How to politely get salesclerk off her personal call to ring up my purchase?
Dec 29, 2009
in
Mobile Credit Card Processing
Maybe this has happened to you? You are at the register or in line to make a purchase, and the girl behind the counter (haven’t caught a man at it yet, but will soon I’m sure) is chatting away on her cell or even the company phone, slowing or halting you from making your purchase and getting on your way.
Does anyone have a diplomatic way to get the clerk off the phone, and process your purchase? I don’t really want to antagonize someone who is about to get my credit card number. As for a talking to a manager, I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen one, and I don’t always have time to help them fix their personnel problems anyway.
So, what do you say/do?
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
13 comments
B.Rabbit on December 29, 2009 at 4:06 am
This is a highly annoying trend. Don’t know if it’s poor training or a general trend toward bad manners.
Most of the time, if it’s a business call the associate is on, h/she’ll look up and say, "I’ll be right with you" or something like that. If not, you can be almost certain it’s a personal call.
Uh, uh. Not acceptable. Save it for the break, says I.
Your purchases aka YOUR MONEY keeps the business open and pays her salary. If a polite, "Excuse me, I’m ready" isn’t sufficient, be prepared to put the goods down and start to walk away. Don’t say a word…head toward the exit. If h/she has a functioning brain cell left, you’ll be served promptly. If not, another establishment will be happy to have you as a customer.
Caesar's wife on December 29, 2009 at 4:06 am
I smile sweetly and say I have a bus to catch. And if that doens’t do it, I walk out.
OoLong on December 29, 2009 at 4:06 am
Excuse me. Do you work here?
Usually that’s enough to get their attention and interrupt the conversation.
sherl on December 29, 2009 at 4:06 am
this has happened to me before. i usually just say excuse me loud enough for her to hear me. if that doesn’t work i tend to get unpleasant.
ponygirl on December 29, 2009 at 4:06 am
Try pointing at your watch.
beckini on December 29, 2009 at 4:06 am
I have had this happen to me and I’m afraid that I have NOT been very diplomatic about it. I deserve to be treated with a tiny bit of respect since I am the reason that the clerk is being paid to be there in the first place.
I have said, "You can talk on your time, but I have to be someplace." and
"You can continue that conversation when I am gone." and "Excuse me, you can ring this up now or you can put it away yourself."
jamie jo on December 29, 2009 at 4:06 am
Honestly the clerk is very rude if they are taking a personal call while there are customers waiting. Some places however require the clerk to use the phone for business. I know this from my own job. A rude comment is never the right thing to do. if the clerk has not aknowledged you at all you need to clear your throat or set something on the counter sort of loudly to get her attention. if she flat out ignores you, Walk away unless you are getting something you can’t live without. Like I said before though, being rude back to them is not going to do anything but make you more upset and her angry. it is best to be as polite as you can in return for her rudeness.
Ps, If you happen to be on your own cell phone when you aproach teh clerk, don’t expect her to do what you are not willing to do. Hang up.
Valerie H on December 29, 2009 at 4:06 am
It depends on how much of her personal conversation I can hear and just how rude she is being. If its some sort of emergency, I give her slack… if its a totally meaningless conversation - I usually cough a few times and if she doesnt get a hint. I loudly say something like - Im sorry to break up your personal conversation here, but could you please ring up my order. After Ive paid for my items… I usually seek out the Manager or look on the receipt for any sort of customer service contact information and then I file a comment with them
ANA on December 29, 2009 at 4:06 am
Just start talking to them, nicely of course. "Hello, how are you? I love this sweater. Gosh. Look at the time. I have to get home soon… Do you think it’s too green? Hmmm." If they don’t get the friendly hint, kindly ask for a manager and say in a friendly way that you’re in a rush and that you need things rung up, but that the sales clerk seems occupied at the moment.
princezzjin on December 29, 2009 at 4:06 am
If it sounds like an emergency I’ll just give her a sec, but if it’s just a casual chat I’ll say, "may I speak to your manager?"
Classy Granny on December 29, 2009 at 4:06 am
Say, excuse me, I’m in a hurry. If that doesn’t work I’d walk out and she’d have all my stuff to put back on the shelves.
dee2zo on December 29, 2009 at 4:06 am
Once I was at a department store and the 2 clerks were yapping away totally ignoring me. It wasn’t for a few minutes either…they just kept going and going.
I walked around to the register and went to grab a shopping bag. One of them asked me what I was doing (real rude) and I said as sweet as could be….oh, I’m sorry nobody was trying to ring me up…I thought you were giving away clothes today.
I got another rude look but they rang me up and I laughed inside.
Avie on December 29, 2009 at 4:06 am
First of all, it’s completely unacceptable for an employee to be chatting on the phone while there’s a customer waiting.
If it were to happen to me, I would say, "Pardon me. I’m ready." If the sales clerk held up a finger, as if to say "in a moment" or told me "hang on a sec," I’d give her 10 seconds to end the call, and that’s only because I’m a nice person. If she continued talking, I’d say in a slightly louder tone, "Excuse me; I’m ready." If she continued to talk and/or said something rude, I’d demand to speak to the manager, right then and there. Even if I had somewhere else to be at the moment, I feel very strongly that rude people, especially employees, need to be dealt with immediately.
Rudeness, especially in people serving the public, appears to be epidemic these days. It needs to be nipped in the bud.