I had the MEANEST customer today at work!!

[borlis]

I work at an upscale retail store. I was behind the counter today and this lady came up to me and politely asked who does the "floor merchandising and moving." She asked if it was sales people or a different team after hours. I told her it was a totally different team after hours. She then lit into me about how things are always in a different place every time she comes in, she travels a lot, doesn't have time to shop, likes stores that when she comes in, she knows exactly where to find everything. I tried to politely explain to her that no MAJOR floor moves had been done since January and the minor ones were pretty easy to spot (Jones New York is just across from where it used to be but still clearly part of our department.) She then tells me that she doesn't like shopping here anymore and many people she knows feel the same way. So I say "How can I help you today?" She then whips out her credit card and demands I look up the comparison of how much more she spent here last year than this year. I tell her that our computers are not equipped to do such a thing. I calmly tell her that if I complain to superiors nothing will be done about it, but she should fill out a comment card (which I pointed to on the counter.) She says "I'M NOT THE COMMENT CARD TYPE!." Then she says "What's your name?" So I tell her and then I ask her if she is going to complain about me. She looks at me and says "You just lost a customer." Then as she turned and walked away I tell her to be sure and have a good day! WTF!!!!! I swear people are so damn rude. :mad:

[Name removed]

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[borlis]

4. LOL

:rofl: who'd want her?

[Name removed]

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[noahmijo]

3. Retail fucking sucks I just quit a retail job not too long ago

After dealing with the public it's easy to see why people who are anti-human exist. I love those types who pull the whole "I shop here all the time" it's so obvious that they have never worked a fucking day in their lives because they would know that regardless of how much money they spend the clerks still get the same low slave wage not to mention so fucking what bitch? that mean you get better treatment than the lady behind you who can't afford to bust my balls more times a week? fuck off biatch! please I would tell these customers you know you think you're worthy of royal treatment spending $400 here last week I'll go to Westchester New York and find 10 rich women who spend more than that per minute and guess what? they'll get no better treatment so shut up or get the fuck out

Oh and yea she probably hasn't been laid in awhile maybe she should buy herself a high school football player for 20 minutes.

[misanthrope]

16. Work in the restaurant business for a couple of decades...

...and see what it does to your opinion of humanity.

[wookie294]

5. I hear salespeople get that reaction all the time

I have alot of respect for people who work in sales. They take alot of shit from people! Don't let it ruin your day!

[borlis]

10. Thanks!

It's not the greatest job, but I find it fits into my busy life. I am a stay at home mom during the day. I just work part-time to make some extra money and to get out a little. :hi:

[kerryin2004]

6. kill her...

j/k

[CoffeeCat]

7. I know what you mean...

I'm sorry you had to deal with that weasel.

People like that spread misery where ever they go.

This woman probably left your store--and then went to the local grocery store, video store and fast-food restaurant. I'm sure she complained and bullied everyone at those places too.

You handled it with grace and style. The fact that you didn't tell her to suck an egg--means you're a saint!

:)

[eleny]

8. Maybe she was a mystery shopper testing your limits?

:shrug:

[borlis]

11. I never thought of that, but our store does have them!

[misanthrope]

17. I know mystery shoppers...

...and that's not part of their criteria. If she's acting like that, it's her own problem, not part of a test.

[TrueAmerican]

9. Maybe she

has something wrong with her mentally. Could be she is starting to not remember things. She maybe upset and scared and she maybe trying to take control by addressing you in such a manner. People don't want to come to terms that they are the problem and not everyone else.

Does that make any sense?

edit: Or it could be she has not sex in years.

[noamnety]

15. Actually I thought the same thing

especially if the store really hasn't changed much and she's claiming it did. It just sounds so much like my father-in-law, who has alzheimers. He'll insist something crazy has changed, and get irrationally irate if anyone contradicts him.

Of course, you didn't say how old she was, so I could be way off base ... but you'd have to be some kind of crazy to demand that a total stranger who you've already ticked off look up your credit history. If I ever want to be a victim of identity theft, that's the route I'll be taking.

People like that always get to me, but once I calm down, I can get to that place where I'm just grateful I don't have to live with them.

[borlis]

18. She wasn't that old. I'd say late 30's - early 40's.

She just had that "My shit doesn't stink attitude."

[noamnety]

23. ah, well, then she's just crabby

you'll have to fall back on just being glad you aren't married to her.

[mahina]

24. That was my take too...the fear, not the sex part.

Sounds very familiar.

[flygal]

12. Customer service is rough on nice people

I was a former flight attendant and had to grow an extra thick layer of skin working with the public. Esp. during the late 90's when ticket prices dropped and we were swamped. I let some customers really get to me - guess it means I didn't turn too hard. Some of the f/a's really grew tough from it all.

