research i was amazed to see that these days even loyal customers give you a scare with returning items even after use just saying that it wasn't good or was defective. Just because the retailer gets tied down to their return policy they are in no position to convince the customer but to incur a loss by giving refund to the customer. Switching is very simple for buyers especially in the current economy. A small price change and there you go.... the customer runs away...

 

[Doodle-Noodle]

I don't mind people coming in not buying, they will usully come back at some point and spend - I do ask them to "shout if you need help" and if they say they're just having a mooch or a browse, I tell them mooching is good for the soul and to mooch as long as they like.
I do object, however, to the people who send their unaccompanied kids in to wreak havoc while they are having dental treatment next door - that really, really, REALLY winds me up and amazes me how often it happens.

 

[Trisha&ChrisPlant]

Our most hated customers are the ones we get on a daily basis who, after wandering around, picking everything up, messing everything up say "well, at least I know where you are.......and wander out"

Our well versed and friendly response is "yes, at the very least!"

Grrrr...we get that all the time as well. I just shout a very loud 'GOODBYE' as they are heading out of the door...

 

[Trisha&ChrisPlant]

I don't mind people coming in not buying, they will usully come back at some point and spend - I do ask them to "shout if you need help" and if they say they're just having a mooch or a browse, I tell them mooching is good for the soul and to mooch as long as they like.
I do object, however, to the people who send their unaccompanied kids in to wreak havoc while they are having dental treatment next door - that really, really, REALLY winds me up and amazes me how often it happens.

We have a car park at the front of our shop which belongs to us. We also have signs to say 'customer car parking only'. The other day a couple park their car. The male partner walks off up the street and the woman comes into the shop and just mooches around not really looking at anything in particular, but has one eye on the car park. The partner comes back 10 minutes later and hey presto, she's had enough browsing and promptly wanders out to join him and they drive off. So obviously just a ruse to use the car park. I bite my tongue, but was sorely tempted to point out to her that the partner was back and that she could leave!

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

I don't mind people coming in not buying, they will usully come back at some point and spend - I do ask them to "shout if you need help" and if they say they're just having a mooch or a browse, I tell them mooching is good for the soul and to mooch as long as they like.

I'd be the same. People browsing can go far beyond just turning into customers or not. The fact is, once they've had a look, your products and your business will be fresh in their minds for a while. This means that they can recommend your products to someone who may be looking for them - even far into the future.

I can remember numerous times where I've recommended a shop to someone despite never actually buying anything from it. I've just known that they sell it there.

Plus, more people in the shop often makes for a more comfortable atmosphere. It makes it seem like your shop is popular, which encourages more people to enter, and it helps people to feel more relaxed instead of finding themselves in the situation where it's just the shop owner and one browser in an awkward silence.

Grrrr...we get that all the time as well. I just shout a very loud 'GOODBYE' as they are heading out of the door...

Why though? You don't have a divine right for people to buy from you whenever they enter.

I would encourage as many people as possible to come into my shop and appreciate it when they do. Sometimes the line "at least I know where you are" isn't necessarily a fruitless statement. People can return weeks, months and even years later because they know what you sell, or they can recommend your shop to others.

I can understand how it may be frustrating, but this is a part of retail which is set in stone and has been for decades. The sector is struggling enough as it is without owners staring daggers into people's backs whenever they're leaving without buying anything.

 

[bigeasy]

I had a good customer a few weeks ago. I own a flooring shop and previously was the fitter when the shop was under old management.
A lady asked me to give her a quote for some vinyl based on her sizes, I gave her the quote, £185 pluss fitting or there-abouts. "The last people who were here said they would do it for £100" she said, "free fitting too!".
I knew damn well that was not the case, I hadn't changed the price of the vinyl and I certainly didn't fit stuff for free, being self-employed. I told her politely that she should have taken up their offer when she was quoted before, as I certainly wasn't going to budge (I hate people lying to my face).
If she had just asked I would have knocked a few quid off, I expect a bit of haggling in my job, but when she tried it on like that I didn't want her custom.
From past experience they are the sort of customer who doesn't want to pay anything and will lie through their teeth saying that the fitter damaged something.
The worst one I had was when I was fitting some laminate in a bedroom and the customer rushed upstairs from the living room screaming that I'd just broken her mobile phone and demanding I replaced it!
It turned out one of the glass light shades in the room below the one I was working in had fallen out of the holder and hit her mobile which was on the table below! grrr

 

[Rhyl Lightworks]

There are many different types of customers but few grate on me as much as this kind...

