I have been called many things at the checkout: Duck, Pet, Love, My Sweet the the other day (must need a visit to specsavers!) but I am never offended as cearly no offence is meant, often it is simply colloquialism.
But seems these days someone must be offended about everything. What happened to live and let live?
Just been to Eastern Europe for a holiday. All the restaurant staff were so polite and helpful and did call me sir every time they served me o came to check everything was okay, but they have clearly been trained to call all the females "lady". We got used to it and they were so polite we didn't like to point out that it's not really the best term to use.
Why anyone would go to the press about this Teco case- and why the Mail would bother with it - is beyond me.
It's not just she wont shop at Tesco it's why. I wonder how long she will be shopping at her new store as I'm sure that it is not Tesco policy just local dialect!
One of our Posties said that it was getting too complicated when they were told what not to call customers 'love', 'dear', 'darling' etc so he decided to call everybody 'Mate'. I have no doubt that somebody will find the need to complain about being called this.
People who are so precious should realise that when they answer questions and give permission for their name to be used this sort of publicity may follow.
//But she was one of five members of the public spoken to by the BBC for an article about shoppers who have stopped using companies because of gripes with customer service.//
I have a rather eccentric cousin who calls everybody friend. He explained it's non sexual and very rarely annoys people," if they don't want to be my friend that's their problem not mine".
'Love' is universal here, the poor, deluded woman would find it very hard to find anywhere to shop. These days I find that I'm being addressed more and more as 'Ah, bless, love' after a quick checkout chat. :)