Hey, sandyr, you don’t work for Service Merchandise, do you?
Sorry, have never heard of Service Merchandise.
And where I worked isn’t the point. I’m sure that anyone who has worked with the public, be it a waitress or a stockboy at WalMart, knows what I’m talking about.
Much of the time the public has a legitimate beef, and I’ll admit I’m the first to bitch about poor service in a restaurant. But you know, when I complain, I tell the hostess what I didn’t like, why, and what I think they could do to improve. The LAST thing I would do is scream and swear and harrass a waitress who probably doesn’t have a clue that she’s worthless. Is not her fault - blame the place that hired her.
Working where I did I found that while the business had its policies, those policies could be bent. And those polices were rarely, if ever, bent for the person who was rude and abusive.
I’m 29, so I can’t be an old fogey reminiscing about the “good old days”. And I’m not exactly an optimist, so I think that “can’t we all just get along?” is pretty lame. But if you have a bitch, don’t scream at the guy at the other end of the phone line or the chick at the checkout counter - they’re only following the rules set forth by the brass. True results are achieved by writing a letter to said brass - after all, they’re the ones who created the policy you’re bitching about.
(Did I mention that working with the public truly sucks and that I’m extremely happy to be out of it?)
My video experience:
I was off of work one day and rented a video at 11AM or so. I watched the video and dropped it off while on a way to visit a friend the same evening. The clerk sees me drop off the video and says “Hey buddy, it’s after 9PM, you owe a late fee.”
“No”, I say. “I rented it today, so it’s no late fee–obviously.”
The guy continues to argue that any movies returned after 9PM must pay the late fee! I finally had to come back the next day and explain to the manager what had happened. Did I get an apology. Of course not.
However, as a retail manager myself, I have come home ready to quit because of the rudeness and idiocy of customers. Just a few examples:
-
One woman returned a calendar because, she said, she already had one. It was not open…but it was in MAY of the same year as the calendar! She was mad because I would not return her money.
-
A woman returned a 25 pound bag of carrots because they were bad. Now, a carrot bag is clear, and the carrots in her bag were obviously old. They were covered in those little white carrot hairs. I explained to the woman that we do not ever carry the brand of carrots on the bag, and that we would not give her a bag that looked bad like that. Nor, I suspect, would anyone buy a bag in that condition. I was the produce buyer at the time–and I knew these to be facts. She got mad, threw a fit, and the general manager gave her $20.00 back anyway. Bully tax, I guess.
-
A woman cleaning out ther dead mother’s cabinets tried to return cans of food with our sticker on them. The dates were over a year old.
-
A woman left her groceries in her car and went out of town in the middle of a hot July. She returned a week later and found them. She expected us to replace them, and fumed about our “poor customer service”, when we would not.
-
Whenever a product changes the package at least one customer will come in to complain about the new taste of the product. They will not believe me when I tell them that the product inside the box is the same as always. We gove them their money back. Sigh.
6: True story: A large woman standing next to a tall stack of oranges swings her oversized purse while walking by. The oranges go tumbling. The woman looks at the mess, turns to me and says “Look at what you did.”
- Another customer tried to return some vitamins. I explained to her how they were OUR COMPETITOR’S STORE NAME BRAND and she must have bought them there. She got mad insisting she bought them at our store.
I could go on and on. Most customer/business relationships at my stores go very well. I have made some truly exceptional friendships from our patrons. However, the few dolts who do come in can make the job terrible.
“The customer is always right” is good business. It should be what every clerk is taught. Begin by assuming the customer has a valid complaint. Make it right. If, however, the customer is obviously wrong, don’t argue. call a manager and be polite.
I once returned a movie 2 days early. When I went to rent another I was informed that I had a late fee. I told her I returned it 2 days early. Then the clerk took me aside and asked who waited on me. I told her who it was and she said that that person keeps telling people the wrong date and she apologized and gave me credit toward my next purchase, even though I didn’t give her any money. I thought that was nice.