#rude customers

Story from my supervisor and boss:

Major sale weekend, and there’s this woman arguing with my supervisor regarding a pair of ballet flats that seem to have a scuff mark on them. The shoes are already reduced from $195 down to $35, and the woman is desperately badgering my supervisor to give her an extra $5 off the sale price because the pair has a scuff on the one shoe.

Supervisor agrees to discount her the extra $5 on that pair, but now the customer decides she doesn’t want the scuffed pair. Those don’t look as nice. She wants an un-scuffed pair AND the extra $5 off that pair.

“Ma’am, there’s nothing wrong with this pair. I can’t give you $5 off this pair when it doesn’t have a defect.” This debate goes on for a minute or so when customer demands to see our manager.

Supervisor goes to get our manager and explains the situation - that this woman pretty much wants $5 off a pair of shoes just because. Manager agrees to come out and meet the woman and see what the fuss is about.

The customer immediately trots up to our manager and starts badgering her about how our supervisor won’t honor the discount she said would be applied to the pair of shoes. Manager abruptly cuts the woman off yelling, “Ma’am, my mother just died three weeks ago, and you’re making a big deal over $5?!”

Customer steps back, eyes wide, begins softly apologizing for our manager’s loss…

Manager continues, “You want $5 off the pair of shoes?! It matters THAT MUCH to you?! Fine, take your damn $5! I have bigger issues to deal with right now!” …and she just walks away leaving the customer standing there crying… like actually crying.

The customer slumps back over to the register, our supervisor having witnessed the entire event, and apologizes (face red with embarrassment) to our supervisor for our manager’s loss. Supervisor finishes the transaction with the customer being very quiet and humbly polite; customer gets her $5 off the pair of shoes.

Helping this older woman (she’s probably in her late 50s/early 60s) put together a bed set from our clearance options. She keeps eying the ever growing pile that another female customer is creating. “Oh, that color’s nice. Oh, I like that pattern,” she says, “Oh she keeps finding all these nice things. She should save some of the bargains for me!”

My coworker is helping this younger woman compile her order, and I overhear bits and pieces of their conversation while I’m still helping my customer. Mention to my coworker when she steps away from her customer, “Hey, that looks like it’ll be a good sale for you.” She replies, “Their family lost their house in a fire. They apparently just got the insurance money to buy an new one and need to replace all their bedding…” I’m like… “Well, that sucks…”

Go back to helping my customer, who now keeps making rude comments about how the younger woman seems to have more than her share and should leave some for the “rest of us” - mainly meaning her because she’s not thrilled with the options we’re finding (mainly because she’s being cheap and doesn’t want to pay for the newer styles she actually likes). “Don’t you think she has enough already? I mean, really…”

I look her square in the eye and inform her, “Their family actually lost their house in a fire. She’s here trying to replace all the bedding for their home.”

Woman’s eyes widen, face drops, puts her hand over her mouth and chokes, “Oh my god… I’m a total bitch. Ohhhhh my god. Here I am going on like a selfish old bag, and she’s just suffered that tragedy. I am an awfulperson.”

Glad you realized it. Have you learned your lesson?

Dealt with a phone customer this afternoon who I’m pretty sure had a five second memory. Imagine this conversation carrying on for twenty minutes:

Customer: “So, you don’t have the pink/multi or the blue/multi [cardigan] in size small, but you have the turquoise and the orange in small?”
Me: “Correct.”
C: “Because I called back on October 2nd, and the woman I spoke with said she’d put the pink/multi on hold for me; but when I called the next day it was gone. Isn’t that weird? It was just gone.”
M: “We only put un-purchased items on hold for up to 48hrs. After that time if we don’t hear back from the customer, we put the items back on the selling floor.”
C: “But I called the next day, and it was gone. Isn’t that weird? It’s so weird. The lady told me to call each week to see if any have come in, so… have any come in?”
M: “No, we only have the pink/multi in medium.”
C: “Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And what would you wear with the turquoise?”
M: “… jeans?”
C: “Would you wear khakis with them?”
M: “I don’t own any khakis, so no… I probably wouldn’t wear khakis with that cardigan.”
The woman pauses before asking, “And what would you wear with the turquoise?”
I’m thinking, “Seriously? I just answered this.” I reply, “Probably jeans.”
C: “And the azalea? What would you wear with the azalea? Khaki? Do you like the orange or the turquoise better? I guess the turquoise is busier than the blue/multi… What about the turquoise and the azalea? I suppose the azalea is more versatile. What would you wear with the turquoise? Khaki?”

