On 4 Feb 2009 at 5:56pm Stargazer wrote:
I have heard a rumour that a few shops in Lewes refuse to serve people if they are talking on a mobile phone, is this true? What are people's thoughts on it? I personally am not a fan of "mobile rudeness" but do understand the need to make and receive calls if neccassary.
On 4 Feb 2009 at 6:17pm Lewes Laugher wrote:
I wonder if these are the shops where they keep you waiting while they finish their important conservations about 'I said... she said... I said'?
On 4 Feb 2009 at 6:17pm Jelly wrote:
I've not heard about that but if it's true I find it faintly ridiculous! I can see that it might be seen as a bit rude - if I'm on a call when I get to the checkout and can end it politely then I will do so. But I work in a shop and I expreience customers who do much worse than talk on the phone and I still have to serve them!
On 4 Feb 2009 at 6:36pm Spongebob wrote:
Well, i can only hope that if any shop refuses to serve people whilst they're talking on a mobile that the shop goes bust and the owners legs fall off whilst they're walking through a sandpit !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
On 4 Feb 2009 at 6:37pm Stargazer wrote:
Somebody did that to me in Sainsburys the other day, nattering away to her friend on the other till while I was struggling with my shopping. In Tesco at least they help you with your shopping.
On 4 Feb 2009 at 7:18pm Earl of Lewes wrote:
I used to work in a shop there are two good reasons for not serving someone when they're talking on a mobile:
1. It's f***ing rude. You're dealing with a human being, not a machine and talking on your phone without even bothering to say hello or thank you means that you're an inconsiderate a***hole. So what if you're spending money and the customer is always right. That doesn't excuse behaving like a bad mannered, inconsiderate prat.
2. When you're taking part in a financial transaction, it's best to focus on what you're doing so that you are charged the correct amount and are aware of any boring legal stuff.
If Lewes shopkeepers are making a stand, good luck to them. They wunt be druv! I want to be served by human beings, not people who are so terrified of losing their jobs that they behave like corporate robots with false smiles and insincere platitudes.
On 4 Feb 2009 at 7:24pm Hedwig wrote:
I can't STAND it when people talk on their phones while being served, I used to work in a shop and people would just walk in blabbing away, not even look at you and plonk their stuff down on the counter and carry on their vital conversation, not even bothering with a thank you or goodbye. It made me so mad sometimes I would just stand there and look at them and wait for them to finish before ringing anything up. Well why should I? Bloody ignorant idiots.
On 4 Feb 2009 at 8:43pm Shopper wrote:
Hedwig, 'bloody ignorant idiots' pay your wage. Go swimming with dolphins.
On 4 Feb 2009 at 9:02pm Agony Aunt wrote:
I agree with Hedwig (and the dolphins do too)
On 4 Feb 2009 at 9:18pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
I'm with you and Hedwig, and the Earl on this one! I think it's damn rude.
I'm gutted that the Lewes Arms, which was once a sanctuary from these intrusive devices, no longer has a ban on their use while in the pub.
On 4 Feb 2009 at 9:30pm Spinster Of This Parish wrote:
Yup - well said ACT - I think it's damned rude.
Shamefully, I have a two mobiles - one is virtually always switched off (the work one) and few people know the other number (the personal one).
On 4 Feb 2009 at 9:33pm Mr Bone wrote:
I only use my phone when in the Lewes Arms.
On 4 Feb 2009 at 9:42pm decent citizen wrote:
I do not wish to hear other peoples crappy conversations.I have been known to walk out of shops when the people serving are either nattering to each other or their mobiles or telephones.Extremely rude!Managers and shop owners are probably not aware of how much is lost through rude staff.Complain to management.Just possible some might take notice.Today Tescos staff were too busy nattering to each other to be bothered with helping customers. 
On 5 Feb 2009 at 2:48am Shopper wrote:
ACT, if I'm not mistaken of your identity you should not throw stones in a glass framed pub.
On 5 Feb 2009 at 12:38pm Lewes Cinema wrote:
Personally, I think it's rude to talk on a phone while dealing with somebody face-to-face. As for keeping your phone switched off.. do you have no self control? If I am somewhere talking to people face-to-face I just silence the call and let voicemail take it and call the person back later on.
Just because a phone rings does not mean you are obliged to answer it!
It always upsets us that during cinema screenings so many people just have to get up from the middle of a row, disturbing everybody, just to come outside and have a conversation about what time the film finishes. Very selfish but very hard to do anything about except politely ask that people turn their mobiles OFF please. There are places such as theatres and cinemas where nobody should be replying to a phone call - oh yes, I've also seen people texting in the dark which distracts everybody around them as the phone lights-up like a floodlight in a darkened cinema. Fortunately as phone use during a screening is prohibited by the film companies we do have an excuse to ask people to stop.
It does annoy us though as one person can affect 30 or 40 others around them when they leave to take that all-important call.