I had some flowers returned just recently, and rightfully so. They weren't up to our usual standard and had most probably been missed during rotation. I haven't had any flowers returned for well over a year so it's obviously a rarity.

Straight away I apologised and offered her a refund and told her to choose herself another bunch of equal value from outside. No excuses, just apologised and gave her back twice what she originally bought for her trouble. If ever we do have returns people usually turn away the refund and are happy to take the product again. But as I said, it's rare we ever do.

So what makes her "that" customer. She went on and on about how this wasn't meant to be like that and how that shouldn't have been like this and so on and so forth. So I tried to explain to her why it's possible she ended up with some old flowers. Showing her how they looked perfectly fine from above etc but still agreeing that they shouldn't have been like that and this is why I was giving her a refund and the choice of some extra flowers for her trouble.

She carries on....And I've had to drive all the way from my house to bring them back etc etc etc....

At this point I'm trying to figure out what she is hoping to gain from further complaint and I came to the conclusion that basically, she just loves a good moan.

I apologised once again and explained that she had been shopping with us many years and in that time has only ever had to return something once. I also said that while we try to make everything perfect, it is not possible to be 100% flawless and mistakes will occasionally be made. We do our best to make it right as it's also in our best interest for the customer to realise we have made and effort and in turn, hopefully, shop with us again. Her response?

"Well I won't be coming back"...

So what "type" of customer really grates on you...?

Hypocritically all I did in this thread is moan, but at least I admit to enjoying it

I can see both points of view. The customer may have wanted the flowers for a special occasion and was disappointed when she found they were not up to expectations, but she should have checked this before leaving the shop. I would have probably reacted in the same way as you did, maybe with the added question to her 'what would you like me to do?' Despite our best efforts, these things occasionally happen.

Barrie

 

[a1anm]

Grrrr...we get that all the time as well. I just shout a very loud 'GOODBYE' as they are heading out of the door...

Really?! Those are potential customers. There is a chance they would have come back at a later date to buy something or told their friends about your shop. Just because they didn't need/want to buy anything on that particular occasion doesn't mean they would never buy something.

Now the only thing they will be telling people is how rude the staff in the shop are and to avoid the place.

 

[internetspaceships]

Really?! Those are potential customers. There is a chance they would have come back at a later date to buy something or told their friends about your shop. Just because they didn't need/want to buy anything on that particular occasion doesn't mean they would never buy something.

Now the only thing they will be telling people is how rude the staff in the shop are and to avoid the place.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to read that into the post. I was thinking the same as you Alan.

 

[Trisha&ChrisPlant]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to read that into the post. I was thinking the same as you Alan.

I wasn't aware that it was rude to say goodbye to customers?

 

[mhall]

I think we all have a very friendly way of expressing our frustrations. We have codes amongst the staff that customers are not privvy to so we can communicate our thoughts whilst smiling and I am sure all other types of business have their equivalent.

 

[Trisha&ChrisPlant]

I think we all have a very friendly way of expressing our frustrations. We have codes amongst the staff that customers are not privvy to so we can communicate our thoughts whilst smiling and I am sure all other types of business have their equivalent.

Precisely

 

[a1anm]

I wasn't aware that it was rude to say goodbye to customers?

Saying goodbye isn't. SHOUTING IT AT THEM VERY LOUDLY is.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

I think we all have a very friendly way of expressing our frustrations. We have codes amongst the staff that customers are not privvy to so we can communicate our thoughts whilst smiling and I am sure all other types of business have their equivalent.

I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. A vast majority of communication between humans happens on a sub-conscious level. It can even come down to something as small as tiny muscle movements in the face which you cannot control, as well as many other aspects of body language, eye contact and speech tonality.

Your feelings will always come through to some degree, and that creates a negative or untrusting atmosphere. No one can fake being completely genuine and people do pick up on it.

