I would like to start an honest and frank discussion about the challenges we face (especially in the front end!) in dealing with minority customers. In our store they are the source of the majority of our go back or they get to the register and find they don't have enough money and half the cart ends up going back. Or they drive the cashier crazy and look at the monitor as if the cashier was going to rip them off. I don't want this thread to turn into a bash fest but instead an honest discussion of issues we normally don't face in dealing with other customers. Many thanks.
I think this is more about income and attitude than race. But i know what you mean.
Every single day in my store there are a ton of go backs just put in random places, half the time cold stuff is left out, etc. My new store is in a bigger city, where as my old store was a more rural area small town. I think the city customers are much different than small town customers, it's not about race, it's about the location.
I can usually tell the type of customers that are going to cause problems, and again, i don't feel it's a racial issue. I've met plenty of people of all kinds of races who are just really nice, but then you see others (white druggies included for sure) that you just KNOW are going to be trouble.
I am the original poster. In our store, they want *everything* double-bagged (even ONE item!), and they tie up all bags and go crazy if all the bags they have lined up in their cart go out of place. This is ridiculous especially with large orders. My main complaint is that they have NO concept of what things cost and many times half of the cart ends up going back because they don't have enough money. Or they complain about the people in front of them using WIC vouchers and the time it takes to ring up these transactions.
Hop your pepe frog ass outta here with that Make Nazi Great Again **** talk.
Deplorable ass bitch.
Sounds like YOU need to hop on outta here. Deplorable ass bitch.
there is NOTHING wrong with OP's question.
but yes, we get people like that too. $300.00+ order and only $20 in their wallet. plus only TWO reusable bags and wanting EVERYTHING in the bags. No extra bags. And they only end up buying $5.00 worth of product IF we are lucky.
also the suspend orders: they say "oh well come back." 1-4 hours later that cart is STILL there.
I know that about half of this area is considered a "minority" due to race/ethnicity/disability. We end up with a few thieves here and there, but honestly, the minorities are not the real issue. Sure we have communication barriers, but that's to be expected when there's English and Spanish as the two biggest languages of the area yet the schools don't teach more than a few words over 13 years. The big issue is actually when one of the minorities goes through a line and someone behind them wants to make a stink because they take a bit longer. WU is a big one where people get impatient and cause the stinks. "I've got to go but they can't even speak English and this is taking forever!!" "Why are all these (slur) here?? Why don't they just go to (Shady place across town) to do their business?" Worst part is, all I can do is apologize for the wait and continue communicating to the best of my abilities, which I have found the written word is, by far, the best way to get what I need across. As much as I'd love to say "If you want to do this job and tell him what you need, be my guest. If not, shut up and wait your turn", that's a good way to get fired, though I'd go out with some applause I'm sure. Most of the time, the minorities around here are timid and don't want to cause problems, but because of the type of area this is, racists and bigots are rampant and they tend to cause the vast majority of the problems.
And then there's the disabled catagory of minority.... People LOVE to get upset when there's 3 registers open and being used, 2 by able bodied customers, 1 disabled customer, and only 2 baggers, and the baggers will help the disabled over the able bodied customers, one bagging, one unloading. And no, these numbers are not an exageration, it's just a small store that is not properly staffed. One of the baggers will help the person outside while the other will continue inside. We get many scoffs and groans and complaints like "Where is all your help?!" "Why did they need 2 baggers?" "Well they should be greatful that I'm bagging my own groceries!" Stuff that we can't really respond to honestly without losing that Customer is always right stuff.
However, with both of these problems we tend to have, every once in a while, an open minded individual who happens to be walking past, with nothing to lose by doing so, will put the jerk in their place, at least for a little while. That is always lovely to see.
