Shop staff outburst at customer- possible legal follow-up

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Marconi2012

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Colleague at work recounted an interesting scenario he was involved in at a high street department store in city centre over weekend.

Appears he enquired from sales assistant at customer service desk for a particular size and when he received a poor response, he asked for supervisor. When supervisor came, the sales assistant involved became abusive and started shouting (including loud crying) attracting the attention of other customers and staff. The supervisor and other staff members had to physically escort this sales assistant to a back room.

Our friend was particularly annoyed by the unwanted attention, as he feels he did nothing wrong.

Any advice please, as he got a one line email from shop manager today saying sorry and they couldn;t comment further as he was not working at weekend.
 
I agree with elcato. While your friend may have not been expecting this you have to think of the sales assistant. I'm sure there is a reason why they behaved like this, e.g. Personal problems. I think your friend should cut the sales assistant a bit of slack. Even if your friend did pursue it I'm sure the assistant would only get a warning from the employer.
So like above I say get over it & move on. Life is short!!
 
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Maybe that's good advice- but i can empathise with him for being in the situation through no fault of his own, except for asking for assistance in the shop! Besides the fact that he would be embarrassed to revisit the shop, he was made feel like he had done something wrong, so much was the attention brought on him and the situation. Agree it is somewhat of a storm in a teacup, but one expects to be able to shop without such occurences from staff...
 
Hi Marconi

I really think that sales assistant obviously has very serious issues, including the fact that she is probably going to be fired.

The shop itself has a very serious problem in that if they fire her, she will probably win an unfair dismissal case.

Your friend could probably do the shop a favour by writing a very strong letter of complaint about the way he was treated. They can then use that to fire the shop assistant.

I presume that is what your friend wants?

Brendan
 
Going by the title of the post I am guessing the friend is thinking he might be entitled to legal redress for the embarrassment he feels he suffered!
 
When I say the headline on this thread I thought slow your horses. Yes it was a horrible thing to happen and we've all been there. Your friend needs to get over it. It's quite clear the sales assistant is under some stress of a severe nature. Your friend must have understanding given the circumstances.

What I cannot believe about the headline is the word 'legal' action. Way over the top to expect this.
 
We never know what burdens other people are carrying. The sales staff in question will certainly be subject to disciplinary proceedings, possible loss of earnings and maybe even her job...on top of whatever is causing her grief or pain in the first place. That's enough for any one.

Let it go, you haven't suffered any real harm.

No broken bones, no long-term emotional trauma, no scars, no financial loss.
 
Hello,

I think some people here need to remember that a customer coming into a shop with the potential to buy something, should not be treated badly. Even if the customer is problematic, the retailer should do their very best to be both professional and polite.

If the shop values it's reputation and the potential custom, then it may offer a "goodwill gesture", but obviously without admitting any liability etc.

Personally, I would write a letter to the owner or manager, as Mr. Burgess has suggested above. Yes, it may help the shop in dealing with the staff member, but it may also draw some form of gesture from the store. I actually think it's appropriate, given what appears to have happened.

As for Poppy123, I believe that every person is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect, but unfortunitely in the wonderful world of dealing with customers, that doesn't always happen. Employers expect employees to have a thick skin and act professionally, even when dealing with a problematic customer. You could perhaps refuse to deal with a particularly problematic customer (in which case, probably best to try and do it in agreement with your superior and ideally, without even making the customer aware that you've removed yourself from the situation), but if you were to start doing this regularly, I'd fear for your future employment.
 
On a scale of one to ten of things that can go wrong for you, I think this is 0.25. Different if person got physically hit.
I'd forget about it
 
I agree with Mr. Earl. I think the assistant was out of order and the least the shop could do is offer the OP some form of token. I had a similar experience some years ago and it is the most unpleasant situation to be in.
 
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