Coles worker shares list for 'ignorant' customers amid coronavirus
A Coles worker has shared a list of 20 important things customers should know before confronting staff to complain about their difficulty purchasing certain products during the coronavirus outbreak.
The employee, who reportedly works at a Coles supermarket in Brisbane, re-posted an anonymous message shared by hundreds of thousands of people on social media.
It pleads with customers to acknowledge the strain on supermarket staff, and the grave risk being posed to them due to the volume of people they are in contact with every day.
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They listed a response to the four most common complaints, stating: “I don't have toilet paper. I don't have sanitiser, I run out of milk, eggs and meat daily, and I promise if it's out on the shelf, it's not in a hidden corner of our back room”.
The next four points, written by an unknown hospitality worker, explained how with 25 years of experience, they had not forgotten “how to order a product”, it was not their fault a warehouse could not supply a product, and they had scheduled as many staff possible to cater for the increased demand.
The rest of the list was the “really important stuff” they wished people knew and included the fact their team worked “tirelessly” to keep stock on the shelves, they were exhausted, and scared of getting sick.
They wanted shoppers to remember employees “do not possess an anti-virus”, and expressed they were tired, under appreciated, and exposed to many potential carriers of COVID-19.
“My team is abused all day by customers who have no idea how ignorant they are,” they wrote, adding their team “disinfects every surface possible, everyday”.
Often, they said shoppers simply grab a wipe from a dispenser, use it, then either leave it in the trolley or on the ground for staff to later clean up.
They wrote it was concerning when staff had to touch customers’ re-usable bags, which contained unknown levels of germs.
“My team more than earns their breaks, lunches and days off. And if that means you wait longer I am sorry,” the final point in the post read.
“The next time you are in a grocery store, please pause and think about what you are saying and how you are treating the people you encounter.”
They added that customers could consider asking a “neighbour or friend” for essential items sold out at the supermarket, as the people who over-purchased “caused the problem to begin with”.
There have been several reports of supermarket workers facing abuse since the coronavirus outbreak, including a teenage employee at the Coles store in Manly, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
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