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...racist SCs. For those who don't know me, I'm LambChop, and I've been working retail for going on 8 years now, so I've been around the block in terms of sucky customers. And for any of my friends that know me, they can tell you that I'm quite an understanding guy and it's very hard to get on my bad side. But one thing I will absolutely not stand for is racism, and that's in both my professional, as well as personal life.
Anyways, this story of a racist SC was from when I was at Computer America, a big name computer and electronics retailer. At the time I was still a cashier but I also worked Customer Service on Mondays and Fridays. Not to sound full of myself, but I was good at what I did. I have a knack for keeping my cool around upset customers and most of the time, I can calm them down eventually. Plus I knew my way around returns, exchanges, etc. quite well.
Now anyone who's worked retail knows that when it comes to software, once it's been opened we can't return it for a cash refund due to international copywright laws. You can only return it for another copy of the same software if it's been opened and if it's defective.
So I'm working the Service desk and it's relatively busy for a Monday. At around 2:30, in walks this older black couple. I give them the usual greeting and go back to helping the customers in line. After about 3 customers they finally get to the counter and here's the jist of what happened, being that I don't remember the exchange verbatim.
SC1=Older black male
SC2=SC1's wife
Me
Me: Hi there, welcome to Computer America. How can I help you?
SC1: *puts a piece of software on the counter (I forget what it was)* I'd like to return this and get our money back.
Me: Oh okay. *picks it up and sees that it's been opened* What was wrong with it, sir?
SC1: *says snidly* We just don't like it. It's too hard to use.
Me: Oh well I'm sorry sir, but unfortunately I won't be able to offer you a refund. Under our return policy, we can't return a piece of software that's been opened due to international copywright law. We can only exchange it for another copy of the same program.
SC2: What?! That's ridiculous!
Me: I'm sorry you feel that way maam but it's clearly stated in our return policy.
SC1: We didn't see it anywhere!
Now just for these occasions, I had taken a copy of one of our reciepts, blown it up, and highlighted the sections on return policies. So I pointed to the sign on the counter in front of them, pointed to the huge sign above customer service, and, just for good measure, whipped out my handy-dandy huge reciept and placed it on the counter for them to see.
SC1: Well I still didn't see it!
Me: *shrugs* That may be the case, but the policy remains the same.
At this point they had been arguing with me for about 5 mins or so and a line was beginning to form behind them. I tried explaining that the store could get sued if I returned it but he just wasn't listening. I was already not in the best of moods because of the busy day we'd been having, but so far I was still able to remain calm, despite becoming increasingly irratated at these two SCs.
Then came the kicker.
SC1: *looks at me with a scowl on his face and says very loudly* This motherfu**er is a racist! You just doin' this because I'm black!
Me: *eye twitch* ...excuse me, sir?
SC1: You heard me, you cracker-a** motherfu**er! Yous a goddamn racist!
Me: *eye twitches more, thinking to myself 'Stay calm, stay calm'* Sir, this has nothing to do with the color of your skin. Our return policy clearly state-
SC1: *interrupts, slamming his fist down on the counter* F**k your policy, you're a racist! This whole company is racist! You wouldn't be doing this to the 'nice' white lady behind me!
(White lady gives me a look that says "WTF is wrong with this guy?")
Now you should know that the GM's (General Manager) office, whom we'll call William, is within clear view of the Service desk, IE: He can see everything that's going on at the service desk at all times that he is in his office. This continues to go on for another 5 mins, him hurling racial insults and me trying not to lose my cool. Meanwhile, there are no other managers on the front end and William appears to be off somewhere else. To his wife's credit, she could see this was getting out of hand and tried to calm her husband down but he wasn't having it. Then the SC said something I will never forget:
SC1: I'm tired of having to deal with your racist ass! So why don't you go find someone else to help me and go home to f**k your Klan member girlfriend some more!
Now I'm not quite sure what I looked like, but I'm told that my face twisted into a look of shock and horror, thinking to myself "He did not just say that." I have now hit my highest level of pissed-offedness.
SC1: So what're you going to do, white boy!?
It was at that point that I pulled out my wallet. I remember my hands shaking so much I actually ended up dropping it once. But what I pulled out was a picture of B, who was my girlfriend at the time. B is black. I show him the picture and he asks:
SC1: Who's that?
Me: *trying desperately not to punch this man in the face and I say very coldly* That's my girlfriend, you self-rightious prick. So for you to sit there and call me a racist over something so petty as a piece of software, is an insult to both me, as well as her."
He stutters something but I interupt him. "No, you're going to let me finish! Now as I've told you dozens of times already, I'm not returning this piece of software because of company policy, not because of your 'black' ass. But I swear to god if you call me a 'racist' one more time, I will jump over this counter and slap the shit out of you. We're done here."
