Now just so you all don't think I'm all about pissing and moaning about other people I'm going to do something unheard of. I'm going to tell you a story about one time when I was "that guy".
I just bought a PS3 and was all giddy. I had figured out earlier that I was going to hook it up to my computer monitor via an HDMI to DVI cord since my monitor supports 1080p and I don't have an HD TV in my house. After buying my PS3 I headed over to an electronics store in hopes they had what I was looking for. I walked into the store and headed over to the TV section where all the cords were located. I looked around the shelves on one side of the rack only seeing one for around $70.
Discouraged I decided to just bum around for a little bit and look at some TVs that I could never afford. As I walked around a corner I saw the most beautiful thing I had seen all day (except my girlfriend, of course). A sign that said (or what I thought said) "All cords on this wall 50% off marked price".
I poked around the wall looking for my cord thinking there was no way I would get this lucky. Then I found it! It was marked at $60 and with the 50% off I'd be getting the exact cord I needed for the $30 gift card I had and some pocket change.
Basking in my own glory I snached the cord off the wall and strutted my way up to the cash register to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I resisted the urge to side-slide up to the register (at this point I was truly feeling four popped collars cool) and placed my bounty upon the counter. I prepared myself for the inevitable as the cashier scanned the product.
"$63.90", he tells me. I reply to him in sheer confidence and say, "Nope the sign on the wall said everything was 50% off.". Now the kid's face turn bright red and in perfect new guy style he yells over to the cashier supervisor to come assist him. The young lady walks over and asks him what the problem is. Since the kid looked terrified I decided to step in and explain the situation to her.
"Yeah the sign over there said everything on the wall was 50% off and this is ringing up at normal price.". She radios over to the department and asks for a price check on the product. Thinking all had been solved I began taking out my gift card and awaited the response. Then I heard what one of the other employees said over the radio.
"It's 50% off any open box items.". The girl relays the message to me as I get caught off guard. Now normally in this situation I would just accept what she said and head back over and look for the correct product. However, for some reason I was convinced they made a mistake. I was convinced they were looking at the wrong sign and that I was right.
"They must have been looking at a different sign because this one said all items.", I said to her. In true supervisor fasion she took it with stride and said, "Well it's not ringing up like that and that's what they told me the sign said.". Seeing this battle was going nowhere at the register I asked her to accompany over to the wall so I could prove what the sign said. She agreed and we headed over toward the wall-o-destiny. As we're heading over there she starts walking toward a table with a "50% off" sign on it that had larger electronics that were all open box. I guide her in the correct direction, now convinced that they had made a mix-up with the two signs.
As we walked around the corner to the wall of cords my eye caught the sign. "All items on this wall 50% off. Open box items only.". I had completely missed it and just turned into "that guy". Realizing my mistake I looked at her and simply said, "Well shit.". She chuckled and in a very nice move by her helped me look for an open box of the same item.
We found the item laying on the ground and I asked her to verify the sku for me since it had no packaging and I wanted to make sure it was the same product. I promptly appologized to her for being "that guy" and told her I knew what it felt like having worked in a retail store myself.
I proceeded to walk back to the previous cashier and hand him the correct item and appologize to him as well. Still terrified he told me it was fine. I finished my purchase and went home happy and giddy once again all ready to hook up my new sexyness that was the PS3.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Being "That Guy" (Part Two)
This guy is, in my opinion, more annoying than "I know you have it" guy. This is the haggler.
We'll call this next gentleman Frank. Frank comes in looking to buy a printer. "Excellent", I think to myself, a chance to get some extra money with an extended warranty. I walk up to Frank and go through the usual "how are you today, what questions can I answer for you blah blah" stuff. Frank tells me he's looking for a color laser printer for his small business. We take a walk around all the new printers and I tell him about a few of the models that would meet his needs. Frank doesn't look happy though! Trying to keep the sale going I ask him if any models caught his eye. He tells me a couple of them did, but the price was too high.
Right here I should have seen a problem and let the sale go. Generally someone who is looking for electronics for their small business is more concerned with quality over price. Frank hadn't even asked me specifics about the models he was interested in.
Anyway, wanting to save the sale I take him over to the old display models we put on clearance. Frank eyes up the models (still not asking me any specifics) for a few minutes and seems like he settled on one. This is where Frank shows his true motives.
First thing he asks me is if this is a previously owned model. I tell him that all the models are previous displays but are in good condition (we just sent back the ones that didn't work or looked like crap). He pulls the price tag off the shelf, shows it to me, and simply says, "How much can you take off this price then?". Caught a little off guard I tell him (in a confused voice), "Nothing...".
