ABSTRACT
Service-sector employees are increasingly the unfortunate victims of a phenomenon that has come to be known as ‘customer rage’. The causes of customer rage vary widely between industries. Generally, it can be defined as an extreme reaction occurring when a consumer is subjected to discomforting, frustrating or inconvenient situations. In a retail environment, triggers of rage might be long queues, not getting the requested/paid for product/service and, perhaps most infuriatingly, getting an ‘attitude’ from staff. Anyone could be forgiven for thinking they had been invented with the sole purpose of inducing rage. With reports regularly cropping up in the media, it seems that customer rage is perceived as a very real threat. Some companies, particularly in the travel industry, are responding with direct action. Back on terra firma, staffs at United Kingdom rail company First Great Western are being offered self-defence classes to help them handle attacks of rage.
