Woolworths I'm disappointed!

We all shop at supermarkets even if it’s just for cleaning products (personally I prefer to shop at the Farmers Market and the old fashioned Butchers for fresh produce). 

This morning I made a quick trip to my local Woolworths shop to grab a few things before starting my work day. It opens at 7am and as I am usually up at 5 it is not uncommon for me to make the trip early. The staff are usually friendly and busy at this hour as there never seems to be enough of them to get things done. The checkouts are all closed with the exception of the self check out area which mostly doesn't worry me. I grabbed what I needed, went through the check out and then went to the counter where they sell flowers, phone charge, newspapers etc where a lady was cleaning the screen of the register. She asked me how she could help and half way through our transaction a man yelled at her about registers not being open – she replied to him that they were due to open at 8am. I looked over to see him standing there with no groceries or trolley with another man behind him casually dressed waiting for a check out to open. It suddenly occurred to me that this man was not a rude customer but store management (which was confirmed by the lady serving me).

I could not believe that someone on a management level would firstly be so rude to his staff in front of a customer let alone interrupt while that staff member was serving without even an ‘excuse me’. I have spent years in customer service and consider any business that has paying cliental should have a high level of courteous behaviour whether it be a retail store or professional establishment.

I then told this gentleman that I thought his behaviour was unacceptable especially for management and what followed has me absolutely dumbfounded. He came across to me saying he was glad I bought it up and went on and on about the fact that he thought we had finished our transaction (even though it was plain to see we were in the middle). He then informed me that the other customer was yelling at him with my response that he should be setting a better example for his staff. I would expect a junior with no experience to have this type of unprofessional response; as management you should know how to handle a difficult customer and it’s not being rude to staff and another customer. In the end I had to tell him that the conversation was over to get him to stop babbling on.

This is 2013 where I would expect a professional approach. We all make mistakes but understand how to settle a situation, not inflame it. If you are in a position where you control staff lead by example and don’t act like a bully. Whatever business you are in realise that you have a job because of the customer or client. Old fashioned courteous behaviour and respect for co-workers is a good start.