Question about a extremely hostile guest.

[Caseman100]

So anyway today was like any normal day opening up at self checkout. About 3 hours into my shift it looked like a guest had just abandoned his cart and I was gonna put it in reshop.

Some middle aged guy walks up and starts cussing me out. He was screaming at me asking what the F was wrong with me and told me to back the f up. I told him I was sorry I thought someone left it and sometimes guests leave stuff they don't want. I walked back he kept looking at me and I said I work here and you're good, he said you aren't.

He kept yelling at me. The training lead cane over and he tried talking to him, but the guest kept yelling and left with the stuff he ended up buying . He didn't have much.

AP wasn't around at the time ( lunch break) . I told him about it and he asked what time was it. He said it wasn't my fault and asked if it was OK. The gstl returned and said If she was around she wouldn't of tolerated that behavior and asked if I was OK.

In a situation like that what's the typical best course of action. Did I do anything wrong In your guys opinion? Thanks.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Welcome! You did nothing wrong.

 

[Ringwraith917]

I think you did just about everything you could do. There are techniques of de-escalation certain leaders get trained on. Since the leader came over during the incident there was no need for you to call anyone else. AP should be made aware of the incident which they were, great job.

 

[buliSBI]

This happens unfortunately.
Best thing to do is to get leadership to de-escalate the situation, or at minimum, get another TM to be your witness.
At times my stores had known agitators, and leadership and AP would monitor them. If they caused additional issues, they would get trespassed.

 

[Lowlyemployee]

I've been cussed at, threatened, pushed, it is just a fact people are insane. I once had a lady tell me she hoped someone would hit me with their car because I wouldn't give her the $200 bedding set for $30. All you can do is laugh at their stupidity and move on.

 

[Captain Orca]

Distract this asshole, catch him off guard then knock his fucking teeth down his throat. Yea, tough guy Captain. Honestly avoid any physical contact, keep some distance and let him burn his fuse out. There really is not much you can do. Be very careful, he may be packing iron or a blade.

 

[can't touch this]

Finding and equipping the epic rarity Kevlar/chainmail armor for the +100 damage reduction against gun/melee damage is essential for those choosing to play as Guest Service class

 

[Dream Baby]

Distract this asshole, catch him off guard then knock his fucking teeth down his throat. Yea, tough guy Captain. Honestly avoid any physical contact, keep some distance and let him burn his fuse out. There really is not much you can do. Be very careful, he may be packing iron or a blade.

You did the right thing by just walking away which wasn't part of the de-escalation training that we took.

Unfortunately if you are a cashier or at Starbucks you may not have that option.

 

[Captain Orca]

I always kid around with the cashiers, keep things light and get a grin out of them. The young girls are vulnerable to the miserable prick customers, I bond with them, throw them a joke or two and watch their reactions. If anyone treated my daughter like a snake I would break their nose. Yes, The Captain has compassion.

 

[Darkbomber]

Best advice is to apologize for the misunderstanding and tell the guest you can call a leader over to handle any concerns they have.
Try not to overthink the situation too much, bc it's not you, it's them.

 

[HNL2PDX]

So anyway today was like any normal day opening up at self checkout. About 3 hours into my shift it looked like a guest had just abandoned his cart and I was gonna put it in reshop.

Some middle aged guy walks up and starts cussing me out. He was screaming at me asking what the F was wrong with me and told me to back the f up. I told him I was sorry I thought someone left it and sometimes guests leave stuff they don't want. I walked back he kept looking at me and I said I work here and you're good, he said you aren't.

He kept yelling at me. The training lead cane over and he tried talking to him, but the guest kept yelling and left with the stuff he ended up buying . He didn't have much.

AP wasn't around at the time ( lunch break) . I told him about it and he asked what time was it. He said it wasn't my fault and asked if it was OK. The gstl returned and said If she was around she wouldn't of tolerated that behavior and asked if I was OK.

In a situation like that what's the typical best course of action. Did I do anything wrong In your guys opinion? Thanks.

In that situation ask for a break and walk to an area the guest cannot see or follow you (HR).

 

[Caliwest]

I would have asked AP to check cameras...could be fella was attempting to steal and overfreaked out to get you frazzled so as not to question him. Had this happen last night at returns. ....

 

[Captain Orca]

You did nothing wrong, just be very careful with wackos like this. Distract him with your left hand/arm then spin around and cold cock the prick, right fist right through his face. Realistically give yourself some distance and calmly explain what you were intending to do. If the situation escalates walk away, find a leader, make a coded radio call but always remember someone that unhinged is liable to do anything. People can be brutal. I had a nice cashier-->Captain chat at Wegmans today while paying for a big bag of Colombian coffee beans. She said the coffee smells great, we had a nice dialog about Starbucks vs McDonalds. We both agreed, McD's is great take out coffee.