For those of y'all with customer-service jobs....

[NightTrain]

www.customerssuck.com

[flamingyouth]

1. I've worked in retail for 20 years

And I read that site religiously. :)

[NightTrain]

3. And you haven't put anyone in the hospital?

Of course, perhaps I'm being presumptuous. :hi:

[flamingyouth]

6. I did tell a guy off at Christmas

He was abusing one of my employees and I told him to knock it off, get the hell out of my store and never come back. It felt good. The employee still thanks me. ;)

[NightTrain]

8. I just laughed like hell at what you wrote!

:yourock:

[flamingyouth]

12. Yay

:hi:

[Pithlet]

9. You're just like the cool boss I just posted about.

:yourock:

[flamingyouth]

15. Thanks

It was the second time in two decades of dealing with the public, so it's hardly something I do every day.

This guy was not only trying to rip us off, but then started calling the employee every foul name in the book, which was really uncalled for. I actually told him, "I sign this woman's paychecks and I can tell you she doesn't get paid enough to take this kind of crap from you."

[Blue-Jay]

2. Customers also pay many peoples' salaries.

The old canard about the customer always being "right" notwithstanding, they also pay the bills.

[NightTrain]

5. That doesn't stop 'em from sucking, though!

Hey, I'm just sayin'....

[Pithlet]

7. Yes, but that doesn't give them the right

to abuse the employees. And customers do sometimes do this. I actually had a boss who wouldn't put up with it. He owned the store, and when a customer was very abusive to me, he told her to leave the store and never come back, and told her he doesn't know how she ever gets anyone to wait on her. Coolest boss ever.

[NightTrain]

10. I can only quote C. Montgomery Burns....

"Excellent!"

[Blue-Jay]

11. Is he still in business?

It sucks, but sometimes you gotta eat a little bit of shit.

[Pithlet]

16. I don't know. This was years ago.

His business was very successful at the time. And, no, I don't think you need to let customers abuse your employees to make a buck. And, it's usually not the really bad customers that proved the base of a businesses profits. They're usually the customers that return things if they even buy them, and take up so much of your employee's time that it isn't worth it.

[NightTrain]

17. In all fairness, 95% of the customers I've dealt with were just fine.

It's that other 5% you just wanna clobber with a skillet!

[Pithlet]

20. Yes. Most of them are.

But, the stories you can tell about that 5%...

[Pithlet]

18. Another thing

I was one of his best employees, and keeping me around was also important. In fact, most of the staff was cream of the crop. If he lets people come in the store and abuse his employees, the way this particular person did on a regular basis (and never bought anything), he risks losing those employees. So, it isn't always bad business sense to not tolerate crap from PITA customers.

[NightTrain]

21. You're wasting your time arguing with these people.

It's like talking to the proverbial brick wall.

[Orangepeel]

22. there is a new fad of "firing your customers"

touted in the business press.

In some cases, it makes sense. Sometimes, customers do more harm than good -- for example, ones that consistently return used merchandise or are otherwise unprofitable to you. Sometimes, the harm rude customers can do to employee morale is also bad for you in the long run.

Of course, you risk getting bad word of mouth that will hurt you with other customers, but if somebody is really a big jerk, they wouldn't have said good things about you anyway.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

4. Everyone's a customer.

[miss_kitty]

13. I worked at Nordstrom for close to 10 years

Ass Kiss Central.

BTW. I am sorry you lost your job. i hope you get a job that is more pleasant soon. :hi:

[NightTrain]

14. Thanks for your kind words, Miss K! I appreciate them.

You're obviously NOT from the same state that foisted that asshole in the White House upon us.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

19. I love Nordstrom

but it has to be tough taking so much abuse.

[miss_kitty]

23. I haven't shopped there since I left 31 January 1990

They are union busting scum.
Sorry to hear you love them. They're not at all what they once were.

[solinvictus]

24. Abusive people.

I honestly can't understand what motivates customers to act needlessly abusive toward the sales and service staff. A few years back, I was at a shoe store looking for some Florsheim wingtips for a job interview. An obviously well-heeled woman was with her obnoxious teenage son and whiny adolescent daughter. Said son was removing shoes from boxes, trying them on, then tossing shoes and boxes to the side in a petulent way. When the kid was through trying on shoes, he reached over to the pile and started to replace them in boxes. The mother said, "Don't do that, that's the people who work here's job". It really, really pissed me off.

[liberalhistorian]

25. Such people have usually never

worked in these kinds of jobs themselves, so they have absolutely no idea what such workers deal with and what it's like for them. When I worked retail and restaurant jobs, I could always immediately tell the customers who'd never had to lift a finger in any type of public or customer service job.

[u4ic]

26. Here's a friend's site:

www.retailrant.com

A sample:

RANT 016: BUY NOW OR WE KILL YOUR PARENTS!

