Weird lady at the supermarket

[ShadesOfGrey]

I don't like when I am in line and the employee that's helping customers is overly friendly with customers, it is just unprofessional to me

As a former retail employee I must say that sentiments like that make my head want to explode because its such a lose lose situation for a retail employee. You have people who will think you are a b-witch if your not friendly enough and apparently being too friendly is also a problem. The really irritating thing is its all about perception. What you might find as overly friendly someone else might view as not friendly enough. I think customers need to realize that retail employees are just people, some with personalities that you like and some with personalities that you dont. I feel as long as you (in general you) are getting the service you are paying for and you are not treated rudely then you have nothing to complain about.

In general I agree with you, but in the OP's situation, her comments were unprofessional, whether the person was a friend or not.  That's the point of being professional - you are a reflection of the company you work for, and if someone overhears something it could be misunderstood.  Professionalism requires that these situations be minimized, and a comment about someone's weight is too easily misunderstood or offensive to be considered professional friendliness.  I am sure the OP meant no harm at all, and while I dont fault her for being friendly with her friend, the comment was inappropriate in that environment.  At home, in the car, out walking, yes, but not while she is a representative of something/one else.  Simple mistake is all. 

[CocoCamm]

I don't like when I am in line and the employee that's helping customers is overly friendly with customers, it is just unprofessional to me

As a former retail employee I must say that sentiments like that make my head want to explode because its such a lose lose situation for a retail employee. You have people who will think you are a b-witch if your not friendly enough and apparently being too friendly is also a problem. The really irritating thing is its all about perception. What you might find as overly friendly someone else might view as not friendly enough. I think customers need to realize that retail employees are just people, some with personalities that you like and some with personalities that you dont. I feel as long as you (in general you) are getting the service you are paying for and you are not treated rudely then you have nothing to complain about.

In general I agree with you, but in the OP's situation, her comments were unprofessional, whether the person was a friend or not.  That's the point of being professional - you are a reflection of the company you work for, and if someone overhears something it could be misunderstood.  Professionalism requires that these situations be minimized, and a comment about someone's weight is too easily misunderstood or offensive to be considered professional friendliness.  I am sure the OP meant no harm at all, and while I dont fault her for being friendly with her friend, the comment was inappropriate in that environment.  At home, in the car, out walking, yes, but not while she is a representative of something/one else.  Simple mistake is all. 

I totally agree with you that this was a case where an employees comments could be taken out of context and thus should be reserved for her off hours. I was speaking more in general.

[Nuala]

Other customers may not know they are friends and it leaves a bad impression of both the store and its employees.

ITA.  While I was paying for a purchase at a major department store, the cashier at the next register was checking out a friend.  She told the friend that turtleneck shirts are "que/er" and then started dropping f-bombs conversationally.

This did not leave me with the best impression of the store.

The shopper was obviously the cashier's friend, but the conversation and the language were certainly inappropriate.

I should have said something at the time, but frankly I was shocked.  I did call the store later to let them know, but I'm sure it would have been more effective if I had said something at the time.

[Ko-Ko]

Thanks for the replies. I just wish that if she had such a huge problem with all of this she could have just said so, rather than biting my head off. Of course nothing she said would have stopped me from saying things like this at home or school, but I would have learned to watch what I say at work and she wouldn't have looked like a psycho. Thanks for reading.

Ko-Ko

[ShadesOfGrey]

Thanks for the replies. I just wish that if she had such a huge problem with all of this she could have just said so, rather than biting my head off. Of course nothing she said would have stopped me from saying things like this at home or school, but I would have learned to watch what I say at work and she wouldn't have looked like a psycho. Thanks for reading.

Ko-Ko

Ko-Ko, ITA, it sounds like she got bent out of shape over a simple misunderstanding. Sorry you had to deal with that.

[fklwmn]

I don't like when I am in line and the employee that's helping customers is overly friendly with customers, it is just unprofessional to me

As a former retail employee I must say that sentiments like that make my head want to explode because its such a lose lose situation for a retail employee. You have people who will think you are a b-witch if your not friendly enough and apparently being too friendly is also a problem. The really irritating thing is its all about perception. What you might find as overly friendly someone else might view as not friendly enough. I think customers need to realize that retail employees are just people, some with personalities that you like and some with personalities that you dont. I feel as long as you (in general you) are getting the service you are paying for and you are not treated rudely then you have nothing to complain about.

I also don't like overly friendly employees. friendly employees are great, even welcomed. I define OVERLY friendly as an employee who is so friendly that it slows down their servicing of the customers.

I was in Macy's last weekend and the cashier took FOREVER ringing up 3 or 4 things for the people in front of me. Like 5 minutes. It was ridiculous. They were busy talking about who knows whom and who goes to school with someone else and what classes they have with these othr people.

From what I could gather, the cashier did not know these people, but they had common friends and acquaintences and decided to acquaint themselves during the transaction. This wouldn't have been a problem if there had been NO ONE IN LINE behind these people. But I was behind them. And by the time she finished, there were 3 other people in line behind me.

She handed me a card after she rang me up and said "My name is Barb. Make sure you go to our website and let us know how our service was today!" As we walked away I looked at my son and said "Do you think she wants me to go to the website and tell them how we waited in line forever b/c she was too busy chatting with the peole in front of us?" My son was quite enthusiastic that I should do exactly that, lol.
 

[Venus193]

Thanks for the replies. I just wish that if she had such a huge problem with all of this she could have just said so, rather than biting my head off.

Because of her reaction, I'm inclined not to think she's a "secret shopper."  I suspect people who do that want to remain inconspicuous.

However, I see other people's points on this issue.  If it wasn't obvious that you and the customer were friends, this could be a problem for your boss in terms of the image of the store.