A mother has revealed her daughter was pushed to tears after a shift at Woolworths when angry customers threw products at her because there was no toilet paper left.
Jordyn Nydrle, 18, works overtime at the supermarket in Townsville, north-east Queensland, due to frenzied coronavirus panic-buying.
But the teenager reached breaking point after an exhausting shift on Monday when she was abused by irate shoppers who couldn’t buy everything they wanted due to sold-out items or product restrictions.
Jordyn’s mother Debara Nydrle said her daughter and colleagues often have ‘products thrown at them because they can’t have the third tins of beans… or if there isn’t any toilet paper’, Essential Kids reported.
Jordyn Nydrle (pictured) works at a Woolworths in Townsville, and came home after an exhausting shift and cried
Woolworths, Coles and Aldi imposed limits on products favoured by pandemic panic-buyers after loo rolls and canned food started flying off the shelves.
Tinned food was restricted to two per person and toilet paper was limited to one pack per person to combat shortages.
Ms Nydrle shared a photo of red-faced and teary-eyed Jordyn in a heartbreaking Facebook post after the abuse on Monday proved too much.
While the teenager felt better ‘after a good cry and a good sleep’, Ms Nydrlen urged people to be kinder to those in customer service roles.
‘These people are like our doctors and nurses and essential workers, providing a service on the frontline. While everyone is in self-isolation they are put at risk.’
Woolworths posted signs around stores instructing shoppers not to abuse staff members
Shelves in Woolworths supermarkets have been cleared over the last month by coronavirus panic-buyers
Ms Nydrle called herself a ‘p***ed off mamma’ in Monday’s social media post.
‘Thank you to all the a**holes who think its okay to abuse Woolies staff to the point where you break them, daily, multiple times a day,’ she wrote.
She described the abuse her daughter received as ‘totally un-Australian’ and said customer complaints were things that Jordyn and her colleagues ‘could not control.’
A friend of the family said they were in store when Jordyn was having a particularly difficult time and ‘wanted to go give her a hug,’ but were worried she would get in trouble or that it would make her more upset.
Woolworths have been forced to introduce an elderly hour for shoppers to combat the crowds
Other customers said they looked forward to Jordyn’s service in stores, because of her usually friendly smile and demeanour.
Ms Nydrle urged her friends and family suggested people thank supermarket employees for the work they do for the community.
‘Give them a smile, take them flowers – you can even buy them in store.’
The most important thing, Ms Nydrle said, was that customers help staff help everybody.
Supermarket shelves have been left bare of the essentials – particularly toilet paper – since panic buying began
The number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases in Australia has reached 4,852. Twenty people have died.
Panic-buying has sparked violent brawls in supermarkets throughout the nation as customers rush to get their hands on in-demand groceries.
Woolworths and Coles stores have seen sales soar in recent months, well beyond what is standard for this time of year.
As a result, Woolworths created 20,000 new jobs – many are short term contracts – designed to give people now out of work due to COVID-19 a lifeline.
The new roles across supermarkets, e-commerce, supply chain and drinks businesses will allow the retailer to better meet the unprecedented demand for groceries across the country.
The move will also allow the to supermarket giant to build up their online operations in a bid to support the changing shopping needs determined by COVID-19.
Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci said: ‘These are uncertain times for many industries and we have an important role to play keeping Australians employed through this crisis.’
Similarly, Coles confirmed they would be hiring an additional 5,000 staff for the duration of the crisis.
Source: dailymail UK