[Cleita]

13. She'll be back.

Nasty people like that like to tell you they will never shop in your store again but they always do. They enjoy putting you on the spot because they know you are helpless. I'd bet they would make good torturers because they enjoy tormenting underlings.

I used to try to steer those guys to the manager. You really can't help anyone like that and the manager should deal with them. If you can't then think of something funny about her while you talk to her. It keeps a smile on your face and you will feel so much better.

[borlis]

14. I called my manager right after she left to let her know what

happened. She couldn't believe it. But she could believe it. People who work in retail basically have seen just about everything. She did tell me not to worry.

[Warren DeMontague]

19. No, she's the "SERVE ME, SERF" type.

People with miserable lives and lots of money.. can't figure out what the problem is, they've got "it all" and yet for some reason they don't feel complete- and the message they've had their whole lives is, with enough stuff, they're going to live an inherently superior grade of life.

So, in a pinch, they get off on making the nearest retail or other employee miserable, if you are unfortunate enough to be in their line of fire and have a job where you really can't tell them (of course, in not so many words) to "fuck off.. but have a nice day"

Very educational experience I had back in my youth lo long ago- working a summer job in a mini mart in Chicago, back before they were really common or known as mini marts. I'd start work at 8 am, and split in the afternoon- and just about every day I would witness the same, strange phenomenon. The happiest people I would see all day would be the mexican day laborers, who would come in in the morning and get sandwiches and budweisers. Conversely, at the end of the day, the most miserable fuckers I would see were these guys driving beemers or mercedeses (is that the proper plural?)... rich, pissed off dudes in suits leaving their jobs in the loop. Always with a chip on their shoulder and a bug up their ass, wanting to pick a fight with me over bullshit like how much a lighter cost.

I'm certainly not saying it's any great shakes to be poor, much less to be a migrant worker making beans, but in terms of a positive attitude towards people and life in general, that summer at least, it was no contest.. the experience was a real eye-opener.

[borlis]

20. You are so right.

You'd think that the ones "Who had it all" would be the happiest right? When I started to tell the other ladies in my department what had happened, we all agreed that it would have happened to whoever happened to be by the counter when she walked by.

[mark11727]

25. Next time she tries to comes in, have security stop her at the door...

..."I'm sorry ma'am, but you DID SAY that you'd NEVER shop here any more, so you're NOT ALLOWED IN HERE."

That'll settle her hash.

[nicholieeee]

29. same thing happened at my store the other day

this couple was enraged that the shorts they bought weren't the ones that were 2 for $30 so they start cussing up a storm and our manager asked the man to please stop because it's a family store. well the guy starts going off about how cody is disrespecting him and he doesn't have to take this and they're not shopping there anymore. then they took the bag of clothes, threw it at him and left. and all i could think of was "yeah if i were that ugly and was having sex with someone that ugly...i'd be pretty upset too" and if you think its bad in retail...its twice as bad at grocery stores.

[Tux]

33. Try tech-support

At my temp job at Dell, even the business tech support dept got hell. Imagine a cutomer pissed off because: their PC broke, they don't know how to fix it, they wait awhile to get a technician, and are upset they have to do something to fix it. The way that woman acted, that'd be a nice call.

[anarchy1999]

43. I have a theory

Some people get to make a lot more money than a regular job pays. After a while, they begin to think they "deserve" it, because since not everyone else is getting paid the same, they MUST be special.

Next, after getting some upscale shopping experiences under their belt, and getting treated like they really ARE special, instead of the total sale-per-visit that the corporation sees them as, they get reinforced that there are different rules that apply. The money changes everything.

Lastly, when it turns out that money cannot make people like them in other areas of life, like getting good sex, they become coarse and mean, wondering where all the glory and adoration went. Even though they still have the money, maybe even more money than before.

They know the adage:
"Life is like a shit sandwich. The more bread you have, the less shit you have to eat."

And they are starting to taste the shit. How would you react?

[undergroundpanther]

21. I wonder..

If customers would curb their assholes,easier.. if counter help could clock them out for being assholes to them,and teach them manners in a 'hands on' way?. Asshole customers are assholes first shoppers second much like net trolls who are verbal abusers first...customers who act like assholes to retail people and service industry people do it because they know the boss will come down on the help before they'd DARE tell off a puissant customer who is abusing the hired help.

And so who's gonna teach these self important petty snobs and bullies correct social manners and basic human civility if they are told they are ALWAYS right all day and they were raised by incompetent rude self important abusive narcissistic parents?

Somebody's gotta stand up..

When I see a person near me verbally abuse retail workers... believe me they'll forget all about their self aggrandized head trip... after I lay into them,realize the worker is unscathed by the whole thing because I am a fellow customer.

It's satisfying to make these stupid bullies have to scuttle like rats out of the store egos burning down in flames of shame.I wish more people who had a sympathetic heart for retail workers had the guts to get more involved when abusive people make a hard job into a hell for workers.

