Tweet
Another distant memory of mine, dredged up by this thread: http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...d.php?t=112053
First off I just want to be clear that this did not happen to me personally. It's an urban legend passed around at one of my previous jobs. The only signs that point to it being a possibility are the following:
- The CEO did in fact have his office located in the same set of buildings as the store this took place at.
- He was known for walking the floors at random and taking lunch at the store restaurants so him passing by a given register was likely.
- The rules for executive discounts and his subsequent behavior towards them apparently did fit the man's personae.
Apparently a well dressed and very snobbish individual came up to a cashier wanting to buy some very expensive crystalware, easily a four figure purchase given he was outfitting an entire bar and dining area. When the cashier rang up his total he told her to apply the discount for friends and family of the executives, stating he was a college friend of the CEO.
Now at this chain of stores such a discount did exist, however, in order to get it you had to ask one of the executives for a special gift card that they then had to sign to show you were indeed worthy of their special treatment. The snob in question did not have such a card on him, and instead re-iterated to the cashier that he was a friend of the CEO so she'd best overlook this minor issue.
Well, the cashier wasn't having that as she, like all employees, had been told how the special secret deals worked and that they couldn't just give them out to anyone. The snob, by contrast, didn't see the problem was, reasoning the cashier must have a spare card somewhere she could use. For added measure, he also flashed her his business card, showing that, amazingly, yes he was as his attire suggested, a well off business owner who COULD have been friends with the higher ups at the store. 'COULD' being the operative word.
The cashier decided to play it safe though, claiming she didn't have any executive discount cards because, as stated, they were meant to be handed out by the executives only to those they deemed worthy. Never were they meant to touch the soiled hands of an unwashed, bottom rung employee.
Well, needless to say, the snob didn't like hearing that. Check that, he pulled out his phone and said, in words that vary in their rudeness, depending on who told this story, that he'd proved he was a high earning hotshot and she had no right to question his integrity. If she wasn't going to give him his discount he only had to dial a few numbers, say a few words to his friend, the CEO, and her ass would be hitting the pavement outside in record time.
So, there the stage was set. The poor cashier now had to decide between just humoring this guy and saving her job, or sticking to her guns and risking the possibility that yes he could have her booted out the door seeing as he was definitely someone important.
It was at this point that salvation came in the most unlikely of forms: the man himself, Mr. CEO, stepped off the escalator on his way back from lunch and caught the eye of the snob. He grinned smugly and gave a greeting, to which the CEO blinked and responded with affirmation that yes, he did in fact recognize the snob.
For added show, the snob engaged the CEO in idle chatter, reminiscing about times past at college and what life was like for him now. The CEO nodded and gave simple answers that yes they went back a ways and yes they'd been in touch on and off since then. With his position now vindicated, the snob moved in for the death strike, he pointed an accusing finger at the cashier and described how she, a worthless example of an *ethnic minority* dared to question his status and deny him the discount that was rightfully his. If it wasn't too much trouble, could the CEO please rectify this manner and see that his soon to be ex-subordinate be punished accordingly?
Well, as expected the CEO looked quite annoyed at this. Not as expected, however, was that his ire was not directed to his employee, but rather his 'friend'. Indeed, instead of placating the snob, the CEO instead asked him how much he actually remembered of how their time together at college had gone, whether he recalled the similar incidents of him accusing other students that were of other ethnicities of being unworthy to attend the same institution as those of a more Aryan background, how he tried to get anyone he disliked exiled from social circles, or expelled so they didn't have to breathe same air?
The snob, naturally caught off guard, protested such trivial disputes were things of the past, only for the CEO to point out that now, in the present, despite having had 20 or so years to reform himself, his so-called acquaintance was apparently still the same racist entitled asshole he'd come to loathe with a passion during their time together. With his argument now fast coming undone, the snob fell back on what would hopefully be the most simple and hard hitting line of logic:
"But I'm your friend!"
Rather than be convinced, the CEO looked disgusted. He pointed the way to his office and insisted, in words not too kind, that the snob make his way there now and stop harassing his employees. With nothing else to bolster his position, the snob did as told, and the CEO turned to give the beleaguered cashier an apology and assurance that she was in no trouble.
From here, the outcome tends to vary. Either the snob was never seen again, or was briefly glimpsed being lead from the CEO's office by security, presumably to suffer the same fate as he'd previously threatened upon the cashier. Either way, he didn't get his discount and was forced to leave empty handed despite being perhaps the one in one million individuals who actually did know someone important in the store.
TL;DR: Person turns out to actually be a friend of CEO. Still gets kicked out with nothing because CEO has no time for acquaintances who are bigots and discriminate against his workers.
