No sense of humor?

[Ayche]

This one is from a while ago, the same store I'm at now, but before I switched over to suits. I was working the register in the mens department when this guy, who is apparently VERY proud of his wife, comes in to make a payment on his store credit card. It is a very large payment, larger then any I had seen at that point. Now, this was a while ago, so I'm not exactly sure of the whole conversation, but I'll try to get it as accurate as possible.

H = I, who else?
PM = The very proud husband

H: "Wow, making a big payment."
PM: "Yep, I like to make sure to pay it all off, so my wife can use it."
H: "Ah, yes, pay it off so she can run it up again." (Said as a joke. I banter with my customers, and most get it, and joke back...but this guy, didn't. Wish I would have realized earlier.)
PM: "What do you mean?"
H: "Well, you know how it is with women and shopping." (another joke. And before anyone gets on me, I have many female friends, and they all love to shop.)
PM: "My wife always makes sure to pay off her card when she uses it." (I, mistakenly, thought he was bantering back to me here...oh how wrong I was..."
H: "Oh really? Then why isn't she here doing so?" (Big mistake on my part... >.<)
PM: "Excuse me!?"
H: "Um...I...asked why she isn't doing this...you said she always pays it off...it was a joke, sir." (I am not realizing that this guy isn't the best person to be joking with.)
PM: "I don't like what you are inferring. My wife is a good customer, and she always pays off her card!!"
H: "I'm sorry, sir, it was a joke. I thought we were joking back and forth."
PM: "Well, we weren't. Where's you supervisor."
I point over to J, my sup at that time, then repeat that it was intended as a joke, and it obviously went farther then I thought it would. He looked at me with the stink eye, then did that "Uh huh, right..." type of nod at me, before walking away.

Anyone else have this? A customer so proud about something they just can't take a joke? Or you mistake an agitated reply as a 'witty banter' type of reply, and go a little too far?

[Broomjockey]

See, I know something similar has happened to me, and I back-pedalled so quickly that I could have set land speed records. But I can't recall the specific incidents.

I DO remember that sometimes, the person pretended to be offended, and killed themselves laughing at my panic. I was not amused. -_-

[RammsteinGirl]

Yeah, when it comes to working with customers.. I've found it's best just not to joke around at all unless you are 100% positive they're reciprocating it. I know that sucks, I'm a huge jokester myself, but it's best to just err on the side of caution. Not faulting you (the guy sounds like he has the personality of a dead fish) but after he said, "Yep, I like to make sure to pay it all off, so my wife can use it," you should have said, "Oh, that's nice," and stopped there.

When I'm ringing customers up, I usually don't initiate conversation other than the usual pleasantries ("Hello," "How are you?" etc.). If we do get into a conversation about whatever random topic, I make sure that I don't say anything that could even be remotely construed as offensive. It sucks it has to be that way - I can't stand tight-assed people! I think if I didn't see the humor in situations constantly, I'd go frickin' crazy. Humor makes the hardships of life easier to deal with.

And yes.. women do tend to spend more money shopping than men, especially on clothing/accessories. When you see something cute.. it's just SO hard to resist! Men will never understand.

[Listerfiend]

Quoth RammsteinGirl

Yeah, when it comes to working with customers.. I've found it's best just not to joke around at all unless you are 100% positive they're reciprocating it. I know that sucks, I'm a huge jokester myself, but it's best to just err on the side of caution...

It works both ways; I hate it when customers joke around with me only because it's often the second thing out of their mouths (after "hi") and I haven't been able to gauge personalities, intent, etc., and I assume the same of customers (but some always slip through the cracks). I figure that unless the customer is in frequently I won't joke around with them, especially since I deal with so many elderly people, and a lot of times they just plain don't like sarcasm like I do.

[Marxfan]

I've bantered with customers before, and I've stuck my foot in my mouth, Elliot Reid from "Scrubs"-style more than once. But I still think a bit of humor on the job keeps your day from being boring.

Still, I know you didn't mean to offend, and some people are just too damn sensitive. Don't even worry about it.

[Shabo]

Man, what a tight-bum! He could stand to loosen up a little.

Quoth RammsteinGirl

And yes.. women do tend to spend more money shopping than men, especially on clothing/accessories. When you see something cute.. it's just SO hard to resist! Men will never understand.

Don't even get me started on shoes!

[SubwayGirl]

I love to joke around with customers, but have learned that most people cannot take a joke at all! So now, I only joke around with the regular customers. It does suck to have to restrain myself, every great once inawhile I slip though. You can tell when a customer is a "tight-ass" because if you look at their expression it looks like they have been sucking on lemons.

[Imogene]

Quoth Shabo

Don't even get me started on shoes!

"Oh my Gawd! Shoes!"

[GyroKat]

Actually, it's not a very good topic to joke about. I mean, I personally HATE shopping, shoes, high heels, dresses, skirts, pink/bright colours, and basically all that's generally considered girly.

It's no better than joking about black people stealing/doing other criminal stuff or other stupid generalisations. Just because most of the women you know or heard about are girly and loves to shop, doesn't mean that everyone does. And the ones who don't are likely to be offended if you just assume they're like that, based on a stereotype.

I'd personally be pissed if a clerk made some joke about me having spent all my money on shopping if I went in to pay off a credit card. I'd find it extremely un-funny at best.

I'm sure this man has a wife who's careful with her finances, and was thus offended when you assumed she was some shopaholic with no sense of responsibility. A big mistake on your part. A customer isn't sucky just because you joke with the wrong people

Generally, it's not a good idea to joke around unless the other person starts.

[digilight]

While I like to think I have a good sense of humor, I also realize that not everyone does. The best rule of thumb is allways error to the side of caution. Any thing that could potentialy cause an issue like that is best left unsaid. Now if it was a regular or a friend who you know wouldn't be offended then I would say its OK.

For example, I have a customer who I've been dealing with for many many years. He's a great guy who has a hard job, he's an attorney who deals with both family court (Children's rights) as well as criminal defense. He has to joke to deal with the stress from the bullshit he see's and hears on a daily basis. We always joke back and forth when he comes in, and it always pushes the envelope of bad taste. But we both find it funny and have no problem with it, I know he's always kidding and its just his way of releaving stress. Plus if theres ever anyone around the comments immediatly cease.

Now I would never joke with most of my other clients the same way, but each one is allways a different case. You just have to use caution.

A good rule of thumb, if you are unsure. Imagine what your DM or company owner/board member would think or say if you made the same comments to them. Its just a simple take on the old "never say anything that you wouldn't say to your grandmother concept". You should usually be safe if you feel that you could say it to a high ranking company official (unless Lewis Black happens to be a VP at your company, then just ignore this idea).