The customer ISN'T always right

[jgressley2003]

The customer is hardly ever right

 

[roadrunner681]

ha ive have the same issue with truck drivers, its almost always over tires. cant patch sidewalls and you cant fix a tire thats been blow to pieces.

 

[CitiusFortius]

I worked at Dicks in college,
customer: I want to make a return, this shirt is too small
me: The shirt is the correct size, the evidence would suggest that you're too big.

Ok, so this didn't really happen, but I wanted to say it SOOOOO bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate working in retail.....God bless all you folks who do it.

 

[TB1999]

makes me think of ben affleck in mallrats.. "The customer is always an a**hole!"

 

[Bennettjh]

Some people "know everything". You tried to help them so that's all you can do.

 

[indydrew1]

Anyone who has worked in retail, or in a restaurant knows that the customer is almost always wrong. For the past 15 years or so it seems that the louder you yell crowd is getting larger and larger. I don't know whatever happened to if a business does you wrong, you don't spend your money there and leave . Now everyone wants to yell, make a scene wants something for free, it's nuts. Im a manger for a large chain; my basic policy is if you act like an adult, I'll give you what you want. Even if you are wrong. If you start acting like a 4 year old, screaming, cursing, making a scene? You get nothing, even if you are right. And if you curse at one of my employees or make fun of them your kicked out.

 

[buckstopshere]

Anyone who has worked in retail, or in a restaurant knows that the customer is almost always wrong. For the past 15 years or so it seems that the louder you yell crowd is getting larger and larger. I don't know whatever happened to if a business does you wrong, you don't spend your money there and leave . Now everyone wants to yell, make a scene wants something for free, it's nuts. Im a manger for a large chain; my basic policy is if you act like an adult, I'll give you what you want. Even if you are wrong. If you start acting like a 4 year old, screaming, cursing, making a scene? You get nothing, even if you are right. And if you curse at one of my employees or make fun of them your kicked out.

I was having dinner with my boss at an Outback Steakhouse in Pennsylvania a couple weeks back. I ordered my steak medium rare and it came to me well done. The flavor was still good so I just ate it. When the waiter came by to check on things, I informed him of the problem. He offered to replace it and I told him it wasn't necessary. I would rather it be a training issue for the cooks and since I had already eaten half, I didn't want another whole steak.

Anyway, the manager comes over and offers to comp me a dessert. I don't eat dessert and I really wasn't looking for anything free. I thanked her and told her it wasn't necessary and I appreciated her concern. Next thing I know, the waiter comes over and tells me that it was his mistake. He hit the well done button when he placed the order and that the manager was comping both our dinners.

Moral of the story, don't be an assclown. Be an adult and good things happen. I tipped the waiter $50 for being classy and owning his mistake. Granted, I turned it in on my expenses but I would've done the same thing if it was out of pocket.

 

[1861navy]

I've been on both sides of the coin, jerky or rude employee or customer. I've seen plenty of times the customer is DEAD wrong, and I've seen plenty of times the employee is DEAD wrong, or flat lazy. I've also learned that being as respectful as you can helps, as long as the other party is too. If they aren't respectful, find a manager kindly and explain the situation. Usually the management will fix the issue.
Although I think OP did the right thing, sometimes though words go unheeded, with serious consequences. Obviously, a good person worries about that, but no matter how good you are you can't control what other people do with their own property, even if it could save their life. So just develop thick skin, don't expect your advice to be followed, but keep in mind something you said could impact them later, kind of like planting a seed.

 

[Apriliaguy]

Hmmm i always check milk for the late stamp. Some are earlier and some are later

 

[ViperJock]

makes me think of ben affleck in mallrats.. "The customer is always an a**hole!"

Who here has been a customer this week? Lol.

 

[Beowulf]

I could add plenty of stories here, but I'll just add two, both from ammo counters in Walmart.

I was at the Walmart at Keystone and 74th, perusing the ravaged ammo cabinet a few months ago. They had a few boxes of .45 so I got the associates attention to help me out. While she did that and rang me up, we talked a bit. She was an older lady from southeast Asia (she might have told me, but I forgot, probably Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos). She told me how her parents had to flee the country (with their kids in tow) to escape a war zone and that after they made it here, her father drilled it into her that gold is the only thing that holds value in uncertainty, when government currency isn't worth the paper it's printed on, and that being armed and well supplied is the only way to protect your family in the time of crisis.

That made me realize how good we have it here. There I was, grumbling about having to scrounge around for ammo, driving a bit out of my way, but here was a woman whose family fled a war zone to come here, who probably saw all sorts of awful and traumatizing things as a child. And because of that, she really understood how terrible things can become (and relatively quickly). Hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

The second story just happened this last weekend. I went to the Walmart in Fishers on 96th street, checking out ammo. That particular store has a 3 box limit like the others, but also a 1 box per caliber limit (which is really annoying). But I was chatting with the older gentleman working there about that and we talked a bit about ammo crisis (a pretty common topic whenever one is shopping for ammo). I said that it looked like it might be getting better as we are seeing more and more locations getting some ammo in and actually keeping it on the shelf for more than 10 minutes. He agreed, but said he thought it wouldn't be really better until the end of next year. Then he said, "I hope I live long enough to see that".