On 5 Feb 2009 at 5:42pm Hedwig wrote:
Exactly - people think that they have to answer a phone or a text RIGHT NOW and to be honest the majority of calls can wait. I've been on the bus, train countless times to be sat behind/in front of someone and been treated to a intensely loud conversation, for all the coach to hear "YEAH IM ON THE TRAIN! OH MY GOD HE SAID THAT? NAH I DONT KNOW WHAT IM UP TO TONIGHT! YEH! YEH! SEE YOU LATER THEN!"
One word - Rude. People are not interested in your conversation and should know better.
On 5 Feb 2009 at 7:35pm Maggie wrote:
Doesn't that chemist in the high street have a sign saying they dont serve people with mobiles
On 5 Feb 2009 at 9:02pm Earl of Lewes wrote:
We have a clear majority here. Shopper - your attitude is wrong. Having money doesn't give you the automatic right to behave in an obnoxious manner.
On 5 Feb 2009 at 10:52pm frankie franchese wrote:
This is nonsense! Are you all really saying that someone on a mobile phone can't smile, say "hi", "great", and "thanks" while the phone is under their chin? Of course they can!
You'd have to be a bloody idiot to put a sign saying 'no mobiles' on your shop window -
Shops need customers to survive.
Mobile phone users are, believe it or not, sometimes on the phone to clients, or colleagues, or bosses.
It's not a crime to multi-task. Next there'll be signs saying "DON'T talk to your childrren whilst being served" or "In fact don't even look at them LOOK AT ME I'M A SAD AND LONELY SHOPKEEPER AND I NEED YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION!!!"
On 6 Feb 2009 at 8:31am Earl of Lewes wrote:
Yes, shops do need customers to survive. Luckily, most customers have the good manners and common decency to avoid using their phone when they're buying something, so they can afford to tell people like you to b***** off.
As you don't seem to understand the basic interaction between human beings, let me explain:
The shop assistant is there to serve you. They should be prepared to stop whatever they're doing (if it's feasible) and give you their undivided attention. In return, you recognise the fact that they are a human being with feelings and need to be treated with consideration.
Perhaps you've never worked behind a till, but I have and when someone approaches your till without saying 'hello' or looking you in the eye, they are effectively saying 'You are nothing'. It's very insulting. It's nothing to do with being 'sad and lonely'. Wanting to be treated with respect is quite normal.
If someone's on the phone to a boss or client (and in all the years I've worked in shops, the calls have always been personal), they shouldn't approach the till until they've finished the conversation.
It works both ways. Teenage shop assistants who talk to their mates about what they did last night whilst they're serving you are equally rude.
It might not be a crime to 'multi-task', but when we start abandoning good manners and common decency to save time, then we are making society a worse place to live in. In the US, they reduce serious crime by cracking down on the minor offences that nobody had really bothered about before. It's all about respect.
On 6 Feb 2009 at 10:14am frankie franchese wrote:
Dear Earl,
Yes, I've worked in a shop before. And amazingly, you do occasionally get people who don't want to speak to you - sometimes they are on the phone, sometimes they just can't be bothered. Life would be lovely if we could stop and do one thing at a time. But I don't think it's possible all the time.
As I said above, it's pretty easy to talk to two people at once, saying Hello, thanks, great, bye etc etc to the shopkeeper. Rude people are rude people. Mobile phone users (nearly all of us) shouldn't be defined as rude just because they have a phone. There's a certain Ludditeism going on here. It's the 21st century - keep up Lewesians - the mobile phone is here to stay!! Or perhaps the parking attendants could also monitor mobile usage in shops - that would be a money spinner.
And "in all the years you've worked in shops, the calls have always been personal'...... Have they? Really? How do you know? You must be very nosey. Don't be so utterly ridiculous.
On 6 Feb 2009 at 10:32am catherine wheel wrote:
Earl, you are wasting your time,trying to explain to ff about the basics of respect and manners. Nobody is saying that all mobile phone users are rude, but unfortunately those that continue a conversation or answer thier phone whilst being served give off an arrogant over inflated view of themselves as being self absorbed and ignorant. If I was a client I would be pretty unimpressed with having an important conversation with someone at a bloody checkout, it's about respect....is that so utterly ridiculous?
On 6 Feb 2009 at 10:32am catherine wheel wrote:
Earl, you are wasting your time,trying to explain to ff about the basics of respect and manners. Nobody is saying that all mobile phone users are rude, but unfortunately those that continue a conversation or answer thier phone whilst being served give off an arrogant over inflated view of themselves as being self absorbed and ignorant. If I was a client I would be pretty unimpressed with having an important conversation with someone at a bloody checkout, it's about respect....is that so utterly ridiculous?
On 6 Feb 2009 at 2:18pm not from around here wrote:
FF it's got nothing to with people being ludites. Nobody is objecting to mobile phones - it's just the rudeness of some people in the way they use them.
Your reaction FF is a little childish - you must know that people find it rude it just seems that you are stamping your little feet and saying 'I will not be told what to do!' Grow up and consider others.
On 6 Feb 2009 at 3:05pm Earl of Lewes wrote:
FF - I don't have to be nosy to know whether someone's call is personal or not because they tend to SPEAK VERY LOUDLY on their phones and as far as I'm aware, people don't call clients or their bosses 'babe' or 'darlin'' (unless they're having an affair!
