"Mister Smart Aleck!" Who is at fault here? (long)

[Strange Magic]

I'm sorry but I must continue to disagree...Shorty should not have to alter a response that reasonable people would not consider rude. Just because someone is in a bad mood is no reason to roll over and just let them say anything to you...I have to respect the kids restraint at not saying anything when the customer went off on his little tirade. I know I would have escalated the situation when I was 16 (to this day actually if I have enough resourse to back be in case the worst case situation)
By training workers such as ourselves to be timid we are also training the public at large that it is perfectly accptable to treat the staff poorly. If people knew that acting that way might earn them the same treatment that they dish out it might change a few minds,if not make them more wary. Ever notice how people are much more civil to each other in public and on the street? Nobody has any idea how others are going to react to any given question or situation and so they moderate themselves accordingly (due exceptions to that are noted though)

I'm prob preaching to the choir in these points but it never hurts to hear it from time to time...

[cinema guy]

I find it hilarious that the customer got so upset that he left his shopping behind. What's he going to do, go and do his shopping somewhare else all over again? Or maybe go home and say to his wife, "I didn't get any food for the kids beacause the cashier told me he was 25, when he was only 16." I bet the wife will have a smart alec thing or two to say to him then.

[Seshat]

The customer was completely in the wrong, IMO. However, Shorty has just learned the awful lesson that some people will react badly to anything he says, and any way he answers that inevitable question.

Part of dealing with people (at all, not just in customer service) is learning to adapt your behaviour to get the result you're after from the individual you're dealing with. It doesn't really matter who's in the right, what matters is getting the result you want. If you keep that in mind, you can apply all sorts of techniques you'll never think of if you stick to 'I'm in the right'.

In this case, I think a combination of modifications is in order: make his initial response so over-the-top that even the most humourless can see that he's trying to be funny about it (as per XCashier's suggestion). If the customer reacts badly to that, switch to the 'I don't give out personal information' response (as Kiwi suggested). This should keep the customers who appreciate humour happy, and get the more reasonable of the rest to back off but still consider him polite.

However, as Shorty has just found out, there are unreasonable people in the world. Even the combined wisdom of CS won't satisfy everyone.

My suggestion there is simply to say something like 'Most of my customers enjoy a little humour. I am sorry that I misread your mood, and I hope you will forgive me.'

It's a bit bending-over-backwards and giving them what they want, but this particular type of customer won't be satisfied until you grovel a little. If your goal is to get the transaction through smoothly, I don't know any way other than grovelling a bit to get them to let it happen.
I maintain my pride in such situations by keeping in mind that I'm in control of the situation. I am manipulating them by controlling just how much and how little grovelling I do to get them the hell out of my life. And, of course, the way I worded it, I've just told them they're humourless. It's a little bit passive-aggressive, but what are you going to do?

[katie kaboom]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, what in Hell is wrong with being smart? What is wrong with having an attitude? What is wrong with talking back? Everyone needs to get over themselves. I've had it with respect, just suck it up people.

I never thought i'd say this, but i agree with you.

[Crazeyal]

I'm sorry but I must continue to disagree...

Why would you be sorry? It's a discussion, not a rant. Disagreeing is the primary consideration to a debate.

By training workers such as ourselves to be timid we are also training the public at large that it is perfectly accptable to treat the staff poorly. If people knew that acting that way might earn them the same treatment that they dish out it might change a few minds,if not make them more wary...

In some cases, you are correct. In quite a few situations, some SC's need to get over themselves and quit with the ego parade.

But...

One bad apple...

Employees can be given too much lattitude. I've seen people who simply don't care about being fired, and they treat the general public with disdain and antagonism, reguardless of situation, gender or purchase base.

It's not being timid to set limits.

It's not being timid to have a set parameter for customer interaction.

It's simply good business.

[ShinyGreenApple]

Well, again, in Shorty's defense, he was very polite and professional while ringing this guy's crap up. After the second time he said he was 25, he realized what he was dealing with and backed off. In fact, he hardly said anything. Which, I've been told by an awesome manager from my past, is best when faced with someone trying to intimidate you.

This kid may only be 16, but I can attest to the fact that he really does work. Always coming in early, volunteering to stay late, asking if they need him to come in on days off, etc. He's certainly earning his spot on the payroll.

I find it hilarious that the customer got so upset that he left his shopping behind. What's he going to do, go and do his shopping somewhare else all over again? Or maybe go home and say to his wife, "I didn't get any food for the kids beacause the cashier told me he was 25, when he was only 16." I bet the wife will have a smart alec thing or two to say to him then.

I was thinking the same thing. That's gonna sound really stupid if and when he ever put it to words

I told the daytime front end managers this morning what had transpired. One of them said, and I quote, "Well that guy's just a stupid piece of shit that doesn't need to come in here anyways!"



I love my workplace, lol.

