*GAAAH*

[Ree]

I got a call from the service desk today.
"I have a man here who bought some lights just about a year ago. Can we give him credit?"
Ummm.....

So, I started asking questions.

Me: What does our company computer library say for the warranty policy?

Cashier: 1 year

Me: When did he buy them?

Cashier: Sept 12/07

Me: Well, then, it's cutting it close, but, yes, it's still within the year.

Cashier: OK.

I hang up and go back to my mountain of work, only to get another phone call.

Cashier: He doesn't have them with him. He has pictures of them. He embedded them in concrete. He wants to know how he's supposed to get credit. Does he have to take them out of the concrete?

Right then, I knew this was a "call the manager" moment. I was heading up there anyway, so I figured I would listen in to see what happened.

Turns out, the lights worked. They had started to rust.
Yes, they are outdoor lights, but they are not really meant to be out all winter, and if they are, then the customer has to take on some responsibility for maintaining them.
Hello? This is Canada. We're not exactly known for our mild climate.

They were not real copper. They were some cheap metal with a faux copper finish.
The key should have been that he paid less than $80 for both yardlights. If they had been pure copper, I'm pretty sure the price would have been slightly higher.

The guy didn't use the proper posts that came with them. He just stuck the top part of the post into the concrete.

He not only wanted credit for the lights, without bringing them back in, but if we insisted the he bring them back, he wanted us to reimburse him for having to remove them from the concrete.

The manager was pretty much telling him "tough noogies" if he embedded them in concrete. It's not our problem. First of all, concrete is slightly corrosive, not to mention, it holds water. We have had a very rainy year. There was an excessive amount of snow last year.

So, to recap, he wanted his money back, or a portion of it anyway, and he wanted to keep the lights.

I ended up having the ball bounced back to my court again, so I called the manufacturer and they said no way are they a warranty issue.

Now I will end up getting to tell the customer the wonderful news and having my ass chewed off.

Did I say yet this week just how much I hate my job?

[bainsidhe]

Am I the only one who would take a small amount of pleasure in refusing a customer because of their own stupidity? Say it isn't so.

Thought I must admit, it gets pretty aggravating when running face-first into the cold brick wall of customer entitlement. Hope you got away unscathed.

[fireheart]

Ouch. I hate people like that-who want compensation for their own stupidity yet wanna keep that same cause of stupidity.

Here's a cookie in the meantime *hands you cookie*

[Chanlin]

Am I the only one who would take a small amount of pleasure in refusing a customer because of their own stupidity? Say it isn't so.

Oh no, indeed no, I derive a rather morbid pleasure in pointing out the stupidity of customers who deserve it. This isn't your average end-user either, but the ones who have made complete jerks of themselves in making unreasonable requests.

Doesn't sound to me like the guy in Ree's post has been too much of a jerk as of yet, but I'd put money on him yelling and making a scene when he gets told no.

[Ree]

Doesn't sound to me like the guy in Ree's post has been too much of a jerk as of yet, but I'd put money on him yelling and making a scene when he gets told no.

The guy reeked of BO.
He didn't want to take no for an answer and the only way I could get rid of him was to say that I would call the company on his behalf.

I also didn't mention that this was the same customer who bought a kettle style barbecue with a small mark in the lid, pending my ordering a replacement part under warranty.
Three replacement lids later, I was still not able to satisfy the guy. They all had some minor issue that he was not happy with and decided to keep his original.

[Soulstealer]

Am I the only one who would take a small amount of pleasure in refusing a customer because of their own stupidity? Say it isn't so.

Thought I must admit, it gets pretty aggravating when running face-first into the cold brick wall of customer entitlement. Hope you got away unscathed.

I used to but in my current job that usually means that there's something wrong with their account and the managers have gone home for the night so there's no one to fix it. When it is their fault I encourage them to let the fines roll over to student billing.

[Boozy]

Am I the only one who would take a small amount of pleasure in refusing a customer because of their own stupidity?

Only a small amount?

I live for it.

[Bramblerose]

Can you say something like this

"Let me make sure I understand you, sir. You want to get a refund on the lights, AND you want to keep the lights?"

Pause to see if the one lone working braincell that is crying alone in the wilderness that is his head actually fires- probably not, I'll grant you.

"No." Because if you said "Oh hell no, you stupid, stupid scammer" would get you written up.

[Ree]

He was back again. The original manager who dealt with the guy was off, and even though I had explained everything to the other manager, he wouldn't look after it, saying he didn't know anything about it.

The guy was actually in the store last week when I saw him. I was off work and punched out, but was waiting for my ride home. I ran and got all the paperwork and tracked down the manager. I said, "I see him in here now, and he may ask about the lights." He said he would look after it.