First off I just want to be clear that this did not happen to me personally. It's an urban legend passed around at one of my previous jobs. The only signs that point to it being a possibility are the following:
- The CEO did in fact have his office located in the same set of buildings as the store this took place at.
- He was known for walking the floors at random and taking lunch at the store restaurants so him passing by a given register was likely.
- The rules for executive discounts and his subsequent behavior towards them apparently did fit the man's personae.
Apparently a well dressed and very snobbish individual came up to a cashier wanting to buy some very expensive crystalware, easily a four figure purchase given he was outfitting an entire bar and dining area. When the cashier rang up his total he told her to apply the discount for friends and family of the executives, stating he was a college friend of the CEO.
Now at this chain of stores such a discount did exist, however, in order to get it you had to ask one of the executives for a special gift card that they then had to sign to show you were indeed worthy of their special treatment. The snob in question did not have such a card on him, and instead re-iterated to the cashier that he was a friend of the CEO so she'd best overlook this minor issue.
Well, the cashier wasn't having that as she, like all employees, had been told how the special secret deals worked and that they couldn't just give them out to anyone. The snob, by contrast, didn't see the problem was, reasoning the cashier must have a spare card somewhere she could use. For added measure, he also flashed her his business card, showing that, amazingly, yes he was as his attire suggested, a well off business owner who COULD have been friends with the higher ups at the store. 'COULD' being the operative word.
The cashier decided to play it safe though, claiming she didn't have any executive discount cards because, as stated, they were meant to be handed out by the executives only to those they deemed worthy. Never were they meant to touch the soiled hands of an unwashed, bottom rung employee.
Well, needless to say, the snob didn't like hearing that. Check that, he pulled out his phone and said, in words that vary in their rudeness, depending on who told this story, that he'd proved he was a high earning hotshot and she had no right to question his integrity. If she wasn't going to give him his discount he only had to dial a few numbers, say a few words to his friend, the CEO, and her ass would be hitting the pavement outside in record time.
So, there the stage was set. The poor cashier now had to decide between just humoring this guy and saving her job, or sticking to her guns and risking the possibility that yes he could have her booted out the door seeing as he was definitely someone important.
It was at this point that salvation came in the most unlikely of forms: the man himself, Mr. CEO, stepped off the escalator on his way back from lunch and caught the eye of the snob. He grinned smugly and gave a greeting, to which the CEO blinked and responded with affirmation that yes, he did in fact recognize the snob.
For added show, the snob engaged the CEO in idle chatter, reminiscing about times past at college and what life was like for him now. The CEO nodded and gave simple answers that yes they went back a ways and yes they'd been in touch on and off since then. With his position now vindicated, the snob moved in for the death strike, he pointed an accusing finger at the cashier and described how she, a worthless example of an *ethnic minority* dared to question his status and deny him the discount that was rightfully his. If it wasn't too much trouble, could the CEO please rectify this manner and see that his soon to be ex-subordinate be punished accordingly?
Well, as expected the CEO looked quite annoyed at this. Not as expected, however, was that his ire was not directed to his employee, but rather his 'friend'. Indeed, instead of placating the snob, the CEO instead asked him how much he actually remembered of how their time together at college had gone, whether he recalled the similar incidents of him accusing other students that were of other ethnicities of being unworthy to attend the same institution as those of a more Aryan background, how he tried to get anyone he disliked exiled from social circles, or expelled so they didn't have to breathe same air?
The snob, naturally caught off guard, protested such trivial disputes were things of the past, only for the CEO to point out that now, in the present, despite having had 20 or so years to reform himself, his so-called acquaintance was apparently still the same racist entitled asshole he'd come to loathe with a passion during their time together. With his argument now fast coming undone, the snob fell back on what would hopefully be the most simple and hard hitting line of logic:
"But I'm your friend!"
Rather than be convinced, the CEO looked disgusted. He pointed the way to his office and insisted, in words not too kind, that the snob make his way there now and stop harassing his employees. With nothing else to bolster his position, the snob did as told, and the CEO turned to give the beleaguered cashier an apology and assurance that she was in no trouble.
From here, the outcome tends to vary. Either the snob was never seen again, or was briefly glimpsed being lead from the CEO's office by security, presumably to suffer the same fate as he'd previously threatened upon the cashier. Either way, he didn't get his discount and was forced to leave empty handed despite being perhaps the one in one million individuals who actually did know someone important in the store.
TL;DR: Person turns out to actually be a friend of CEO. Still gets kicked out with nothing because CEO has no time for acquaintances who are bigots and discriminate against his workers.
Comment