Jan 16, 2009
Today was rude and angry customer day at the hardware store. Luckily I was my usual charming and "let it roll off me" self. Otherwise I might have told some people some things.
In the hardware business you are a hero about 95% of the time. People have broken stuff and we have replacement parts and fixit advice, to boot. There is little that can go wrong.
Except, of course, that 5% of the population are insufferable assholes and they show up from time to time.
I had to unexpectedly go in to work 2 and a half hours early today, so I was in no mood for a-holes.
A guy came in and asked if we had a particular brand of plumbing fixture. We didn't. He asked if I knew what they are. I don't. He wanted me to ask someone else. I did, Bill didn't. The guy shouted at me that a normal hardware store would carry the product he needs. Then he huffed out.
I also had a miserable old bastard, accompanied by his nurse (I'm not kidding) give me crap because we are out of the size of heater filter he needs. His exact words,
"Do you think you are ever going to reorder filters?"
My response,
"We're considering it."
I told him to come back on Tuesday and I would guarantee him that we will have some. He's coming back. I've been warned.
My favorite was a guy who called me to ask how much we charge to rekey a lock. I told him eight bucks. He shows up with a double cylinder deadbolt, the kind that takes a key to open even from the inside. That is not one lock, it's two locks in a single case. Each side has to be rekeyed.
They person who did the rekey told him it would be eight bucks per side, but he either didn't understand or pretended not to. When he got to the checkout and was charged 16 dollars, he went apesh*t, screaming at the top of his lungs. The boss tried to calm him down, to no avail.
He accosted me, insisting that I should have told him it was considered two locks. My x-ray vision has gone with my ESP, it seems.
In the end the boss gave him back eight bucks as a goodwill gesture. I would have given him back the money and told him not to ever come in the store again, but that's just me.
Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky
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10 comments:
Dennis wonders if you are allowed to bite customers.
My "favorite" at the clothing store were irritable women who would bring something from the clearance rack and ask if we had it in a different size, and get even more upset when told we didn't.
They invariably asked if someone could "go look in the back" and got even more upset when we refused.
Um, honey? We're clearing.
Yikes.....nice try is what I would have said ; (
Giving his money back because he threw a tantrum, er, for an adult, not a good sign. I simply would have pointed out he obviously had two, and either wanted only one side keyed or had to pay for both if he wanted both. ; (
I don't miss retail. ; )
Wow, I'm impressed your boss gave him his money back, even though he was a jerk. You don't often see retailers take that high road any longer!
This is why I would never make it in retail. It was bad enough having to deal with a**holes in the Federal Govt, but they were never this bad because they knew we had to continue to deal with each other. These people could drive me to drink I think!
Just a small bite, a nip, really.
I'd love to see a poem about ace hardware by merle wayne sneed. i imagine it gritty yet humorous and endearing.
I hate it that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. In a perfect world, people who are kind and polite would get the goodwill gestures, while jerks would be tossed unceremoniously out on the sidewalk.
You were a saint not to punch that creep in the stomach.
Your boss did take the high road, probably to minimize his grief. Hopefully, Mr. Temper Tamtrum will take his business elsewhere.
And, you deserve a medal for not going ballistic and keeping your cool.
I enjoy your Blog.
If you were young and inexperienced, I would tell you that a-holes represent an opportunity to hone your people skills. But you're too old to fall for that crap. Too smart, too smart. I meant too smart.
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