Love Thy Customer...

[Nighthawk]

I was working the food cabinet one day at my old job back in NZ. The way we used to have it was one on the cabinet, getting out meals, heating (if needed) etc, handing to the customer, repeat, and one on the till taking the orders and payment. The line would stretch out past the cabinet, and I would work my way down it from the first in line to the last in order to have the meals ready and save time.
I took one order for a focaccia sandwich and plated it up, ready for the customer, the next thing I know I'm getting harangued by a 'gentleman' several feet behind in the line.
"I wanted that sandwich."
"I'm sorry sir, but another customer in front of you purchased it. If you like I could make you a fresh one?"
"But I wanted that sandwich. I was going to order it."
"I'm afraid the lady's already paid and taken it sir. Really, I can make you a fresh one exactly the same; I made that one myself before the lunch hour so I know what went into it."
"No. I want the other one!"
(he was starting to yell at this stage)
"I'll just make you a fresh one. (unspoken: It'll be better anyway, please, just leave me alone you sandwich psycho!)"
"NO! I WANTED THE OTHER SANDWICH. GET *****ED!"

The sandwich was overpriced and pretty crap anyway...
Last I saw of him he was out the door flipping me the finger. Bloody nutjob.

 

[DeadCricket]

But to sell a brand new tv for $20 profit is just not worth it for the seller, it's not about ripping people off, it's about having to cover overheads etc. You'd be out of business pretty damn quickly tbh.

In most big chains certain lines that aren't doing so great move onto a ' move it along' line where the big boys have decided that they want a different line in so they flog off the remainder of the slow sellers really cheap.

Customer: I demand to speak to the manager
Me: *Smiling* I am the manager

This is my favourite moment EVER. Completely amazing moment in life.

 

[Nighthawk]

Oh yeah; behind the bar was my favourite. I've had several marriage proposals from drunk patrons, chased down a 16(ish) year old who first came to the bar herself (no ID, no service), sent her boyfriend (took the drink away when I saw her drinking it) and then sent several of her friends (no love, not going to work...) been bailed up by an ex who spent the night regaling me with tales of his AMAZING life now that we're split because, you know, I'm paid to listen (douche), and my personal favourite: had to shepherd an inebriated bride (in 500 miles of white satin) off the premises after our license ended at 3am and I'd been working for 18 hours. She passed out on the picnic table outside and then abused us all the way to the gate.

 

[vampstorso]

It's fair to say I hate 99% of customers everyday,
especially when they answer questions you didn't ask...then ignore the ones you do ask then complain later they weren't asked...e.g "would you like your receipt?" and you get a dumb irrelevant answer like "coke for the drink." then they ask where it is. -___-


Today a man was inserting his card wrong into the eftpos machine, and he kept YELLING at me "WHAT'S IT SAYING?" ...sorry...can't you read the screen all by your lonesome?! so I said "it says present card" to which he exclaimed "I ALREADY DID THAT, DO YOUR DAMN JOB RIGHT"


Yeah mate, 'cause I'm totally an eftpos machine, thanks for reminding me.


or when you hand people a receipt...they take it into their car, slowly take their money off it, hand it back and say "you can keep that one love " as if it's a gift or makes my life easier.



or when mostly middle aged men, during peak periods, come in, are horrible too you, and then say "and can you bring it out to me, love? "
and I think...calling me a pet name alone means NO, plus it's busy, plus welcome to fast food, we don't do that! UGH SO SELFISH.

 

[starr9]

I was working in a fish and chip shop many years ago when a guy walked in with a gun. he held it 2 my face and said give me all your money. I was just about to do as he asked when my boss pulled his gun and rested it on my shoulder and said "mate, you can try it but i can tell you this, you pull that trigger and you will get her but i can say i will get you before you get me... your call." At this point Iv gone white as a ghost and frozen in place. The guy who walked in thinks about it and walks out but as he walks back he try's to be smart and reaches for a coke. Well my boss unloads right into the fridge this guy is reaching in to for the coke. Guy who tryd to hold us up falls over calls out to my boss telling him hes crazy and runs away. Im still frozen in place when my boss turns to me and said " Well f-me. the wife did have this thing loaded after all".... I did not go back to that job.