[Cleita]

26. Managers are supposed to deal with hard to please customers..

I did, when I was a manager, and when a repeat customer got to big for their britches I generally gave them the heave ho, just like Skinner tombstones the trolls here.

It's not up to the workers to do so, however, I always told my help if I wasn't available, that they didn't have to take any abusive language or behavior. They could politely but firmly refuse service and ask the customer to leave.

They could write me a report about what happened because I knew said customer would be calling me in the morning. And since I was a bar manager, they also had instructions to call the police if the customer refused to leave.

[mongo]

45. AMEN!

When I see a person near me verbally abuse retail workers... believe me they'll forget all about their self aggrandized head trip... after I lay into them,realize the worker is unscathed by the whole thing because I am a fellow customer.

Really puts these people off their guard, doesn't it? They never, ever expect to be called on their BS. I've been known to do that, although I'm much more likely to make a comment to my wife that is meant to be overheard.

[NMMNG]

22. Customer service sucks

I suffered trough five years of retail and hated it. I bend over backwards to be polite to staff in stores, restaurants and other places because I know the crap they have to put up with for low pay. If I see them getting needless $hit from another customer I'll even be super-nice to them to try to make up for it.

Just because the staff is there to serve the customer, doesn't mean the customer needs to treat them like servants.

[noahmijo]

30. Yea that's how I get only I'll actually get in the face of rude customers

In the slickest way possible if I see a customer giving some poor clerk a hard time over stupid bullshit I'll try to find a subtle way to tell them to fuck off (nowadays the clerk is sadly forced to tell even those who would stick up for them to back off as to not let a major scene begin)

[w8liftinglady]

39. I do the same thing

There are a lot of people here in the DFW who have a need to abuse the poor grocery store check out people,fast-food workers and the like.I'm a pretty imposing person,and I usually just stare at the offending individual,and tell them they are acting out of line.Years of dealing with asshole doctors has taught me that these people usually back down quickly when confronted directly(they are coward/bullies).

[SupplySideLiberal]

27. Hang in there

I used to be a bank teller, and I could not believe the petty potentates who inflated their egos by lording it over their "inferiors". Thankfully my boss was cool and always backed me up, even when they closed their accounts. Hang in there!

[mark11727]

28. My late dad worked in retail his whole life....

... so whenever he shopped, he always made it a point to be friendly and courteous to the sales staff, even to the point of joking around with them, if appropriate. If he was a regular at a store, he was beloved there.

On the other hand, if he was confronted with a rude or lazy salesperson, he gave as good as he got, sometimes better.

Oh, the stories he would tell (from either side of the sales counter). One common thread in a lot his yarns was that the richer the client, the more likely they were to bust your balls over piddling details. It didn't always happen, of course, but the possibility was there.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

31. I'm guessing you work at Nordstrum, or however they spell it.

I would also bet that the bitch was either no money or new money. I live in "silicone valley" and we had to deal with a zillion of these types during the dot com boom. People who just landed jobs that paid too much thought they were God and had somehow been born into royalty. They would do things like go to restraunts and cross other names off the waiting list so they could get seated first. God, the hubris!

The upside is that they are now flipping burgers and glad for the work and I will admit to a certain amount of Schudenfruoid (yeah, I can't spell it but I can certainly enjoy it!)

I have NEVER found that attitude with old money. In fact, just the opposite. The old money people I have known could make a homeless bum feel comfortable. I respect that.


Bud

On edit, does Jones NY still make mens shirts? Some of my favorite shirts were JNY.

[Freedomfried]

32. Don't let thy door hit thine ass,

on your way out

[Cronus Protagonist]

34. I work in the car business

And you haven't seen more snarky, nasty, mean, cheap, lying self-important fuckers in your life until you've heard a customer grind a $50,000 SUV purchase for 6 hours to save $125 off the purchase price. After fucking around like that for hours to make sure you don't make a damn dime off the deal, they complain the car's not ready at the snap of their fingers and expect to be treated like royalty for purchasing a monster gas-guzzling tank with no profit in the deal.

How fucked up their lives must be to be so fucking fixated on money that they value their own time so little as to waste it fighting over trivial sums when they're just going to have to go spend $400 a month in gas to fuel the monster they so proudly fought over for 6 fucking hours?

I fart in their seats when I drop the car off for gas. It makes me smile at night when I relax with a joint and think of their miserable lives and how much they must hate paying for the gas.

:)

[OffWithTheirHeads]

35. well now, lets be fair!

auto salesmen always have the customers best interest at heart.

[Cronus Protagonist]

36. Actually, we have to try to balance the interests

Too high a price = no customer, no money, no jobs, no dealer, tons of cars but who cares?

