A young girl, probably around six or seven, sat on top of the Australian Women’s Weekly flat stack on the weekend clumsily flipping through a copy of New Idea, licking her fingers before turning each page. The girl’s mother was standing across from her asking when she will be ready to get on with the shopping. The girl told her mother she was busy.
The mother could see the girl was disrupting a busy part of our newsagency. Her look to me was one of what can I do?
I am sure that this scene plays out every day in newsagencies and other retail businesses. It is a scene of poor parenting in my view – the child is disrespectful of my property, disrespectful of fellow shoppers, rude to her mother and being a brat overall.
I didn’t say anything because the shop was busy, I was serving and I didn’t want to make a scene. In hindsight, I should have at least left the counter and asked the girl to get off my stock. Actually, the mother should have done this. Indeed, she should probably have stopped the girl reading New Idea. I have nothing agaist the title but do feel it is not ideal for a six or seven year old.
While the whole scene played out in a few minutes, it weighed on my mind for a couple of days. I wonder if parents today do let kids get away with more today than previous generations. The mum was clearly controlled by the child. Back when I was a kid…
At least the mother was there. We are regularly used as a creche by parents who have to stand in line at the Post office opposite or mums who go next door to have their nails done.
Well said.
I believe that the problem lies in the fact that parents are no longer parents to their children. They are so concerned with being their friend that they skip the basic discipline requirements and hence let the children control them instead of the other way round.
I feel sorry for this generation who have grown up with no boundaries and pretty much no parents. Their future looks bleak and they are in for a rude awakening once they hit the “real world”.
I believe you certainly would have been in your right to ask the child and mother to move on.
Insecure parents are terrified of the repercussions of admonishing their children in public places. I recently had a small tomatoe sauce capsule hurled at me from an irate mother because I admonished and threw out her arrogant foul mouthed sixteen year old for sitting in the aisle with legs splayed out while reading magazines.
My shop – my rules – I win you don’t punk!
Well done G!!!!
Sadly the world is telling them that they have all these “rights” but are forgetting to tell them the responsibility that goes with those rights. From a young age at school they are pumped with information on what their parents “can’t do”. But they forget to tell them that their parents don’t “have” to provide the MP3 players, T.V’s in their rooms, those designer clothes!! These are privillages that need to be earnt.
This is the problem with children having children.
I hate that saying ” The customer is always right “. What a lot of crap.
And as you said Mark dont you just love it when people lick their fingers to turn the pages of the stock or even worse when they lick them to count notes before handing them to you,i refuse to touch such money
We always ask people to get off the magazines if they are sitting on them, and I have reminded people that the magazine that they are reading isnt cheap and so therefore could they not spit all over them. A customer brought her copy of the english garden back 2 days ago and we swapped it for aother one because someone had obviously been flicking through it and had damaged the magazine. Apart from the fact that she was irate, we found it embarrasing. So save yourselves the grief and protect your stock, not just from kids!
Yep..we all have that !! When I come across a kid sitting on the floor with or without parent, I approach and say..”is there something wrong with your legs” ??? When they reply …”no” I say “Please stand up” Never fails…I had a busty feral the other day with a child mother reading Cosmo mag. After a while I approached and asked her if she needed some help reading the mag…she put it back and without a sneer left with the sheepish red faced parent in tow. They both have been back since.
I think some of those commenting here need to look at their customer service skills. You might not like what the customer is doing, but there are plenty of ways to approach situations that both give you the outcome you want and minimise fallout with the customer (and any other onlooking customers).
The customer might not always be right. But its good customer service to make them think they are (no matter how young).
The problem with many parents is not the lack of discipline, but the failure to substitute it with other teaching mechanisms.
I’m just wondering how I might get the customer to think they are right by sitting on magazines and licking pages. It’s an affront whichever way you cut the cake.
We get this in both our newsagencies and the finger licking, whilst sometimes non intentional is simply disgusting no matter which way you look at it. I don’t like bringing it to someones attention because it is embarrassing for the customer in most cases.
I would be very interested in the “plenty of of ways to approach” this situation and look forward to a variety of “ways”. I’m always keen to learn something new.
Helen,
That’s why they call it filthy lucre!
Angelo,
If a customer was sitting on a pile of magazines I would approach them with the excuse of wanting to get to the magazines they are sittiing on, the ones behind them, or the drawer under them. “Sorry, can I pop in there, I just need to get to that drawer” is all it takes to get them off the stock and ensure their instore experience is still a positive one.
I would ignore the finger licking. If you see a customer do it and don’t want the magazine back on the shelf. Take it off after they are done (assuming that they haven’t purchased it). It can easily be returned. Chances are, if you approach them, the probability of them purchasing that magazine (of future magazines) is severely diminished.
