I am feeling threatened at work please help me.?

Question

There is this customer who comes in, an old guy, who is very aggressive and harasses me as well as my friends/co-workers. He constantly yells, whinges and screams for the stupidest **** every time he comes in to be served, and picks up on everything he thinks we do WRONG. He once screamed at a friend of mine who I worked with at the time for supposedly "squashing" his bread while putting it in a bag for him, which it was not, and I told him so. Then he threatened to report me to my superior and have me fired for it.

Then he came in again while i was working on a Wednesday night. I was cleaning up the register area (which was an absolute PIG-STY btw), and naturally, I was turned away from the register because that's where the mess was. Then I turned around and there he was just standing there, and he couldn't have been standing there for longer than 10 seconds or so. I greeted him and said "hello can you please come to this register" which had a closed sign on it. Then he started screaming at me saying "why are you turned away and not serving?" He was the only customer there, besides a guy who was waiting behind him. I screamed back because i just got fed up and then he threatened to report me to my boss...AGAIN. I was absolutely shaken afterwards.

I don't know what to do. I work at a gas station. I am thinking of taking his plate number/registration and report him to the police because I am afraid for my safety and that he might come after me or something. He is absolutely PSYCHO NO JOKE. I am paid to WORK, not to get abused, harassed, and certainly not threatened. I dont want to leave my job either because of some psycho a*****e.

Please hellllllp!!!! :S

Answer 1

Does he sound like a complete jerk?  Absolutely.  Is he doing anything illegal?  No.  Therefore, the cops can do nothing.  

Yelling at you for smashing his bread/threatening to report you to your boss for yelling at him (which is very unprofessional, by the way, despite the fact that 'he did it first')/etc. is not remotely close to abuse or harassment.  Again, it’s being a jerk, but nothing more than that.  

Don’t get me wrong—I can empathize.  I used to work in mortgage servicing, and if you think that someone gets upset because you don’t serve them fast enough, just imagine how upset they get when you tell them, “We’re foreclosing on your home”.  

But the bottom line is this…if you are not capable of handling the customer service aspect of your job—and that sometimes means dealing with demanding, difficult customers who are being a jerk—then you need a job where you don’t have to deal with customers.  Go look for one.  It would be a lot less stress and you'd be much happier.

Answer 2

so why havent you told your boss.  U can turn away rude customers, but it will be a good idea to let your boss know and let him turn away the customer.

Answer 3

You could do two  things-tell your boss about this customer or go the police to report this customer.

Your work is paying you so you can show up to do your job (a lot of people show up to work and do not really do much), not so customers and any coworkers can degrade you.  

When any person is rude to you at a job, coworker or employee, that person's rudeness is not easy to "let go."

I currently work as a courtesy clerk for the biggest Safeway grocery store where I live.  Coworkers are rude to me along with customers.

One customer yelled at me for not calling him a cab (I was new at the job at the time and did not know to make an out call because none of my coworkers taught me). I have had another customer yell at me recently because he thought I slammed his groceries into a bag.

I have had a customer call me a "Jerk" after he thought I was giving him attitude. One woman told me "I know nothing about my job" before I found her another frozen dinner that she had found minutes before I had to help her. I have customers ask me where a certain item is in the store as if I am some Safeway psychic who knows where every item in the store is located. A lot of people do not say, "Thank you" after I bag their groceries." I've had customers make sarcastic comments to me.

I've had one or two customers put their hands on me. Three of my managers pick on me. For instance, they get on my case to tuck in the back of my work shirt even if though I am not wearing a belt and I have my work apron. They tell me this along with buttoning my work shirt all the way when they do not tell my coworkers this. One of my managers looked at me with a crazy look on her face and told me "Do not bag groceries fast." This same manager said ,"No!" right away to me when I asked her if I could work on the fourth of July.

This  manager is usually rude to me and my coworkers. Some of my coworkers are fake to me whereas other coworkers do not say "Hi" to me after I have helped them out. One coworker picks on me. He's rolled his eyes at me, made comments to me and made me go all the way to the stock room in the back of the grocery store to get his work apron when it was not my responsibility to get his work apron.

I have to suck up my pride at this job. I'm the other courtesy clerk that works hard whereas the other courtesy clerks slack off by wandering out or waiting to be told to do something and bag customers groceries slowly.I'm the only person at my job that bags groceries fast.

Since this man is getting to you, then you should strongly consider leaving your job. I may not quit my job anytime soon but I know if I quit, I will not miss the job. I don't get paid much and I get treated poorly by coworkers and customers. I don't know if this is your first job or not, but you have to realize a lot of people are just plain crazy or rude. Hopefully, your manager will side with you once you tell your situation to him or her but then again, managers in general suck.

Another manager I had at my last job when I worked as a merchandiser at a Macys, told me on my first day on the job that he was using me. That same manager told me that he dropped of college and continued working for Macys because he "likes people." He could not just tell me that he could not hack college.

Your manager might think you just do not want to serve that customer  thus thinking you are discriminating him and making up lies.

Your manager might say to you, "The customer is always right."

I also suggest bringing a tape recorder with you or using your cell phone to record this man being abusive to you. You will then use those recordings as evidence to present to your manager and the police. If you have any male friends that can handle themselves in a fight, then convince any of your male friends to keep you company for a while at work or an older brother (that is if you have an older brother).

I am sorry that you have had to deal with this. Take care of yourself. ~Alan

Answer 4

i would talk to my boss about it for one and for somebody to be that abusive he may take his business somewhere else. most managers will ban a person like that from stepping foot on the property. if you get his license plate number and a description of his car and him the next time he comes in and abuses you,ask him to please leave the store if he can not be respectful. if he becomes defensive pick up the phone and call the cops