Too low a price = no support, no wages, no car lot, no dealer, no cars

My job is to bring the two together at a fair and equiitable agreement. There's no need for anyone to grind over $125 on a fifty thousand dollar car. Really. It's just mean and stingy.

By the way, why do you defend stingy mooches? They're not a protected class, you know :)

[murielm99]

37. I am not rich. I do not shop all the time.

Recently, I went to a nearby department store to purchase some clothing for work. It is not an exclusive store, but it carries decent clothing.

I could not locate things in my size. I asked the three giggling sales clerks for directions. They rolled their eyes at each other, and one said to me, "What BRAND?" I smiled and said I did not really care about the brand, as long as it fit. She jerked her thumb, and said, "Over there." I went to another store without complaining.

My daughter went to the same store a few weeks later, and bought a nice dress for prom. She came home with the dye pack still attached to the dress. I took her back to the store. The same three indifferent girls were on duty. I showed the dress to the manager, and told him about how they treated me a short time before. I told him that my daughter and I had both worked retail ourselves, so we knew how difficult it could be.

Sometimes people have bad days. They put up with many rude shoppers. I understand why you need to vent. But I have run into bored, rude sales people enough times to know why customers lose it, too.

[Warren DeMontague]

40. Granted, you run into crappy service at some places.

But then, generally, stores and other establishments get what they pay for in terms of staff. And sometimes that aint much. Mostly, if I go into a large corporate chain, I figure the minimum wage they're paying the staff is essentially keeping warm bodies there who may be marginally interested in keeping me from stealing something, and that's exactly the extent of what corporate HQ is willing to pay for.

But having been on both sides of that equation, I have to say that the amount of shit heaped on your average conscientious retail worker is many orders of magnitude larger than the inconvinience and or irritation suffered by consumers at the hands of "lazy or chatty salespeople". Bottom line? The American consumer has repeatedly voted with their dollars- if he or she can get a shirt for five bucks that was made by toddler slave labor, out of endangered monkeys in some environmentally disasterous rain forest factory, it will win hands down against a more expensive yet worker-and-environment friendly product. It just will. That's why you have Wal-marts everywhere. So, you get what you pay for, and that applies to what used to be known as customer service as well.

[NuttyFluffers]

38. there's always 1 in 10...

though it's hard, they usually leave an impact, it's best to write them off and focus on all the great or just decent people you meet everyday. trust me, they always outnumber the "1 in 10." people like that can never be pleased, it almost seems to be their entire personality.

[ET Awful]

41. When she asked you to tellher the difference between this years purchases

and last years, I would have told her "Try calling Homeland Security, I hear they track that kind of thing these days." :evilgrin:

[mark11727]

46. Good one, ET.

[Maine-ah]

42. ugh! I hate that.

I'm in a pretty small area, and I work at a small family owned store. Most of the time customers are great, and out-weigh the bad ones. It sounds to me you did just fine with handling her. I expect there wasn't anything else you couldn't have done, especially when people have it in their mind to be complete assholes. I bet you bucks, she'll be back, and when she does, just pretend the whole situation never happened and treat her like you would any other customer. That seems to work great for my customers who complain, but always come back.

[mongo]

44. Man, I am so lucky

Bacause I rarely encounter rude customers. Guess it's hard to be rude when walking up to the counter with a 10" dong in your hand.

I do get the more upscale type women in the store. I watch them like a hawk on the monitor. They are much more likely to shoplift from me, than a lower class couple.

The upscale women customers are much more likely to ask for assistance, and want a personal shopper - which is great. I like demonstrating products for customers (get your mind out of the gutter - you know what I mean), and am happy to put batteries in 10 different toys for them, if it helps them find what they really want.

The main problems with my customers are:

The guys that come on their lunch hour from their job at the mud quarry, leaving clay staining footprints wherever they tread on the carpet I just vacuumed a half hour ago.

The guy that works on cars that hasn't washed his hands since 1992, and HAS to touch everything in the store. Handles all the lingerie, even though he is here for a movie, and all the "try me" buttons on the cyberskin toys. Grease and cyberskin don't mix.

The people who think my return policy doesn't apply to them, or that I am a lending library and they should be able to exchange any movie they don't like.

But mostly my customers are really cool and have fun in the store. We as a habbit don't bother our customers unless they ask for help. Some folks are embarrased to be in my store, and they just want to browse in peace. The ones (usually women in a group) that are more open and boisterous are so much fun to interact with. 5 tipsy women on a girls night out is sure to fill the back room with laughter.

[seg4527]

47. you think you've got it bad?

i work in fast food. the busiest wendy's in teh state of pennsylvania. rural pa, right across the street from cabelas, a huge huge sporting goods store. i work with some of the most ignorant people, and i have to deal with some of the most ignorant customers. i great combo.