Tweet
It Weighs 32 Pounds....Where Were You Planning to Lug It?
This happened on Saturday night. I was not having a good day, and this woman was one of my last customers. I wanted to strangle her. And yes, I was kinda sucky to her.
She was looking at what's left of our safe section. For some reason, the plano change pulled all but one of the displays.
First of all, she simply couldn't communicate what she wanted. She kept saying she wanted a "simple cash box" but she was looking at SAFES. This conversation may not seem particularly sucky just reading it here, but you could tell just by listening to her that she wasn't quite all there intellectually speaking, and it drove me nuts.
She looks at the one remaining display.
SC: How big is that inside?
Me: Half a cubic foot.
SC: Can I see it?
Me: OK. *pulls down display so she can see the inside*
SC: Oh...there's no thing to carry it with?
You mean a handle?
Me: No, there isn't. Did you need to take this with you somewhere?
SC: Huh?
Me: Are you going to be leaving this at home or do you need it to be portable?
SC: No, it's just going to stay in one place.
Me: They you really don't need a handle. Besides, this weighs 32 pounds and isn't MEANT to be portable.
Then she starts looking at a different one.
SC: How big is this inside?
Me (reading from the box): 0.2 cubic feet.
SC: So it's smaller than the other one?
Me: Yes.
SC: Then why is it $99 when the other one is $37???
I hate this kind of question. I hate it more than oil hates water. The price is the price. I don't set it or control it, and most of the time I have no clue why any given item is more or less expensive than another similar item. Thankfully, I knew the answer this time.
Me: Well, this one has an electronic lock, and the other one just uses a key.
SC: Oh........can I see the inside?
Me: I'm sorry, but it's a sealed package.
SC: Well.....*running her fingernail along the tape*...it's just tape. You could always retape it.
Arguably, this was a reasonable request.....but I was already in bad mood and this woman was already driving me nuts. So I leveled with her.
Me: I'm sorry, but the problem is that once I do that, everyone's going to assume it was returned and is going to ask me for a discount, so I can't do it.
SC: So I can't see it?
Me: No, sorry
(Totally broke the rules there. "Never say no to a customer.....")
So then she goes back to looking at the first one.
SC: Oh, this one doesn't have a thing to carry it.....
Oh come on, this again? The word is HANDLE, and in the minute or so since you last made that observation, you managed to forget?
I was just about ready to explode at this point. Like I said, I was having a bad night to start with, and I just could not take this woman's stupidity.
Me: Is there anything else you need?
SC: No.
I quickly excused myself to the back room so I could grab my head and keep it from exploding.
This happened on Saturday night. I was not having a good day, and this woman was one of my last customers. I wanted to strangle her. And yes, I was kinda sucky to her.
She was looking at what's left of our safe section. For some reason, the plano change pulled all but one of the displays.
First of all, she simply couldn't communicate what she wanted. She kept saying she wanted a "simple cash box" but she was looking at SAFES. This conversation may not seem particularly sucky just reading it here, but you could tell just by listening to her that she wasn't quite all there intellectually speaking, and it drove me nuts.
She looks at the one remaining display.
SC: How big is that inside?
Me: Half a cubic foot.
SC: Can I see it?
Me: OK. *pulls down display so she can see the inside*
SC: Oh...there's no thing to carry it with?
You mean a handle?
Me: No, there isn't. Did you need to take this with you somewhere?
SC: Huh?
Me: Are you going to be leaving this at home or do you need it to be portable?
SC: No, it's just going to stay in one place.
Me: They you really don't need a handle. Besides, this weighs 32 pounds and isn't MEANT to be portable.
Then she starts looking at a different one.
SC: How big is this inside?
Me (reading from the box): 0.2 cubic feet.
SC: So it's smaller than the other one?
Me: Yes.
SC: Then why is it $99 when the other one is $37???
I hate this kind of question. I hate it more than oil hates water. The price is the price. I don't set it or control it, and most of the time I have no clue why any given item is more or less expensive than another similar item. Thankfully, I knew the answer this time.
Me: Well, this one has an electronic lock, and the other one just uses a key.
SC: Oh........can I see the inside?
Me: I'm sorry, but it's a sealed package.
SC: Well.....*running her fingernail along the tape*...it's just tape. You could always retape it.
Arguably, this was a reasonable request.....but I was already in bad mood and this woman was already driving me nuts. So I leveled with her.
Me: I'm sorry, but the problem is that once I do that, everyone's going to assume it was returned and is going to ask me for a discount, so I can't do it.
SC: So I can't see it?
Me: No, sorry
(Totally broke the rules there. "Never say no to a customer.....")
So then she goes back to looking at the first one.
SC: Oh, this one doesn't have a thing to carry it.....
Oh come on, this again? The word is HANDLE, and in the minute or so since you last made that observation, you managed to forget?
I was just about ready to explode at this point. Like I said, I was having a bad night to start with, and I just could not take this woman's stupidity.
Me: Is there anything else you need?
SC: No.
I quickly excused myself to the back room so I could grab my head and keep it from exploding.
Comment