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I work in a concession shop situated in a larger store. There's also a concession shop next door to us, completely separate. It was dead in the whole store since it's late night opening during December, so me and my colleague were just going round our shop tidying and cleaning. Suddenly, a man appeared.
Man: Excuse me. Where exactly am I supposed to pay for this?
Colleague: Oh, I'm not sure, where did you get it?
Man: *pointing to other concession* Up there
Colleague: You have to pay there, they have a separate till
Man: Well how am I supposed to pay if there's no one there? Can't you serve me?
Me: We can't unfortunately. There should be someone there anyway, let's have a look
So me and my colleague walked over and the guy who manned that particular concession (it's very small and I think there's just a manager and an assistant manager, who both work different days to each other) had taken the till off. He'd obviously gone home early. So we told him what had happened and he flew off the handle at US, as though we were somehow responsible.
Man: Oh, well some shopping experience THIS is turning out to be! You call this customer service? What a joke!
Colleague: We don't know why he left early and I understand that this is an inconvenience to...
Man: This is ridiculous! And why can't either of YOU serve me?
Colleague: We would honestly love to but it's out of our hands as we are separate concessions and have our own tills.
Man: You do know that you're about to lose a sale, right?
Me: No, we're not. We're a part of *clothing concession*, not *other concession*
(Seriously, when is this guy going to get it through his head that we are NOT a part of that particular concession and he is getting mad at the WRONG people?)
Colleague: I will put a call out to reception. He may not have left yet and is in the building somewhere. Please wait here, and I'll be as quick as I can.
So my colleague left for the reception/customer service desk. She went out of her way to try and help this guy and he just glared at her as she walked off, like she'd spat in his face and called his mother something horrible. In the meantime, he paced up and down, the entire length of our concession and the one that was unmanned at that time, muttering under his breath and giving me the occasional dirty glance. Then he came up to me and demanded to know why my colleague was taking so long.
Er... she's been gone for about 30 seconds? Have some patience.
She came back and had to inform him that the guy who manned the concession had left.
Man: Oh for goodness sake! Well I won't be coming here again, not if this is the way you treat your customers!
And off he went! I just felt so angry. If it's one thing I hate more than anything, it's customers who direct their frustrations to the wrong people. I just don't know what else we could have done! It wasn't our fault! We TRIED to help, but obviously that wasn't good enough *sigh*
Oh, and a little bit more additional info regarding how the concessions are set up:
The concession I work at has a massive sign telling customers what it is, plus signs saying that we're a concession, please pay at our tills, (this was implemented because of the reason customers got confused and thought we were a part of the store we're situated within) and a big sign behind our till saying to please pay here, and our company name.
Plus there's a thick wall separating us with the other concession, and it's on a higher level that you can reach by walking up a ramp.
Man: Excuse me. Where exactly am I supposed to pay for this?
Colleague: Oh, I'm not sure, where did you get it?
Man: *pointing to other concession* Up there
Colleague: You have to pay there, they have a separate till
Man: Well how am I supposed to pay if there's no one there? Can't you serve me?
Me: We can't unfortunately. There should be someone there anyway, let's have a look
So me and my colleague walked over and the guy who manned that particular concession (it's very small and I think there's just a manager and an assistant manager, who both work different days to each other) had taken the till off. He'd obviously gone home early. So we told him what had happened and he flew off the handle at US, as though we were somehow responsible.
Man: Oh, well some shopping experience THIS is turning out to be! You call this customer service? What a joke!
Colleague: We don't know why he left early and I understand that this is an inconvenience to...
Man: This is ridiculous! And why can't either of YOU serve me?
Colleague: We would honestly love to but it's out of our hands as we are separate concessions and have our own tills.
Man: You do know that you're about to lose a sale, right?
Me: No, we're not. We're a part of *clothing concession*, not *other concession*
(Seriously, when is this guy going to get it through his head that we are NOT a part of that particular concession and he is getting mad at the WRONG people?)
Colleague: I will put a call out to reception. He may not have left yet and is in the building somewhere. Please wait here, and I'll be as quick as I can.
So my colleague left for the reception/customer service desk. She went out of her way to try and help this guy and he just glared at her as she walked off, like she'd spat in his face and called his mother something horrible. In the meantime, he paced up and down, the entire length of our concession and the one that was unmanned at that time, muttering under his breath and giving me the occasional dirty glance. Then he came up to me and demanded to know why my colleague was taking so long.
Er... she's been gone for about 30 seconds? Have some patience.
She came back and had to inform him that the guy who manned the concession had left.
Man: Oh for goodness sake! Well I won't be coming here again, not if this is the way you treat your customers!
And off he went! I just felt so angry. If it's one thing I hate more than anything, it's customers who direct their frustrations to the wrong people. I just don't know what else we could have done! It wasn't our fault! We TRIED to help, but obviously that wasn't good enough *sigh*
Oh, and a little bit more additional info regarding how the concessions are set up:
The concession I work at has a massive sign telling customers what it is, plus signs saying that we're a concession, please pay at our tills, (this was implemented because of the reason customers got confused and thought we were a part of the store we're situated within) and a big sign behind our till saying to please pay here, and our company name.
Plus there's a thick wall separating us with the other concession, and it's on a higher level that you can reach by walking up a ramp.
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