# "The line is too long." Another fun tale of customer stupidity **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 21, 2002, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925 "2002-09-21T03:26:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/81 "2002-09-23T04:48:59Z")
WSLer, I applaud your actions in this case. Some people refuse to learn. Hopefully, this will teach the woman that she isn’t special and should wait in line like the rest of us. I think that rude and obnoxious customers shouldn’t be tolerated. Sometimes the only thing that can be done is shame them into behaving properly. ---
**Author:** ![Beastal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Beastal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastal)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/82 "2002-09-23T05:13:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Melandry \* > \*\ ***Beastal** , that’s all well and good, but if this imaginary business survives by allowing its workers to be treated like doormats, abused and insulted by customers, all in the interests of never offending the customer, they might have a hard time selling anything, as no one will wish to work there. _both._ \*\* I didn’t say employees should allow themselves to be treated like doormats, I said that the employee should have remained polite with the customer the entire time, and not publically humiliated her. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by miller \* > \*\*Yeah, but every other customer in the store that day is now a Customer for Life. \*\* That’s just plain incorrect. That store certainly would have lost me as a customer had I seen an employee publically humiliate another customer like that. Additionally, the store would lose zero customers as a direct result of observing staff remaining polite with this woman. > [@](#): > > \*\*Plus, evil psycho woman will never return, which is well worth the loss of a few book sales. \*\* Why is it worth it? Businesses are out there to make money, not turn away profitible customers. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/83 "2002-09-23T06:54:47Z")
**Beastal** , what type of store do you have? This woman was not a profitable customer. This woman was a problem to be dealt with. She was rude to the employees. Worse than that, she was rude to all those customers who waited patiently in line. _Those_ are the people who should be treated with courtesy. This woman should have been dragged by her earlobe to the door, as you would an unruly child. He wouldn’t have lost me as a customer, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/84 "2002-09-23T07:38:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dangerosa \* > \*\*Some people are so cluelessly selfish… > > I was in at my OB/GYN, checking in at the counter. In front of me was a pregnant woman. > > Receptionist: “I’m sorry, your doctor just got called to the hospital to deliver a baby…we tried to reach you, but you’d left already. You can see one of the other doctors, or we can reschedule you for later in the week.” > > This caused a tirade from the woman in question. How DARE the doctor leave. She had an APPOINTMENT. She finally stormed out (I don’t think she even made another appointment).\*\* Oh, come on; she was pregnant! That may just have been her hormones speaking. Ten to one she came the following week, or day, or even later that day, and tearfully apologized. And how far along was she? If she was seven months or beyond, she wouldn’t have been “storming” anywhere! ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/85 "2002-09-23T07:46:58Z")
I dont know whats funnier, the verbal thrashing people give rude customers or the people defending them or saying you should be polite. some customers need the shit beat out of them, I think giving them the smacktalking of their life is pretty polite. possibly the single GREATEST thing about being a business owner is the ability to tell any asshole customer to shut the fuck up and get the hell out. oh yeah I saw a button once that summed it up perfectly, it said “Show me a person with a deep seated loathing of all mankind and I’ll show you someone who works in retail” ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/86 "2002-09-23T08:13:35Z")
When I was working at AOL I had two memorable calls. One I don’t remember what the subject was but I kept putting her on mute so I wouldn’t crack up in her face and eventually I heard, “Are you laughing at me?” Then another was when a lady had rung up legitimate charges and just felt she shouldn’t have to pay them. She had received a credit for all but 58 cents of the charges. They were legitimate mind you. So she got to my supervisor who pops up on IM saying “Should I take away the credit she already has received?” and was all in favor of that. I don’t know how it turned out in the end. Be careful with AOL customer service because they will usually default to the employee. Erek ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/87 "2002-09-23T08:25:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WSLer \* > \*\* > Anyway, as to what I said over the intercom: (said in a calm, very pleasant tone of voice) \*"Attention Barnes & Noble customers. Apparently the woman standing in front of me at the front registers believes that she is too important to have to wait in line like the rest of you have been so patiently doing. She seems to think she is \ ***better** \*then the rest of us. If \ ***better** _means having no class and ven fewer manners, then I suppose she is correct. But that sort of behavior isn’t what the holiday season is all about, is it?"