Our store closes at 9. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. It became imperative at 8:50 p.m. that a customer be able to bathe her three kids, load them in the car, and come half an hour to the store to pay her bill and get her phone service turned back on. I was to wait for her. She's not only late on her bill, she's late enough that they've permanently disconnected her, but our customer service department said if she paid her bill she could get the service back on. She told them she'd be in Friday to pay it. This isn't Friday, it's the Wednesday before.
So, she's calling me at the store at ten minutes till nine with her long story about how the ATM at the mall didn't work when she was in the day before, but as soon as her kids are cleaned up and in the car, she'll be in. Uh, we close at 9. Yes, she knows that. But she wants her phone to work for calls on Thanksgiving. The process, as I explained it to her, requires that I get Customer Care to release her number again so we can reactivate it, and Customer Care is gone for the day. Oh, she says, she wants a new phone number. Still, it has to be released, we reactivate, then change the number.
She's lost her phone. Or someone stole it. Or destroyed it, depending on what point we're at in the conversation (frequently punctuated by her yelling to someone in the background, repeating the conversation). So, not only is it waiting to get the number released, but she needs a new SIM card and a phone. She doesn't think she should have to pay for a new phone, and can she use her phone from (another) carrier? Maybe.
How much do I owe, she asks? $354.18. Plus the $10 for the SIM card and $26.50 for the number change. Oh, she says, you can find some way not to charge me for all that. (Not on your life, sister.) Again, the story about having to have time to get her kids clean and dressed and in the car and get there. She began to accuse me of not wanting to help her, to which I said, "If it had been earlier in the day, we would have had no problem. It's now two minutes to closing, and you have an hour's worth of bathing and travel till you get here. The mall will be closed, let alone our store closes at 9." She reallyreallyreally wants to have her phone working for the holiday.
I have the good fortune to be in a kiosk directly beneath the loudspeakers for the mall. When she heard the announcement that the mall was closing for the day, she said, "Oh, I can hear that the mall is closing." I thought that was the end of it. "Well, I know there's a door right near your kiosk. You could let me in when I get there." No.
Lady, I don't care whether you think I'm your best friend right now, I'm not going to stay here while your children get their baths and you drive half an hour from your home. Our store is closed. I can't do anything for you even if it was open, because Customer Care is closed. I need to go home, stop at the grocery store on the way to pick up some things for the family dinner tomorrow, and get some sleep before I drive two hours to my daughter's house. I do not care that you want your phone for Thanksgiving - you should have paid the bill when it was due. You didn't, and it is not for me to make your life easy because you changed your mind and decided you want to do all this two days earlier and at the last minute.
I can't wait for Black Friday. That's when she's coming back.
So, she's calling me at the store at ten minutes till nine with her long story about how the ATM at the mall didn't work when she was in the day before, but as soon as her kids are cleaned up and in the car, she'll be in. Uh, we close at 9. Yes, she knows that. But she wants her phone to work for calls on Thanksgiving. The process, as I explained it to her, requires that I get Customer Care to release her number again so we can reactivate it, and Customer Care is gone for the day. Oh, she says, she wants a new phone number. Still, it has to be released, we reactivate, then change the number.
She's lost her phone. Or someone stole it. Or destroyed it, depending on what point we're at in the conversation (frequently punctuated by her yelling to someone in the background, repeating the conversation). So, not only is it waiting to get the number released, but she needs a new SIM card and a phone. She doesn't think she should have to pay for a new phone, and can she use her phone from (another) carrier? Maybe.
How much do I owe, she asks? $354.18. Plus the $10 for the SIM card and $26.50 for the number change. Oh, she says, you can find some way not to charge me for all that. (Not on your life, sister.) Again, the story about having to have time to get her kids clean and dressed and in the car and get there. She began to accuse me of not wanting to help her, to which I said, "If it had been earlier in the day, we would have had no problem. It's now two minutes to closing, and you have an hour's worth of bathing and travel till you get here. The mall will be closed, let alone our store closes at 9." She reallyreallyreally wants to have her phone working for the holiday.
I have the good fortune to be in a kiosk directly beneath the loudspeakers for the mall. When she heard the announcement that the mall was closing for the day, she said, "Oh, I can hear that the mall is closing." I thought that was the end of it. "Well, I know there's a door right near your kiosk. You could let me in when I get there." No.
Lady, I don't care whether you think I'm your best friend right now, I'm not going to stay here while your children get their baths and you drive half an hour from your home. Our store is closed. I can't do anything for you even if it was open, because Customer Care is closed. I need to go home, stop at the grocery store on the way to pick up some things for the family dinner tomorrow, and get some sleep before I drive two hours to my daughter's house. I do not care that you want your phone for Thanksgiving - you should have paid the bill when it was due. You didn't, and it is not for me to make your life easy because you changed your mind and decided you want to do all this two days earlier and at the last minute.
I can't wait for Black Friday. That's when she's coming back.
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