[dilli-theclaw]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Think you're getting posters and what they've said mixed up there Dilli.

Assuming that you meant to address the point about speaking to others with respect, obviously this should be what is aimed for.

However, as I said earlier a professional should be able to deal with all customers in a professional, non judgemental and non discriminatory way- in fact it's the law.

Why? Well, some people find it difficult to express themselves effectively for a variety of reasons.

As an example, there was a case where an autistic girl who could hardly speak was being encouraged to become more independent. She went into a shop whilst being observed by a carer and pointed to a carton and said "milk".

The shopkeeper subjected her to comments such as "try saying please and thank you", "were you dragged up" etc.

This knocked the girl back immensely and shattered her confidence and self esteem, simply because the shopkeeper was being egotistical. Thankfully, legal action was taken on her behalf to prevent him repeating his behaviour.

As you will be aware Dilli, some disabilities are invisible, especially at the other end of a telephone!

VM do have a duty to protect their staff from abuse, threats etc, but staff should never be treating customers less favourably or be being deliberately obstructive and difficult if the way that they are being spoken to meets with their displeasure.

I ensure that all new starters watch a recording that I have. It shows a rude, abrupt and angry woman arriving to check into a hotel after a bad journey. The first scenario is where the receptionist responds in the same manner. The situation escelates out of control, the management become involved and the receptionist is disciplined.

The second scenario is where the receptionist remains calm, polite and respectful. The guest eventually becomes embarrassed at her own behaviour and apologises to the receptionist, which is normal in most cases like this.

Business are in the game to sell their products, not pander to any individual employees pride or to stroke their ego.

Anyway, we're drifting off topic from the salient point of the thread.

no, I didn’t mix anything up.