45 Times Dumb Customers Really Pushed Retail Workers To The Limit With Their Questions

“You do have to stay professional at all times, but at the end of the day, the customer ISN’T always right, and you’ve got to stick to policy,” the author of the thread, u/Fragmented-Rooster, told Bored Panda how it’s best to react to clueless customers.

"Keep your remarks until your break later and laugh at their ridiculousness over a coffee," they suggested.

The author also had some practical advice for surviving in a retail job for anyone who's completely new to this line of work. “Your first job probably isn’t going to be great. Stick at it, and if it’s bad, search for a new job while you’re still working. That way, there’s no dip in your paychecks,” they shared some practical advice.

They added that it's always worthwhile to make some friends with the staff. "Always remember no job is worth ruining your mental health over. Stay chill and talk to someone about it. If it’s not for you, then it’s okay to quit,” they advised.

According to the OP, they were inspired to start the discussion after having a conversation with a friend about the very worst customers they both had ever dealt with. Even though u/Fragmented-Rooster hoped the thread would get attention, they never expected the question to get so much traction. 

If you’re working in retail, sooner or later, you will have to deal with someone who’s completely clueless, irritable, rude, or trying to pull the wool over your eyes. It’s part of the job. Any position that requires you to interact with a large number of people is going to show you just how varied humanity is. Sure, most of your customers are probably going to be decent folks. But a small handful of them are probably going to try to ruin your day, whether they mean to or not.

One important thing for retail workers to do is to try to figure out whether their problematic customer is simply having a bad day or if rudeness and entitlement are part of their character. To put it bluntly, after a bout of bad luck, many of us have probably snapped at a stranger when we didn’t mean to. An insightful employee who’s well-versed in empathy is going to be able to recognize that.

Broadly speaking, when working in retail, it’s vital to stay professional, no matter what happens. Your company likely has a guidebook where it lists what it expects all its staff to do when faced with unhappy customers. There’s often a clear protocol. Some businesses also invest in training their workers, teaching them how to de-escalate tense situations. Though roleplaying some common scenarios can be a good teaching tool, it still might not prepare you for the real thing.

In real life, your customers can throw you some curveballs and behave in completely unexpected ways. They might be unwilling to hear you out, even if you’ve got the solution and you’re trying to help them. If the situation is getting out of hand and it’s too much to handle, there’s no shame in asking for some help from a senior employee or your supervisor. They likely have more experience with handling these super-niche scenarios with problematic customers.

Once your colleague or manager steps in to help, pay close attention to what they say, how they say it, and what their body language is like. It’s very likely that they’ll exude an aura of confidence and calm. They’ll probably try to offer the customer some solutions, apologize a bit, and thank them for their concerns.

Politeness can be a very powerful tool in your arsenal, especially when facing overwhelming rudeness. You have to try to resist the impulse to raise your voice and insult the customer. That being said, if they are being abusive, you do not have to tolerate their behavior: you or your manager can ask them to leave. Good companies will have protocols in place to protect their staff in these scenarios.