You'll get more flies with honey than with OBSCENITIES! (posted to Customers Suck)
I have been working in the same video rental shop for SEVEN YEARS. This is a small town, so we are one of only two video rental stores here, so I know basically everyone. I may not be on the "Hi Fred, how're the kids?" level with all my customers, but definately the ~~smile, nod, "Hi!" ~~ when passing in the street type thing.
So when one of my longtime customer goes ballistic on me, I really take it personally.
The other night I'm winding down to close the store. 20 minutes before we close I start "making the rounds" of the customers telling them we're closing soon and asking if they need help. I always shave off 5 minutes to move them along (at "20 minutes to" I say they have 15, at "15 minutes to" I say they have 10, etc). I start edging the volume on the big TVs up ever so slightly everytime I pass the player, so that when I shut it off it's NOTICIBLE. In other words, my customers know I'm closing well in advance. I'm not springing it on anybody!
Miss Poofy-haired Witchy-Pants came in at 20 minutes to close (11pm). I took notice because I'm checking the clock constantly a half hour before close. She starts wandering around the gallery. I tell her the bundle deal for gallery movies and mention she has only 15 minutes, and asked if she needed help finding anything, blah, blah, blah. She says she's fine, and that she'll "be quick."
Other customers come and choose and pay and go and she's still WANDERING AROUND. I turn off the OPEN sign, I lock up. I go and tell her I'm closed and offer to start unlocking and checking the 6 movies she has in her arms while she finishes looking. I do so, but can't start the transaction because though I remember her first name, I need a phone number or a member card to open the account. At 15 minutes past closing she's FINALLY done looking and gives me her number.
Oh.
Crap.
Me: It appears you already have eight items out on your account. All accounts in our system have a 10 item limit. Are they in the return bin?
P-H W-P: No, but it's okay. I've already seen them. I'll bring them back tomorrow.
Me: Oh. Well, I'm afraid there is a 10 item limit. You have 8 items out, so I can rent you two. Would you like me to hold the others until tomorrow when you come in to return the ones you have at home?
P-H W-P: ~~snaps~~ What?
Me: Is there someone else you know with an account? We could call them and...
P-H W-P: ~~angrily~~ I'M NOT CALLING MY FRIENDS AFTER ELEVEN O'CLOCK AT NIGHT! WHAT THE F**K IS THIS? YOU MEAN I'VE BEEN F**KING LOOKING AROUND FOR F**CKING HALF AN HOUR FOR NOTHING? THIS IS B**LSH*T!!
Me: ~~trying to calm her down~~ I totally understand. There should be exceptions for longstanding customers, unfortunately it hasn't been built into the system. blah, blah, blah...
..............truth be told, there IS an override function. I COULD have overridden it for her. Of course I would've been putting my job in serious jeopardy as we had been given an edict from Head Office just the week before to not make ANY exceptions to the rental limit....but......after having all that profanity spewed at me right off the bat I really was not in the mood to "creative problem solve" for her. Nope. Too bad. ...............anyway, back to the tirade:
P-H W-P: I've been coming here forever!! Why didn't anyone TELL me this before! This is blah, blah, rant, rave, rant, rave ....
FINE! I'll just open a SECOND ACCOUNT! ~~starts getting out her wallet~~
Me: I'm sorry, but the computer would recognize your driver's licence as already being in the system. A person can't have more than one account.
P-H W-P: ~~makes an AARRrr noise~~ WHATEVER. This is F**CKING B**LSH*T!! I'll make an account for my boyfriend. I have his driver's licence right here!
Me: ~~not asking WHY she has his driver's licence~~ You can't use someone else's identification to create an account without their knowledge or permission. He would be responsible for movies and late fees on that account. If someone did that to you....
P-H W-P: FINE! THIS IS B**LSH*T! WHATEVER! JUST FIX IT FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN COMING HERE?
