My Worst Ever Customer!

[chrisistheman]

Today was my WORSTever customer encounter. This guy is walking out with his kids, and I motion with my hand to proceed, because I was walking in. He got real mad. He started yelling at me "YOU DON'T DO THAT I GOT MY DAUGHTER HERE IMPATIENT" and yelled at me for 30 seconds. I told him I was waving at nobody. He got pissed, and rushed off to the manager to complain. He yelled at my boss for 5 minutes straight. LOUD. He even wanted me to come with him. I wouldn't. Then my boss says "Its okay". He actually backed me up on this one, but a cashier asked what happened. I said "The guy was being a d--k." Then the cashier started hassling me over saying that. I politely told her no. Then I got pissed and yelled at her, because she wouldn't let me alone. She told the boss, and I got backed up for the A******le's behavior, but he was pissed I called him a d---k. I found out later that the jerks wife was in line and heard me say the d---k comment. She wouldn't tell her husband because if he found out I called him a d---k, he would try to pick a fight. Overall, its been a day.

[Mighty Girl]

Well, he should have just said "no thanks" and let you go first then. There's no need to have a fit.

On the other hand, using an expletive within earshot of customers isn't a classy move either.

[One-Fang]

There was some legal case where a guy in a van was claimed to have waved on the pedestrians waiting to cross in front of him. Unfortunately, a vehicle coming up behind him in the other lane didn't see them and didn't stop. He denied the wave anyway, but the basic claim was somehow that since he waved, he was saying it was safe to go through, so he was responsible for the consequences.

It seems the correct way to handle such situations now is to never wave. If you must wait for someone else to do what they're doing before you can continue, just stand and wait. Impassive. Make no eye-contact. Give no signals.

[LostMyMind]

Quoth One-Fang

but the basic claim was somehow that since he waved, he was saying it was safe to go through, so he was responsible for the consequences.

Yep, that's called directing traffic. Never ever direct traffic unless you're willing to pay for any "damages" that occurs from idiots.

As far as the OP. Since he was PMSing , I would have just told the dude. "I've been taught to hold the door for the ladies."

[chantal]

Quoth One-Fang

If you must wait for someone else to do what they're doing before you can continue, just stand and wait. Impassive. Make no eye-contact. Give no signals.

aka be a robot!

[One-Fang]

Quoth LostMyMind

Yep, that's called directing traffic.

Oh I dunno. Standing on a street waving around I could understand, but sitting in your vehicle and waving on a pedestrian only means "I will give way to you, go ahead in front of me now please".

[karma_gypsy]

I can understand where you're coming from, it was just a polite, friendly and respectful gesture. He had no reason to blow up at you, I can't believe he even did - you don't respond to a friendly gesture by yelling at someone.

I do the same thing, my husband does the same thing - even when he's driving. We always let others go first, sometimes they'll even be waving at us to go through.

Apparently that man doesn't have any respect for anyone else around him and doesn't know friendliness when he sees it. What a bad thing to do in front of children . . .

[Titi]

Um exactly how were you impatient, when you waved them to proceed?

Methinks someone doesn't know much about hand signals (hopefully his wife was driving. we wouldn't want him to be passing another car only to have a driver wave him over and him get road rage about it and stop the car and go after the other driver.) or maybe it was just the fact that it was an employee that it had to be rude because it was an employee.