_ At this point the store was **very** quiet and some customers, in response to my semi-rhetorical question, shouted out “No!!” and variations there-of. One woman’s voice rang out as she very distinctively said, "_Stop being such an ass, and go to the end of the line, but first apologize to everyone that you cut in front of."_ > > I put the phone back on the hook, but there was still silence in the store as everyone kind of held their breath. **EVERYONE** up at cash wrap was staring at the woman. > > She tried to walk away, leaving the books she had brought with here piled around my cash register, but a woman said, "\*Hey, pick up those books and if you aren’t going to buy them then at the \ ***VERY** _least, take them over to the information counter."_ > \*\* Umm… I have to throw the bullshit flag up on this one. The chances that this really happened are slim to none, and become non-existant if you claim you kept your job. You’d have been better off not trying to give the “specifics” of what happened and just let people imagine. My WAG is that the lady cut in line at the counter and this is what you \* wanted to do[\i]. I mean, come on man, this isn’t even REMOTELY believable. ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Nickel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@Doc\_Nickel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Nickel)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/88 "2002-09-23T11:14:58Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Beastal \* **… That store certainly would have lost me as a customer had I seen an employee publically humiliate another customer like that. Additionally, the store would lose zero customers as a direct result of observing staff remaining polite with this woman.** [quote] I, on the other hand, would have _gone out of my way_ to make a purchase- ANY purchase- had I witnessed that, even if I was just in browsing the magazine racks. However, had the employee simply rung the woman up, not only would that woman go on to continue to barge ahead and be rude at other places, but also I, personally, had I been in line waiting, would have felt slighted, and might have thought twice the next time I wanted a latte and a _New Yorker_. > [@](#): > > \*\* > Why is it worth it? Businesses are out there to make money, not turn away profitible customers. \*\* Perhaps, but to make money at what cost? There’s more to business than “sell anything, as fast as possible, damn the torpedoes.” She was one rude woman, making what might have been a $50 purchase, which probably equated to $14 in profit to the store. Is she a regular? With that attitude, probably not. Abusive and rude customers cost a business more than money- as mentioned above, there’s employee morale at the very least. Happy employees stick around, reducing turnover and retraining costs. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/89 "2002-09-23T11:44:49Z")
Rilchaim - About five months. I don’t think it was hormones, I think she was just a bitch. But it could have been hormones. And WSLers story is believable. I’ve seen similar things happen in retail stores at Christmas time. Never over the intercom and never as “pointed,” but similar. What else are you going to do if someone cuts in line? Asking them to move doesn’t budge them, you basically have to ask the person behind them if they mind and let the angry mob handle it or do what WSLer did. Don’t underestimate the short string a retail clerk is on at Christmastime. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/90 "2002-09-23T11:50:57Z")
I gotta disagree. There is virtually no chance that this went down as he described. I would think that there would be potential lawsuits if that happened the way he says. Like I said, I think that this is a story of what he \*wanted[\i] to do, but knew better than to actually do. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/91 "2002-09-23T12:58:01Z")
> [@](#): > > The tire rubbed on the bike’s frame, so he came back the next day and threatened to sue if we didn’t make things right. My boss took a grinder to his bike and ground off the metal that touched the tire _That_ could have resulted in a lawsuit! I pretty much assume that all of the structural members of a motorcycle were engineered for efficient use of materials. Grinding the frame (or swingarm?) may have weekened it, making it susceptible to breakage – especially if it was made of steel, as the ground areas could rust. If the guy went over a bump at high speed and the part broke right where the grinding was, the guy would be right to sue. OTOH if you warned the guy that tire sizes vary, then he has no one to blame but himself. I hate buying motorcycle tires because they’re so expensive (more than car tires). But I always get a Dunlop or Bridgestone from the dealer who installs it. On a motorcycle, tires are one of the more important bits. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/92 "2002-09-23T13:00:40Z")
So Stinkpalm, what do you think she could sue for? ---
