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StressBullying and harassmentLatest NewsMental healthHR practice

Cruel customers bully retail staff

by Quentin Reade 21 Apr 2005
by Quentin Reade 21 Apr 2005

UK retail workers are being bullied, reduced to tears, and even physically abused by cruel consumers, according to research from recruitment website Retailchoice.com.

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Ninety five per cent of retail staff encounter rude customers on a regular basis, with 43% having to put up with bad manners between one and six times a day. Fifty nine per cent of staff complain of customers shouting and swearing at them, while an irate consumer has reduced one in five shop workers to tears. Women are most likely to weep at poor manners, with 28% admitting to crying over a callous customer.  

It appears that women are the rudest shoppers, with 44% of workers finding women more aggressive as they shop.

Quentin Reade

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