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  • Coffee Crazy

    I was doing my usual stock-ninja/fifty-things-at-once routine (we're still shortstaffed and have no overnight crew to break down deliveries) when a cashier pulls me over to the packaged coffee. I try to get the nature of the demand first, but all he'll tell me is "It's not a product question"...wha? Everything here is a product question.

    I can already tell she's going to be trouble from the way she's dressed and her general demeanor...also the way that the cashier 'introduced' me and then scrammed.
    SC: "You know how you have the [brand] espresso beans? Not the ground coffee? The beans? They come in a blue bag?"
    Me: "Yes..." (I know what coffee beans are thankyou)
    We had a giant sale last week on that brand, and as a result we're out of a lot of types (mainly the beans) and have too much of others.
    SC: "Well, I don't see it here! You should have the beans!"
    Me: "We are out of stock on the beans right now and I don't know when we're getting them back in."
    SC: "This is unacceptable! You call yourselves an Italian store, you're a [brand] store *not really, while they do have a partnership with us so we operate their cafes in the States and get certain varieties exclusive to us, you can find their coffee in nearly every chain grocery store*, and you don't have espresso beans? Go get them from the back!"
    Me: "I'm the stock supervisor, I know what's in the back right now. We do not have the espresso beans, only the one that's on the shelf. We do have espresso ground coffee--"
    SC: "I don't want that! Oh I know, you just don't want to order them is that it?"
    Me: "We normally carry them but are out right now and I don't know when they will be coming in. Rest assured we do consistently order them. The [brand] cafe downstairs sells the beans, they might have some."
    SC: "You have them in the back and just don't want to put them out. There's something going on here isn't there?"
    Me: "What we have is what's on the shelf right now. We keep ordering them but as all our products are imported, sometimes there's a supplier issue."
    SC: "The only supply issue here is that you don't have the espresso beans! I know you have them, go get me some!"
    Me: "Do not talk to me that way. I've explained this to you, what we have is what we have and we are trying to order them. Sometimes we run out."
    I don't recall exactly what SC said next, but the implication seemed to be "out of stock is illegal" along with another demand to get her the beans and "get someone who knows your product" (which would be me, I have a freakish memory for stock levels and have been known to quote exact quantities of backstock)...all the while continuing with the Great Coffee Conspiracy of 2017.
    Me: "And we're done. I've told you exactly what the situation is and you clearly do not want to listen and choose to insult me. We will get the coffee when we get it."

    A few hours later I find her precious espresso beans on a pallet that came in, but at the time it hadn't been checked in or even unwrapped yet so I couldn't have given them to her anyway. If I had, she probably would have demanded the sale price--which ended on Sunday.
    "I am quite confident that I do exist."
    "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

  • #2
    OMG what an idiot! The only thing "going on" is that her head was up her backside! What the hell is it with people who think you have stuff in the back you don't want to put out? You can't bloody well sell it if it isn't out on the shelf!

    She was nutz.
    When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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    • #3
      I love how you shut down her abuse!

      "You have them in the back and just don't want to put them out. There's something going on here isn't there?" My immediate thought was Yes, what's going on here is that you're calling someone a liar. I don't tolerate that. I will put someone in his place with an explanation of how I quit jobs on the spot if they want me to lie.
      "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

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      • #4
        T's comment about all that was "Damn, you'd think she was after top-shelf weed, not coffee! I've never heard of anyone losing their beans over beans."

        OldJob didn't let peons stand up to the assholes ("the customer is always right even when you know they're wrong"). Our mission statement includes "the customer is not always right, we are not always right" so I got my retail spine back (I still can't say what I'd like to say to some of the SCs, but I'm able to either shut them down or get them to agree with what I'm saying)

        (interestingly, one of our team members recently quit and part of what she mentioned in her exit interview was customers questioning our credibility when they know we deal with the products all day)
        "I am quite confident that I do exist."
        "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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        • #5
          Quoth Dreamstalker View Post
          *snip*

          SC: "You have them in the back and just don't want to put them out. There's something going on here isn't there?"
          At that point you should've directed her to the aisle with the tinfoil. She obviously needs that far more than espresso beans.
          Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
          ~ Mr Hero

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          • #6
            I'll never understand the "there's always some in the back, you're just too *insert insult* to get it!" conspiracy mindset that believes a store would pay to order something, pay to unload it off the truck, pay to inventory and account for it, and then....... let it sit? And not actually try and sell it? And make back the money they spent to get it?
            - They say nothing good happens at 2AM, they're right, I happen at 2AM.