At this point, the movies travel at a high velocity and hit me in the chest. I say she threw them at me. There is a chest-high counter/ledge between me and the customer. The movies were in a neat pile on the ledge. She put her hand on the stack and pushed/propelled them in my direction.
She threw them at me.
Then she wants her account closed when she brings her movies back. Damn. I wanted to BAN HER.
She storms around to the exit (which is locked) still ranting and raving and cursing, pushing on the locked doors. I say, "I've been serving you here for a long time, and I haven't done anything to you. I don't appreciate having things thrown at me." She made a scoffing noise and said, "Don't be stupid, I didn't throw them at you, I pushed them over! I'M FRUSTRATED. OPEN THE DOOR!" I unlock the door and realize she is not going to hand me back the Coke she's been holding the whole time and is halfway through drinking. I shout, "Well, I guess the Coke's on me apparently!" She yells back from her car, "I guess is f*cking is!"
I angrily put a note on the account explaining what happened and mentioning she is banned. My manager has seen the video surveillance and agrees. If her boyfriend wants to come in and open an account: fine, but there will be no point in putting her name on it as no clerk will serve her.
My thing is, WHY does the fact that she's been coming here for I think about five years now, entitle HER to exceptions, special treatment, etc....but the fact that I have been POLITELY AND HELPFULLY serving her for five years mean she can yell obscenities at me and throw things at me? How does that work?
No one mentioned to her about the 10 item limit. That's unfortunate, I agree, but I've been in plenty of situations in my life where some rule or technicality has come out of nowhere and screwed up my day....guess what? I didn't yell obscenities at the person serving me and I sure as heck never tossed the merchandise like a 7 year old in a PLAYPEN!
Grrrrr...
AT
***** of note, she apparently came in the next day and spoke to one of my co-workers (the only person who's been working here longer than me). She wanted to know why there was a limit - no one ever mentioned a limit before - blah blah blah. My co-worker said there was mention on the account flag of profanity and Witchy-Pants said she was "cursing at the SITUATION, not at the clerk".
WTF?
What happened to, "I'm closing my account? I never want to come back here again?"
I asked my co-worker if she had brought in payment for the Coke she walked out with.
Nope.
So when one of my longtime customer goes ballistic on me, I really take it personally.
The other night I'm winding down to close the store. 20 minutes before we close I start "making the rounds" of the customers telling them we're closing soon and asking if they need help. I always shave off 5 minutes to move them along (at "20 minutes to" I say they have 15, at "15 minutes to" I say they have 10, etc). I start edging the volume on the big TVs up ever so slightly everytime I pass the player, so that when I shut it off it's NOTICIBLE. In other words, my customers know I'm closing well in advance. I'm not springing it on anybody!
Miss Poofy-haired Witchy-Pants came in at 20 minutes to close (11pm). I took notice because I'm checking the clock constantly a half hour before close. She starts wandering around the gallery. I tell her the bundle deal for gallery movies and mention she has only 15 minutes, and asked if she needed help finding anything, blah, blah, blah. She says she's fine, and that she'll "be quick."
Other customers come and choose and pay and go and she's still WANDERING AROUND. I turn off the OPEN sign, I lock up. I go and tell her I'm closed and offer to start unlocking and checking the 6 movies she has in her arms while she finishes looking. I do so, but can't start the transaction because though I remember her first name, I need a phone number or a member card to open the account. At 15 minutes past closing she's FINALLY done looking and gives me her number.
Oh.
Crap.
Me: It appears you already have eight items out on your account. All accounts in our system have a 10 item limit. Are they in the return bin?
P-H W-P: No, but it's okay. I've already seen them. I'll bring them back tomorrow.
Me: Oh. Well, I'm afraid there is a 10 item limit. You have 8 items out, so I can rent you two. Would you like me to hold the others until tomorrow when you come in to return the ones you have at home?
P-H W-P: ~~snaps~~ What?
Me: Is there someone else you know with an account? We could call them and...