At this point Frank must have thought he had me in some kind of weird trap or something because he proceeds to explain to me the exact thing I had just explained to him, "It's an old display model though and I should get more off of it.". I looked at Frank in a kind of "are you an idiot" way and said, "It's discounted already because it was a display model.". Now that Frank had realized I escaped his "trap" he fell back on the "buddy" defense. "Oh, well you can take a little extra off for me right?".
Truth is if Frank wouldn't have "told" me to take more money off the printer I probably would have tried to work the price down for him, but he decided to try and work me. Bad move.
Seeing this was going to be an epic battle I decided to put on my game face. "Nope, that's the lowest I can go with the price.". Normally people just give in now and either take the price as-is or take their leave. Not Frank though. He was determined to get this price lower. He starts examining the printer pointing out scuffs and marks to me with me simply replying, "Yep, that's why it's marked down.". However, Frank was not to be stopped.
"Do you have the manuals and cords?", he says to me. "I'll go in back and check for you.", I reply. I come back out with the manuals in-hand and saw a slight bit of disappointment on Frank's face as he begins examining the printer more. Then Frank spots his way out! "This doesn't have a power cord.", he says to me. I look around the shelf and it in fact doesn't have a power cord. Frank now gets a sly voice thinking he's bested me! "Well now I'm going to need to buy a power cord. How much will you give me off the price for that?". I tell Frank we'll go over to a computer and look how much a power cord for the machine costs and give him the same amount off the price of the printer.
However, that's not good enough for Frank. "Well I think you should give me some extra off because I'm going to have to go through all the trouble of ordering the cord and waiting for it to arrive.".
Again, if Frank hadn't told me what to do I may have been a little more leniant on the price, but apparently Frank hadn't learned his lesson yet.
"I can't give you anymore off the price but we can make the order here. If you need a printer immediately you can buy a different printer. I'll put your printer on hold and when your power cord arrives you can just return the other printer and we'll put it toward this printer.". Not the nicest move on my part but Frank was trying to work me, and I don't appreciate that.
Frank again looked a little disappointed at my response and decided we'd go see how much the cord was. We searched through the manufacturer's website until we found the correct cord for him. Immediately upon seeing it I knew it was a standard electronic power cord (the kind you plug into your PC power supply or your monitor).
Now it was time for me to get even. "Good news!", I tell Frank, "This is a standard power cord which we happen to have in-store for less than the manufacturer.". Already knowing what Frank was going to say I had him right in the palm of my hand.
A little side-note, at this point I didn't really care about the sale anymore, I was out for vengeance with Frank.
Frank responded just how I knew he would "I want the manufacturer's brand though so we'll just take that off the price of the printer and I'll get a different one in the meantime.". This is where Frank thought he was clever. He assumed I'd go for that, he'd return the other printer a few days later and buy a cheaper cord from somewhere. Already one step ahead I said to Frank, "Well here's the problem. Since we carry the cord in-store all I can do is give you the cord for free with the printer. I can't make any other deals." (this way it would ring up free and he couldn't return it). Frank's face somewhat dropped in defeat. He had been bested.
Then Frank did something that completely surprised me. "Ok, I'll take the printer and your cord.", he said to me. In the end, Frank left with his printer and free power cord and ended up getting the extended warranty on it. The epic battle had come to a conclusion and I believe Frank learned you have to be careful who you choose to try to haggle with.
We'll call this next gentleman Frank. Frank comes in looking to buy a printer. "Excellent", I think to myself, a chance to get some extra money with an extended warranty. I walk up to Frank and go through the usual "how are you today, what questions can I answer for you blah blah" stuff. Frank tells me he's looking for a color laser printer for his small business. We take a walk around all the new printers and I tell him about a few of the models that would meet his needs. Frank doesn't look happy though! Trying to keep the sale going I ask him if any models caught his eye. He tells me a couple of them did, but the price was too high.
Right here I should have seen a problem and let the sale go. Generally someone who is looking for electronics for their small business is more concerned with quality over price. Frank hadn't even asked me specifics about the models he was interested in.
Anyway, wanting to save the sale I take him over to the old display models we put on clearance. Frank eyes up the models (still not asking me any specifics) for a few minutes and seems like he settled on one. This is where Frank shows his true motives.
First thing he asks me is if this is a previously owned model. I tell him that all the models are previous displays but are in good condition (we just sent back the ones that didn't work or looked like crap). He pulls the price tag off the shelf, shows it to me, and simply says, "How much can you take off this price then?". Caught a little off guard I tell him (in a confused voice), "Nothing...".
