The View From The Other Side Of The Counter

At ConsumerAffairs.com, we hear from hundreds of consumers every day. Occasionally, we hear from someone who works for a business that deals with consumers on a daily basis. Often, what they have to say can be enlightening.

This week, we heard from J., who says she is a sales associate at a Forever 21 store in the Dallas, Tex., area. Before starting the job, she said she tended to agree with many of the consumers writing about Forever 21, who said stores are dirty, racks over the limit, and sales associates are rude.

“But when I took a job there I realized why it is like that, and there is a reason for everything,” J. told ConsumerAffairs.com.

So, why are sales associates at some stores rude? It's a frequent complaint from consumers writing to ConsumerAffairs.com, whether the encounter is in person or over the phone.

“On July 12, 2011, I decided to go to my US Bank branch to cash a few checks and pay my monthly home mortgage,” Linda, of Seattle, Wash., recently told ConsumerAffairs.com. “I walked up to a teller and her unpleasant aura immediately overwhelmed me. She obnoxiously told me that there was a fee of $5 if I wanted to pay my home mortgage without a US Bank account. I was extremely surprised since I had never been asked to pay this fee. I then simply asked her if it was possible to waive the fee this time and then let me make an account later that week. It was a simple yes or no question. She then rudely said no and, I kid you not, threw my ID card and my cash at me.”

That does sound pretty rude, and though J. is not a bank teller, she may offer some perspective.

Spirit-draining

“The reason the sales associates and managers seem rude is because we have to deal with rudeness all day and after you have been there a month and have to deal with girls' rude behavior, sloppy customers, and a completely wrecked store by the end of the night, you get to be a little POed at work,” J. said. “After you work there for awhile, it seriously drains your spirit.”

We, as consumers, rarely feel much empathy for the person on the other side of the counter, who may not be that well trained, not that well paid, and who has what could be a soul-crushing job. According to J., they are often caught in the middle between an uncaring corporate structure that makes impossible demands and an increasingly surly group of customers.

When a sales associate is rude or belligerent, J. has this advice: don't confront the employee directly, or complain in front of them.

“Take the manager aside and complain, because if you do it in public, rudely, the associate most likely won’t even get a warning,” J. said. 

A good rule of thumb is to cut employees some slack, even when  they're a little out of sorts.  

After all, we're not living in a sheikdom.  Retail employees are not our servants. This is a democracy.  They're our equals and deserve to be treated with courtesy and respect.