Impolite Sales Persons

I am assuming you are American? Some people like help and others don't; personally I detest people asking if I need help, because if I did I would ask. Maybe that's the difference in certain ways to shop. Most store assistants are there to monitor the changing rooms, and tidy up. These days if you want advice most have a personal shopper in store.

I wouldn't say they were impolite, because did you actually ask for help and they reject you? Perhaps it's me and a cultural thing, because if you don't ask you don't get.

 

I don't mind not being greeted, but I really don't like someone hovering around me, either. It sort of sounds as if he conveyed the feeling he was displeased with your husband picking through so many items and making more work for him. The clerk doesn't sound very happy, as if perhaps he was having a bad day or really didn't like his job.

I dislike being followed through the store by someone looking for a sales commission. I know that many companies these days force the clerks/assistants to shout out a greeting as someone walks through the store, but I often find that disconcerting. I usually shop alone these days, and am in my head thinking about my list, what I need, things I've forgotten, how much money I have to spend, etc., and constantly being greeted interrupts that and annoys me. Like @Theo, if I want assistance, I'm perfectly capable of asking for it.

What I find annoying is when I've been in a store for a long time (Hello, Home Depot) looking around for what I need, in unfamiliar territory, and can't find what I need, nor can I find a salesperson. I think each department of each store should have a big assistance button for people to push when they need help. Large stores like Home Depot should have one on each aisle.

 

This reminds me of an incident when a saleslady of a big boutique in the mall earned my ire. She got fed up with my remarks about the way she handled customers because someone was inquiring on something and she just nodded and pointed to another sales attendant. For that, I called her attention but she was seemed freaked out. I was about to engage her in a war of words when my husband pulled me aside and told me that I should not go down to the level of that impolite sales attendant. What if my husband was not there? I would have reported her to the manager but again my husband said that I should let her be. She may lose her job if I reported her and that would be a burden to our conscience.

 

I feel like mostly everyone has encountered an unprofessional or impolite salesperson at some point in their lives, and if they haven't yet then they will lol. It is never a nice experience,and can leave a bad taste in your mouth even after you have left that person's presence. But on the other hand, we have to remember that sales people are people too, and have lives and have things going on that they may find hard to deal with. At the same time, as a customer, you don't want to be treated like dirt.

 

Well, I don't like rude sales people, but almost as bad is the overly friendly ones. I don't like in a store where they say Hi to you 5x in the same store, or make remarks about everything you are looking at like..."Oh that is awesome" or words to that effect, or "Do you need any help?"Of course, in the big box stores you' re lucky if you can find a clerk within 3 aisles, they make themselves scarce it seems.

 

It's just hard for sales people to find a happy medium when it comes to helping people. Most people don't want help at all, others want tons of help. It's really hard to gauge which person is which in a situation at first.

Just as workers need to be patient with customers, I think that customers have to understand that workers may need a little bit of patience sometimes, too. To me this actually sounds like it was someone new who hadn't been properly trained.

 

It definitely sounds like he was having a bad day or not happy with his job. He could have at least said hello to you and your husband if he was supposed to be helping you. I would be uncomfortable with someone just hovering and following me around the store. I do not mind if I go into a store and the clerks speak to me but I do not want them to be pushy either.

 

Department stores should know better than to have lazy staff. The way places close nowadays, it seems everyone should want to put their best foot forward. Especially with mystery shoppers being used more frequently.

 

You make a fantastic point. I appreciate that they are in a good space and I am happy that they are happy, but sometimes if you get talking to the overly friendly ones, they will just keep talking. On and on and on, and even if you mention that you have to go, they will start another thread of conversation. That is usually the cashier though. As for those who follow you around the store bugging you, don't even get me started on that.

 

At times to get good service you have to demand that you get it. If a store employee isn't being helpful even though they are supposed to be you could simply leave the store and shop elsewhere after you've complained about the poor service. That said, I dislike salesmen and will most never buy anything they recommend. But ask them where I'll find something I need, that I always do.

 

In this busy day and age though, so may people just can't be bothered to actually make a complaint about the services. I know so many disgruntled shoppers who should report what they are unhappy with, but either don't have the time to follow through with it, or just don't see it as a priority. They would rather go elsewhere without saying anything,

 

It sounds like that person might have been a mystery shopper even disguised as an employee. But either way, I can't stand how it seems that no one has customer service skills anymore. I don't get why people even work around others if they can't be nice. People need to feel welcome and it just ruins everybody's time to be in a bad mood. I worked in customer service for years and never had a bad attitude toward anyone, EVEN if they had on toward me! You have to be professional no matter where you work.

 

As you picked up, maybe he's unhappy with his work. Maybe he had a bad day with awful customers. Maybe he's anxious. We just never know and making assumptions won't change it.

Personally, I don't care to be served by people, or treated any differently than I would be outside of a store.. I'm there for the product. If I want help, I ask for it.. otherwise, I like being left alone in a store. If someone is rude to me, I don't blame the store and my only assumption is that the salesperson is unhappy (whether in general or just that day) and I won't hold that against them or let it affect me. I would also leave instead of spending my money there. I may not want someone kissing butt to get my money, but I won't reward them for being unkind either lol.

 

You certainly are not alone. I feel like most people are 'guilty' of this. So you go home annoyed, and complain to your family members about what you experienced? Lol In some instances it is difficult to complain. Say you are a t a fast food place, or some sort of restaurant, and you complain,staff from that moment might see fit to tamper with your food from there on out, because you complained, so you have to be smart about it.

 

I prefer to ask for help if I need it rather than having an overly pushy sales person come over and force themselves on you.

I had a particularly bad experience of this in an electrical retail shop. I went in to buy printer ink. A very rude sales person came over and asked if I even knew what ink I wanted (I'd already picked up the one I needed and was merely trying to decide between if to get one pack or pick up a second while I was there) and said "maybe you should come back when you have a man with you because women know nothing of these things".

He refused to let me have the ink and snatched it out of my hands until I proved I needed that specific ink (I had to go and show him on the printer box of another printer they had in the store!).

Then when he eventually let me go to the checkouts with my ink, he refused to serve me (as did his colleagues) and skipped several other people (all men, or couples including a male) ahead of me in the queue. I was even more appalled when I found out he was the manager!

I paid with cash when I eventually did get to the checkout (half an hour later!) and then they refused to give me my change. I was beyond angry by that point and if it wasn't for needing the ink for something right then I would've walked out. I reported it to the company afterwards and the manager in question was actually fired for his behavior and I'm told every member of staff was retrained or fired. There was certainly a new manager that was much more professional there the next time I went.