After that, I turned off my register, put his software behind the counter and simply left. I walked out of customer service and headed for the back. I honestly don't remember what was going through my mind just then but I remember seeing William running up towards Customer Service. He must've heard something going on and went to investigate. I was so livid that I didn't even care.
So I go into the back room and try to calm myself. My whole body was shaking and I remember punching a divot into one of the stock room walls. After about 15 minutes, I was finally calming down and realization set in: I had just cussed out and threatened a customer! Now I'm scared to death because I know I'm gonna get fired over this. 5 minutes later, William shows up in the back room, looking for me. I immediately start apologizing, babbling about what happened and what he was saying and so forth. He just stopped me and said he saw the last 5 minutes of the altercation and was waiting for the right time to walk in.
He then told me he talked to the SC. Apparently, the SC tried to say I threated him without cause and wanted his money back, plus more for the ordeal. William looked at him and laughed. He then told the SC that he would be doing no such thing since he saw what happened while he was hurling out racist comments, especially the 'Klan girlfriend' remark. He banned both customers from the store for harrassment, threatened to call the cops if they showed up again, and didn't even give them back their software. More racial slurs were thrown but they eventually left.
Now personally, when I get really mad, I start getting emotional so he could tell how much that whole experience affected me just from the look on my face (red-rimmed, glossy-eyed, and sniffling). He told me I wasn't going to get in trouble over this but he wanted me to go home for the rest of the day so I could cool down. To this day, William is still my most favorite manager out of all the jobs I've had as he was the most understanding manager I've ever had the pleasure of working with.
So I stuck around in the back for another 10 minutes or so, just to make sure that the SCs had actually left. On the way out the white lady who was behind them the whole time came up to me to see if I was okay. She could also tell that it was a taxing ordeal for me. She said she completely understood, commending me for putting him in his place and that she wished she had the guts to say something like that, to which I thanked her and headed out the door.
To this day, they still talk about the incident at that location, as I was the only person there to ever cuss out a customer like that and still keep my job. I ended up leaving that job to seek other employment about a year later. It really just makes me sick when people resort to race cards when things don't go their way. I mean, did he ever think that I was just following the rules? No. He wanted to throw a hissy fit and in so doing, insult my girlfriend and my personal character. I'm just glad I never had to see his ass again. Personally, I just wish it'd happened within the past 9 months. Then I could've just shown him a picture of my daughter...that would've shut him up big time.
Me? Racist? Hah!
Anyways, this story of a racist SC was from when I was at Computer America, a big name computer and electronics retailer. At the time I was still a cashier but I also worked Customer Service on Mondays and Fridays. Not to sound full of myself, but I was good at what I did. I have a knack for keeping my cool around upset customers and most of the time, I can calm them down eventually. Plus I knew my way around returns, exchanges, etc. quite well.
Now anyone who's worked retail knows that when it comes to software, once it's been opened we can't return it for a cash refund due to international copywright laws. You can only return it for another copy of the same software if it's been opened and if it's defective.
So I'm working the Service desk and it's relatively busy for a Monday. At around 2:30, in walks this older black couple. I give them the usual greeting and go back to helping the customers in line. After about 3 customers they finally get to the counter and here's the jist of what happened, being that I don't remember the exchange verbatim.
SC1=Older black male
SC2=SC1's wife
Me
Me: Hi there, welcome to Computer America. How can I help you?
SC1: *puts a piece of software on the counter (I forget what it was)* I'd like to return this and get our money back.
Me: Oh okay. *picks it up and sees that it's been opened* What was wrong with it, sir?
SC1: *says snidly* We just don't like it. It's too hard to use.
Me: Oh well I'm sorry sir, but unfortunately I won't be able to offer you a refund. Under our return policy, we can't return a piece of software that's been opened due to international copywright law. We can only exchange it for another copy of the same program.
SC2: What?! That's ridiculous!
Me: I'm sorry you feel that way maam but it's clearly stated in our return policy.
SC1: We didn't see it anywhere!
Now just for these occasions, I had taken a copy of one of our reciepts, blown it up, and highlighted the sections on return policies. So I pointed to the sign on the counter in front of them, pointed to the huge sign above customer service, and, just for good measure, whipped out my handy-dandy huge reciept and placed it on the counter for them to see.
SC1: Well I still didn't see it!
Me: *shrugs* That may be the case, but the policy remains the same.
At this point they had been arguing with me for about 5 mins or so and a line was beginning to form behind them. I tried explaining that the store could get sued if I returned it but he just wasn't listening. I was already not in the best of moods because of the busy day we'd been having, but so far I was still able to remain calm, despite becoming increasingly irratated at these two SCs.
