This egg does NOT meet Grade A Large standards!

[Zell]

Harris Teeter is known for its "great" customer service. And by customer service, I mean that they get in the fetal position and give the customer whatever he/she wants until they go away.

We had a customer come in this week. She was old (and I am going to emphasize this since I hate old people ever since I started working here. We're right next to a retirement home and old people are the big SC's here). The store was relatively empty and I was walking away from my register to go talk to my fellow workers when I ran across this conversation (CSM = Customer Service Manager):

CSM: Hi, how may I help you today?

SC: Hello, I bought these eggs recently and I would like a refund.

CSM: Well, let's take a look at the eggs. What's wrong with them?

SC: (opens the egg carton)

CSM: ....ma'am, this egg carton is empty save for one egg. What did you do with them?

SC: I ate them all but one.

CSM: But you want a refund? Did you get sick from one of them?

SC: No. See how it says "Grade A LARGE" eggs?? These were CLEARLY not large!

CSM: It says they're large on the box and it's obvious that they are fine to me.

SC: NO, they aren't! I ate all of them but one and saved the last one. I went on google and looked up the weight that must be met for Grade A Large eggs, and the egg I weight was slightly under that standard! I want a refund!

CSM: Ma'am, we can't give you a refund if you ate all of the eggs and then decided that they weren't right when you clearly found nothing wrong with them until the last egg.

SC: I want to speak with your manager.

*Intercom* Dairy to customer service please, dairy to customer service.

So I was attempting not to laugh really hard as I overheard this. The dairy manager came up and they basically had the same conversation. The dairy manager and the customer disagreed greatly. Yet again, the customer was NOT pleased with the two answers she got. A voice echoed throughout the store:

*Robert to customer service please, robert to customer service.*

Robert is our manager. He came up and all of them, again, had the same conversation. I cracked up when I heard the lady tell her side of the story for a third time because it was so ridiculous.

This ordeal went on for about...20 minutes or so before, finally, the store manager gave in and said to go get some new eggs. The dairy manager thought this was outrageous and hilarious at the same time. About 10 mins. later, the dairy manager came to customer service where my manager still was:

Dairy: Sir, I bought this pack of condoms and I want a refund:

MGR: What, did they break?? DID YA GET HER PREGNANT?

Dairy: No! I used all of them except one and measured the last one. Its size did NOT meet large standards! I demand a refund!!

MGR: But you didn't get her pregnant??

Dairy: Hell no! They weren't large standard, yet they fit and worked fine! I WANT A REFUND!

My manager and the dairy guy were joking, of course, and were making fun of the lady basically and pointed out how stupid she was.

Later I went up and asked my manager why he gave her the refund. His response:

"I don't care. It's my store."

[CrazedClerk]

The sad thing is that now that she knows she can get away with it, she's going to try it again and again and again.

[chainedbarista]

omfg; there is a +/- factor in that standard, i wonder if she bothered to take that into consideration...dumb old cow.

looked it up on the internet, she says...so i do and this is what i found, as per usda standards:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=16-104-220

the weights given are per carton, not per egg; i'm wondering just how she figured out that one egg wasn't to standard...oh wait, i remember, it's all sc logic.

sorry, i was thinking with rationality, silly me.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

"I don't care. It's my store."

"I don't care. It's your job."

Seriously, at a cretain point corporate isn't going to be happy with all the freebies he's shoveling out to SCs. Money out of their pockets, you know.

[Rapscallion]

"I don't care. It's your job."

Seriously, at a cretain point corporate isn't going to be happy with all the freebies he's shoveling out to SCs. Money out of their pockets, you know.

Problem is, if you factor in the money corporate is giving him to work, a half-hour of that time to argue with her far outweighs the cost of the eggs.

I had to deal with eggs today - one of our drivers had picked them up and not secured them on the pallet. Two of us spent twenty minutes each going through the boxes and seeing which ones were saleable (only lost eight dozen out of about two hundred dozen or so). When you factor in the wages, it becomes a much larger sum.

Sucks, don't it?

Of course, if corporate managed to persuade every scammer that they couldn't get anywhere by instructing their managers to stop all fraudulent complaints, they'd win in the long term, but that's never going to happen.

Rapscallion

[Strange Magic]

I'm torn between the need to get this person out of the store before her stupidity infects another customer and thinking your manager is a complete coward for giving in.

[Zell]

"I don't care. It's your job."

Seriously, at a cretain point corporate isn't going to be happy with all the freebies he's shoveling out to SCs. Money out of their pockets, you know.

Yeah and that crap cuts into my 6-month bonus check, too. Any sort of theft or giving customers free crap does.

We can get fired for taking a 50 cent candy bar, yet they managers give out free things and refunds like it's no big deal.

People will come in with a completely eaten jar of peanut butter, but not eat from the sides so it looks like it's full (they somehow think that weight is not a factor because, well, customers are stupid). Yet for an unknown reason, my managers accept those refunds. They basically just allowed the customer to steal from them.

