As someone who works in retail as a supervisor/MOD, and has for a rather long time, I'm going to try to explain a few things from a retail point-of-view. Nothing I say here may help you and your situation directly, but it may help you to understand things better, and perhaps help you process thing a bit on a more subconscious level.
In retail, especially in a store with low staff, it's very important to have people trained in as many areas as possible. It helps the store make the most out of its payroll, and also ensures that customers are helped as best as possible. This means that people will often be trained in and expected to work in as many areas as they can, to help with the flow. Pretty much everyone is always expected to be able to ring on a register, unless you are specifically only working at times when the store is closed. And even then you still might be trained in it.
When I first started working at Staples, I was a part-timer in their Copy and Print Center. Even though my entire shifts were in that small area of the store, I still had to learn where different items were located in the store, to ring up any kind of purchase, to answer and switchboard phone calls. And I performed all of those functions many times over my first few months, making sure that the most customers were taken care of as efficiently as possible.
Ringing people out sucks. It's probably the least favourite part of my job (aside from phones). But at the same time, it is the most vital action that takes place in any retail store. Retail stores always have to put the customer first, or they don't last long, plain and simple. Because of this, if you work in a retail store during its operating hours, any store, you're going to be expected to ring out customers. Getting a disability on record can theoretically stop an employer from forcing you to ring on a register, but it'll also severely dampen your employment opportunities. Depending on how severe your condition is, and your personal situation (which I know nothing about) you may want to consider (when you are in the market for a new job) looking into an overnight stock position. Overnight stocking ensures that you won't be dealing with many/any customers (depending on whether or not the store you work for is 24-hour). The pay is also higher, so there you go. Of course, working overnight is its own can of worms, of course. I just wanted to present the option to you in case you hadn't thought of it.
Anyway, part 2: ANGRY CUSTOMERS.
There are 2 main reasons why almost no employee handbook will specifically tell you how to deal with angry customers*. They are the following:
1) No angry customer is ever the same
2) No employee handles angry customers the same
Ergo, every angry customer situation is entirely different, and there's no "catch all" solution that will fix the problem. I can, however, offer some pointers that may be useful.
Keeping with the rule of two, there are 2 important phrases to keep in mind when dealing with angry customers. Chances are, in most situations, you'll be able to use one or both.
1) "I'm sorry/I apologize (for your inconvenience)"
2) "What would you like me to do for you?"
1 is important because it's a decent diffuser. You'd be surprised how often angry customers just want to feel better about themselves, and apologizing is a good step forward. It shows that you are making steps forward to improve the situation, and you acknowledge that you or the store may be in error (even if it isn't true).
2 is important because it focuses the situation. Read those words again carefully. Angry customers can rant and rave about anything and everything, but the whole reason you are there is, presumably, because the customer wants you to do something for them. What is it? Figuring out exactly what you personally can do to help a customer is a great to move forward with the conversation. Sometimes customers will present you with a solution that you can actually do, calling up another store to check stock, or doing an item return, etc. Sometimes customers will make unreasonable demands "I want this entire endcap for free!" This leads us to....
3) "Let's go talk to my manager, and see if we can get this worked out."
This should be used sparingly, because it's important to try and solve situations yourself as best as you can. It gives you better knowledge and skills, and also impresses your worth upon the customer. However, there are going to be situations that you can't solve yourself, and you should never be afraid to get help from a supervisor or member of management when needed. An important, but often overlooked, part of that sentence is the "Let's," which implies that you and the customer will be going to talk to your manager together. You should never just toss a customer at a manager and then leave. You may be useful in helping the manager to understand the situation, and you may still be helpful in providing the solution to the customer. Also, in paying attention to how your manager handles the situation will give you more knowledge and experience to help you better deal with difficult customers in the future.
