Need advice on how to handle a situation

This thread reminds me of a quote from William Faulkner explaining why he quit his job as a clerk in the post office:

"I couldn't stand being at the beck and call of every son of a bunny with two cents for a stamp."

(He didn't say "bunny" but I had to get around the censorship software.)
 
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I think there is a YouTube video with clips of Al Bundy from Married With Children showing his "best of" encounters with customers at the shoe store he worked at.
Maybe have your daughter watch them and get a laugh. It might help relieve the situation a bit.
 
I get the concern for your daughter but best to let it go.

Be supportive and tell her what my ex-wife's father used to say:
When you work with the masses
You work with the a$_-s
 
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I would agree working with the public you need to learn to deal with unhappy customers. Having said that once the personal insults and cussing at your daughter happens I say as a manager I step in and take over. You can be unhappy but you still need to be civil.

Morgan88
 
Can't add much to the excellent advice that's been given so far.

I've worked retail for the last 30 years. Some customers want what they want no matter what. They cannot be reasoned with. I find these people ignorant to the world around them because they are selfish and self centered.

I've had many complaints about me. It doesn't help that I'm abrupt and to the point. I'm honest and factual but because I don't give in, now all of the sudden I'm rude and obnoxious.

There is an old saying in the retail world.
"If you piss someone off, they will tell the world. If you make someone happy, they won't tell anyone".

Sounds like your daughter needs to toughen up a bit. Unfortunately this event will help. Tell her not to take it home with her as it will probably happen again. But the rewards from happy customers will outweigh the bad.
 
Geronimo Jim said:
The problem was not your daughter or the store. That lady doesn't like
her accountant, husband, co-workers, etc. This is a real important life lesson. When you encounter people like this, never argue, just listen.
When they stop talking calmly state your answer. They will probably cut you off and when they do, shut up and let them talk until they finish.
NEVER ARGUE, NEVER RAISE YOUR VOICE.
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct. And remember this particularly if the underlying issue had nothing to do with you. One day I was at my office and a phone call came to me. The lady who called asked if I was "Mr. _____." I said that I was, and then she proceeded to tear into me for 15 minutes about a convicted child molester who got a light sentence on a plea deal. I literally could not get a word in edgewise. She probably got confused because of the similarity between my surname and the surname of the States Attorney (the Maryland equivalent of a District Attorney) and ended up calling me instead of his office. I had to wait for rare quiet moments to say that I was not the States Attorney and had nothing to do with that case. But I figured I had to take it, because if I would have hung up on her I could just envision her going to the news media and saying the "the States Attorney had hung up on her."

That States Attorney and I have been friends for years, and over the years I've reminded him that he owes me big time for taking that phone call intended for him.
 
No one has the right to abuse another person. Standing there and taking abuse is foolish and certainly not doing the offender any favors. That sort of obnoxious behavior continues to this day because it has been tolerated in the past.
 
ColbyBruce said:
No one has the right to abuse another person. Standing there and taking abuse is foolish and certainly not doing the offender any favors. That sort of obnoxious behavior continues to this day because it has been tolerated in the past.
Click to expand...

People get carried away with the term "the customer is always right".

They aren't. Not even close.
 
The customer sounds like a borderline personality. Borderline personalities thrive on creating destructive conflict wherever they go. And they are usually masters at portraying themselves as the "victims" of the conflicts they start. My advice is the same as I've seen many times on the Forum: Don't engage with crazies.

P.S. I would be surprised if this woman was an actual nurse in an actual hospital.
 
Is anyone here familiar with the Pirate Four By Four forum? Those folks take a hard line with miscreants like the shoe shopper.
 
"Displacement of hostility" is the usual term.
I am long past the stage where I will put up with rude, inconsiderate, hostile behavior-and just plain nastiness. I am convinced that such people act that way because they know they can get away with it and it is an ego trip for them-and they need to be taught a lesson. And one of those lessons is that they really should be nice to people-because they don't know who their family and friends are.
 
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