[bendertiger]

Congratulate shorty on getting rid of a sucky customer (hopefully forever). You don't need cookie cutter cashier's. It sounds like shorty has a personality and almost a fanbase following. Let the kid go and congratulate him on a job well done!

[Screamarie]

Personally, as long as the cashier is competent, I don't care if he looks like he's two years old....though it may seem really, really odd. Personally, I think this guy is just the type that has it out for teenagers.

You know the people, men and women, that think all teenagers are being disrespectful no matter what they do and trust me I've dealt with them plenty, it's the only reason why I'm glad I'm about to turn 20.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Maybe this is one of those things where I had to be there to know what happened, but I fail to see how Shorty was being a smart aleck.

I think if anything he was making a joke. I tend to gauge smart-aleckness not so much by what a person says, but how they say it. (for example, "I'm 25 brainiac" whilst rolling his eyes just about out of his head) But obviously this probably wouldn't have happened if Shorty was honest about his age up-front.

I think the customer was just itching for a fight

[Bliss]

When someone asked me a personal question, I would smile, wink, and say, "A lady never tells all of her secrets," or something like that.
It was usually enough to shut them up or make them realize that it was a rude question they had just asked.

Sorry Ree but I don't find your response to be any more inocent or professional than Shorty's. from what I see from the OP Shorty was not rude to the customers at all, he just responded in the SAME manner that you say you would with just a different set of words, he's using a joke, or a smart answer to difusse a stressful situation, and when it exploded in his face, he was absolutely polite to the point it made me nauseous that he had to go all "yes sir, no sir" on it.

Basically as I see it what happened was a customer made a personal quesiton out of a stranger, and then the stranger responded with humor twice, and the customers blew up, totally uncalled for, and the guy had to GROVEL to them (yes it was not so radical but the situation really angered me), frankly, I felt this is the same would´ve happened ages ago with a slave! "How do you dare talk back to ME??"

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Mr. Asshole was grossly out of line to ask Shorty how old he was in the first place. In my opinion, Shorty should have stuck with his original answer when he realized Mr. Asshole was in fact, an asshole. Admitting he was joking just gave the guy something else to get pissed about.

What if he HAD been 25? Mr. Asshole didn't know he wasn't, so the first time he asked was rude and out of line and the second time he asked was above and beyond rude. He should have been thrown out for harrassment.

[Ree]

Sorry Ree but I don't find your response to be any more inocent or professional than Shorty's.

...and I never said there was anything wrong with his original answer, either.

Once it was obvious that the guy wasn't taking the joke, he shouldn't have pushed it, though.
I still think the customer was way out of line, but as I said, even LadyBarbossa, the OP and his co-worker, has said he has a rep for being snarky, but most customers are intelligent enough to get the joke.


*EDIT
In reading back, I see that, once he did realize the guy wasn't taking it well, then he admitted to his real age, and also, she says that he hadn't "copped a snarky attitude or anything, and was being very civil and polite" so perhaps my original assessment of how it went down was a little bit off.
It would appear that customer was an ass from the beginning, and was spoiling for a fight. Shorty wouldn't have any way of knowing what a dickhead this guy was when he asked the question, or that using his standard joke answer was going to cause such a problem.

[Seshat]

It would appear that customer was an ass from the beginning, and was spoiling for a fight. Shorty wouldn't have any way of knowing what a dickhead this guy was when he asked the question, or that using his standard joke answer was going to cause such a problem.

Agreed. The customer was in the wrong, but unfortunately, life doesn't give you any bonus for being 'in the right' at times like this.

Once you get a customer who's spoiling for a fight, you need to mentally decide what the most realistic positive outcome is going to be for you, and aim for that outcome. Spend whatever ego or 'face' you have to, to get what you want (and can get) out of the situation. If your goal is 'get this customer out of my life and on their way', then you may need to grovel a bit to achieve that.

If your choice of goal is 'to prove to the customer that I won't back down', that's fine - I'm just saying to make it a deliberate, conscious choice. At least that way if it costs you something you weren't expecting (a write-up, or even your job), at least you'll have been in control of the choices that led to that.

[Bliss]

That's good advice Seshat, in this case it seems Shorty decided to keep his job (I bet being fired, for any reason at 16 is a very bad mark in your history), and I both admire him for it, and it sickens me the right answer was to grovel (in a manner) I'm not saying I think the world is perfect and it can be otherwise, it just made me sad and angry at the same time.

And once again, yes I agree with what you say, if you decide to confront, at any cost, it should be a conscious, mature decission. not just an impulse answer.

[XCashier]

I told the daytime front end managers this morning what had transpired. One of them said, and I quote, "Well that guy's just a stupid piece of shit that doesn't need to come in here anyways!"

It's good to know the management has a spine and doesn't demand that Shorty kiss the customer's arse and give him a billion apologies.

So, where do you work and are they hiring?