Curious Question! Employees Rights?? - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

BigFish · 08-20-2009, 08:27 AM

Say you work at Lowe's......and a customer comes into the store and you are as polite as you can be but the customer is right out of the box an %$%$%$%$%$%$%$ and he begins giving you crap and throwing F-bombs at you and being quite insulting! What would you as an employee do??? Do you sit there and take the abuse or do you have a line that once that %$%$%$%$%$%$%$ crosses you begin to defend yourself and blast the guy???? I had just such an incident happen to me and it cost me my job.......should it be ok for a customer to be abusive, rude and just an all out son of a bitch and you not be able to stand up for yourself???? Curious to hear opinions...I will elaborate more later.

BigBo · 08-20-2009, 08:33 AM

No. It's not okay for the customer to treat you like crap. As we talked already, I'd have done the same thing Larry. When you're well compensated, you can tend to overlook a lot of that stuff. But a job like that? I think not.

JohnR · 08-20-2009, 08:44 AM

It is not OK for a customer to do that but your company **should** have a clear protocol for how you should handle that kind of issue. Dunno what happened but if I were in your shoes I would get my manager involved. Kick it upstairs.

Sorry to hear it cost you your job.

boot man · 08-20-2009, 08:49 AM

You did what we all would want to do. But once you are working for "the man", you have to follow their rules. I'm sorry that you had to deal with the loudmouth *rick.

With hindsight being 20/20, I think they would have wanted you to take the abuse for a while, excuse yourself, get a supervisor. Many times I have wanted to coldcokk customers who just talk to me disrespectfully because they know I have to take it in a business setting. I am fairly confident that they would not talk to me in that manner outside of a work setting. I'm a pretty big dude.

JohnnyD · 08-20-2009, 08:53 AM

I'm with you. I probably would have laid right back into the guy.

A more Zen man than me would have walked away.

BigFish · 08-20-2009, 08:54 AM

Tune in later for the full story.

eastendlu · 08-20-2009, 09:13 AM

Larry when i worked for home depot i had the same thing happen to me a few times best thing to do is not let the idiot get under your skin i would turn it around and piss them off even more until they made such a seen until a supervisor would come and by that time the idiots were so irrational that they would be asked to leave all while i just smiled at them.Believe me if i was not in the store i would of gone to jail for giving them a beating.You have yo use mental martial arts turn their abuse against them.I witnessed an 80 year old plummer working there about your size pick up a little abusive customer by the neck and lift him up and walk him outside unfortunately they fird him even though he had a right to do it in my opinion they could never replace that old man as he probably forgot more about plumbing than every one there combined.

fishbones · 08-20-2009, 09:22 AM

Larry, that sucks that you had to go through that. If it happened in front of any other employees, you should get a written statement from them describing the incident with the language the guy used and also how you reacted. Companies are so scared of customers walking out and spending their money somewhere else, they bend over and take it up the you know what. Any company who values their employees would have backed you.

That being said, the minute the guy started getting rude, I would have said "I'm sorry, but I can't help you if you're going to talk to me like that. If you would like, I'll go get my supervisor to help you." If the guy still doesn't calm down, just walk away and tell the supervisor before he gets the customers side of the story.

The Dad Fisherman · 08-20-2009, 09:30 AM

When someone is doing that they are trying to get a rise out of you...if he gets that rise ...... "He Wins" ......and you get shown the door. Just calmly say That you will get your supervisor to assist him further and walk away.

as much as the guy needs an Ass-Kicking...you just can't do it in the capacity of your job. and he knows it.....why do you think he 's giving chit to a 6'7" - 300lb man......because he knows you won't touch him....or he'll sue.

If we could burn A-Holes for fuel there wouldn't be an energy crisis....

FishermanTim · 08-20-2009, 10:14 AM

That's where the phrase "Killing them with kindness" comes into play.
I've got a brother that works part time at HD in NH, and he had a similar experience. All he did was smile and explain why the customer was wrong. No swearing, no insulting, just stated the facts.
Needless to say the customer got so pissed that he ended up leaving the store, but not before complaining to the management about my brothers "lack of asistance" towards this customer.
When my brother was questioned by management, he stated the same facts he had given the customer and was told that he was right and the customer was completely wrong.
If the company sticks to the OLD mantra of "The customer is ALWAYS right", then that company is doomed, simply because if the customer is an idiot and wants to attempt to do something dangerous or even illegal, then the store could be sued for ALLOWING this idiot to do what he did without trying to stop/prevent them.
You know how frivilous the lawsuits are these days.