I now am a manager for a fast food chain and have lots of story's just like the ones above.

 

[BrownHash]

I spent a few years working in a bikini shop.

Sounds like my dream job.

But to sell a brand new tv for $20 profit is just not worth it for the seller, it's not about ripping people off, it's about having to cover overheads etc. You'd be out of business pretty damn quickly tbh.

If an item is being sold for profit then the cost of the overheads, wages etc. have already been calculated into the sale price of the item. Also, lots of companies/businesses sell at near cost price to move out old stock to be replaced with newer models. The real estate that the item takes up is worth more than the loss made by selling it cheap. If you always try to sell at a huge profit no matter what you'll end up with a store with old items that nobody wants.

This thread makes me glad that I don't work retail or have to deal with people in a work environment.

 

[vampstorso]

people yelling at you they were ripped off when infact they just changed their mind...
you're not ripped off if you didn't receive something that's NOT on your receipt!! plus being rude to me won't fix anything any faster.

 

[Fang101]

I was working in a fish and chip shop many years ago when a guy walked in with a gun. he held it 2 my face and said give me all your money. I was just about to do as he asked when my boss pulled his gun and rested it on my shoulder and said "mate, you can try it but i can tell you this, you pull that trigger and you will get her but i can say i will get you before you get me... your call." At this point Iv gone white as a ghost and frozen in place. The guy who walked in thinks about it and walks out but as he walks back he try's to be smart and reaches for a coke. Well my boss unloads right into the fridge this guy is reaching in to for the coke. Guy who tryd to hold us up falls over calls out to my boss telling him hes crazy and runs away. Im still frozen in place when my boss turns to me and said " Well f-me. the wife did have this thing loaded after all".... I did not go back to that job.

I now am a manager for a fast food chain and have lots of story's just like the ones above.

That must have been a scary experience.
LOVING the stories guys!

 

[starr9]

That must have been a scary experience.
LOVING the stories guys!

Yep! Iv had a gun pulled on me 2 times that was the first and the 2nd time I was working late and the fast food shop i work for is next to a pub and a guy walked in and wanted chips, cheese and gravy. So I made if for him no problems and he was happy until someone went 2 the toilet befor him and he wanted to go right then so he did on the floor and decided he would wipe his poo all over the walls etc so the person who was in the toilet would understand that they should of gone after him.... So I walk over and tell him that he will need to go so he pulled a gun on me and said " ill go after I see this (insert lots of colourful words) face when he walks out". I had one staff member call the cops before I walked over, as after so many drunk ppl doing just as classy things as this guy you have the cops on speed dial! This guy was waving his gun around and the cops got there in under 5mins thank god and was taking him away when he said "its not loaded I dont know why you called the cops for. I was just joking..." mmmmm

Had a lady who was on something come in one time and she said she had got a burger and it was moldy. I was shocked as I was the only person on in the kitchen so I was the one who would of made it and Im over the top with how clean and fresh my shop is so i asked to see this burger. She pulled it out of her bag in a plastic bag and thrust it in my face and said "look you tryed to kill me this this!!" At the same time her "stash" of white/light brown crystal stuff fell out onto the bench. She didnt notice this but I had and so did the customers and front staff. My staff member whent round the back and called the cops while I looked at this burger and said " im sorry miss but you did not get this from my shop" It was so badly covered in mould you could not tell it was a burger anymore. Plus it was wrapped in a KFC burger packet, I do not work at KFC and we do not put pineapple on our burgers and this one had it on. So long story short this girl gos nuts telling everyone I cheated her out of her weekly meal etc. One customer try'ed to calm her down and this is the point she lost it and try'ed to kick and bite me, kick the door down and carry on like as she walked out the door. So I locked the door after she left with my staff and customers inside. she carry'ed on for 15min and walked off. The cops rocked up 45min after they got called to find me, her stash and a video of the whole thing and a statement ready for them. She got 6mths and I got a "sorry" some mths later......