If a kid is sitting on the floor (which we occasionally get) we either let them be (if there aren’t many people around and they aren’t in the way) or we wheel a trolley up the aisle so they are forced to stand up.
Graeme,
Its not filthy lucre, just basic customer service skills. If we can avoid a situation where we create a negative experience for the customer that is good for the business (and good for the already high stress levels of many newsagents).
Angelo,
You guys loosen up it’s joke joyce a joke of course it is filthy lucre the whole lot of it. The more the better especially in these hard times.
I dont have a problem asking people to get off the magazines. Rather me do it than expect a customer to do it because they genunly want the magazine the person is sitting on. Over time I have found people who sit on mags or on the floor, dont take subtle hints. If you ask them if they need a hand, they more often than not respond with, no I;m just looking. Kids sitting on the floor out of the way isn’t a problem, an adult sprawled on your floor is just weird.
Jarryd
By beating about the bush with a bleeding heart attitude you just confuse the lower gene pool customer from trailer trash village. Be upfront but firm and fair so there is no misunderstanding – “Get off the floor” “Get off the magazines” “Get that pen out of your backpack” and all of you “Get out of the shop and stay out”
Succinct and successful
G,
Not sure how you can put everyone who sits on magazines in the same group as shoplifters … ? Its not only the customer you’re speaking to who will have a negative experience, but also those customers who witness it. Seeing a person being told to “get off the magazines” doesn’t create a good impression for all the other customers in the store.
the good ones love it!!!!
I think ‘bad parenting’ today is caused by the fact that parents are too scared to discipline their kids in public due to all the laws and controversy around the topic… Its ridiculous! Parents need to man up and take control of their children again. A little smack on the hand and a firm ‘Don’t your dare do that” never hurt anyone in the past… It embarrasses the kids becaue they know they’ve done something wrong and everyone around is staring at them while they get told off… I think parents get scared of smacking etc. in public these days because they think someone will think they are a bad parent because they hit their kids or that someone will dob them in for doing it. There is nothing wrong with discipline if you go about it the right way.
I have never had a problem when asking the offender politely ” would you mind hopping up off the floor in case someone falls over you” or “would you mind not sitting on the magazines please”. However I am reminded of the time many years ago when my wife politely asked a lady if she would either pay for the SMH or pop it down as others couldn’t get past her at the paper stack as she was reading it right in front of the papers with it fully open. The lady promptly threw the paper down and stormed out and in front of her children shouted “stick your f…..g paper in your f…ing a..e bi.ch”
Welcome to Campbelltown.
Thanks for the insight Jarryd!
Unfortunatly, profits rely on more customers than just “the good ones”. It’s the bane of retailing.
Jarryd, are you putting profits before morals?
I, today, still remember the threat of the smack (Mum, once left me on the side of the road, 200k’s out of Bourke NSW and drove over the horizon!) and was always we’ll behaved – mostly. Respecting people’s property is very important in society.
Michael,
Did you walk to Bre, Cobar, Cunnamulla or Nyngan?
Back on topic- 99.9% of our customers are great. I try and think of them rather than the 0.1% who have no manners.The 0.1% do need to show some courtesy by not sitting on magazines, the floor,opening up packs of magazines…
I find standing right next to them while tidying mags seems to work but not always.
Nah, played with a stumpy tailed lizard for half an hour and LEARNT MY LESSON. We did name a dog Cobar after that though! Best dog I ever had.
I tolerate customers under these circumstances for a short time then ask them if they indend to purchase the magazine. If not I ask them to stop reading it.
Some children run around the store touching everything without a word from their mother and these I approach and ask them not to touch MY property. On a very rare occassion the mother has taken umberance to this reasonable request and left the shop. It is a very small percentage of customers and quite honestly I prefer that if they show no respect for my stock and for my GOOD cutomers, they do not return. I have lost far less than I have gained in this rare situation as the 99.9% of good customers apreciate the situation. As others have said. my shop, my stock, my rules which are to keep and win more good customers and not pander to rude selfish people who most likely deter customers from entering my shop.
Michael,
The concept of morality is not universal in nature.
Its not good customer service or smart retailing to metaphorically “smack” the customer if there are other ways to achieve the same outcome without the repercussive negative impact.
bleeding heart rubbish
Maybe if more customers were smacked as children they wouldn’t be so rude?
Just a thought.
i’m still young but i’m all for discipline. at least learn how to show some proper respect and manners when you’re in public.
it’s quite disgusting how some children treat their parents.
but i’m happy they removed the cane long before i started school.
G,
You put foward such a compelling agrument :-S
This isn’t about social/political views. Its about what is good practice retailing.
Jarryd, it’s not just about retailing, society comes through our doors everyday.
I get your point that there’s more ways to get around a situation, but sometimes there’s not.
*”The concept of morality is not universal in nature” = Steal a loaf of bread to feed the family?
