How do you deal with abusive customers? I was double manning our South Coast run on Tuesday when an “Artisan baker” (someone who bakes bread with overpriced overrated French flour and sprinkles random crap on it and charges a fortune) started moaning that we were delivering his flour when he was loading his vans. Sorry, should be “barking orders at his staff like Gordon Ramsey” and became abusive when my mate told him there was no need for such a attitude. Cue lots of F and C words…Once upon a time I’dve retaliated with the same, but I simply shut the curtain up and we drove off. Soft I know but there’s not many jobs about.
Mine is recent and like you, I kept my gob shut. I had a forklift driver moaning that he had to unload me. Not worth the bother
I once had abuse from some stuffed shirt who was head of IT or some such rubbish of the Labour Party in their HQ in Millbank. So I told my loader to start putting the boxes back on the lorry. The guy started demanding we bring “his” goods back, (after he had refused to sign for them becuase we wouldn’t spend all day distributing them all over the building for free) but could only watch impotently as we reloaded all three hundred-odd boxes. They sat in the depot for a month before it was all sorted. Oh how we laughed.
Why do they change thier tune,when asked to sign,print and date a simple piece of paper stating that its a refused delivery?
Had it all winter.
“Where the ■■■■ you been? We’ve been without gas for 3 days now and we ordered it a fortnight ago, schimf, schimf, useless ■■■■■, etc.”
Access road’s been blocked with snow & ice for a week but hey-ho, “see you tomorrow…maybe.”
I love it, their day is obviously a bit too much for them which makes them an easy target to get wound up even more and i thrive on it. I end up leaving ■■■■■■■ myself laughing and they end up frothing at the mouth hating me with an immense passion and i absolutely love it!!!
I,m always very polite, throws them back abit.
If it gets serious I just ask them if I have done something wrong ? then you get the worlds troubles decending upon you, just smalltalk but let them have their winge, and moan, most apologise to be fair but theres some seriously peed off workers out there.
Its long hours, poor pay, working conditions, boss is a bean shaker, fella on previous shift is a lazy James Hunt etc that usually comes out.
FarnboroughBoy11:
I love it, their day is obviously a bit too much for them which makes them an easy target to get wound up even more and i thrive on it. I end up leaving ■■■■■■■ myself laughing and they end up frothing at the mouth hating me with an immense passion and i absolutely love it!!!
Top stuff 
These people are deeply miserable and try to drag you down to their level. Being as cheerful as possible just eats them up inside
Just ignore them, works for me.
Do not get into it with the customer or antagonist, be polite and do not come down to their level of ignorance, ask them for their name.
If its foul language or similar abuse try to record it, in any case phone your company and speak to a senior person not the desk clerk.
Then on return put it all in writing and submit it to the manager you reported to (if a responsible company they will want to interview you and will want it in writing), keep a copy and if you have one give a copy to your shop steward.
Your company should ensure that staff are not bullied in the course of their work by anyone, by not answering back you have the high ground and they will act.
I have some customers like this my response is simple i either refuse to deliver and inform my client at with pojnt the price usually goes up
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All that Juddian said. Here is a letter that I put in after a run in with one of our stores. Names and locations removed replaced with ***
Tension at ******** store *** 30 March 2012.
Statement of ***** ******* - Driver of run No135
I arrived at the store at 21:30 having been delayed by traffic, Legal break, 2 x company briefings and defects. Once parked outside the store I connected the tail lift lead, switched off the fridge (having noted the temperatures) and apologised for the late arrival to the 4 shop staff waiting to take the stock I was delivering.
Early on I advised the shop staff that to get back to the depot I needed to leave by 22:45.
Once we had unloaded the ambient and chill stock I opened the bulkhead doors to the freezer compartment and moved the cages of frozen stock to one side of the trailer to enable the loading of return cages during the unloading operation. When the final 2 cages of stock were removed I asked the 1 remaining staff member assisting me if there was someone available to assist with loading the remaining cage returns.
He said no and told me that he finished work at 23:30. I asked “If I get into trouble where does my help come from?”
He replied that “Every other driver does it.”
I then said that I am not going to work alone and would have to leave the cages not already loaded on to the trailer. With that he went back into the shop and pushed the doors closed behind him.
I then pushed the shop doors open, entered the shop to ask again “Is there someone to help me load return cages?” He responded “No.”
I then left the shop to telephone the transport office for assistance.
While in conversation with the transport shift manager the staff member I had been speaking with came out of the shop and pushed cages to the tail lift. When all the return cages had been loaded, secured and trailer door sealed he again said that every other driver loaded by themselves.
I advised him that we are supposed to be given assistance if requested.
He then said that he would do if “asked nicely” and did not think that “threats” were necessary.
