[RichardCoulter]

It is obviously much more preferable if customers aren't abusive, although if they are, a professional member of staff should be able to deal with it correctly.

Sometimes customers have a right to be angry and their patience may be exhausted, they may be mentally ill, have a mental disability like Autism or Tourettes Syndrome or not be as articulate as you and I and, consequently, find it difficult to express themselves effectively.

I tell all my staff that it is easy to be polite and friendly to someone who is being polite and friendly towards yourself, but not so easy when that person is, for example, being abusive. Situations like this divide the professionals from the rest.

In no circumstances should staff ever engage in 'tit for tat exchanges' and there should definitely be no use of obscenities by the employee.

If handled in a mature and professional manner, such situations can easily be diffused, and on most occasions you will find that the customer readily apologises off their own back.

If done incorrectly, the situation can easily escalate, possibly to violence and the loss of a customer.

This is why I believe that training in this area is essential for all staff.

One of my staff was disciplined after HE got hit by a customer. Why? Because he did not handle the situation correctly, as he had been trained to do, which led to the escalation to violence.