That just made me sad.

So, not really related to the thread, but there you go.

Back on topic, I always try to be as polite as possible when dealing with people. It never hurts and quite often it will help you, since the employees are so unused to it (sadly enough), they will go above and beyond to help you out. This advice may not apply when dealing old gun store employee douchebaggery (something on frequent display at the 1500), as those guys are usually immune to politeness. At that point, you either grit your teeth and bear it (if they have something you really want) or you tell them to go **** up a rope and take your business elsewhere.

 

[Beowulf]

Hmmm i always check milk for the late stamp. Some are earlier and some are later

You know, I always do this, especially at Walmart. I've found stuff that had expired a month previous sitting in the dairy cabinet at the 86th and Michigan Walmart. Since I buy the organic milk (not because I care about being organic, but because the stuff lasts for like 2 months due to the ultra-pasteurization), I check extra carefully. Why buy the one that expires in 2 weeks like normal milk, when the one at the back expires in 2 months? Maybe if I drank milk faster, it wouldn't be a big deal, but I only occasionally eat cereal and that's about it, so either I throw away a lot of milk or I get something that last forever.

 

[Tom King]

Customer service= smile and nod bout all you can do

 

[swany11]

Is it possible they were going to be hunting out of state? Ohio and Illinois are awesome states for deer, Michigan and Kentucky are good too.

I think you did right by the customer informing him of Indiana laws and the operation of 5.56 and .223. However, pressing the matter for 10 minutes cost your company a potential firearms sale. It's great to inform, it's bad to push business away.

I use 30-06 for deer hunting up in Wisconsin. My Dad uses a .308. Both are very effective for deer.

 

[newdumdum9825]

Oops one thing I forgot to mention... It was for deer hunting in Indiana

 

[freekforge]

When my dad was working on cars a guy came in with a slashed side wall he wanted to buy a new tire so to be nice my dad told him if he wanted he could try to patch it to save the guy some money. The guy went nuts screaming at my dad telling him it is impossible to patch a sidewall, so my dad takes him outside and shows him 2 tires on our van that have patched sidewalls. The guy was still going nuts as my dad tried to explain that it can be done its just a PITA and might not work. He ended up buying new tires but dad took the old one patched it and put it on a new rim and now its our spare.

I had a guy that bought a handgonne from me and then once he got it called me and wanted his money back because the OD of the muzzle was off by... 1/100 of a thousandth! I told him that it would change that much due to air temp. but he didnt believe me. He screamed at me on the phone for about 1/2 an hour so i asked him what he used to measure it.....wait for it... carbon fiber digital calipers from lowes. Then he told me that those were the most accurate measuring devices available to civilians and that my starrett micrometer is inaccurate and junk. Just to end it i told him to send the gonne back and i would return his payment, but he wanted to keep the gonne but get his money back so i told him no. He said he was going to sue but i haven't heard from him since. I bet he was smarter than his lawyer too.

 

[Max Volume]

Customers can be a pain in the arse. I go into people's homes every day as a gas man for the utility company. Damn near every one of them does not know squat about the National Fuel Gas Code and gets pissed off when you have to shut their gas off because they called in a leak that can not be isolated with shut off valves. Either that or their venting is screwed up to the point CO will kill them. I hear it all the time, "it's been like that for years".

Who give a Sh(! if it's been like that for years. You called in a problem and I'm going to do what I have to do to make it safe. Just yesterday I told one "would you rather have your tootsies a little cold or blow up"? I'm not going to sit in a room full of lawyers for 2 hours being questioned because something happened to an idiot and I am the person of record as last being there.

 

[Max Volume]

dupe

 

[Brandon]

I delivered a fridge to an er doctor and his wife. They said they had purchased a fridge (side be side) at Best Buy and the doors won't shut so it is broke.
I looked at the fridge and told them I could save them some money because their fridge was not broke and did not need a new one. -All that had to be done was swap the bottom door hinges (pins). They put the left one on the right and right on left.

When I told the guy this, he got upset with me and said it's broke, I can fix it, and he doesn't want it.

I've had the fridge for 7 years now.

 

[churchmouse]

I delivered a fridge to an er doctor and his wife. They said they had purchased a fridge (side be side) at Best Buy and the doors won't shut so it is broke.
I looked at the fridge and told them I could save them some money because their fridge was not broke and did not need a new one. -All that had to be done was swap the bottom door hinges (pins). They put the left one on the right and right on left.

When I told the guy this, he got upset with me and said it's broke, I can fix it, and he doesn't want it.

I've had the fridge for 7 years now.

Some folks just want a new fridge......period.....