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I have customers at the bookshop swear all of the time, and the best way to deal with it is to hear what they're saying instead of concentrating on the language.
"I can't fucking believe that you don't have my fucking textbook."
What you can say - "I totally understand that you need that book right now - I can arrange a transfer from another store and then express post it to you, which will get it to you as quickly as possible.. or I could get the transfer sent to us if you want to pick it up in person. Which way is going to work better for you?"
What not to say - "Ma'am, please don't swear at me."
What I usually say - "Just between you and I, I can't fucking believe that we don't have that textbook in either... I totally understand that you need that book right now - I can arrange a transfer from another store and then express post it to you, which will get it to you as quickly as possible.. or I could get the transfer sent to us if you want to pick it up in person. Which way is going to work better for you?"
Changing the conversation so it becomes about the fact that someone dropped the f-word is just going to antagonise and increase the temperature of the exchange. It's also condescending to police someone's language in an adult forum like that. There really is a vast difference between someone using a swear word to communicate emotion and someone using it as an attack.
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