I agree that if you had witnesses to the verbal barrage directed at you, get sworn affidavids and inform the company that you will be retaining an attorney regarding a wrongful termination lawsuit.
Most of these stores hate bad publicity as much as losing customers.

Good luck!

justplugit · 08-20-2009, 10:14 AM

Sorry you lost your job over an idiot.

Bocephus · 08-20-2009, 10:29 AM

i work in a big office building fixing computers and stuff, and I get one of those once in a while. I have no patience for idiots or people who think they are smarter than everyone else, but I need this job more than I need my pride. When it happens, I will listen attentively, nodding my head, saying I understand, over and over. But I do this with a big s*** eating grin on my face, and it usually pisses them off more. I let them get it out of their system, and I give a calm response that they dont want to hear, but policy is policy. The last guy was really upset about the company deleting all his music from the network.
I told him that it was a shame all his stolen music was gone, and I gave him 2 names and numbers to call and complain. Then I told him he should call Apple and tell them of this outrageous act. That was when he realized I was busting his chops, he got red, thought he was gonna bust. But he just turned around and said Ill deal with it and went back to work.

eastendlu · 08-20-2009, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bocephus

i work in a big office building fixing computers and stuff, and I get one of those once in a while. I have no patience for idiots or people who think they are smarter than everyone else, but I need this job more than I need my pride. When it happens, I will listen attentively, nodding my head, saying I understand, over and over. But I do this with a big s*** eating grin on my face, and it usually pisses them off more. I let them get it out of their system, and I give a calm response that they dont want to hear, but policy is policy. The last guy was really upset about the company deleting all his music from the network.
I told him that it was a shame all his stolen music was gone, and I gave him 2 names and numbers to call and complain. Then I told him he should call Apple and tell them of this outrageous act. That was when he realized I was busting his chops, he got red, thought he was gonna bust. But he just turned around and said Ill deal with it and went back to work.

Your Kung Foo is strong....

cheferson · 08-20-2009, 11:27 AM

Sorry this a-hole caused you to lose your employment. Lots of a-holes everywhere. SHould see the clowns who come to restaurants ... They will pretty much put up with anything ( customer is always right

), but soon as they become verbally abusive/swearing , they are asked to leave. All you had to do was walk away. Probally could still file for unemployment too.

vineyardblues · 08-20-2009, 11:48 AM

Larry , sorry about your job

As for your rights as a employee at homedepot or any place else for that matter ... The customer is always rights

You were hired as a employee at will. this in the nut shell states they can fire you for any reason at all .

Unless your in a union or have a contract

on the bright side , have fun on the Cape this weekend, maybe I will see ya

VB

The Iceman 6 · 08-20-2009, 11:58 AM

Sorry about your job loss BF.

BigFish · 08-20-2009, 01:29 PM

I show up for work 5 minutes before the store opens.......I am scheduled to be there right at store opening, as I walk into the store I notice a customer has his truck and trailor parked under the lumber canopy ( you know where everyone parks to load the truck) by the way it is a "loading zone" not a "parking zone" and it is posted as such......anyway, I punch in and I grab a co-worker to spot me on the forklift as we have to move all the stuff back out under the canopy that we display (it all comes in every night and back out in the mornings) so we unlock the doors and the customer is right there and I very politely ask him "could he move his truck and trailor forward so I can get the merchandise out of the building and set the canopy for the day.......well the guy is already ticked off because the store was not open when he arrived and he says to me "well I need to load a bunch of stuff into my truck" and I reply "well thats fine what ever you need loaded we would be glad to help you but I still need the truck moved so I can get all the merchandise out of the building as it is blocking the aisles".......so he then says "can you load that pallet of Quickcrete into my trailer for me" and I reply "yes sir we can but I can't do that until it is paid for"......so now the guy is really pissed because he is not getting his way so he storms off to his truck and pulls it forward but not yet quite far enough so he looks over towards me and I wave at him you know.....a little further, just a little further and he then bolts out of the caopy and does a high speed lap around the lumber lot and is coming back around to pull under the canopy again so I tell my co-worker to stop him in front of the canopy and to have him just park right there and that will be fine. So I am just inside the building on the forklift getting a pallet of concrete to bring out when the customer comes in and starts giving me a load of crap, dropping f-bombs and how he just wants to load his truck and f this and f that....so I turn off the forklift and I say to the customer...."is there a problem sir?".......so he gets going again with the f-bombs and blah, blah, blah so I say to him "if you have a problem with how I do my job sir you need to go speak to my manager".......so he points his finger at me and says....."YOU JUST BE READY TO LOAD MY F-IN TRUCK WHEN I GET BACK!" and this is when I lost it and I responded "I WILL NOT BE LOADING YOUR TRUCK FOR YOU SIR, BUT I WILL MAKE SURE SOMEONE IS HERE TO LOAD YOUR TRUCK FOR YOU, BUT IT WILL NOT BE ME!" So he begins to walk away and I back the forklift up and I say to my co-worker (intentionally loud enough for him to hear-and by the way his wife is standing quietly by) "I DO NOT GET PAID ENOUGH TO WAIT ON A$$HOLES" Well he did hear me and he reported me to management and long story short after I filled out a report and my co-worker filled out a report detailing the incident......I was terminated. I knew it would happen but folks......I do not get paid enough to deal with that kind of crap, I do not know how much abuse one should be expected to endure from a customer but once he made that comment that was crossing my line!!!! Come to find out this morning I was in Lowe's and talking to my co-worker who was with me when it happened......the guys Wife told my co-worker that her husband always has problems in these stores??!!!!