P-H W-P: ~~angrily~~ I'M NOT CALLING MY FRIENDS AFTER ELEVEN O'CLOCK AT NIGHT! WHAT THE F**K IS THIS? YOU MEAN I'VE BEEN F**KING LOOKING AROUND FOR F**CKING HALF AN HOUR FOR NOTHING? THIS IS B**LSH*T!!
Me: ~~trying to calm her down~~ I totally understand. There should be exceptions for longstanding customers, unfortunately it hasn't been built into the system. blah, blah, blah...
..............truth be told, there IS an override function. I COULD have overridden it for her. Of course I would've been putting my job in serious jeopardy as we had been given an edict from Head Office just the week before to not make ANY exceptions to the rental limit....but......after having all that profanity spewed at me right off the bat I really was not in the mood to "creative problem solve" for her. Nope. Too bad. ...............anyway, back to the tirade:
P-H W-P: I've been coming here forever!! Why didn't anyone TELL me this before! This is blah, blah, rant, rave, rant, rave ....
FINE! I'll just open a SECOND ACCOUNT! ~~starts getting out her wallet~~
Me: I'm sorry, but the computer would recognize your driver's licence as already being in the system. A person can't have more than one account.
P-H W-P: ~~makes an AARRrr noise~~ WHATEVER. This is F**CKING B**LSH*T!! I'll make an account for my boyfriend. I have his driver's licence right here!
Me: ~~not asking WHY she has his driver's licence~~ You can't use someone else's identification to create an account without their knowledge or permission. He would be responsible for movies and late fees on that account. If someone did that to you....
P-H W-P: FINE! THIS IS B**LSH*T! WHATEVER! JUST FIX IT FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN COMING HERE?
At this point, the movies travel at a high velocity and hit me in the chest. I say she threw them at me. There is a chest-high counter/ledge between me and the customer. The movies were in a neat pile on the ledge. She put her hand on the stack and pushed/propelled them in my direction.
She threw them at me.
Then she wants her account closed when she brings her movies back. Damn. I wanted to BAN HER.
She storms around to the exit (which is locked) still ranting and raving and cursing, pushing on the locked doors. I say, "I've been serving you here for a long time, and I haven't done anything to you. I don't appreciate having things thrown at me." She made a scoffing noise and said, "Don't be stupid, I didn't throw them at you, I pushed them over! I'M FRUSTRATED. OPEN THE DOOR!" I unlock the door and realize she is not going to hand me back the Coke she's been holding the whole time and is halfway through drinking. I shout, "Well, I guess the Coke's on me apparently!" She yells back from her car, "I guess is f*cking is!"
I angrily put a note on the account explaining what happened and mentioning she is banned. My manager has seen the video surveillance and agrees. If her boyfriend wants to come in and open an account: fine, but there will be no point in putting her name on it as no clerk will serve her.
My thing is, WHY does the fact that she's been coming here for I think about five years now, entitle HER to exceptions, special treatment, etc....but the fact that I have been POLITELY AND HELPFULLY serving her for five years mean she can yell obscenities at me and throw things at me? How does that work?
No one mentioned to her about the 10 item limit. That's unfortunate, I agree, but I've been in plenty of situations in my life where some rule or technicality has come out of nowhere and screwed up my day....guess what? I didn't yell obscenities at the person serving me and I sure as heck never tossed the merchandise like a 7 year old in a PLAYPEN!
Grrrrr...
AT
***** of note, she apparently came in the next day and spoke to one of my co-workers (the only person who's been working here longer than me). She wanted to know why there was a limit - no one ever mentioned a limit before - blah blah blah. My co-worker said there was mention on the account flag of profanity and Witchy-Pants said she was "cursing at the SITUATION, not at the clerk".
WTF?
What happened to, "I'm closing my account? I never want to come back here again?"
I asked my co-worker if she had brought in payment for the Coke she walked out with.
Nope.