Customer Abuse

Transcript of the free preview lesson. Remaining lessons unlock with the full course.

(gentle music) Let's discuss what kinds of customer behavior can be defined as abusive. In these lessons, we'll look into how you can identify and recognize customer abuse and tips for what should be done should you experience an abusive customer. If you're working in a job where you deal with customers, your day-to-day experience can vary based on the people you interact with, ranging from positive to negative. You may have had a customer compliment you on how well you made their sandwich, then have another complaint that you've made theirs incorrectly. You never know who or what you'll have to deal with during an average day on the job, and that's why it's important to prepare for challenging customer interactions. Customer abuse is when a customer's behavior goes beyond being rude or angry and becomes a form of bullying. More specifically, it's when a customer becomes physical with you, or their language toward you becomes personal, offensive, or can be defined as harassment. There are three common characteristics of abusive customer behavior. It becomes physical if a customer touches you, spits at you, throws objects, or engages in any kind of physical violence toward you, including but not limited to hitting, slapping, or kicking. This is considered abusive. It qualifies as harassment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines harassment as unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion, pregnancy, national origin, older age beginning at age 40, disability, or genetic information, including family medical history. Sexual harassment also falls under this category. If a customer is mistreating you based on one or more of these categories, their behavior may qualify as harassment. The customer makes unrelated personal comments. A customer calling you slow for not bringing out their order on time is rude, but it's not necessarily abuse. Personal comments or remarks that are irrelevant to your job performance and service criticisms are considered abusive. Customer behavior is a spectrum. It's important to know the difference between a customer who is showing anger or being difficult and one whose behavior has crossed the line into abuse. Rude or upset customers may be common. And while this kind of customer may leave unsatisfied and upset you, it's a situation that can be de-escalated and dealt with appropriately. A non-abusive customer's behavior is generally a result of an isolated incident or how you chose to handle it. An abusive customer's behavior crosses a line into an attack. It's important for employees to understand customer abuse, primarily for their own safety. If a combative customer causes an uncomfortable or tense situation, it's good for employees to know how to deescalate the situation or contact help if needed. If abuse does occur, employees should know how to ensure that any other customers present are safe and unaffected. It's also critical for management to understand how to deal with customer abuse. Management has a responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of their employees, and that includes protecting them from abusive customer behavior. A company can risk legal trouble for exposing their employees to unsafe working conditions. Understanding customer abuse is also critical for managers who want to provide their customers with a positive experience. This is especially true for in-person retail stores. If customers enter a store and see an employee being abused, they may develop a bad opinion of the company, either because they believe the employee did something to deserve the treatment, or because they think the company is not being mindful of their employees' safety. Any job where you must interact with new people every day can be challenging, and knowing how to handle a difficult interpersonal situation is a skill that you can use in any environment.