 

[fairdealworld]

There are many different types of customers but few grate on me as much as this kind...

I had some flowers returned just recently, and rightfully so. They weren't up to our usual standard and had most probably been missed during rotation. I haven't had any flowers returned for well over a year so it's obviously a rarity.

Straight away I apologised and offered her a refund and told her to choose herself another bunch of equal value from outside. No excuses, just apologised and gave her back twice what she originally bought for her trouble. If ever we do have returns people usually turn away the refund and are happy to take the product again. But as I said, it's rare we ever do.

So what makes her "that" customer. She went on and on about how this wasn't meant to be like that and how that shouldn't have been like this and so on and so forth. So I tried to explain to her why it's possible she ended up with some old flowers. Showing her how they looked perfectly fine from above etc but still agreeing that they shouldn't have been like that and this is why I was giving her a refund and the choice of some extra flowers for her trouble.

She carries on....And I've had to drive all the way from my house to bring them back etc etc etc....

At this point I'm trying to figure out what she is hoping to gain from further complaint and I came to the conclusion that basically, she just loves a good moan.

I she wasn't dead I'd say that customer was my mother! The experience of having to go shopping with her when I was a child turned me into an ultra polite and easy to please customer!

I think the catch with this sort of customer is that it is more than the love of a good moan, reactions like this arise from a completely lop-sided view of life.

I'm good at being charming to everyone who comes into my shop but occasionally you have to put your foot down. I know that a member of my staff was absolutely astonished on one occasion when a 'customer' was for no possible reason at all being exceptionally rude to her and I walked up and not only ordered him from the shop but told him never to return. The staff member was quite worried about the incident and I had to point out to her that a) the 'customer' hadn't bought anything and it was hugely unlikely that he ever would b) if this 'customer' still retained any friends we definitely didn't want them in the shop either and c) she was of much more value to my business than this 'customer'.

 

[mhall]

I wouldn't be so sure if I were you. A vast majority of communication between humans happens on a sub-conscious level. It can even come down to something as small as tiny muscle movements in the face which you cannot control, as well as many other aspects of body language, eye contact and speech tonality.

Your feelings will always come through to some degree, and that creates a negative or untrusting atmosphere. No one can fake being completely genuine and people do pick up on it.

Nonsense, I doubt very much the customer in question could give a damn. It doesn't matter which shop you are in, we all have our own "secret" thoughts and ways of dealing with people. The next time you are in Asda and the person serving you is spoken to by another member of staff and the words "Bob" or "Lisa" is used, you will have no idea that the member of staff is being reminded that you may be shop lifting.

Only truly anal plonkers will be thinking about miniscule muscle movements. Whilst what you say is true, in the real world we really don't care about other people at all, let alone study their ticks !

 

[mhall]

I she wasn't dead I'd say that customer was my mother! The experience of having to go shopping with her when I was a child turned me into an ultra polite and easy to please customer!

I think the catch with this sort of customer is that it is more than the love of a good moan, reactions like this arise from a completely lop-sided view of life.

I'm good at being charming to everyone who comes into my shop but occasionally you have to put your foot down. I know that a member of my staff was absolutely astonished on one occasion when a 'customer' was for no possible reason at all being exceptionally rude to her and I walked up and not only ordered him from the shop but told him never to return. The staff member was quite worried about the incident and I had to point out to her that a) the 'customer' hadn't bought anything and it was hugely unlikely that he ever would b) if this 'customer' still retained any friends we definitely didn't want them in the shop either and c) she was of much more value to my business than this 'customer'.

Yep, nothing nicer than sacking a customer. Thankfully I have only needed to do it a couple of times but good staff are a lot harder to find than good customers.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Nonsense,

It's proven psychology.

I doubt very much the customer in question could give a damn. It doesn't matter which shop you are in, we all have our own "secret" thoughts and ways of dealing with people. The next time you are in Asda and the person serving you is spoken to by another member of staff and the words "Bob" or "Lisa" is used, you will have no idea that the member of staff is being reminded that you may be shop lifting.

Which is where the sub-conscious communication comes into play. I'm well versed in psychology as I'm a copywriter, but even if I wasn't, I'd be able to tell if someone was suspicious of me just by the way they acted around me. Couldn't you? Even the way someone looks at you gives away SO much about what they're thinking.