Hello All. Today's topic is sales flyers. You know, those colourful and ever so annoying inserts that come with your morning newspaper, conveniently tucked in next to the Sunshine Girl. If your read the Edmonton Journal, (No one actually reads the Sun, they're just looking for the Sunshine Girl.) then the flyers are mixed in with the What's On section, which makes sense since sales are also major events, although this can lead to confusion. More than one person has phoned the Citadel Theatre box office asking if there's a Scratch and Save promotion on tickets for tonight's performance. Which
brings me to my recent experience at XXXXX (nominated for 7 Academy Awards ! ) . For our three day weekend promotion we sent out a large gaudy flyer that proudly laid out all the big specials we were having. You know the type: SAVE ! SAVE ! SAVE ! MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN MARKDOWNS ! YOU'D HAVE TO BE A FREAKING MORON TO MISS THESE DEALS ! YOUR ONE CHANCE TO SAVE UNTIL WE DO THIS AGAIN IN A WEEK'S TIME ! and so on. Actually, that one is quite mild compared to some of the ads our competitors put out. Their tone is generally along the lines of BUY NOW OR WE KILL YOUR PARENTS, or FREE HOOKER WITH EVERY TV SOLD ! Anyway this flyer contained a lot of special offers, clearly marked as to what they were all about. Or so I thought. One of my first customers last Friday was a lady who purchased a television set. Upon ringing it through, she asked why I hadn't given the 10 % off. I naively asked, "What 10% off?" "Everything in the store today is 10% off" she replied. "No it's not" I said, pointing out that the TV she was buying was already on sale and to reduce it by another 10% would wipe out our profit margin on it. "But it says in the flyer it is 10% off everything". "Do you have the flyer?" I ask. "No, but I know it said everything 10% off. Do you not have a copy of the flyer?" Well goodness me no, why would I have a copy? I'm not the one shopping here sweetie, you are. We massacred entire forests to bring you that flyer and the least you could do is bring it with you so you know what the hell you're talking about.

So I sent this woman to get a spare copy of the flyer and when she returned lo and behold there it was on the front page: 10% OFF ALL CLEARANCE ITEMS. So first of all, it's not 10% off everything, just clearance stuff. Secondly, the item being purchased is not a clearance item. It is regular stock that happens to be on sale. See the difference? Apparently she didn't, so I had to break out the crayons and drawing paper and after looking at the pretty pictures she finally got the point.

Isolated incident right? Ha ha you fools ! This is retail ! I had at at least two other people come in under the same assumption, and when I told them they were in error they would not believe me. They insisted that the flyer was offering 10% off everything in the store. And of course they did not have the flyer with them and of course I sent them to get one and of course when they read it they were still not entirely convinced. One of these chowderheads insisted that he had also seen a TV ad promoting this 10% off everything deal, leading me to enquire as to whether or not he watched TV with the same attention to detail he read the printed word. (Hey, it was early and I was cranky). The guy left still thinking that we were not being 100% truthful with him. (That's right, we're lying. Everything is 10% off. JFK was killed by the CIA. The Moon landings were faked. And I have slept with all your girlfriends).

Later that day I had a nice couple come in looking for a DVD/VCR combo. I showed them all the models we had, which ranged in price from $200 to $600. They were impressed, but the wife asked "Where are the ones for $99.99?" Somewhat baffled, I asked her what she was referring to. She said the flyer had an ad which showed all DVD and VCR products were on for $99.99. After I stopped laughing and picked myself up off the floor I asked her sweetly if she had the flyer with her and having got the inevitable answer sent her to find one. Upon returning she triumphantly showed me the ad which read as follows: ALL DVD/VCR PRODUCTS ON SALE (and then in smaller print) featuring this dvd player for only $99.99 I pointed out that the price referred only to the product mentioned. She looked at me and exclaimed "Well that's very misleading !" Now I ask you what the hell is so misleading about it? All you have to do is read through what's printed, but obviously that's too much to ask of people these days. Okay, the important info is in fine print. Guess what? The important info is ALWAYS in fine print, hence the saying "Always read the fine print", get it? Is there some unwritten law somewhere that states you must only read the big words in sales flyers?

Yes the words SALE and PRICES SLASHED are worth paying attention to, but so are the words exceptions include all kid's fashions sporting goods hand tools men's cologne exotic pets fusball tables and anything with Hilary Duff on it. prices in effect only on days that end in "C'. not open to residents of quebec or senegal (you know why). please allow 4--6 weeks for delivery unless we feel like delivering it later in which case just wait your fucking turn. don't like it? sue us, you poor slobs. All I'm saying is when you come in to the store for a sale, be prepared. If you read everything properly, there will be no need for me to pull your pants down and taunt you in front of everyone else. Now off with you. It's time for The Daily Show.