what would happen in your office.

[Barry Trotter]

just wondering what the procedure is in other offices with regards to this scenario.

One day last week a guy came into my office to collect a parcel which had been shut noticed. Our procedure,due to theft and fraud in the past is to cover our backs and ask everyone for identification so When the guy showed his shut notice,which was for a girl,I asked for Identification. The guy said he has been in our office 3 times in the last month and not had to show ID. I said that all the staff in my office ask for ID so I found it hard to believe that he could have came in on 3 occasions and had never been ask. I told him the shut notice did state that identification was required and he said I was a jobsworth but not to worry he wouldnt forget my face. I said that if he was threatening me I would call the police and he said that I was just a monkey. He then said you can tell them I called you a monkey aswell before leaving with his son in a pushchair. He returned a few moments later with the id he said he didnt have and was served by a colleague.
I phoned my dom that afternoon and he said he was day off the following day but to report it to his cover which I did. The cover said he didnt want to get the police involved because they wouldnt do anything but he could send out a letter to the customer outlining our policies against customer abuse and rascism and ask for an apology but couldnt just yet because the printer was broken. As of yet I have heard nothing but the printer is fixed.

[number one]

Man up for gods sake! You have to be thick skined to work in the callers office. Been threatend loads of times to which I reply with yeah yeah whatever pal!! If this doesn't do it and they continue I just tell them if they have a problem you can ring customer services. Also when a chap said he was gona wait for me outside when I've finished I told him don't worry I know where you live (because I'd just read it on his parcel) I'll just come round to your house if you'd like. He back tracked so fast and said he was sorry he was just having a bad day!

[not me]

favorite line for 'i know your face' or whatever
yeah and i know where you live pal

as said if that bothers you then the callers isnt for you
ive had some right barnys on the door

[coxie]

he is right you do need to man up a bit, so what he was a frustrated customer we get them all the time its part of the job, yes he was rude to you but is it really worth making a fuss about it and carrying it on now? If you want the manager to send out a letter you can ask him to but its up to him if he decides to, if you want to take it further off your own back then you would have to go to the police who probably would laugh at you as soon as you walked out the station and throw your report in the bin.

[Barry Trotter]

It was more the monkey bit. TBH in my life I get very little abuse with regards to my skin colour but I had hoped that the dom would back me up on that front. The guy was nothing big,just an erse but we all know that if I retaliate I'm the one in trouble.

[dvbuk55]

It was more the monkey bit. TBH in my life I get very little abuse with regards to my skin colour but I had hoped that the dom would back me up on that front. The guy was nothing big,just an erse but we all know that if I retaliate I'm the one in trouble.

That was harassment of the worst kind and should not be taken lightly. It was not a question of being thick skinned but of being racially abused and you should report it yourself especially if there was other people to witness it. I used to work in the callers myself and was sometimes accused of being rude, arrogant and aggressive - as if.

[POSTMAN]

He returned a few moments later with the id he said he didnt have and was served by a colleague. That's wrong ,i wouldn't of served him,especially after the monkey bit.

The guy said he has been in our office 3 times in the last month and not had to show ID: This is possible as regulars in the callers will know regular customers,it happens down my way,but bit of ignorance from the customer if you don't normally serve him.But you perhaps should of pointed this out if his situation is as above.

Geting the police involved is pointless and perhaps a lot of bother for no end result.But a letter should be sent out from management.

Now without getting in a row or others on here getting offended,i think the 'man up' and various other comments are wrong as maybe one day one of you will be abused because of your colour when you are trying to do your job.

[number one]

In noway whatsoever am I defending the customer here (would never take the side of a customer over a postie) are we 100% sure the customer was refering to your colour when he called you a monkey? Was he not refering the the phrase your just the monkey not the organ grinder? It's just that this phrase has been used to me many times over the years.

[Ahebban]

There should always be a zero tolerance to abuse of any nature directed at someone who is performing their duties. Simple as that!

[smokerjim]

In noway whatsoever am I defending the customer here (would never take the side of a customer over a postie) are we 100% sure the customer was refering to your colour when he called you a monkey? Was he not refering the the phrase your just the monkey not the organ grinder? It's just that this phrase has been used to me many times over the years.

It should never never been assumed that the context you mean is the context that is taken.....basically, what you say is not as important as what people hear!

[Ernie Shoe]

Disgusted by some of the replies on here.

A coloured collegue gets called a monkey and gets told to "man up".

Surprise surprise RM managers do nothing and collegues reply with "man up".

RM is a dinosaur along with most who work for her.

Modernisation isn't just walk sequencing machines!!

[smokerjim]

Disgusted by some of the replies on here.

A coloured collegue gets called a monkey and gets told to "man up".

Surprise surprise RM managers do nothing and collegues reply with "man up".

RM is a dinosaur along with most who work for her.

Modernisation isn't just walk sequencing machines!!

If you check Barry's first post he mentions racism policies - but doesn't connect those policies with himself...can't speak for others, but I didn't make the connection myself.After he does make it clear, the attitude changes completely, but people aren't on here expecting everyone else to be coloured, disabled, or members of the LGBT or non-Christian community, and their replies will reflect that until they know otherwise.

[not me]

Disgusted by some of the replies on here.

A coloured collegue gets called a monkey and gets told to "man up".

Surprise surprise RM managers do nothing and collegues reply with "man up".

RM is a dinosaur along with most who work for her.

Modernisation isn't just walk sequencing machines!!

If you check Barry's first post he mentions racism policies - but doesn't connect those policies with himself...can't speak for others, but I didn't make the connection myself.After he does make it clear, the attitude changes completely, but people aren't on here expecting everyone else to be coloured, disabled, or members of the LGBT or non-Christian community, and their replies will reflect that until they know otherwise.

im the same i read monkey as in just a monkey not organ grinder

[slinger]

Absolutely disgusting - Management should do something about this and not let their staff be abused in anyway or form. You were doing your job exactly as it should be, the management should do theirs.

I think you conducted yourself very well and didn't let the situation get to you there and then and perhaps do something that could of lost you your job, so well done there.

Also guys I know the use of the word wasn't meant to be offensive, but it can be. I don't think it's quite right to say someone to be "coloured" - it's a term that makes me laugh, as it suggests they have been "coloured" as it labels everyone that is not "white" [which again is labelling] as the same. I know a girl once said to me "I'm not coloured, as I haven't been coloured in!" LOL It is a serious issue really, but still makes me chuckle of how dated some folks are and also how people stereotype. If we are being PC then something like "african/british" for example is perhaps a better term for someone's ethnicity, rather than just saying "coloured."

[mclovin]

Whats a shut notice?