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Both of these actually happened to my co-worker B, but I was there to witness both of them.
Incident 1:
B and I were working the register. We both had customers, but B was at the last register, near the entrance/exit doors. It is common for people coming in or out to pause there to ask questions. As I said, B was helping a customer when a woman comes up. He nods to her and continues helping his current customer.
This of course is not good enough for the woman, who said very loudly, "SIR! MA'AM-WHATEVER YOU ARE! I need another bag, this one's about to break!"
Me:
My customer:
B's customer:
B: EXCUSE ME?
Now I should explain that B is an aging hippie, he has long red hair he usually wears in a ponytail. He is also 6"3 and there is no way in hell anyone could mistake him for a woman, even from the back.
Woman: Uh, I didn't mean that in a bad way...
To his credit, B said nothing. He picked up a bag, thrust it at the woman, and turned back to his customer. She left rather sheepishly with all of us staring at her.
Incident 2:
B is at the Help Desk. I walk up just in time to hear this woman say, "No, you people already LIED to me once today!"
I look at B's monitor and recognize the name of the book he was looking at. Earlier that morning we had gotten a reservation for a title off our website.
The thing about our website is that it lists all books we have ever carried. Next to each title on the website is a button that says, "Check Local Availability". Guess how many people bother to click that button? Not many. I spend a lot of time calling and e-mailing people and explaining why we don't have the book even though (insert whiny voice here) "The website SAYS you have it!"
That is what happened with this woman's reservation. I checked the Internet reservations that morning. The book she wanted to reserve had been sold two days before and we had none on hand (her e-mail was dated this morning, just before we opened, so I know it hadn't been sitting in the inbox for days, something else SCs love to accuse us of). I e-mailed her with this information and an offer to order it, and I also called the number she'd provided as a contact number and left a message.
She was wearing scrubs in the store, so I suppose she was at work and didn't get the e-mail, and the number must have been her home number. Oh well, sucks to be her, but how did we LIE to her when the whole thing could have been avoided simply by her following directions?
I explained all this to B and we had a laugh at her expense. Poor B, I hope tomorrow is better for him!
Incident 1:
B and I were working the register. We both had customers, but B was at the last register, near the entrance/exit doors. It is common for people coming in or out to pause there to ask questions. As I said, B was helping a customer when a woman comes up. He nods to her and continues helping his current customer.
This of course is not good enough for the woman, who said very loudly, "SIR! MA'AM-WHATEVER YOU ARE! I need another bag, this one's about to break!"
Me:
My customer:
B's customer:
B: EXCUSE ME?
Now I should explain that B is an aging hippie, he has long red hair he usually wears in a ponytail. He is also 6"3 and there is no way in hell anyone could mistake him for a woman, even from the back.
Woman: Uh, I didn't mean that in a bad way...
To his credit, B said nothing. He picked up a bag, thrust it at the woman, and turned back to his customer. She left rather sheepishly with all of us staring at her.
Incident 2:
B is at the Help Desk. I walk up just in time to hear this woman say, "No, you people already LIED to me once today!"
I look at B's monitor and recognize the name of the book he was looking at. Earlier that morning we had gotten a reservation for a title off our website.
The thing about our website is that it lists all books we have ever carried. Next to each title on the website is a button that says, "Check Local Availability". Guess how many people bother to click that button? Not many. I spend a lot of time calling and e-mailing people and explaining why we don't have the book even though (insert whiny voice here) "The website SAYS you have it!"
That is what happened with this woman's reservation. I checked the Internet reservations that morning. The book she wanted to reserve had been sold two days before and we had none on hand (her e-mail was dated this morning, just before we opened, so I know it hadn't been sitting in the inbox for days, something else SCs love to accuse us of). I e-mailed her with this information and an offer to order it, and I also called the number she'd provided as a contact number and left a message.
She was wearing scrubs in the store, so I suppose she was at work and didn't get the e-mail, and the number must have been her home number. Oh well, sucks to be her, but how did we LIE to her when the whole thing could have been avoided simply by her following directions?
I explained all this to B and we had a laugh at her expense. Poor B, I hope tomorrow is better for him!
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