Shop Staff Using Mobile Phones.

It's equally annoying and rude when either customers or staff do it.

I do expect the assistant's undivided attention when I am paying or have a query. I had to interrupt an assistant's call to/from her mother to query a price that came up on the till. She was not best pleased. But if she had been paying attention she might have seen that she had scanned an item twice and I wouldn't have had to interrupt her. If I hadn't noticed she would have overcharged me by nearly £5. I worked on the shop floor in both Boots and M&S years ago and we weren't allowed to take phones or money on the shop floor.

Employers were much stricter with their employees in my youth. We didn't have mobiles, but if staff were idling whilst customers were waiting, they would soon have been pulled up for it. This was one of my issues when I changed my hairdresser. Often staff were on their phones having loud conversations when not actually attending to clients.

MrsKen33

We once went into a very upmarket outlet shop. The young male assistant had extremely long hair. He wandered around the shop combing it with his fingers, for at least ten minutes. Then he proceeded to plait it. I was mesmerised. Not once did he acknowledge our presence until we went to the till. Then he was playing with his plait as he gave us our parcel and receipt.

Euw! I'd have asked him to go and wash his hands before serving me!

I refuse to acknowledge anyone if they're talking on their phone. As a customer, I'll wait until the phone is put down before making my payment or requesting any goods and as a hospital receptionist, I'll just look at the patient/visitor despairingly until they fully acknowledge me. I absolutely hate folk using their mobile phones while dealing with another person, if I'm not important enough to deserve 100% of their attention, they are not important enough to get any of mine. Bah, humbug. I'm getting grumpier and less tolerant every day (and I'm loving it ).

Maybe hold on to the money until they attend to you and not just put it in their hands.

When I ran a branch library I trained my assistants in how to deal with readers. We didnt have mobile phones back then. Just big black bakelite ones. However phones did ring and ring and ring until someone answered.

I instructed my staff to always excuse themselves from leaving a library patron to answer the phone, and not simply leave them standing there.

I also had a rule that people who phoned up had to "take their turn" in the queue. This was back in the 1970s when not everyone owned a phone. It was unfair that someone should get priority attention over people who were physically present just by ringing up.

So I would say something like "Hello, XYZ library. Im afraid Im dealing with someone just now so I must ask you to please wait a few minutes until someone is free." and then put the phone down and return to the person I was dealing with.

Gillarms

I refuse to acknowledge anyone if they're talking on their phone. As a customer, I'll wait until the phone is put down before making my payment or requesting any goods and as a hospital receptionist, I'll just look at the patient/visitor despairingly until they fully acknowledge me. I absolutely hate folk using their mobile phones while dealing with another person, if I'm not important enough to deserve 100% of their attention, they are not important enough to get any of mine. Bah, humbug. I'm getting grumpier and less tolerant every day (and I'm loving it ).

I totally agree. If I'm not important enough to have their full attention, they don't deserve to have me as a customer.

I find that most sales assistants/check out operators etc. are helpful and attentive, but those few who are totally wrapped up in a conversation, either one to one or phone-based while they "serve" you are a pain in the proverbial, and need recalibrating. The most effective response I ever witnessed was a few years ago now, when at a supermarket check-out the staff member was heavily involved in a phone conversation as she served the "sweet little old lady" in front of me. She then actually tutted at the slight delay when the customer was trying to find the correct change. The old lady paid up, and then said: "I'm now going to find your Manager and ask him to explain to you that you are overheads, and I am profit". Talk about a red face. I almost applauded.

I experienced that sort of service when I was living in London, usually by a male server running an independent confectionery/tobacconist/newspaper/small grocery type store. Handing money over, all the while the person serving remains on the phone, change handed back whilst never a word is exchanged not so much as a thank you.. Yeah not great!
I completely understand the annoyance of cashiers, when the boot is on the other foot, a couple of times my phone has rung whilst being in a queue to be served at the supermarket, I'll get off before it's my turn. Once my son rang me about nothing really important, told him I had to go I was about to be served, he said something like "can't you wedge phone under your ear" my reply "No it's rude to talk on the phone whilst being dealt with Goodbye!"

I always go through self service now, but I still don't want phone calls while I'm checking out, phones are a blessing but a damn nuisance too!

Customers and sales assistants are as bad as each other. When I was a store manager my staff kept their phones in their lockers and they checked them at break times. Customers ignoring you as you are serving them is so rude, especially if they expect you to pack their bags because they are holding their stupid phones and are unable to do the two things at once.

I will not pay unless I receive full eye contact and a spoken request for payment, there is no excuse for bad manners.

