What Australians and James Corden have in common: Being rude to serving staff

But these incidents continue.

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“Customer aggression over the past three months [has been happening] pretty much every shift,” says Schultz.

“I was called a bitch for keeping a fire exit clear of prams. I have had a man threaten to put a shoe to my head,” she explains.

For one retail worker in Melbourne, who asked not to be named because she worried about backlash, her experience working in customer service over the past few months has been met with weekly aggression.

“There is definitely a lot of verbal abuse. I’ve had multiple customers start swearing, calling me names and yelling at me simply because we were either busy or we were out of stock of something,” she says.

She believes a lot of this behaviour relates to the pandemic.

“Some people seem more impatient, rude and very expectant… almost as if the isolation has made them forget how to speak to one another and interact with people,” the woman says.

While the motivation behind an individual customer’s aggression can vary substantially – from service errors through to drug and alcohol abuse – principal consultant and registered psychologist, Katie Heine from Communicorp also believes the effects of the pandemic are a factor.

“Many of us have been operating under a considerable amount of stress for an extended period of time… we’re more likely to be closer to our tipping point for distress than we otherwise normally would be,” she says.

But acting out toward customer service employees can have serious ramifications for them.

“A single violent or traumatic incident of customer aggression has the potential to result in a mental injury such as acute stress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder. Less severe incidents of customer aggression may still cause, upset, stress or fear. Over time, the stress of such interactions can accumulate and lead to injury,” says Victoria Trades Hall Council, OHS lead organiser Dominic Melling.

For Schultz, she has found the regular experiences hurtful and at times has been concerned for her safety.

“Verbal abuse is hard enough, but physical threats take it to a whole new level. You feel worried for the remainder of your day.”

Solving this issue though is easier said than done, with Dr Collins believing that many managers are ill-equipped to deal with the issue or are not supported by leadership to do so which can make the issue worse.

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“Workers can feel more let down and traumatised by the lack of a reaction in their supervisor when they were being abused, belittled or harassed by a customer than by the interaction itself,” says Heine.

While Schultz has felt supported by management after the fact, she doesn’t believe employees within her workplace are empowered to deal with customer incivility at the time.

“There are no real guidelines on how to deal with it,” she says.

But Melling says clear guidelines are key to protecting workers.

“Every worker has the right to a safe working environment that is free from risks to health and employers have a duty to provide this so far as is reasonably practicable.”

Ultimately though, Dr Collins says that the onus should be on those behaving aggressively – the customers themselves.

“On an individual level, we are all responsible for our behaviour…The best thing we can do is be civil – and if we catch ourselves not being civil, we can apologise.”

Schultz agrees.

“What we need to remember is we were all in the same boat…I am a mother doing my job to
support my family.”

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