When people complain of getting a funny 'vibe' from someone, or feeling a strange atmosphere, it isn't some kind of magical force. It's real communication.

Only truly anal plonkers will be thinking about miniscule muscle movements. Whilst what you say is true, in the real world we really don't care about other people at all, let alone study their ticks !

I think you've missed the point of sub-conscious communication. People don't notice these things logically. It's a mixture of very subtle forms of communication which give off a certain vibe.

And you might think that people don't care, but if a customer gets a bad vibe or weird atmosphere in your shop, they won't come back.

Personally, I'm surprised you believe that you can mock potential customers in your shop when they're standing a few feet away from you using some kind of secret code without them picking up on anything at all.

If you genuinely had to vent your thoughts, surely you could wait until after they left at the very least?

 

[josor]

It's proven psychology.



Which is where the sub-conscious communication comes into play. I'm well versed in psychology as I'm a copywriter, but even if I wasn't, I'd be able to tell if someone was suspicious of me just by the way they acted around me. Couldn't you? Even the way someone looks at you gives away SO much about what they're thinking.

When people complain of getting a funny 'vibe' from someone, or feeling a strange atmosphere, it isn't some kind of magical force. It's real communication.



I think you've missed the point of sub-conscious communication. People don't notice these things logically. It's a mixture of very subtle forms of communication which give off a certain vibe.

And you might think that people don't care, but if a customer gets a bad vibe or weird atmosphere in your shop, they won't come back.

Personally, I'm surprised you believe that you can mock potential customers in your shop when they're standing a few feet away from you using some kind of secret code without them picking up on anything at all.

If you genuinely had to vent your thoughts, surely you could wait until after they left at the very least?

Or basically reading into situations more than it needs?

 

[josor]

Which is where the sub-conscious communication comes into play. I'm well versed in psychology as I'm a copywriter, but even if I wasn't, I'd be able to tell if someone was suspicious of me just by the way they acted around me. Couldn't you?

Only suspicious of those thieving gits, that normally are aware that they are being watched.

I am also well versed in psychology as i'm a retailer and can read the sub-conscious communication as soon as they come through the door, as I would expect most other retailers in the forum

 

[josor]

Personally, I'm surprised you believe that you can mock potential customers in your shop when they're standing a few feet away from you using some kind of secret code without them picking up on anything at all.

Take it you have never worked in retail environment ie on the shop floor?

 

[mhall]

Nobody is mocking anyone - it is non verbal communication designed to protect the business and the staff. "LISA", as I mentioned stands for "Look Inside, Always" and is used to remind checkout staff that customers could be hiding product in another product. "BOB" is code for "check the Bottom Of the Box" as customers also hide things there. If you knew what it meant you would no doubt be offended if you heard it said while you were being served, but they do it well and it never even registers with you. Sainsburys had over a dozen codes while I was there, Asda has about the same and Tesco has double. They are legitimate tools.

Even in our tiny shops: "Is it time for a cuppa?" is used to signal that someone in the shop needs watching, while "I need to pop to the bank" is our code for telling another member of staff that the customer is fine and just likes to browse but doesn't like being spoken to. We have about six others that cover most eventualities, none of which are "mocking".

If you actually tune in to the staff you will hear this type of things is said on a daily basis in most shops- but you don't pick up on it. I would bet you can't even remember the face of the staff who served you an hour after you have left the supermarket unless they said something memorable to you (which is what they are trained to do in good Retailers and will have been given a script to follow, the good ones make it sound natural).

Believe me, good Retailers know a damned sight more about the sub conscious than you realise, believe it or not, we are not just trained to grunt and ask for money!


However, you are blowing it up out of all proportion, As I said, what you comment on is, strictly speaking, true but I would suggest the vast majority of us are far too wrapped up in ourselves to worry about the nuances of someones tick that we probably don't know and couldn't care less about anyway.

In respect of "bad vibes" these are often picked up totally falsely because someone misunderstands what someone says or how they say it - the reason that humour does or does not work, depending on the person.

You could be genuinly nice and sincere but still be thought of as "smarmy" by one person and "delightful" by the next. There are three sides to every coin.