Don't you know who I am!? I'm IMPORTANT! or "I know the owner!"

[Gumbi]

I've had this happen before with customers that we've banned from the store.

"You can't tell us to leave! We know *not owner's actual name*! We'll tell him and get you in trouble!"

"Well, if you *did* know him, you would know that isn't his name."

[Ghel]

There's a local pub that's named after the owners' late dog. I could just imagine somebody going in and saying, "I know Abby!"

Before the bank changed hands (almost 3 years ago now), the bank president's drinking buddies would come in and ask for favors: loans when they couldn't qualify, deposit accounts with iffy terms, etc. Pres could never remember what he promised when he was drunk, but he always wanted people to think he was a nice guy, so he almost always did what he was asked when he was hung over. He made the trope of "I know the bank president" work.

[Seshat]

I've been the owner's (only) daughter - but alas, haven't had anyone claim to be me, to my face. Or over the phone.

Mum & Dad's real friends mostly knew we couldn't afford to give discounts anyway - they're a 'welcome to the kitchen' sort of family.


As in, if they don't know you well, you're invited to the living room. If they do know you well, come into the heart of the house, be part of the family.

So genuine friends KNEW how we lived, and could see for themselves that our income was often less than our staff's income.

[plan9au]

When i worked at the Toy Shop (high end collectable toys generally) i had this happen a few times a week.....9 times out of 10 if the boss had told a friend that they could get a discount they would bring them in and tell me directly or have the friend call them when they get to the store and hand me the phone to tell me the discount.
The only other people to ge ta regular discount were the big spenders (and we had a couple) that would drop close to $1000 a visit (once a month) and even then we almost had to talk one of them into taking it.
Otherwise they could talk themselves blue in the face, no discount.

[Deserted]

I've been the owner's (only) daughter - but alas, haven't had anyone claim to be me, to my face. Or over the phone.

That mirrors my situation a bit. My mother owned a mailbox store (think Mailboxes Etc / The UPS Store) when I was in high school, and I worked there as much as my mother could get away with without driving away the "real" employees (because I was willing to work for $4/hour -- hey, no expenses, family biz, etc).

Every single regular customer knew my mother, because she would put in more than at least a full day at the store, every day -- and every reg knew that mom's rates and fees where the minimum she could charge and stay in business. (I guess she should've charged a bit more; she went out of business.) No reg ever asked for a discount that I can recall.

It was the people who had never been in before that would ask for discounts, or maybe try to pull a fast one on the kid behind the counter (I was undersized in high school; excessively skinny and a bit short until I was about 16 or so) but I don't remember any of them saying they knew the owner. Kind of wish they had, cuz it would've been hilarious. "Oh, you know mom?"

[Jay 2K Winger]

The closest thing I get to this at The Client are people who absolutely, positively neeeeeeeeeed to get this report printed because it goes to The Supreme High Muckety-Muck. (Note, The Supreme HMM is not directly a part of The Client, but someone for whom The Client works.)

The problem is, just about everything that comes through The Client eventually goes into a report that goes to The Supreme HMM. So name-dropping that does literally nothing to speed things up.

There are some cases in which a name-drop will cause us to try to move Heaven and Earth for a user: "I work on The Top Floor!" or "I'm calling from Location X" -- both of which are signs that the user is on the direct staff of The Client's Own High Muckety-Muck.

The reason why we help The Client's Own HMM's people and not The Supreme HMM's people is because The Supreme HMM has his own IT Staff.

[Shalom]

I know this ordinarily would go in the Linky section, but it fits here so well I can't resist:

http://notalwaysright.com/getting-ow...r-part-2/26871

[Tora]

I've thought about it and I didn't have anyone do this to me at any point. That would have been particularly hilarious while I was working for my sister.

