Is flirting with customers while you are working considered unprofessional?

[TsundereMatrix]

I work in retail and I caught one of my managers flirting with a customer. He’s the type of guy to be very serious about his job, has really no sense of humour, and very stern but with this girl he was making jokes, asking her if she would date our other coworkers, giving her outrageous discounts that would be not approved by just any other customer and then smoothly hands her his business card and asks her to call him. At this point I’m thinking why is he acting so weird and he shouldn’t be giving her special treatment.

I had customers try to flirt with me and get my number but I felt like that was inappropriate for a workplace. I’m there to work, not get a date. If I was looking to date, I would go elsewhere.

Updates

+1 y

And no I’m not jealous. I would never date someone I work with. I find that weird and possibly toxic.

[Nicolette777]

Yes, it is inappropriate but as long as the girls honestly don’t mind, it’s fine in my opinion. Perhaps ask the girl if she dislikes it. However, as bad as it is, he is your manager and workplaces don’t typically take minor things serious. By saying something, you could make this worse for you. Of course, it it turns into serious harassment or constant flirting with lots of girls, you should definitely say something. Just leave it’s for now and try to enjoy your shifts as much as you can. If he can flirt with customers, he is giving you the permission to flirt with customers.

[ToastyTimmy]

I'd be cautious about flirting with customers. Just because the manager does it doesn't validate that in your own behavior. It might be a good idea, nevertheless, to take note of the issue (whether or not something should be said, I'm not sure myself about that one).

[IfYoureGoingCrazy]

I don't know but I have customers flirt with me all th time. If it's classy casual fine. But if it's pushy or demands some answet from me I hate it. Me being polite is not flirting. I say good morning because I am required to.

[MercuryG]

That last sentence is quote worthy.

[justaguy304]

Well, that is unprofessional, and if his superiors saw it, he would probably be in a bit of trouble over it. It is also unethical. In the real world, it does happen in rare instances. That is what is called a job opening.

[BCA6010]

Yes, definitely unprofessional.

[cutegirl22]

I worked in retail for 4 years and I got flirted with a lot and got even posted on craigslist once. I reported it cuz it had my work place on it. Plus when they flirt you can't really say anything or you will get in trouble. So it's pretty normal for customers to do that. I just learn to just ignore it and they go away. But your boss treating this customer special is kind of weird. But he probably does cuz maybe she comes in a lot and she is regular. I notice from experience that bosses would give customers discounts if they see them a lot and get along with them. But if he is flirting with a customer. Then you might want to report it to hr.

[MannMitAntworten]

In sales positions flirting often goes hand in hand and is especially useful for women when closing with men. However, your manager wasn't flirting. He was hitting on her/making a move and so was the guy who asked for your number.

Don't confuse being hit on with flirting. As for a customer hitting on you... Unless it is a company policy not to, it is completely individual whether you wish to share your number when asked while working. After all, you are not a machine but a human and humans remain social creatures - in spite of social media making people, 'anti-social' in public.

Your manager did zero wrong.

[John_Doesnt]

You're supposed to be working not socializing. As a business owner it pisses me off when workers think they can get paid to socialize and screw around on the job. If you want to flirt with people do it on your own time, don't expect me or my company to pay you for that.

[Sensmind]

Depends what you mean by "Flirty" - Social/friendly flirting while doing your job is okay maybe for waiting staff thinking about tip but the kind you describe "Hitting on", "Giving special discounts" , "Getting numbers"is very unprofessional in my view

[Spiritwander]

Yep. You're spot on. She's either a VIP (like a relative of someone high up the company), or you're spot on about about unprofessionalism.

(My guess would be phermones)

[ChiPaPa]

I consider it in very poor taste to flirt with anyone besides your partner when you're in a relationship. Besides that, many jobs have flirting as part of it so the customer pays more for a tip. The behavior you sited was very unprofessional.

[Texaskid1]

I do it all the time.

When a female customer walks in I smile , whip out my pecker and tell her that if she buys XYZ product she can have full access to my glorious pecker.

Works like a charm.

[Dongtai]

You sound jealous.

It’s inappropriate when the customer feels uncomfortable and/or it’s disrupting business. But if she’s flirting back and likes him it’s fair play. It’s the same if a customer flirted with you and you flirted back and got a tip.

[TsundereMatrix]

I’m not jealous. I just don’t think it’s appropriate to flirt at work and give special treatment

[Dongtai]

It definitely sounds like you feel a certain way about him showing his “fun” side to a stranger, specifically a woman when he’s not that way with you and other coworkers apparently. You pointed out how bad you think his personality is before you even talked about him being “unprofessional”. I don't know. Just let him do his thing. It doesn’t sound like anyone customers have complained

[Jamie05rhs]

@Dongtai he's costing the company money.

[LegendarySir]

Depends on how you do it. If you're playful about it, and subtle, where the person doesn't know if you're being playful or flirting, then it's great. A lot of customers like it, and you get lots of tips.
If you're too upfront, telling the customer they're hot or whatever, then that's not good.

[someguy81]

I think, if it interferes with how you are doing you job, then yes, it is unprofessional. While you are at work, that should be your priority. I think if you get asked out, or if you wanted to ask someone out, it's fine but you should get back to work right away. You can set up a date afterwards to get to know them better. I'm only saying this is okay because some times you may only see certain people the workplace and not have a chance to talk to them afterwards.

[dragoblack]

If they're creepy about it or they flirt with just about every customer then yeah, it's unprofessional.
if it is once in a while, then no because, the most times you find people you're attracted to are either in the work place, school/college, or at an event.

[Kaneki05]

No not really that inappropriate. Do you how many people have met each through work or someone they met working.

[TsundereMatrix]

I suppose if you’re open to dating through your work but I’m not

[Kaneki05]

Fair enough, i think people should do tho, it's not inappropriate but if you feel uneasy doing it that is fairs.

[DanishSaint]

On the contrary in many lines of work. Flirting is sometimes, more and more often, a plus if you work in the service/detail business. There are even certain branches where it's almost demanded as to be able to flirt with customers.

[Cherokeehp]

Dude you work in retail. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. As long as the girls are comfortable with it, then who cares?

[linds34]

It's unprofessional if you flirt with every customer. But you're still human so I could see really liking someone and taking the chance.

[I-C3_ME]

It is unprofessional but if i was he's supervisor, I'd just give him tell him he shouldn't but as long as he doesn't give discounts or special privileges, i wouldn't make major actions

[El_Heffe]

While I don't generally approve of flirting with customers, but I completely understand this when s person has little life outside of work. Then where is one to flirt.

[Jamie05rhs]

This is what happens when companies structure employee's schedules so as to take over their entire lives.

... But there is such a thing as online dating.

[nathanp97]

You work in retail. That isn't a very professional job, so ad long as you dont go overboard you're fine. If he asks you out and you want to go for it.

[CherryRoseChampange]

Nope, if they flirted first then I consider playful flirting back just fun and ensuring I get a tip.

[MollyTheOriginal]

Some light flirting never hurt anyone, but if it is persistent and overboard, it is definitely unprofessional, if not downright offensive in a work environment.