So I’ve been working in retail for a while and seen my share of odd and rude customers, but today I had my very first “Karen”, and he was american also. (I’m not, and I’m in Australia).
The store I work for doesn’t give their bags for free, we charge for them. This guy picked an online order and then threw up a tantrum and demanded to speak to a manager when I refused to give him a bag for free. Another team member (more experienced) just gave him the bag and he just left.
That does it I guess, but it’s giving in to rude demands what sustains this kind of behavior imo. I’m not trying to protect the interests of the corporate I work for- it’s just a stupid bag ffs, perhaps ask nicely? I’ve been called off both for giving away bags for free before as well as calling for the manager to deal with “minor issues”.
So I’m asking, in general, how do you deal with these types of customers?
your only loyalty to the company is to the paycheck and that bag ain’t coming out of your paycheck (no matter how much your manager whines about it) – put on your best dead face (maybe mix in a little of “did you just shit your pants?” revulsion) as you hand over a bag and get him out of the store and out of your life as fast as possible – life is too short to give his ego anything other than apathy and disdain