 

[snakeluvver]

Ill never make it in retail I swear.
From half the stories you all have told, I wouldve started yelling at the costumer and just thrown something heavy at them lol

 

[littlemay]

It's not all bad, there's the sweetest woman that comes in on Fridays to put her change in the guide dog donation box; the arthritis in her hands is so bad she needs one of us to put the coins in the slot. She's just lovely to talk to, sharp as a tack as well despite her age. You do get to meet and talk to a lot of cool people, but you need self control for the crazies =p

 

[Kitah]

Littlemay, that is the kind of person that would make my day. Pity there aren't more people like that

 

[DeadCricket]

Like old Jim who comes into a pub I used to work at. Can tell you the exact date of everything that happend in his 80 some years of life but can't remember the name of his beer. 2 stripy ones thanks clint! Haha. Some amazing stories.

 

[K3nny]

Not my own but an account from one of my friends doing either volunteering or doing part of a course from uni for medsci
setting: hospital, late at night 12am give or take

patient walks in through the ER, with a vacuum tube stuck up his nether regions
receptionist: Oh my goodness, what happened???
patient: i was vacuuming and had an accident.

accident... right...
lost it for a good 5 minutes or so listening to that, alas he did not take pics

 

[miley_take]

you do know you have the right to refuse service right? simply TELL him he isn't in a fit state to be in the store and to go wash

there are limits to what one has to put up with.

and to the dick smith employee, there's NO way a dick smith chain is selling ANYTHING for ONLY $20 on top, especially a high price item like a TV

I am not saying that everything is marked so low, yes, there are products which aren't close to cost, allowing me to work something out, but like brownhash said, this time of year sales are starting and we're trying to move discontinued stock. I often have customers telling me I must be lying as "why would a company sell tv's that cheap and close to cost" until I in fact show them the computer screen displaying that exact information.

If an item is being sold for profit then the cost of the overheads, wages etc. have already been calculated into the sale price of the item. Also, lots of companies/businesses sell at near cost price to move out old stock to be replaced with newer models. The real estate that the item takes up is worth more than the loss made by selling it cheap. If you always try to sell at a huge profit no matter what you'll end up with a store with old items that nobody wants.

This thread makes me glad that I don't work retail or have to deal with people in a work environment.

 

[Megzz]

I am not saying that everything is marked so low, yes, there are products which aren't close to cost, allowing me to work something out, but like brownhash said, this time of year sales are starting and we're trying to move discontinued stock. I often have customers telling me I must be lying as "why would a company sell tv's that cheap and close to cost" until I in fact show them the computer screen displaying that exact information.

My fiance has to do the same thing with the cars hes selling or people dont believe him.

 

[user 16324]

when i worked in a fruit and veg shop someone came in and asked if we sold cigarettes. and multiple customers would come in, grab an apple from the bottom of the stack and be all surprised when they topple all over the floor. then blame us.

 

[Snakewoman]

The woman who owned the fruit and vege shop around the corner from me had a woman ask her where the use by date was on an apple

 

[Kitah]

The woman who owned the fruit and vege shop around the corner from me had a woman ask her where the use by date was on an apple

Should have told her that you don't need a use by date - they have an inbuilt mechanism that lets you know when you should no longer eat them- if they're firm- they're ok! If mushy, probably not ok.. Kinda like toothbrushes that have bristles which change colours, or kitchen clothes that change colours..

 

[zeke]

I had a guy come into work today and demand a good deal on a new phone and plan or else he'll go to Vodafone I just thought to my self go on then.... But I had to be polite to the twat and the idiot still had like 300 to pay his contract out

I work in Optus so when ever something with a phone goes wrong it's automatically our fault even if it was something they did like smashing their phone then expecting us to give them a brand new one