There are two types of people in the world: the ones that have worked in the service industry and the ones that have approached the cash register only from the customer’s side. The latter will never understand the struggles service workers have to deal with every day, even if most of those struggles have to do with the said customers.

And sometimes for their own mental health, service workers have to come up with little lies and hacks that help not upset customers and make them more lenient towards them. For example, Twitter user @makaylathinks shared that she once worked with a person who told the customers it was their first day when they had messed up.

Image credits: makaylathinks

In response to this tweet, people were sharing their own stories of when they lied to customers and these are just hilarious. Do you have experience working in retail? What do you think of this strategy of telling little lies to customers to avoid confrontation? Have you ever told a lie to a customer to not admit that you made a mistake? Share your stories in the comments and upvote the lies that you liked the most!

More info: Twitter

#1

Image credits: Skressed4Now

It seems that the situation Makayla tweeted is very relatable, as more than 800k people liked it and most of the comments were applauding the coworker for such a genius idea, or people were saying that they did exactly the same thing and it always has worked like a charm.

But lying about being new isn’t the only lie service workers say. Twitter users let others in on many secrets they have used to try to get out of situations they don’t want to be in with customers, or if they have to cover up something they did wrong.

So these tips and little lies are tried and proved to work. If you work in the service industry, maybe they could help you once in a while when you’re having a bad day.

#2

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#3

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#4

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Looking from the outside customer service doesn't appear that hard. Most often, it doesn’t require a degree or specific qualifications, which is why so many young people work in this industry. You can learn everything on the go and there are plenty of job offers.

According to Pew Research Center, 107.8 million people in the United States (71% of all nonfarm payroll employees) worked in private service-providing industries, which include trade, transportation and utilities (27.8 million workers), followed by education and health services (24.3 million), professional and business services (21.5 million), and leisure and hospitality (16.7 million).

#5

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#8

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Even though the skills required for customer service specifically are easily learnt while on the job, probably the most challenging part is dealing with angry or dissatisfied customers. It seems that they forget that service workers are people too and that they can make mistakes even if it’s the second year they’ve been working the same job. Of course, you would expect them to be professional, but who doesn’t slip up once in a while?

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#11

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If you are looking to improve your customer service skills, there are many other tips on how to deal with angry customers that don’t include lying. For example, Business News Daily suggests these 10 tips when dealing with difficult customers: listen, build rapport through empathy, lower your voice, respond as if all of your customers are watching, know when to give in, stay calm, don’t take it personally, remember that you’re talking to a human, and if you promise a call-back, call back and let the customer know what to expect.