This is not to do with mobile 'phones and not recent but some forty plus years ago I took my daughter to our local confectioner/newsagent to buy her two ounces of sweeties as a reward for holding her bladder (potty training and her first day out in pretty cotton panties).

We stood at the counter as two middle-aged/elderly (they looked ancient to me but were probably early fifties!!) assistants looked over to us but carried their obviously riveting conversation.

We patiently waited a little longer before my daughter told me that she needed to do a wee soon. I coughed 'politely' and called 'excuse me', as we edged towards the door but the two assistants carried on chatting.

At that moment, my poor daughter couldn't hold it in a moment longer so performed a wee - on to the shop floor.

I said 'never mind' to the assistants and we left the shop. They had a lovely job to clear up when they had finally completed their conversation! Serves them right too.

All those years ago and have never forgotten, so ignoring customers due to an engaging conversation is not new!

Oh, I told my daughter that it was not at all her fault and her toilet training went swimmingly well!

I would treat any shop assistant who continued to talk on his or her phone in exactly the way I have always treated shop assistants who were too busy chatting or doing nothing to serve me.

I say, fairly loudly, "Excuse me, do you actually work here, or are you just employed here? If you can't serve me, get someone who can.."

Once served, I would either request to speak to the supervisor or inform the assistant that I would shop elsewhere in future.

Why put up with bad manners? Service will not improve if you do not complain about it. It may well not, even if you do complain, but then at least you have tried to do something about it.

I agree with timetogo 2016... time or is it people(?) have changed

many years ago I was in a supermarket with my youngest daughter who was around 20 I think, the girl on the checkout was more interested in having a conversation with her friend who was at the end of the counter than the paying customers. When it came to our turn and the girl was still conversing with her friend my daughter leant over, tapped her on her arm and said in a quite loud voice" Excuse me ( read girls name from name tag)I am so sorry to interrupt your obviously important conversation, but you are being very rude and If I were your employer you wouldn't have a job as you don't seem too keen to do it. oh and you can explain to your manager why your customer left without buying anything and wont be back" with that she just left all her groceries on the checkout and walked out.
was a pain to have to go to the next supermarket to get the groceries but she made her point.

A local old fashioned grocery store here has a notice on the counter stating, politely, that they won't be serving customers who are using their phones. If I am being ignored by an assistant when buying something, particularly the ones who hold out your change or receipt while chatting, or just don't bother to look at me, I simply stand there looking away myself until the assistant looks at me, and then he or she will get a beaming smile and a 'Thank you SO much!' as I take the proffered whatever.

It does happen in M & S timetogo2016!

Some years ago I was buying school uniforms for both sons. Came to quite a large sum of money. When I approached the till the assistant was chatting on her phone. She grabbed my purchases with her spare hand at which point I grabbed them all back and said “I’ll wait until you’ve finished your call”. The look on her face was priceless but finished her call. I thanked her profusely (somewhat tongue in cheek) but never went back to that shop.

When serving customers on my bank counter, if they carried on a phone conversation when it was their turn to be served, I busily sorted the notes in my till drawer until the conversation ended, (usually quite quickly when they realised I was politely ignoring their paying in book or whatever).

I then smiled and said “Good morning, and how are you today?” and proceeded to serve them.

Happens a lot in Greece! Even in banks, where a teller or assistant will answer their phone and start chatting away whilst 'serving' you! Seems to be a very cultural thing there, also almost everyone just answers their mobile wherever they are with 'nai' (yes)....never with their name or hello etc....whoever it is that is calling them!

Not on mobile phone but I was being served by a surly young man in M&S. When the transaction was completed, I looked him in the eye and said, ‘do you hate your job?’ He was so shocked he just blurted out, ‘yes’. Lol
I replied, ‘well your job is to pretend you don’t when serving customers or better still, get another job’

There’s an ad on tv for over 50’s life insurance. The granny is playing hide and seek and on concealing herself in a wigwam, she rings the insurance company to buy a policy, adding that she’ll have to be quick. When DD2 sees that ad, having worked in insurance, says she’d tell the caller to ring back when she had more time and be able to fully discuss a policy!

I agree absolutely, it's almost as if work is an interruption to the shop assistant's social life in some shops. Things have changed so much especially in recent years.
Mind you I should point out that I did work in a bank for a couple of years after 'retirement' and was astonished one day when a customer reprimanded me for not handing over her cash with all the notes facing the same way! She said that when she was a cashier in a bank that was one thing they had to do so I guess I was guilty of poor service too.

This is something I've never encountered.

bank notes aligned, face up, is something i would expect.
maybe the bank just thought that was standard practice, but they should have covered it in training.