So somehow it was my fault! It is what it is but after hearing that I think I will call the corporate office and speak with the district manager about it!! What can I lose??!!! I have had a great record there, never a problem and I work my butt off, others have broken rules and been written up for things that they should have been fired for but were not and I get canned....just doesn't seem right to me! Whatever.....its all good......when one door closes, another door opens!

luds · 08-20-2009, 01:50 PM

Just sounds like that job isn't a good match for you. I couldn't put up with that either. You just can't get away with saying that kind of thing when you are in a customer facing job regardless of how much of a prick you're dealing with.

PaulS · 08-20-2009, 02:40 PM

Larry, sorry to hear that. Hopefully, something better will turn up.

Good luck!

FishermanTim · 08-20-2009, 03:14 PM

You could ask "the powers that be" to show you in your employee handbook exactly where it states that your job REQUIRES you to take verbal abuse AND profanity from customers? Unless you were working for some 1-900 fetish phone line, I would be willing to say it doesn't.

That's when you mention "wrongful termination lawsuit" and how you know of a similar case where the employee won big $$.

Once again, good luck!

UserRemoved1 · 08-20-2009, 03:39 PM

Lemme get this straight. You called the guy an %$%$%$%$%$%$%$ full well knowing he could hear you?

Guess you really didn't want that job huh? Record or no record you just don't do stuff like that.

luds · 08-20-2009, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

You could ask "the powers that be" to show you in your employee handbook exactly where it states that your job REQUIRES you to take verbal abuse AND profanity from customers? Unless you were working for some 1-900 fetish phone line, I would be willing to say it doesn't.

That's when you mention "wrongful termination lawsuit" and how you know of a similar case where the employee won big $$.

Once again, good luck!

Be careful with advise like this. The "employee handbook" may not say that you have to take that kind of abuse but it will also say that you can't say anything to a customer that is disrespectul and I'm sure use of profanity with customers is not tolerated. I would also be careful how you handle anything with Lowe's from this point on. You don't want to do anything that might motivate anyone there to try and keep you from collecting if you need to go down that road.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do. I'm sure things will turn around quickly bud.

BigFish · 08-20-2009, 03:59 PM

Yeah Salty I know you would have let it slide right?!

FishermanTim · 08-20-2009, 04:04 PM

Back in 1990 I had a part time job driving executive sedans in the evening and sometimes on weekends. It paid well for a part time job, and I got to drove relatively new cars around the city and surrounding suburbs.
One evening, probably a Friday, I get a call to head over to Boston College for a pick up. The guy is heading to Logan, which is not a big deal. The problem was that the dispatcher screwed up the reservation and needed a car there ASAP.
Now, all I know is that it's a rush job, meaning the customer needed to catch his flight.
I rush over, pick the guy up, and from square one he's ripping into me. He's on his cell phone telling his significant other what a POS I am, that he hopes I know how to drive, where the airport is, etc....
All of this interlaced with f-bombs and other choice adjectives and adverbs that could make a sailor blush.
Needless to say I was REALLY tempted to pull over on the Pike and walk away with the keys, but I restrained myself, sucked it up and got him to the airport in plenty of time.
The kicker was that this jack-hole didn't even know which carrier he was using. (Delta or Delta-Express - two different terminals)
After that I got on the radio and proceeded to rip into the dispatcher, without the colorful superlatives, and told him that you had better not EVER do that to me again. End of story.