Then came the kicker.
SC1: *looks at me with a scowl on his face and says very loudly* This motherfu**er is a racist! You just doin' this because I'm black!
Me: *eye twitch* ...excuse me, sir?
SC1: You heard me, you cracker-a** motherfu**er! Yous a goddamn racist!
Me: *eye twitches more, thinking to myself 'Stay calm, stay calm'* Sir, this has nothing to do with the color of your skin. Our return policy clearly state-
SC1: *interrupts, slamming his fist down on the counter* F**k your policy, you're a racist! This whole company is racist! You wouldn't be doing this to the 'nice' white lady behind me!
(White lady gives me a look that says "WTF is wrong with this guy?")
Now you should know that the GM's (General Manager) office, whom we'll call William, is within clear view of the Service desk, IE: He can see everything that's going on at the service desk at all times that he is in his office. This continues to go on for another 5 mins, him hurling racial insults and me trying not to lose my cool. Meanwhile, there are no other managers on the front end and William appears to be off somewhere else. To his wife's credit, she could see this was getting out of hand and tried to calm her husband down but he wasn't having it. Then the SC said something I will never forget:
SC1: I'm tired of having to deal with your racist ass! So why don't you go find someone else to help me and go home to f**k your Klan member girlfriend some more!
Now I'm not quite sure what I looked like, but I'm told that my face twisted into a look of shock and horror, thinking to myself "He did not just say that." I have now hit my highest level of pissed-offedness.
SC1: So what're you going to do, white boy!?
It was at that point that I pulled out my wallet. I remember my hands shaking so much I actually ended up dropping it once. But what I pulled out was a picture of B, who was my girlfriend at the time. B is black. I show him the picture and he asks:
SC1: Who's that?
Me: *trying desperately not to punch this man in the face and I say very coldly* That's my girlfriend, you self-rightious prick. So for you to sit there and call me a racist over something so petty as a piece of software, is an insult to both me, as well as her."
He stutters something but I interupt him. "No, you're going to let me finish! Now as I've told you dozens of times already, I'm not returning this piece of software because of company policy, not because of your 'black' ass. But I swear to god if you call me a 'racist' one more time, I will jump over this counter and slap the shit out of you. We're done here."
After that, I turned off my register, put his software behind the counter and simply left. I walked out of customer service and headed for the back. I honestly don't remember what was going through my mind just then but I remember seeing William running up towards Customer Service. He must've heard something going on and went to investigate. I was so livid that I didn't even care.
So I go into the back room and try to calm myself. My whole body was shaking and I remember punching a divot into one of the stock room walls. After about 15 minutes, I was finally calming down and realization set in: I had just cussed out and threatened a customer! Now I'm scared to death because I know I'm gonna get fired over this. 5 minutes later, William shows up in the back room, looking for me. I immediately start apologizing, babbling about what happened and what he was saying and so forth. He just stopped me and said he saw the last 5 minutes of the altercation and was waiting for the right time to walk in.
He then told me he talked to the SC. Apparently, the SC tried to say I threated him without cause and wanted his money back, plus more for the ordeal. William looked at him and laughed. He then told the SC that he would be doing no such thing since he saw what happened while he was hurling out racist comments, especially the 'Klan girlfriend' remark. He banned both customers from the store for harrassment, threatened to call the cops if they showed up again, and didn't even give them back their software. More racial slurs were thrown but they eventually left.
Now personally, when I get really mad, I start getting emotional so he could tell how much that whole experience affected me just from the look on my face (red-rimmed, glossy-eyed, and sniffling). He told me I wasn't going to get in trouble over this but he wanted me to go home for the rest of the day so I could cool down. To this day, William is still my most favorite manager out of all the jobs I've had as he was the most understanding manager I've ever had the pleasure of working with.
So I stuck around in the back for another 10 minutes or so, just to make sure that the SCs had actually left. On the way out the white lady who was behind them the whole time came up to me to see if I was okay. She could also tell that it was a taxing ordeal for me. She said she completely understood, commending me for putting him in his place and that she wished she had the guts to say something like that, to which I thanked her and headed out the door.
To this day, they still talk about the incident at that location, as I was the only person there to ever cuss out a customer like that and still keep my job. I ended up leaving that job to seek other employment about a year later. It really just makes me sick when people resort to race cards when things don't go their way. I mean, did he ever think that I was just following the rules? No. He wanted to throw a hissy fit and in so doing, insult my girlfriend and my personal character. I'm just glad I never had to see his ass again. Personally, I just wish it'd happened within the past 9 months. Then I could've just shown him a picture of my daughter...that would've shut him up big time.
Me? Racist? Hah!
, LambChop! *sings Lamb Chop theme*
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