SUPERMARKET shoppers are lazy, dirty, dumb, smelly and nasty, according to vitriolic online posts by Coles, Woolworths and IGA employees.
Disgruntled staff publicly accuse shoppers of theft - and threaten payback if customers aren’t friendly.
“If you are at the deli or seafood, be nice to the people that are serving you, we can give you the sh***y stuff!” one employee writes on Facebook.
Numerous groups have been set up on the social networking website – some dedicated solely to ranting about customers, company policies and other staff. The pages are all available for the public to see.
On the page, which has 644 members, Shaz Norman writes: “99% of our customers are thieves ... the other 1% are innocent”
The angriest group, with 1294 members, is called “I work at Woolworths and it’s hurting my mental health”.
On a discussion post titled “I feel like a rant”, Tayce McQuaid writes: “The customers ... holy mother of god, how can so many idiots exist, where do they come from?"
Another supermarket employee lists the 10 reasons she hates customers.
Simone Sasha Healy writes: “If you see us wandering around, with our woolies uniform on, YES WE WORK HERE. But it does not mean that we want to answer your questions!”
“After a refurb, like you, we do not know where everything is. That is why there is a little white piece of paper at the end of the aisles, LOOK AT IT, instead of asking the people that work there.”
“And no matter what the question is, everything is down aisle 6 or 7.”
Deli staff are the most venomous. On the Woolworths page a post entitled “The Deli! Observations” is dedicated to venting about customers.
Bronwyn Lovejoy writes: “Ham - in my 1 year and 8 months, I still haven’t found "Leg" ham. Enough said.
“And stop calling it soccerball! gah! do any of the tickets say soccerball? no! F%$*k off and read!”
Later Ms Lovejoy writes: “Arrgh. Go die, stupid customers.”
Customers at smaller independent supermarkets are not immune. IGA staff called their Facebook group “I hate stupid customers because … venting group”.
Julee Riddel starts the rant: “What about when you say "hi how are you?" and they go " gimme a packet of winnie reds ... Or when you put your hand out for the money and they chuck it on the counter ... or cough all over you while asking for a 50g pouch of white ox.”
IGA spokesperson Tim Allerton said the independent grocer actively discourages any discussion about customers in a public forum and suggested employees involved should undertake counselling.
"IGA has a range of counselling programmes in place for employees to discuss their issues with difficult customers and we encourage them to used then on a regular basis," he said.
Woolworth spokesperson Clare Buchanan said the company’s code of conduct cautioned against posting of inappropriate work-related comments on websites and they would be issuing a reminder to all employees.
“Woolworths, like many large employers, is still learning about the impact of online social networking. Whilst they can be a fantastic communication tool, obviously social networking sites can take those everyday workplace frustrations beyond the confines of the staffroom to a much broader online audience,” she said.
“Currently our Employee Code of Conduct cautions against the posting of inappropriate work-related comments on websites - perhaps we need to issue a reminder.”
Coles has yet to comment.
