real life

Retail and hospitality staff have shared the perks they give to particularly nice customers.

Aside from buying into karmic retribution and having a healthy belief that all people deserve respect, there are many good reasons to treat others well. Reasons like free french fries and staff discounts…

Sharing their secrets of customer service on Whisper, 18 workers from hospitality, retail and other customer-service-facing industries dished on the rules of engagement and the benefits of being a customer who is a cut above the rest.

Listen to Jo talk about her experience working in retail on Mamamia Out Loud. Post continues after audio. 


“I work at a credit union. If you’re nice to me, I’ll go through your account and waive fees you’ve assessed without telling you. So be nice to people,” one user admitted anonymously.

“I work at McDonald’s,” another began. “Sometimes if the customer is really nice and polite I will add extra stuff to their order, like either fill their fries up fuller or put an extra nugget in their box.”

Mmmm, free nuggets.

Another hospitality worker agreed, writing, “I work at a cinema. If you’re nice to me and I like you, I fill your popcorn fuller [sic]. It’s as simple as that. Be aware of how you treat us, it’s not our fault movies are so damn expensive,” while another said, “I work at a grocery store and when customers are nice I conveniently “forget” to ring a few of their items without them knowing.”

For some, it’s all in the condiments. “If customers are nice I won’t charge the extra for the dipping sauce. But if you’re rude, you better believe you get charged $0.30! $0.25 for sauce. $0.05 for rudeness!”

Another employee said, “I work in a coffee shop and when customers are nice I don’t give them expired milk.”

When it came to retail, discount proves to reigns supreme, with one department store worker saying, “I work at Macy’s and if you’re nice to me I will almost always give you a discount. I love the happy faces I see when I tell them, ‘I’m going to give you 25% off today!'”

ADVERTISEMENT

Another said, “I work in retail. If a customer is really nice to me and doesn’t treat me like slave, I give them my employee discount,” while yet another said, “When a customer is nice, I will go above and beyond checking for whatever they’re looking for – the back, online, other stores. If rude? Bitch, we don’t have it.”

the disgusting side of retail
Think before you speak. Source: GIPHY.

Perhaps the most meaningful and incredible perk of being nice, though, came from a bill collector, who shared, "If you're polite to me on the phone, I'll schedule your account later than you say that you can pay so we don't call and bug you."

Ridding our lives of those phone calls is not just a dream, it's THE DREAM. But more importantly, it's quite possibly the most compelling reason of all time to be nice to others.

Ever given any perks to nice people? Tell us about it in the comments section below.