Bottom line: even though restraining yourself may save your job, what good is that if that job doesn't cover your medical cost when you develop an ulcer from "s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g it up" with so many a-holes and idiots?

luds · 08-20-2009, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

Back in 1990 I had a part time job driving executive sedans in the evening and sometimes on weekends. It paid well for a part time job, and I got to drove relatively new cars around the city and surrounding suburbs.
One evening, probably a Friday, I get a call to head over to Boston College for a pick up. The guy is heading to Logan, which is not a big deal. The problem was that the dispatcher screwed up the reservation and needed a car there ASAP.
Now, all I know is that it's a rush job, meaning the customer needed to catch his flight.
I rush over, pick the guy up, and from square one he's ripping into me. He's on his cell phone telling his significant other what a POS I am, that he hopes I know how to drive, where the airport is, etc....
All of this interlaced with f-bombs and other choice adjectives and adverbs that could make a sailor blush.
Needless to say I was REALLY tempted to pull over on the Pike and walk away with the keys, but I restrained myself, sucked it up and got him to the airport in plenty of time.
The kicker was that this jack-hole didn't even know which carrier he was using. (Delta or Delta-Express - two different terminals)
After that I got on the radio and proceeded to rip into the dispatcher, without the colorful superlatives, and told him that you had better not EVER do that to me again. End of story.

Bottom line: even though restraining yourself may save your job, what good is that if that job doesn't cover your medical cost when you develop an ulcer from "s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g it up" with so many a-holes and idiots?

Now that I agree with.

BigFish · 08-20-2009, 04:07 PM

FT you are correct! I bit my lip a few months ago with a customer I should have knocked on his a$$......and I had a ball in the pit of my stomach for months!!! No ulcer this time!

fishbones · 08-20-2009, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

Back in 1990 I had a part time job driving executive sedans in the evening and sometimes on weekends. It paid well for a part time job, and I got to drove relatively new cars around the city and surrounding suburbs.
One evening, probably a Friday, I get a call to head over to Boston College for a pick up. The guy is heading to Logan, which is not a big deal. The problem was that the dispatcher screwed up the reservation and needed a car there ASAP.
Now, all I know is that it's a rush job, meaning the customer needed to catch his flight.
I rush over, pick the guy up, and from square one he's ripping into me. He's on his cell phone telling his significant other what a POS I am, that he hopes I know how to drive, where the airport is, etc....
All of this interlaced with f-bombs and other choice adjectives and adverbs that could make a sailor blush.
Needless to say I was REALLY tempted to pull over on the Pike and walk away with the keys, but I restrained myself, sucked it up and got him to the airport in plenty of time.
The kicker was that this jack-hole didn't even know which carrier he was using. (Delta or Delta-Express - two different terminals)
After that I got on the radio and proceeded to rip into the dispatcher, without the colorful superlatives, and told him that you had better not EVER do that to me again. End of story.

Bottom line: even though restraining yourself may save your job, what good is that if that job doesn't cover your medical cost when you develop an ulcer from "s#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g it up" with so many a-holes and idiots?

The guy was on a cell phone in 1990?

FishermanTim · 08-20-2009, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FishermanTim

...That's when you mention "wrongful termination lawsuit" and how you know of a similar case where the employee won big $$....

This part was intended as a joke.

If you didn't get anywhere speaking with the head office muckity-mucks, and you really wanted to keep this job, you could consult with a labor attorney to see if you have a viable case.

Jenn · 08-20-2009, 05:01 PM

I dont blame you for trying to defend yourself but you shouldnt have called him an ahole.......Tell the guy you'll get your supervisor and if he keeps at it tell him your getting the manger and then go get the manager! Bite your tongue because no matter if the company feels for you or not they HAVE to take some sort of action to save company face....

Sorry....

UserRemoved1 · 08-20-2009, 05:10 PM

No Larry you are a representative of the company you work for. You just don't do stuff like that and expect to keep your job. You are the image of the company.

There's no grounds for a wrongful termination lawsuit here. He openly called a customer an a$$hole. He was terminated for just cause based on this. I'm not an attorney but I'm willing to bet you could check with any attorney that specializes with labor claims and he'd tell you the same thing.

Edit and what Jenn said above is spot on.

Hope you find another job, it's going to be tough now with 10% jobless.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigFish

Yeah Salty I know you would have let it slide right?!