Customers, not the good kind

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I have the stress of dealing with customers in a high paced, hot and stressful environment. I work at different locations which change which kind of customers I deal with/the problems faced. This week I am in a kiosk by myself in the center of a large busy room.

Some of the interactions I have with people boggle me. I had one come up this morning while I was still setting up my kiosk and counting the till. "Can I have a coffee?" "No, sorry we don't open until 9am." "But you're always open before 9am." At this point I have been working at the kiosk the last four days, so I know when it opened. "Were you here yesterday?" "No, but I was here last week." Another old lady who comes in early on her own time (Does not get paid for it) apparently now opens the shop earlier was working last week. When telling the customer what the hours were I pointed to the sign about three inches from her face. Now I think, how is one suppose to reply to this situation. Why does one (the customer) say basically - I know the hours posted but someone else will bend the rules/whatever before so I will whine if you don't do it for me. How do you reply to this? I mean I know how I'd like to reply to this but since she continued to feel the need to tell me that it's been open earlier, despite the posted sign I gather she wanted me to stop counting my money, turn my back on the money and make her coffee.

I've had so many people interrupt me counting the till in the morning or at close to tell me their order. If I continue counting they will start making coughing sounds or just shout an order. When they do that I have to recount the money because I can't remember the number I was on. I'm amazed at how many people can't read a sign or feel it's not rude to interrupt someone counting money. I feel very anxious when people do this - when they walk up and literally stand about two inches away from where I am counting money on the counter.

Anyway, at another location, by far the worst one. (It's non stop, heavy lifting and hot work dealing with hundreds of people back to back.) A man comes up to me and asks for something I am not serving. I tell him he can get it at the third food station. He looks at me with this "winning smile" and tells me by the time he takes his plate over there -literally a 20 foot walk away that his food will get cold. Could I leave my station and get it for him? Never mind I will have to make others wait. Basically me carrying his plate 20 feet will not make the food cold but if he has to travel there himself it will. (Pure laziness) I tell him sorry I cannot. Then he tells me the other lady (no idea who he is talking about) has done it for him in the past. Then continues to stand there with that smile plastered on his face until I give up and go get him his food. How would you react in this situation? I get tired of there being some unspoken thing to where I have to just give up and get him his food because he's too lazy to do it himself.

Another one: A staff member in another department comes to get mac n' cheese. The portions are cut by the chefs. I give her a portion, she's taken it happily before. This time she sneers and tells me the portion is too small. Then says "I will speak to soandso (big boss) about this." I ask if she wants it and she says no and walks off in a huff. Then I hear later from someone she's complained about the food. Again she comes in with some younger girl, I think her daughter. I say I think it's her daughter because the other lady reacts the same way almost on que. She says the portion size is too small and declines it and so does the other lady simultaneously. Then says very loudly she's going to talk to by boss about this. She mentions the bosses by their names btw to further make a point that they are acquainted. I ask her if she wants to take the portion to show the boss and she says no. Her mannerisms are so childish (I've had no other complaints on the portions on those items) that I see her in passing at work and I don't even want to wave. She waved to me one day and I didn't want to wave back as all I can remember is her childish/threatening (to tell my boss to get me in trouble)behavior. Sadly she does my payroll so I have to remain...nice.

Anyway, all day I deal with silliness from customers and their bad behavior and I wonder how I should deal with them. I can automatically say what I want to a lot of times (but it is not professional) but sometimes I am so taken aback. Does anyone experience dealing with bad customers and do you have some scripted lines on how to deal with them?

Another one:

I work in a shop too, the customers are almost always wrong :p
You do your job, don't feel you have to bend to their whims, they will push you into doing all kinds of things if they can, and not bat an eye lid. Not all of them of course, but some. What i'm saying anyway is don't pay them too much attention, know the rules, stick to them, and don't let them hassle you, don't let them get under your skin.

I see people treating food service workers like that all the time. I assume they're people who haven't ever worked food service before themselves.

Everyone should, to understand what it's like.

Thank you for doing your job. I drink a lot of specialty coffee, especially when I'm stressed out. I appreciate people like you who are there doing things correctly. The person who opens on time is also the person who puts the requested dairy substitute into my drink and remembers to clean things properly.

Most customers don't think things through and assume everything. Everyday at my job, I am asked where items are and about the store I am servicing because I am a sales rep loading my soda and no one can seem to understand that I do not work for the stores and am independent vendor and clearly wear a different uniform from the store workers. I sometimes feel like wearing a sign that says I don't work for the store.

My friend gets that all the time when she goes to shop in another store and is still wearing her uniform, even though the uniform is completely different. The customers aren't having any of it though!

For the most part I try to ignore them but the job really stresses me out. I'm seriously considering starting a blog to rant about this stuff on. Somedays I lose hope for humanity.

Funny that you should say that. The woman who comes in early (Who is a story in herself)does not clean anything properly. I took over this week and the place smelled of rotting fruits/vegetables and milk because she won't sanitize anything. Eww.

Anyway my favorite annoying part of today - I have been sick the last two weeks and I must on occasion grind jalapeno peppers and ginger for customers in their drinks which the smell sets me off badly. I go into a horrible coughing fit and have a hard time breathing all the while tears stream down my face. This can continue for 10 minutes at a time until my throat/chest/whatever calms down and I stop coughing. You'd think people would stop and ask if I'm OK or wait until I catch my breath (I'm literally wheezing) but no, they just talk louder so you can hear their order!!

I guess what bothers me is the requests people still make when I tell them that sorry, I cannot do that for them. No doesn't mean no to them and that greatly bothers me. Very much an entitlement attitude. I guess maybe I am just too white and black. There is little gray within me. I've done this kind of job when I was very young and handled it fine. Now I'm older and just one day at work brings out the worst in me. I get so ungodly depressed. Three months at this job so far and I wanted to quit after the first month. I wonder if I can even handle a normal job anymore. I can't even pretend to smile at these people when interacting with them anymore. I spend my day mumbling to myself and cussing.

Having had to cashier for almost a decade, I've gotten people who've tried this kind of stuff on me. There's ways to respond to them (that I've had taught to me by other employees) so these might help you too.

With the early coffee customers, I'd say: "I'm sorry, but we aren't open until 9."
And if they say "But (insert whomever) opens before that" then I say "So and so isn't actually allowed to do that, we can actually get in trouble if we open too early since we have to abide by the hours that (the workplace) sets for us."

For the lazy guy I'd say: "I'm sorry sir, but I can't leave my station.' When he says "But so and so did it for me' I'd say "I'm sorry sir, but I'm not allowed. (Insert name here) was not actually allowed to do that, I can get in trouble if I don't follow (the workplace's) rules given to us."

Both of these types might get mad and walk away, or they might threaten to get the manager or whomever. Let them, you won't get in trouble for doing what you are supposed to do (if it's a good workplace) and as long as you don't say it in a rude tone but in a calm and polite voice, the customer has a poor reason to sic the manager on you.

For the macaroni lady, simply say: "Sorry ma'am (or however you might normally address her) but I have no control over the portion sizes. The chefs are the ones that cut them out and I can only serve what they will give me." This takes the heat off of you and puts it on the ones actually cutting the portions, and makes her go bug them (or the manager about them) instead.

Hopefully this stuff helps you in some way. I've been through stuff like this myself, and I know how much of a pain customers (and sucky managers) can be.