I never heard any more, so I assumed it had been dealt with.

So, as usual, I had to handle it.
When I told the guy that there was nothing we could do, he started going off on me, claiming he had been told by the manager that he could get full credit.
I explained that he had been told that because the manager thought the lights didn't work, but when the customer started making a fuss about them rusting and told us they were in concrete, that changed everything.

He started in on this rant that there was nothing in the instructions to say they couldn't be put in concrete, and he didn't see any difference between putting them in soil and in embedding them in concrete.

Then he started saying that one light didn't work, and he could live with the rusty posts as long as we got him a new head for them. As far as I knew, he had been given new batteries for his light on his first visit, and everything was OK other than the rust.
Apparently I was wrong.

He went on about the fact that he hadn't really cared about the rust, and it was the defective head that he was concerned about. That was news to me, since he had bothered to take pictures of the rust and bring them in.

Unfortunately, because the manager was away, all my information about the situation was locked in his office. I had no proof of the warranty policy to back me up.

He was so obnoxious, and he still reeked of BO.
I told him I wasn't sure that parts were available as it was discontinued, but without the light, I couldn't give him a refund, and he had already admitted to embedding them in concrete. I certainly cannot refund for the one light that does work, as I can't get credit for something that isn't defective, and it was already established that the rust was not a warranty issue.

He said it didn't matter if our store can't get our money back from the manufacturer, because we still were responsible for the defective light. I said, "It certainly does matter. We have to go by the manufacturer's warranty policies."
He still argued with me on that one, saying it was us who sold him the light and not the manufacturer. Dumbass!

In the end, I told him I would call the company to see if I could get the heads replaced, but I couldn't make any guarantees.

I damn well better not be the one who has to deal with him the next time he comes in.

[Evil Queen]

As expected, the guy was a jerk. I'll bet you a dollar you get stuck dealing with him again too.

Oh, wait! Let ME do it! I so enjoy being mean to stupid jerks!

[tollbaby]

Ree, I don't think I'd last an hour in your store *sigh*

[Dips]

That guy reminds me of a toddler:

Mom: Your choices are A or B.

Kid: I want C!

Mom: C isn't a choice. A or B.

Kid: I want C or I'm having a tantrum.

Mom: C isn't a choice and A won't be one either if you don't choose soon.

Kid: Fine. I'm going to stomp off and pout.

Later that day...

Kid: So can I have C?

Mom: I already told you "no."

Kid: But DADDY said I could have C.

Mom: A or B.

Kid: Then I want D, not C. Daddy said I could have D.

Mom: Daddy isn't here and D is not a choice, either. A and B are the choices.

Kid: That's not fair! All the other mommies let people have C!

Mom: That doesn't matter. You're dealing with me, not them.

Kid: You have to let me have what I want because I say so.

Mom: No.

Kid: You're a bad mommy! I'm going to stomp off and go pout some more!

[bainsidhe]

Grr. Reminds me of a post I read on the MSN message board. A woman was upset with Home Depot because she bought a lock for her door over two years prior and now the lock was faulty. Because it had a lifetime warranty, she demanded Home Depot replace it. They said no, she had to contact the manufacturer because the warranty was through them.

Much spewing about the store/employees/rudness ensued for the world to see, then she proudly posted that Home Depot let her have her way and replaced the product. Even though they'll now be out that money. And she was an asshole.

The thread was titled something about pressing for a discount when you just know you're in the right (regarding accepting coupons/discounts/etc). This was a spin-off of the "How to wheedle a discount from a store when you don't deserve one" thread (Yeah, I'm basically summarizing the title here).

Frankly, I would tell this guy that putting these lights in concrete voided the warranty and it's a moot point whether or not they work. See ya

[Ree]

I did tell him that putting them in concrete voided the warranty, but then I had to explain how that had anything to do with the solar panel not working. Since I couldn't prove a connection, he got smug and started talking down to me like I was an idiot.

He claims the one light never worked right, so I have to wonder why he went ahead and installed it. If I had a faulty light, I would be contacting the store first to see what to do, and I wouldn't go ahead and stick it into a permanent place on my lawn.

When I told him we can't give him money and still let him keep the lights, he says he will just cut them out of the concrete and bring them back to get his money if that's necessary. I tried to explain that also would void any warranty, since the company will take one look at them all hacked up and refuse to pay out for them, and he didn't care at all. He still insisted that it was not his problem, and we sold him the "faulty" product, so we owe him the money.

[Akasa]

If it was faulty when you got it you should have brought it in then.

Or the ever loved

Your story changes every time you talk to us. No money back.