Rewind… repeat… rewind… repeat…

…Twenty minutes later…

 
C: “It’s just so weird. You have the medium in the pink/multi and the blue/multi, and when I called your store on October 2nd you had them in the small. Then they were just gone. That’s so weird… I might go with the small in the azalea. It’s three dollars cheaper than the turquoise and more versatile… but since I was promised the pink/multi and then it was just gone when I called back to purchase it, which is so weird,right? It’s so weird. Since it waspromised to me, is there anything you can do about the shipping charge? Like waive the shipping charge?”
M: “No, ma'am. There’s nothing I can do about the shipping charge. If we put that cardigan on hold for you, and you didn’t call back within the time you said you would, then it was put back on the selling floor. You do realize this is a retail store, right?”
C: “But I called the next day, and then it was just gone. You had two left, and then it was gone. That’s so weird, right?”
M: “Ma'am, this is an outlet retail store. We sell things. We don’t make promises that certain items will always be in stock; we’re continuously discontinuing and marking down stock.”
C: “So, can you see if you can do something about the shipping charge? I might buy the azalea if you can waive the shipping charge.”
M: “Sure. Hold please.” I leave the woman on hold for a few minutes before coming back to the line saying, “Yeah, we’re not going to be able to waive that shipping fee.”
C: “Oh, okay. I’m going to have to think about that then. Goodbye.”

Apparently five of my coworkers have unfortunately conversed with this woman over the past month. Stories confirmed: Lady is legit cra'y cra'y.

Several days pass:

So, cra'y cardigan lady called back again today… five times… being indecisive if she wanted to buy the tabasco color dress we had on hold for her or the black version the catalog has available. She almost bought the tabasco one we put on hold for her, but she would only buy it if we waived the shipping on this order seeing as we “sold the sweater we ’promised’ her.” She’s naming names now trying to get associates in trouble over the possibility of getting free shipping… over a matter of six dollars.  Had the catalog customer service put a flag on her account so everybody knows this lady is trouble.

*Reposted image that was meant to accompany this story simply because I could not for the life of me find my transcript of this conversation until just now.

So, there’s this business that opened a few months ago in my town that combines the “dinner and a movie” experience. It’s a movie theater that has tables and serves pub style food and beverages. The pub theater advises customers arrive at least half an hour early since, you know, it takes time to cook the food… and not just cook for your table but for the forty other people there to view that particular movie… and the people in the other four theater rooms that are also ordering food at the same time. Boyfriend and I got there kind of late (as in right as the trailers began rolling), but no big deal. Movie’s an hour and a half long; worst case scenario, we’ll get twenty minutes into the film and then get food.

Anyway, we’re there to see Inside Out, and aside from the handful of young couples there to see it there’s four or five families. Animated film - kids expected for that 5:30pm showing. Kids aren’t the problem in this situation.

I’m busy watching the beginning of the movie when my boyfriend leans over and says, “Wow… what a biiiiiitch. Did you hear that?” I’m thinking he was reacting to something a character said, so I’m a little confused. “No,” I say, “I missed it. What happened?”

“That woman in front of us, whose family just got their food. She was just bitching to the waitress about how her kids’ food came during the movie…“

“What was she expecting? It’s a theater…that serves food… when did she expect the food would arrive? The whole selling point of this place is to eat food while you’re watching a movie.”

Yeah… the woman complained about the food coming during the movie (because apparently she didn’t want her kids to eat during the movie?), and she demanded that she not be charged for the meals… 

We had the same waitress. We gave her a substantial tip for having to deal with that bullshit.

Working in a bakery on national donut day is a fresh kind of hell. Tomorrow will be just as bad. Few more weeks. Then I’m out to my new, higher paying job. I can manage.