According to new research by the
Institute of Customer Service, 60% of customer service workers have experienced
hostility in the past year - and nearly half of those who faced abuse said
customers were becoming more aggressive because of stock and staff shortages.
But the research shows that
customer-facing workers in all industries (not just retail) are experiencing more
abuse as a result of the pandemic and stock shortages. For example, call centre staff
are facing increasing levels of abuse from customers across the UK.
According to Chris Pitt, the CEO of online
bank First Direct, there has recently been an increasing level of abuse against
his own staff. He claims that some customers become "abusive, swearing, and
quite personal" when they feel that complaints have not been resolved. "In
one example they actually found the rep on Facebook and rang them up and told
them they knew what they looked like and where they worked."
Pitt continued: “We had a customer who
failed security and had to do an extra verification. That customer then rang up
over 150 times over the next couple of hours and was abusive to everyone they
spoke to."
And even worse, one member of First Direct staff was stalked online, and others have been barraged with threatening
complaints.
First Direct have now said that, in
order to tackle the problem, the bank will close the accounts of highly abusive
customers.
What do the experts say?
Jo Causon, Chief Executive of the
Institute of Customer Service said: "Workers are saying that people are
becoming more aggressive, and there is a huge concern that actually this is
going to get worse as we build up to the pretty challenging Christmas period. It
is across all industry sectors, in contact sectors, we're seeing it in
frontline staff."
In September, Olivia Burke, the MP for
Sheffield Hallam, urged the Government to adopt a bill making verbal and
physical abuse of frontline workers a criminal offence.
She gave the example of a supermarket
worker in her constituency who said that: "Abuse is a regular occurrence
unfortunately. I've been sworn at, spat at, pushed, had trollies rammed into
me, had grown men tell me they will rape and kill me."
Darren Bugg, Editor of The Customer Service Blog said: “Many businesses are currently facing staff shortages and logistics
problems, resulting in disrupted stock levels and poor customer service. There
is growing evidence that customers are becoming cynical and frustrated about
companies using the excuse of Brexit or the pandemic every time something goes
wrong.”
He continued: “There is also growing evidence
that the pandemic is being used by companies as a 'get-out-of-jail card' to
divert attention from their poor customer service. Although this cynicism is understandable, it can never justify the abuse of staff, bad
language, or threats of violence against workers who are only trying to do
their job under difficult circumstances.”
Retail leaders have called on the Government
to take action against violence and abuse aimed at shop staff. In July this
year, leaders of 100 brands, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Ikea and Aldi, signed
an open letter to the Government calling for greater legal protection for
retail workers. In the letter, organised by the British Retail Consortium, the business
leaders said the situation "cannot be allowed to get any worse".