We also give double your money back on all harris teeter branded items. So you can go buy $150 worth of meat, eat it, say you thought it was terrible and got sick from it or something, then come back and get $300 back. What a massive waste of profit just to keep one customer who will come back to take advantage of us.

[NightAngel]

Before I say this I want everyone to know that I think she was a jerk and I feel really bad for the people who had to deal with the stupidity.

Problem is, if you factor in the money corporate is giving him to work, a half-hour of that time to argue with her far outweighs the cost of the eggs.

The other thing you have to think about is that eggs probably weren't the only thing she bought. Then you have to consider the fact that she probably shops there regularly.

So, lets say she only comes in once a week and only spends $30.00 on groceries. That's $120.00 a month or $1,440.00 a year. Should the store lose $1,400.00 in yearly revenue over a $1.00 item?

It's the big picture on revenue. It sucks on a case by case basis when you're dealing with SC's but it's something you have to think about when you're the manager making these decisions.

[Gurndigarn]

1) Go to cooler
2) Get carton of large eggs
3) Remove single egg from carton of eggs, put in customer's container
4) Take defective egg out of customer's carton, put aside
5) Return customer's carton to them with a cheery "There you go!"

[cewfa]

This is precisely why I RARELY give refunds at the hotel. I've found that 99% of the customers that want a refund are trying to scam. There are certain rules that have to be met before I give a refund. If the room is not defective or if they have been in there too long I will not give a refund, and their attitude towards me and my staff is a factor too. I'm one of those managers who does not believe in just giving the customer what they want because their bitching long and loud, and I'm not afraid to tell them to get the hell off my property. I don't think that bad behavior should be rewarded and I don't need their business bad enough if they are going to be abusive towards me and my staff.

[Kara]

I had to deal with eggs today - one of our drivers had picked them up and not secured them on the pallet. Two of us spent twenty minutes each going through the boxes and seeing which ones were saleable (only lost eight dozen out of about two hundred dozen or so). When you factor in the wages, it becomes a much larger sum.

Sucks, don't it?

Yeah, I remember that from my grocery days. I swear the distribution center was staffed by trained monkeys. I actually hurt my leg because of something like that. They had filled the truck to the edge completely full and stacked pallets to the top of the trailer. Problem is they only plastic-wrapped them for half the total height. Naturally, we tried unloading the truck and the second pallet was too unstable and spilled stuff everywhere. I was helping the guys unload the loose products from the trailer when my foot went right through the gap between the edge of the store and the trailer. We were supposed to have a dock that extended out from the store to the trailer, but the manager was stingy and refused to have one put in, so we just had a sheet of metal that we threw over the gap, and it didn't cover the entire length. The gap was about 3 inches wide and my leg went through all the way to my thigh. It skinned me and left a gigantic bruise for 4 months (I lucked out and this was nearly the end of summer, I didn't want to wear shorts or skirts until it was gone).

We had a similar situation with egg and milk crates not being properly loaded on a pallet and our Grocery manager was crushed under the milk crates that rained down on him when he cut the plastic wrap. He got a concussion, broken ribs, torn ligaments in his leg (come to think of it, could have been a ruptured disc in his back, can't remember), and permanent disability out of it.

Back on topic, egg people never cease in their ridiculous efforts for refunds. I've seen customers try to return eqqs they bought a month before because they expired before they used them all.

[TNT]

Problem is, if you factor in the money corporate is giving him to work, a half-hour of that time to argue with her far outweighs the cost of the eggs.

According to Charlie Ergen of Dish Network, it costs $1 a minute to talk to a satellite TV rep. So, is it worth arguing over a $5 credit?

But... what if that customer figures that out and decides to call in every week for a $5 credit?

But... what if a customer decides to go to a competitor if he's not given the credit?

For better or worse, for me it's going to be more than theoretical questions. Long story, but my new job is basically deciding on the right answer. As my new boss said, "Every decision you make will directly affect the company's bottom line."

[Kara]

According to Charlie Ergen of Dish Network, it costs $1 a minute to talk to a satellite TV rep. So, is it worth arguing over a $5 credit?

Don't know about satellite TV but here are some fun wireless phone costs. It costs us something like $800 per customer to activate 1 line of service. It costs $32 every time someone calls customer care. It costs $12 every time we transfer someone. They pay me... a nice amount to deal with these people, plus bonuses out the yingyang and free things periodically to keep me happy (we all got free phones in January, this is the only time in the 3 years I've been with the company that it's happened).

[Andara Bledin]

(we all got free phones in January, this is the only time in the 3 years I've been with the company that it's happened).

It must be your amazing customer loyalty skills.

^-.-^

[upsidedown_orchid]

The refund issue is a big one for me. I will only give out a refund if someone has been charged in error, or if the credit card holder has died.

Everyone else gets tickets exchanged or a credit. I don't like giving credits either, but at least their money will still stay with the company, and while they are attending a show, they may have some drinks and we'll make $$$ from the liquor.