Several recent news articles describe altercations
between retail employees and customers, with headlines
such as “RadioShack Worker Allegedly Punched
‘Sarcastic’ Customer,” “Fight Between Customers and
Workers at a Houston Restaurant Goes Viral,” and
“Police: Store Complaints Led to Friday Mall Brawl.”
In each case, the employee claimed to become angry
in response to perceived customer misbehavior. For
example, the fight at the Houston restaurant began
when customers angrily demanded a refund.
Although angry customer complaints seldom escalate
to the point of violence, they can have detrimental
effects on employees, such as increasing employee
emotional labor and decreasing commitment to serve
other customers—or even leading the employee to take
revenge on offending customers.
Conventional advice that salespeople receive for
dealing with angry customers suggests listening to the
complaint and remaining calm