October 12, 2024

Mall Cop Confessions: How to talk to the rule breakers

For entertainment purposes

If I had my way, I’d never have to talk to rude customers who are breaking the rules at our posts.

But then we’d all probably out of work.

Communication with bad guests is part of the job. It also might be one of the tougher parts of the job. And I’m a pretty good communicator.

This is because a customer will believe they’re right or not think their violation of the rules warrants your involvement. That’s up to the client. It’s their property.

Everyone talks to violators differently, and you should find your own style.

Here is mine.

“Excuse me, sir. Our rules don’t allow you to smoke inside of our facility. You’ll have to do that outside.”

The rules. Always mention the rules.

For the sake of the exercise we’ll pretend that the customer insist on continuing to smoke.

“Sir, if you don’t stop smoking we’ll have to ask you to leave.”

Let’s say the guest continues to cause problems and starts harassing the employees and warrants a removal.

“Sir, you’ve violated our rules multiple times. I’m going to have to ask you to leave immediately.”

And he refuses.

“Sir, if you don’t leave, I’ll have to call the police.”

Usually, I like to give them one last chance and reiterate to them that I’m going to call the police before actually dialing up the cops.

Most encounters should end way before this.

But the point is to maintain professionalism and mention the rules of the facility as much as needed.

Nobody likes this part of the job. But we won’t always be able to deter everyone that insists on breaking our rules.

Keep it professional and you should be fine.

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Next: Read about how to communicate with the media HERE


One thought on “Mall Cop Confessions: How to talk to the rule breakers

  1. Mall Cop Confessions: This remains our #1 weapon on the job – Frank Torres: Something on almost everything

    […] Next: Read about communicating with rule breakers HERE […]

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