On 6 Feb 2009 at 4:47pm frankie franchese wrote:
OK. I give in. You're all quite right, and I must be an awfully disrespectful, rude and childish person.
Unfortunately though, I am self-employed and receive calls all day and night from contractors and clients. As I do not want to lose work - especially in the current economic climate - by cutting them off mid-conversation, or by not answering the phone when I am in a shop, it appears I will have to respectfully avoid any local high street store where there is a sign saying "No Mobile Phones Please" as I don't want to offend anyone by not paying them 100% of my attention.
I'll just go to Tesco's instead.
On 6 Feb 2009 at 6:05pm Bladerunner wrote:
My goodness you need to grow up. Earl has already tried to explain to you basic good manners and common decency but you seem unable to grasp it. No one is asking you to cut your clients off mid-conversation. A simple "Sorry one minute," is perfectly polite and reasonable and your clients will respect you for it. If I was your client I would think you were rude and unprofessional to carry on a conversation whilst being served at a checkout.
People at the tills have feelings, are trying to serve you and need to speak to you (do you need a bag, are you interested in such and such, here is your change etc etc etc). To talk loudly on a mobile phone and ignore them gives out one message; YOU ARE DIRT.
Grow up.
On 6 Feb 2009 at 6:12pm Hedwig wrote:
Precisely. If i had a call when I was being served at a till I would simply say "Hi, can i call you back in a minute, I'm just getting some shopping."
Hardly rocket science now is it.
On 6 Feb 2009 at 6:41pm Well brought up of Lewes wrote:
I could not have put it better Earl of Lewes.Today I saw a women get on the Brighton bus, speaking into a phone,fumbling in her bag while we all waited as did the driver.Good manners are rapidly disapearing.Mobiles have their uses I have one for emergencies. :| :|
On 6 Feb 2009 at 7:18pm frankie franchese wrote:
Why do you assume I have to talk loudly into a mobile phone? They work perfectly well if you just speak into them quietly these days. Most people own mobiles so it's not like you're showing off by talking into one.
Sorry, but if I receive a call whilst in a shop which looks like being a week or two's work, ie. a job to help pay the mortgage and bills, I won't give quite as much attention to the shopkeeper unfortunately, and I certainly won't be asking the person on the end of the phone to "Sorry, one minute, I'm just getting some shopping". Now that WOULD be regarded as unprofessional. Chances are, unless I was in the process of paying, I'd leave the shop or wander off to a quiet corner and sort the job out there and then - if not, I'd run the risk of annoying the caller and not being employed by them again. I'm speaking from a self-employed point of view here - perhaps full-time workers on their day off could just hang up, defer the call or whatever. I can't really.
BTW, why do you assume having a conversation with another phone user means ignoring shopworkers? A friendly smile, a look to the heavens, a knowing wink, it's fairly simple to maintain a passing relationship with someone if you need to answer the phone. And a passing relationship is what meeting shop assistants generally is. I'm giving them my money at the end of the transaction - if they don't like it that's their problem and I'll take my business somewhere else. Somewhere where they understand that life can sometimes be busy, stressful and imperfect, and they don't put "No mobile phones" notices on their windows.
On 6 Feb 2009 at 10:37pm Bladerunner wrote:
Nah sorry ff we're not really buying it.
On 6 Feb 2009 at 10:47pm Maggie wrote:
having a conversation with another phone user IS ignoring shopworkers. Why can't u understand that
On 7 Feb 2009 at 8:44am Pearlie wrote:
Yes, go to Tescos, some(I repeat some) of the staff are so ignorant in there they probably won't notice. If they could do it without getting sacked they'ed probably be on their mobile while serving you. That's why you shop in small Lewes stores, for friendly,polite, superior service. (I'll be the first to admit this sometimes isn't the case) The point is, you should treat someone the way you would wish to be treated yourself - and talking on a mobile is tantamount to saying you're really not worthy of my attention for 2 minutes, all I want is the goods. But there is a person in there not just a shop assistant.
On 7 Feb 2009 at 9:00am frankie franchese wrote:
Well, we'll have to agree to differ I suppose. It would be a boring world if we were all the same....
On 7 Feb 2009 at 6:04pm Earl of Lewes wrote:
Interesting point made by Pearlie - I've noticed that the service in Tesco has been much worse during the last six months. Some staff on the tills clearly don't give a toss. I don't blame them, but they used to pretend to be happy, so what's changed? Also, staff on the shop floor frequently barge in front of me without saying 'Excuse me' so that they can unpack goods or do the internet orders. It's a stark contrast with Waitrose, whose service is excellent (if only I could afford to shop there).
Does Tesco have a new manager, or has something happened in the company to produce this change?
On 7 Feb 2009 at 6:15pm James wrote:
another reason to support the planning application! Wider aisles and there cutting back on the number of Internet shops!!!
On 7 Feb 2009 at 7:26pm Happy Shopper wrote:
Whenever I used to do an online Tesco shop.it used to come from the Shoreham branch...Do they do internet shopping in Lewes then? Maybe things have changed....