At this point Frank must have thought he had me in some kind of weird trap or something because he proceeds to explain to me the exact thing I had just explained to him, "It's an old display model though and I should get more off of it.". I looked at Frank in a kind of "are you an idiot" way and said, "It's discounted already because it was a display model.". Now that Frank had realized I escaped his "trap" he fell back on the "buddy" defense. "Oh, well you can take a little extra off for me right?".
Truth is if Frank wouldn't have "told" me to take more money off the printer I probably would have tried to work the price down for him, but he decided to try and work me. Bad move.
Seeing this was going to be an epic battle I decided to put on my game face. "Nope, that's the lowest I can go with the price.". Normally people just give in now and either take the price as-is or take their leave. Not Frank though. He was determined to get this price lower. He starts examining the printer pointing out scuffs and marks to me with me simply replying, "Yep, that's why it's marked down.". However, Frank was not to be stopped.
"Do you have the manuals and cords?", he says to me. "I'll go in back and check for you.", I reply. I come back out with the manuals in-hand and saw a slight bit of disappointment on Frank's face as he begins examining the printer more. Then Frank spots his way out! "This doesn't have a power cord.", he says to me. I look around the shelf and it in fact doesn't have a power cord. Frank now gets a sly voice thinking he's bested me! "Well now I'm going to need to buy a power cord. How much will you give me off the price for that?". I tell Frank we'll go over to a computer and look how much a power cord for the machine costs and give him the same amount off the price of the printer.
However, that's not good enough for Frank. "Well I think you should give me some extra off because I'm going to have to go through all the trouble of ordering the cord and waiting for it to arrive.".
Again, if Frank hadn't told me what to do I may have been a little more leniant on the price, but apparently Frank hadn't learned his lesson yet.
"I can't give you anymore off the price but we can make the order here. If you need a printer immediately you can buy a different printer. I'll put your printer on hold and when your power cord arrives you can just return the other printer and we'll put it toward this printer.". Not the nicest move on my part but Frank was trying to work me, and I don't appreciate that.
Frank again looked a little disappointed at my response and decided we'd go see how much the cord was. We searched through the manufacturer's website until we found the correct cord for him. Immediately upon seeing it I knew it was a standard electronic power cord (the kind you plug into your PC power supply or your monitor).
Now it was time for me to get even. "Good news!", I tell Frank, "This is a standard power cord which we happen to have in-store for less than the manufacturer.". Already knowing what Frank was going to say I had him right in the palm of my hand.
A little side-note, at this point I didn't really care about the sale anymore, I was out for vengeance with Frank.
Frank responded just how I knew he would "I want the manufacturer's brand though so we'll just take that off the price of the printer and I'll get a different one in the meantime.". This is where Frank thought he was clever. He assumed I'd go for that, he'd return the other printer a few days later and buy a cheaper cord from somewhere. Already one step ahead I said to Frank, "Well here's the problem. Since we carry the cord in-store all I can do is give you the cord for free with the printer. I can't make any other deals." (this way it would ring up free and he couldn't return it). Frank's face somewhat dropped in defeat. He had been bested.
Then Frank did something that completely surprised me. "Ok, I'll take the printer and your cord.", he said to me. In the end, Frank left with his printer and free power cord and ended up getting the extended warranty on it. The epic battle had come to a conclusion and I believe Frank learned you have to be careful who you choose to try to haggle with.
Being "That Guy" (Part One)
First we're going to take the "knows more about your store" guy.
Now at the time I had been working at my store for about a year and half. I knew the store like the back of my hand. If someone came up to me and asked where number 2 pencils were I would say, "isle 3, on the left after the last pillar, second shelf from the bottom".
So this gentleman comes in, we'll call him Bob. Bob is looking for a specific writing utensil (I believe it was a certain pen). As soon as he said the brand I knew for a fact we didn't have it. Trying to be polite (and not waste either of our time) I simply told him we didn't carry that brand. Well Bob was having none of that. Not only was he convinced we had his oh-so-special pen, but he was going to show me exactly where it was.
Being bored, I went along with it figuring maybe he'd truck me around for 45 minutes and I could avoid mopping or something. So he leads me down the isle where all the pens are. He looks around for a few minutes and doesn't see it (surprise, surprise). Then it was like a light bulb went off in his head. OF COURSE! Intrigued, I follow him as he leads me in a semi-speed walking pace to none other than the binder isle.
"How could I have been so stupid!", I was thinking to myself (see: sarcasm). Why wouldn't it be in an isle that has nothing but binders. Ok, end of sarcasm.