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            • #7
              ^ I've never thought of it that way. Now these SCs seem really, really ignorant.
              "Is it hot in here to you? It's very warm, isn't it?"--Nero, probably

              Comment


              • #8
                Quoth Argabarga View Post
                I'll never understand the "there's always some in the back, you're just too *insert insult* to get it!" conspiracy mindset that believes a store would pay to order something, pay to unload it off the truck, pay to inventory and account for it, and then....... let it sit? And not actually try and sell it? And make back the money they spent to get it?
                Customers can't even think that through. All they know is, "I want X! They don't have X! This is an insult to me! Me! ME!!!"

                "The Customer Is Always Right" has resulted in a society full of spoiled, self-centered, ill-mannered brats of all ages, and we're the ones who have to babysit them.
                I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
                My LiveJournal
                A page we can all agree with!

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                • #9
                  The mall my store is in has an desirable-address/somewhat famous office building attached, so we get all the self-important office types (not all are assholes although those do tend to stand out) as well as the turrist trade in the summer. To give an example of how chi-chi the area is, there's a Tesla showroom next to us on the ground level. I'm sure there are a lot of residents who never do any shopping themselves as well (and it shows). I think the SCs here are easier to handle though, my old job got the dumb scammer types who would just get LOUD until you caved. Here, that doesn't work so much as the space is generally loud anyway plus we have security guards.

                  Quoth Pixelated View Post
                  At that point you should've directed her to the aisle with the tinfoil. She obviously needs that far more than espresso beans.
                  We don't sell tinfoil, but I'm sure Chef in central kitchen would be happy to make her a nice hat (he doesn't like it when people mess with the departments who make sure he gets his stuff)

                  Our back room/warehouse was not intended to hold the amount of product it does. Ideally we would also be able to stage and break down pallets in there, but that all happens in the service hallway we share with about 5 other businesses. The whole space was originally the food court and I think each food place had its own storage. J admitted that we have the smallest warehouse of any store in the States; rarely is it organized in the way everyone thinks...I'd love to make a video of the warehouse on heavy delivery weeks and show it to anyone who tells me to 'get more from the back' (do you see what you want in here? no? then we probably don't have it or it's going to take way too long to find).
                  Last edited by Dreamstalker; 09-27-2017, 09:41 PM.
                  "I am quite confident that I do exist."
                  "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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                  • #10
                    Quoth Dreamstalker View Post
                    self-important office types (not all are assholes although those do tend to stand out)
                    I believe Argabarga once referred to these as Self-Important-Mighty-Businessmen-Assholes, or SIMBAs.
                    PWNADE(TM) - Serve up a glass today! | PWNZER - An act of pwnage so awesome, it's like the victim got hit by a tank.

                    There are only Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse because I choose to walk!

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                    • #11
                      Quoth Food Lady View Post
                      ^ I've never thought of it that way. Now these SCs seem really, really ignorant.
                      Only now?
                      "Crazy may always be open for business, but on the full moon, it has buy one get one free specials." - WishfulSpirit

                      "Sometimes customers remind me of zombies, but I'm pretty sure that zombies are smarter." - MelindaJoy77

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                      • #12
                        Quoth Argabarga View Post
                        I'll never understand the "there's always some in the back, you're just too *insert insult* to get it!" conspiracy mindset that believes a store would pay to order something, pay to unload it off the truck, pay to inventory and account for it, and then....... let it sit? And not actually try and sell it? And make back the money they spent to get it?
                        Didn't you know? Every store has a Room of Requirement
                        To right the countless wrongs of our days... We shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise...Oh, what a wonderful world such would be...

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                        • #13
                          Quoth Mr Hero View Post
                          Didn't you know? Every store has a Room of Requirement
                          I suspect those FEW SC's that can manage to think that far DO believe that the -store- wants those items sold and on the shelf.

                          And they also believe with all their blackened shriveled up heart that -the workers- are lazy and have to whipped to do even the most minor effort involved in their jobs.

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                          • #14
                            This is my favorite part.

                            Quoth Dreamstalker View Post
                            I don't recall exactly what SC said next, but the implication seemed to be "out of stock is illegal"...
                            It's floating wicker propelled by fire!

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                            • #15
                              Unlike most grocery stores, we do our own importing for 90% of our products. Sometimes stuff sits in Customs for a week, sometimes a month or more (and that's when we get in product with a shorter than normal--or even expired--shelf life).

                              The best work ethic on the planet doesn't mean much if we can't get the item. A number of the producers we work with just don't have the capacity to provide the stock levels customers want at all times. If an olive oil or flour producer uses traditional stone mills which have been operated by the family for 400 years, expanding capacity might mean ceasing use of those mills which would sacrifice quality.
                              "I am quite confident that I do exist."
                              "Excuse me, I'm making perfect sense. You're just not keeping up." The Doctor

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