I almost got fired at work...

dan • 23 September 2016 at 12:08 PM

I'm beginning to learn customers are always right. But sometimes, their attitudes are the worst! I work at "Yo! Sushi" which is a fast food restaurant where you take your food, and go or sit and eat, up to you. This lady maybe in her mid 20's came in with five kids. I couldn't believe it since she looks in her mid 20's but maybe they're related? But then again, the kids look a few years apart. The children were misbehaving being loud and disrespectful but meh, kids are kids, rowdy little ones. But customers were staring at her and thankfully I have patience (mom's side, thank you mom!) but also I get easily annoyed (my dad got annoyed over everything!) aaannnddd... I didn't want to snap at the customer but, six other people walked into the lobby.

It felt like 20 minutes and she tried to get the kids to behave. I asked if she wanted to comeback and order once the children calm down... And she snapped. Pft. Doesn't employees have rights to ask questions to the customer anymore? I did the right thing. She had an attitude that made me wonder how can her husband out up with it? With 5 kids patience does get thin. Ha! That rhymes. Anyways... She was calling me this and that and accusing me being rude when I was being nice. Better than having me snap at her. Buuut my BOSS overheard it.

Yup... He was FURIOUS! Then managers stood there dumbfounded didn't even know what to do. I felt stuck and calm (odd for me to stay calm in a situation like this). You know what she did? Blamed it all on me saying I was being rude by asking if she wanted to order once her children calm down (nailed it!) Umm... Wut? I'm supposed to ask. Been with Yo! Sushi for 5 months now and I'm close to being manager even.

I stood there quietly and waited until my boss' head blew up. Didn't happen. My boss had a girl name Megan, *ahem* ex girlfriend, take the front of the house and he told me to be in his office. I'm a smart mouth, I wanted to but, he was furious. I rolled my eyes and went into his office and waited. Only a few seconds later he was in his chair I swear that was quick for an old guy in his 50's - 60's a little too quick. Yup! Got yelled at. Then he took it easier on me. He said if I don't start acting right and the "customers are always right" bs I'd be fired.

Hold on. Nah! She started the attitude, not me. I was being CALM because I knew if I'd would of had a slight attitude she'd flip out and a war would of broke out. Megan, who I mentioned before, would of stood up for me. Ex or not. She can't do anything because the boss is there or she would of stood up for me. Everyone else who has a friendship with me about 85% would of said something. This isn't fair. At all. Period.

So yup! I'm not fired but I'm thinking about quitting.
I almost got fired smh. People now days.

fakeworld • 23 September 2016 at 12:41 PM

@dan

"I asked if she wanted to comeback and order once the children calm down..."

I can see why you thought your comment was friendly, and why she might have thought it was rude. To her it wasn't welcoming, and honestly, if I was her I probably would have felt the same way. From her perspective, she might have thought that you were annoyed by her loud children, or was trying to get rid of her and her children, by asking them to leave in a way that wasn't as harsh as saying "Can you please leave, your children are too loud. You can come back when they're quiet.". You could have instead tried to interact with her children, or asked your manager if you could treat the children, by giving them a snack or something of that sort to try to help her maintain them? Trying to control 5 kids alone? It's not an easy task!


Don't think about quitting over something as little as this, you're almost a manager! Just use this situation as a learning experience and try your best to advance from it.

shirona • 23 September 2016 at 1:59 PM

@dan

My first job was at a restaurant with a similar concept to yours. Gotta say, good customer service skills requires some serious eloquence and diplomacy, but honing said skills takes time. Unfortunately, customers in most cases are "always right". If you become a manager, you're going to be put in situations like that a lot.

Your boss shouldn't have threatened to fire you and I can understand why you're upset. He could have handled the situation better but he at least he DIDN'T fire you, right?

If you're normally on good terms with your boss, it could be that he's just stressed for some reason and you could use that situation to your advantage by asking to get some training to better your customer service skills. Could be helpful later on, especially if you're aiming to become a manager and your boss might be impressed that you're serious enough about your job to seek improvement.

Mistakes happen. People snap no matter how kindly you phrase a sentence. If you do decide to quit, know that you'll face situations with customers and angry bosses again. Even more so if you do become a manager. Quitting won't resolve anything though and being yelled at isn't a good reason to leave a job.

Try putting yourself in the customer's situation next time. While no one has the right to insult you and you weren't rude or neglecting to do your job, Fakeworld is right. You could have handled that particular situation better.