At this point though, I would love to have it happen to me if I was the owner of a business, just so I could shoot them down. The looks on their faces would be worth every crappy, minimum wage job I'd ever had. ^^

[Deserted]

At this point though, I would love to have it happen to me if I was the owner of a business, just so I could shoot them down. The looks on their faces would be worth every crappy, minimum wage job I'd ever had. ^^

At Green Cab Co, all drivers are contractors, not employees... so technically, I'm self-employed. I can't wait for someone to tell me they know the owners of the biz. "Oh, really? That's nice. I guess that means you can afford a big fat tip then, right?"

(Anyone who actually knows the owners would probably get red carpet service, not some random cab. Or if I was sent to drive someone who knows the owners... I know which account number to look out for.)

[pzychobitch]

Well, then get in your car and drive across the street!

That's what i say every time this happens.

[DistantStar]

I got "We're good friends with (the owner of the company that owns us that lives in another state)" from a woman who didn't know how to find our own website and contact number on the first try just this week. Such a good friend, who don't know that said "friends" of hers own a resort not just the main hotel on it so google said hotel and gets God knows who pretending to be us. (There are two hotels. Plus condos and whatnot. Our actual site has information on all of our lodging options not just the one hotel. Imagine that.) But of course she wasn't looking for a deal or anything for about ten rooms during a seriously busy week...no, of course not. Oddly she didn't argue when I told her there was no way I could offer her a discount but I did have X number of rooms at Y rate I could offer. Haven't heard back.

Another once called and told me that our top onsite manager said to go ahead and put him down for a comp room. What kind of a fucking moron would I have to be to give a room away to a name dropper, really? If you go through a boss and get a comp or special rate they will send us a form and then we will put your reservation in. Not until then. Call your "friend" and if he feels like giving you a deal it will go through channels. I like having a job, even if said job drives me up the wall sometimes.

[chikenlady]

I've never had someone one use the " I know the owner" line on me. At the restaurant I worked at, the owners parents (whom I had never met before) came in to eat lunch.
The owner didn't know they were coming and wasn't in the restaurant. They did not ask for any kind of discount nor even tell me who they were.



At the bar we go to with a group of friends, we do know the owners. Tho we have NEVER asked for a discount although they do occasionally buy us a round if they are there.

[EricKei]

Just to lighten the mood a tad, I have a story about a time where I really DID know the owners (in this case, my brother and an old friend of his)

I brought a pack of friends to his place, which was new at the time, just to check the place out and support their new venture, a hole-in-the-wall Italian joint. We all ate well (*urrp* ^_^) and had a good time.

We didn't tell the server that we knew anyone there; my brother was not present, and the other owner just happened to come out to help out the server. Once he saw me, he introduced himself to my buddies, and he ended up comping us the whole meal ^_^, much to my surprise. So, I just made sure we all chipped in on a decent tip. Made the server happy, and likely gained him a few new custys. Place has since closed down, tho. C'est la vie.

[Moirae]

Yes, it makes me laugh. It means nothing. No one gets special benefits unless the owner or my boss specifically tells me so. If their "friend" were supposed to get something special, I'd already know it.

[sirwired]

The closest I get is "If this doesn't get fixed Right Now, they'll throw out $X,000 of gear!" (Where X is a number from 200 - 8,000 or so. I work for a BIG company.)

Firstly, this is a rounding error in our company's revenue. As in, this customer could throw out our gear, complain to all their friends, and say mean things to all the world, and the loss of all those millions would literally not be noticed by anyone important.

Secondly, if that is what the customer is telling you, they are bluffing. Customers NEVER throw out gear; they simply avoid buying it again in the future. Throwing gear out inevitably delays whatever is running over time and budget even more. I know this, the customer knows this, apparently you don't.

Thirdly, while I, in the abstract, want my company to make money, my share of your sale is precisely $0. I get paid twice a month no matter the size of your commission check, so my incentive to bust my butt for your arrogant ass is rather reduced.

It's funny how customers themselves never put up a fuss over the size of their business; it's always the sales drones. (Although I do get the "If it's not fixed by Next Friday, I'm throwing it out!" all the time. (Next Friday never actually arrives, no matter how long it takes me to fix the problem.))