He wades his way around the binder isle looking for this oh-so illusive pen. After a good ten minutes of looking around I decided Bob was boring me more than mopping so I jumped in. I told Bob we didn't carry that brand of pen but he was more than welcome to check the website (this is a GREAT way to get customers off your back if they can't find something you don't carry). Still convinced we had it he proceeded to inform me that we carried it two years ago and he knows we have it.
Now at the time I had only been there about a year and a half, but I knew we had never carried that brand. Not wanting to deal with Bob anymore I called over a co-worker who had been with the company for over five years. My co-worker proceeded to inform Bob that we don't and have never carried that brand (without telling him how long he'd been with the company). Bob was starting to get annoyed now. He threw my co-worker the same "two years ago blah blah" story.
This is when my co-worker made one of the best reactions I have ever seen. He looked Bob straight in the eye and in a semi-stern voice simply said, "Sir I have been in this store for over five years. We don't nor have ever carried that brand of pen.". Bob's jaw probably dropped about five inches. In a studdery voice he said, "Oh, well maybe it was a different store.". Needless to say Bob was out the door very, very quickly after that (red face and all).
Now at the time I had been working at my store for about a year and half. I knew the store like the back of my hand. If someone came up to me and asked where number 2 pencils were I would say, "isle 3, on the left after the last pillar, second shelf from the bottom".
So this gentleman comes in, we'll call him Bob. Bob is looking for a specific writing utensil (I believe it was a certain pen). As soon as he said the brand I knew for a fact we didn't have it. Trying to be polite (and not waste either of our time) I simply told him we didn't carry that brand. Well Bob was having none of that. Not only was he convinced we had his oh-so-special pen, but he was going to show me exactly where it was.
Being bored, I went along with it figuring maybe he'd truck me around for 45 minutes and I could avoid mopping or something. So he leads me down the isle where all the pens are. He looks around for a few minutes and doesn't see it (surprise, surprise). Then it was like a light bulb went off in his head. OF COURSE! Intrigued, I follow him as he leads me in a semi-speed walking pace to none other than the binder isle.
"How could I have been so stupid!", I was thinking to myself (see: sarcasm). Why wouldn't it be in an isle that has nothing but binders. Ok, end of sarcasm.
He wades his way around the binder isle looking for this oh-so illusive pen. After a good ten minutes of looking around I decided Bob was boring me more than mopping so I jumped in. I told Bob we didn't carry that brand of pen but he was more than welcome to check the website (this is a GREAT way to get customers off your back if they can't find something you don't carry). Still convinced we had it he proceeded to inform me that we carried it two years ago and he knows we have it.
Now at the time I had only been there about a year and a half, but I knew we had never carried that brand. Not wanting to deal with Bob anymore I called over a co-worker who had been with the company for over five years. My co-worker proceeded to inform Bob that we don't and have never carried that brand (without telling him how long he'd been with the company). Bob was starting to get annoyed now. He threw my co-worker the same "two years ago blah blah" story.
This is when my co-worker made one of the best reactions I have ever seen. He looked Bob straight in the eye and in a semi-stern voice simply said, "Sir I have been in this store for over five years. We don't nor have ever carried that brand of pen.". Bob's jaw probably dropped about five inches. In a studdery voice he said, "Oh, well maybe it was a different store.". Needless to say Bob was out the door very, very quickly after that (red face and all).
Being "That Guy" (Prologue)
Anyone who has worked retail has met "that guy". You know the one. There's generally three types of them. The guy who thinks he knows more about your store than you do, the haggler, and the "sign said"/"wrong place" guy. I was going to put these all in one post, but they ended up being much longer than expected so I'm breaking them into three parts, each covering one type.
Intro
Well I suppose you're wondering what this is all about. Basically I've worked in "customer service" (cashier, retail sales, food service, etc) for about 10 years and people piss me off. Whether it's another employee or a self-righteous customer the bottom line is people are assholes.
This is going to be me randomly telling semi-interesting stories about crappy customers or co-workers. Some might be short and to the point, others might be 18 page rants. Ok, no they won't be 18 pages. I'm way too lazy for that, but they might be long(er).
So sit back, have yourself a beer, and listen to me piss and moan about pointless stuff.
This is going to be me randomly telling semi-interesting stories about crappy customers or co-workers. Some might be short and to the point, others might be 18 page rants. Ok, no they won't be 18 pages. I'm way too lazy for that, but they might be long(er).
So sit back, have yourself a beer, and listen to me piss and moan about pointless stuff.
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