(I am working as a cashier at a grocery store. I always make sure to greet my customers at the beginning of the transaction, but as I am soft-spoken, some customers don’t hear me or respond. This customer is an older lady with what looks to be her grandchild.)
Customer: “Hello.”
(She starts putting groceries on the belt, so I scan them through as a regular transaction.)
Me: *softly responds* “Hello. How are you?”
Customer: “…”
Me: “All right, ma’am, your total is [amount].”
Customer: “Why didn’t you say, ‘hello,’ back? It is horribly rude to not say, ‘hello,’ back when somebody greets you!”
Me: “I apologize, ma’am. I said, ‘hello,’ back; I’m just soft-spoken is all. I guess you didn’t hear me.”
(The customer whispers to her granddaughter, making her look at me and laugh, then pays her total and leaves with a snarky comment. I think it’s insulting, but I brush it off. Fast forward two weeks: the same customer shows up again, but this time with her daughter and granddaughter. I decide to greet her loudly so we don’t have a repeat of what happened before.)
Me: “HELLO!”
(The customer loads all her groceries on belt. I scan them in with care and wait as she stands in front of me getting ready to pay.)
Customer: “Every time I come in here you are absolutely rude. I have never met a ruder or more horrible girl in my entire life!”
Me: “Uh… What?”
Customer: “You are rude, and I will complain to management and get you fired.
Me: “My manager is right there in that office; please feel free to talk to him.”
Customer: “Oh, I will, and I’ll tell him what all you did.”
Me: “Then go.”
Customer’s Daughter: “Don’t you dare tell my mom what to do!”
Me: “Just go talk to him; I don’t want to deal with you anymore.”
(She told my manager that I threw her change in her face, cussed them out, and insulted them. Thank goodness he responded with, “I know her and she would never do that.” He told me next time to just grin through it. Thank goodness I got a better job offer a month later and haven’t been in customer service since.)
