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 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.
Comment