**Author:** ![Syzygy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Syzygy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syzygy)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/93 "2002-09-23T16:02:43Z")
Oh, slander, obviously. After all, no one should have to be told in front of others just how big an asshole he or she actually is. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/94 "2002-09-23T17:40:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yojimboguy \* > All you had to do was refuse to serve her, and you certainly were justified in doing so. IMHO, insulting her as you did makes you nearly as big a jerk as she was. I’m certain no one here thinks maintaining complete civility while refusing to serve this customer wouldn’t have been the best option. Given that we all have sinned, and all have fallen short of the glory of God, I think WSLer’s described _initial_ response (“Well, your water can’t just have broken…”) was pretty reasonable. Yes, sarcasm was involved, but it was quite mild compared to her rudeness. He wasn’t perfect, but he wasn’t out of line either. As far as what he claims to have said over the PA, I agree with **Lynn Bodoni** that it was a bit over the top, but he **did** warn her that if she didn’t behave, he’d pick up the mic and embarrass the fool out of her. She didn’t, and he did. Fair’s fair. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/95 "2002-09-23T18:08:13Z")
SUE? For what? For crying out loud, **Stinkpalm** , what the hell else could he have done? (If she had refused to move, he would have had to call security, holding the line up even longer). Besides, he said he is a _manager_. Thus, he has more power to do these things. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/96 "2002-09-23T18:09:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Warnas \* > My girlfriend works in a tax-free shop at Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam)…I am therefore realiably informed that Americans rank amongst the most unpleasant customers to deal with, ranking just below the Chinese and Israeli’s. > \ > Apparently, expected standards of service are very high in the USA. Dutch staff often hears the quite annoying advice to ‘smile, you’re paid for it’ from American visitors. My wife and I recently spent a few days down near Maastricht, where we were invariably treated extremely well by clerks in many different kinds of shops, from eateries to flower shops to laundromats. (With a particular tip of the hat to the staff of the Hotel Groot Welsden in Margraten. :)) We were in a fenderbender in Maastricht, and even the _police_ were extremely polite and helpful to us. An American who complains about service in the Netherlands is frickin’ _nuts_, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2002, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/97 "2002-09-23T19:52:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stinkpalm \* > \*\*I gotta disagree. There is virtually no chance that this went down as he described. I would think that there would be potential lawsuits if that happened the way he says. > > Like I said, I think that this is a story of what he \*wanted[\i] to do, but knew better than to actually do. \*\* I’ll add my voice to thers asking this question: what, specifically, do you imagine a lawsuit might have been predicated upon? - Rick ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2002, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/98 "2002-09-24T02:08:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stinkpalm \* > \*\*I gotta disagree. There is virtually no chance that this went down as he described. I would think that there would be potential lawsuits if that happened the way he says. > > Like I said, I think that this is a story of what he \*wanted[\i] to do, but knew better than to actually do. \*\* Actually I _wanted_ to **grab her by the hair and drag her ass out of the store.** But I’ve never been \*that \* stupid. As for my making up what I did, I can give you the names of 6 of my former co-workers who were witnesses to what went down. Also, exactly what could she have sued for? _Emotional and Psychological Damages?_:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: OH PLEASE. ---
**Author:** ![elshatan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@elshatan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elshatan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2002, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/99 "2002-09-24T02:19:51Z")
What I don’t understand is how he could make something that juicy up. I’ve worked retail at Christmas, and I gotta tell you, that would not only be applauded, that’d be tame. You have NOT met a tense person until you’ve met someone who’s spent 3 or 4 hours at the register during Christmas season. ---
**Author:** ![Doc\_Nickel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@Doc\_Nickel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doc_Nickel)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2002, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925/100 "2002-09-24T03:44:23Z")
Short fuses at Christmas? Boy howdy. I recall an incident several years ago, as I was walking past a gift-wrapping-booth. I have absolutely no idea what the commotion was about, and I had things to do so I didn’t hang out and rubberneck, but I did, quite plainly, hear one of the ladies working the gift-wrap booth tell some other little lady something like: “_Look bitch, it’s just a fuckin’ [some bit of cookware]. It’s not a fuckin’ Faberge` egg!_” This was probably two or three days before Christmas. Personally, I was kinda giggling, hearing that… I’d already seen a multitude of (much lesser, of course) little rudenesses that were surely burning the clerks’ fuses just a little bit shorter, that day. Somebody oughta write a book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-line-is-too-long-another-fun-tale-of-customer-stupidity/128925.md?page=6)