When I asked what threat I had made he replied “the threat to leave those cages not loaded at my first request.”
I responded by saying that “The cages would not have been loaded as I did not intend to work in unsafe way”. At this time, approx 22:30, there was little pedestrian traffic, little road traffic and with the doors to the store closed I had no-one close enough to get assistance should I get into difficulty.
The store man then said that “I had left the shop insecure” as doors were left open when I spoke to him inside the shop and when I returned to the pavement to call the office. In neither instance was I more than 10-15 metres from the doors. When he entered the store the doors were not locked as I was able to push them open to enter.
While I was stowing the tail lift & leads the store man returned to the shop, closing and locking the doors, then went about his work, but denying me the use of toilet facilities before departure. I left the store after completing my paperwork at approx 22:40.
31 March 2012.
Never had any more trouble with getting assistance at this store.
Faulty Towers Manuel: “Que?”
I Know how you feel mate…get it ALL THE TIME!!! I just ask ‘Are you refusing the delivery?’
Soon sorts it all out!!! I just chill…And if they refuse then the load goes back!!! Keep smiling matey!! 
Muckaway:
How do you deal with abusive customers? I was double manning our South Coast run on Tuesday when an “Artisan baker” (someone who bakes bread with overpriced overrated French flour and sprinkles random crap on it and charges a fortune) started moaning that we were delivering his flour when he was loading his vans. Sorry, should be “barking orders at his staff like Gordon Ramsey” and became abusive when my mate told him there was no need for such a attitude. Cue lots of F and C words…Once upon a time I’dve retaliated with the same, but I simply shut the curtain up and we drove off. Soft I know but there’s not many jobs about.
When you finally manage to do the drop and get away, just tap your pocket and say by the way I’ve just recorded your little rant and drive off.
Watch their face as it goes to the same colour as an unpainted Airfix kit. 
I often encounter abusive customers or members off the public who find it acceptable to speak to me like I’m a piece off ■■■■■■■ am polite and well mannered by nature but do have a short temper I try my hardest to just bite my tongue. I’m pretty well educated and not a simpleton I tell them I do this job out off choice not because I’m to thick to do anything else so I do not appreciate being spoken to like an idiot. Once they realise your not an idiot who will take there ■■■■ they usually back off I do my job smile say thank you an wish them a good remainder to there day I find this more satisfactory then scooping to there level and kicking off with them people hate you having a happy cheerful day when they are not 
Tell them to stop acting like a little ■■■■■ if they don’t I won’t drop there delivery to them if they carry on shut the doors on trailer and drive off
Place I worked at years ago had an agency driver in and this bloke was a real grafter and a fantastic driver, never an accident or an infringement etc etc but had a real short temper and when in a bad mood it was wise to give him a wide berth but if you were stuck he’d be the first to offer help. So all in all a good bloke. Get it so far??
Now we had a contract to do retail deliveries and this is were the problems arose He got to his 1st call of the day on this particular run (he’d never done this run before) and everybody knew the call and knew the retailer was a real pain but we just went done the call as quick as and went on our merry way. We had warned him that this particular customer could be awkward but to ignore me as best he could and forget about it. Oh no not this guy, he done the call and said nothing and at the end of the day when he had finished the run went back to see this guy. He apparently walked in to the shop and according to witness reports and CCTV pulled the owner over the counter and proceeded to kick the living ■■■■ out of him while screaming that payback was a ■■■■■ and how being polite to delivery drivers cost nothing . Cost him his job but tbh this guy didn’t really care and in them days jobs were easy got. Funnily enuf the next time one of our drivers went back to the shop he was treated like royalty with offers of tea, coffee, buns etc etc
^^^^^^^^^^
At least one customer will remember to be polite to future delivery drivers!
Can’t condone the actions, but in a way I can sympathise with the reaction. Not experienced a customer like that to date.
The only one who has ever got lippy with me and driver’s mate, I just said we can turn around and carry on with our route and his goods on board and leave them back at the depot once we returned 13 hours later (Didn’t care I was agency). That stopped the silliness straight away.
We have a guy like this where I work FT, he didn’t retrain and become a engineer did he!
This guy has put a couple of clients against walls and had to be restrained back by us on site after he’d stated that he had been spoken to like zb! More than likely he had been spoken too like that as well knowing some of our clients.
He’s lucky though the owner has just put him on the contracts where it is very unlikely to ever deal with the clients face to face. Weirdly he doesn’t react to being spoken to like zb on the phone.
However on the flip side that makes me bounce off the walls, as they rarely will do it face to face, when I arrive! 
C
No retaliation what so ever with said eejit, i find that winds them up. Smile nod do owt they say, play em at there own game, just as much fun