Michael,
Retailers see people from all different sections of society everyday, yes. But its not their place to guide, chastise, teach or impose on their customers. Retailers exist to retail, to supply goods and/or services.
I’m certainly not saying that a retailer should never metopgorically “smack” a customer. If all other avenues have been exhausted then they are cleary left with no other option. But many here are saying that they choose this as their first course of action. That is bad practice retailing.
What i mean about morality is that what you see as “moral” is going to be different to what others see a moral. Morality is a concept unique to each individual. While some here will see stealing a loaf of bread to feed the family as immoral, other will see it as the moral thing to do. It goes to my argument that it isn’t that place of retailers to impose their individual morals on customers. If someone feels this to be their duty then retail probably isn’t the right industry for them.
my shop my rules, iam always right and bad customers will never welcome here. If customers are not right we will tell them out straight away.
Jarryd, You’ve lost me!
Michael,
My main point was that many who have commented here are not trying to find “ways to get around a situation”. They are automatically getting angry at the customer without trying any alternatives first.
What I mean in the last paragraph is that what a retailer sees as bad behaviour by a customer is not likely to be seen as bad behaviour by that customer. When a retailer tells a customer to ‘get off the magazines’ the customer is likely to be offended because they didn’t think they were doing anything wrong.
short version of jarryd’s post:
the truth and morality of something is relative to the persons perspective.
Thanks Aaron. I get a bit wordy and go off on tangents when I write.
Aren’t our laws based on morality, the difference between right and wrong.
People know these differences then choose to ignore it. It seems if Jarrod had his way people can do whatever they “feel” like doing.
I know I am a good driver and should be allowed to drive as fast as I like but if I go above 100km I get booked, based on your views Jarrod, I should be let off because I don’t think I should be limited to what speed someone else thinks is safe.
Again people know that respect for other peoples property is the right thing to do but a few choose to ignore this, these people should not be allowed to go through life with this attitude and should be pulled back into the rest of society that does respect others.
The majority of people respect others, but we should not allow the minority to hurt the rest.
Luke,
You are correct in your assumption. The more we take a ‘luke warm’ approach to the idiots who seemingly have no idea of right from wrong, good from bad, respect from disrespect, the more we condone their behaviour. Jarryd has his opinion to which I dont agree. A newsagency is a microcosm of society and reflects the attitude of people across the board of that society. I am of the firm belief that anyone who has entered my realm will abide by my rules or be turfed out. There is no confusion or misunderstanding that sitting on magazines or in aisles is out of bounds.
Do not condone disrespectful or anti-social behaviour in your workplace – take a stand against the minority of fools that seek to do so and send them back to the bottom of that gene pool where they feed
Anon While I understand you see your shop as your domain, it is a public place and you need to allow customers some freedom to interact with your products. The alternative is to have a counter across your front door and you get everything customers ask for – i.e. they cannot touch or interact with what you sell.
I dont think that Anon is talking about no browsing. He/she is talking about sitting on fixtures/stock. Why is it so hard for some out there to register that we want people to look, touch, feel the product but not damage, destroy or steal. We have numerous example where someone has broken an expensive gift item then walked off. No apology, no offer to cover cost just contempt.
Being an x Woolies manager we had little time for people sitting on fixtures or stock, in fact when was the last time you saw someone sitting on the coke end with reading a mag. They do so at the register, standing in line while waiting to be served thats about it.
Luke,
While I won’t get into a debate on the philosophies of modern legal systems (that will take us in a whole new direction), I will say that most laws are there to keep society functioning. Laws regarding speeding are clearly there to make the roads a safe and useable piece of infrastructure.
Any response to your last two paragraphs is futile on my behalf as you clearly don’t understand the concept of relative morality.
Mark,
A newsagency is not a public place, it is private property. If the newsagent or any other retailer elects to expel a person from the property, on reasonable cause, they are entitled to do so.
A park, the beach or the ocean is a public place
Grab a few beanbags or chairs then. It’ll let the customers browse without sitting on fixtures. And they’d be kept to a designated area and out of the way.
G,
No one is saying that the retailer is not entitled to do so, only that not allowng customers some freedom is not the best business decision.
Aaron,
I’ve been tossing that idea around as a concept in a new store for some time. Still not decided on it. If a small bench/chair/couch could be integrated into a fitout in a space that is unlikely to be used efficiently by products then I can see some definite good in it.
We planned to do this in one of our new stores in a centre costing more thna $1,000 a square metre but the return on space did not justify it.
I think I’d prefer to combine that option with a couple of internet terminals.
Something we’re mulling over at least.
borders books currently have a gloria jeans coffee shop in their store, complete with chairs and tables etc. Mega browsing goes on here with coffee/cake stained fingers flciking through high quality books and magazines – good luck with your bean chair idea
If you like bean bags, this was my fav from the bank…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dESY1kJfGdw