He almost came over the counter... almost (Need your thoughts)

[Mr Slugger]

Well I had fun yesterday. On top of having to work a double I had my first customer ever come over the counter. And I think he actually may end up being the first one to do so very soon.

Here's the story as far as I know. We have this lady that comes in to our store and she buys a pint of vodka or rum everyday, on the odd day she may buy two. She's a nice & sweet woman who may have a drinking problem. Although honestly on the drinking problem scale of 1 to 10 I would probably classify her as a 4 maybe 5. And about half our customers are in that range

Needless to say her husband doesn't like her drinking. According to him she has a problem and has come in demanding us to stop selling to her. Now as far as not selling to customers because they're alcoholics to us there's a number of issues and red flags. 1. She's a grown adult capable of making her own decisions. 2. She's not drunk when we see her. 3. If she's that interested in getting alcohol then she's just going to go up the street. Plus on top of that legally there's no reason we can't sell to her, and there's always the possibility of her suing us if we just said we can't serve you. On top of that I mean, it may sound mean but I'm not a babysitter for people's life problems. As the other owner said why can't he control her. I mean if she's an alcoholic take her to detox, take her to AA, leave no money for her at the house, or maybe move so you're not 4 doors down from the liquor store!! Plus hell there was a time where she wasn't buying from us and he was still coming in and yelling at us.

At any rate to get back to the story. He came in yesterday screaming at me about how he had told me not to serve her and I (me personally) continue to serve her. (mind you I'm only in this store 2 days a week now) And dared me to sell to her one more time and see what happens. His arm came over the counter as he pointed to me, and of course I wasn't able to get it through his head that I can't do anything. Of course the thing that sucks is at the time I guess I should have gotten his plate number, cause the next time he comes in I'm sure it's gonna be fun. But I mean I'll probably get his info from his wife next time I see her and then do the whole no trespass thing on him.

Anyone in the liquor business have any thoughts? Or does anyone think that the I should kick the wife out of the store?

[lordlundar]

You need to talk with the manager/owner and inform them that the husband is now making threats of harm on you. With that, they most likely will now have reason to ban both of them from the place.

And they actually can simply refuse to sell to her, as it's a private business. Most don't as there is no harm in it. Now that there is, they should start enforcing it.

[Slytovhand]

Yea... I would second Lord L there! On both accounts...

Maybe Boozy will offer some advice...??

[crazylegs]

Your manager needs to balance the right of the lady to do her shopping against your right not to be threatened with violence. She can get her spirits elsewhere, ban her.

[Mr Slugger]

Your manager needs to balance the right of the lady to do her shopping against your right not to be threatened with violence.

I think the important thing here is I'm the manager/co-owner. So what I say is law. I'm more or less seeing what your feedback on the situation.

[crazylegs]

I think the important thing here is I'm the manager/co-owner. So what I say is law. I'm more or less seeing what your feedback on the situation.

Ah, didn't know that!

Ban them, for your own sake.

[freeatlast]

I used to work part time in a liquor store. At that time, you could refuse service to anyone without giving a reason. If it were me, I would definitely ban him, but I probably would continue to serve her as long as she doesn't cause any problems.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Personally, I don't think you have just cause to ban her, she's done nothing wrong. Why should she pay the price for the behavior of another?

Ban him. In fact, you and maybe the whole store should take out a restraining order against him. He's the one who threatened you.

Just because people are married does not mean that they are the same person.

[lordlundar]

Personally, I don't think you have just cause to ban her, she's done nothing wrong. Why should she pay the price for the behavior of another?

By the same logic, why should Mr Slugger pay the price for her actions? He's being physically threatened as a result of her being in the store.

On a different approach, if the guy gets banned but she doesn't, the odds of him following the ban before he's taken away in handcuffs is low at best. Better to ban the both of them and let them work it out that risk harm by only banning him.

As for the just cause, it reminds me of the nice simple phrase I love to hear in this situation:

"We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."

To many people think that if they don't own it and they can go into it, it's considered public property. Umm, no. It's private property and you are granted the privilege to enter. It also means that that privilege can be removed by the representatives of the owners (the staff) at any time for any reason.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

By the same logic, why should Mr Slugger pay the price for her actions? He's being physically threatened as a result of her being in the store.

.

I beg to differ. He's being physially threatened as a result of THE HUSBAND being in the store.

By your logic, she's responsible for the actions of her asshole husband. She's not. Now, if it were her underage son doing the threatening, then yeah. She's responsible. But we are talking about a supposedly grown man.

If a man was slapping his wife around, and then said "She pissed me off and therefore it's her fault", you wouldn't then go, "Oh, well, there you go. She made him do it." Of course you wouldn't. So you can't blame her for his actions. The wife is no more responsible for her husband than the OP is responsible for the wife. Blaming her for what he does is just as wrong as blaming the OP for what the wife does.

[tollbaby]

I agree that you should treat the husband and the wife as two separate entities, especially as they don't shop together. She's not causing the slightest bit of trouble. Why should her retail privileges be revoked?

Husband, on the other hand.... Get his plate number, phone it in to the police as a problem customer who has been issuing threats. Explain the situation to them, and believe me, they *will* treat it seriously. Guy may not want his wife drinking, but that's not *YOUR* problem. As long as she isn't in any way incapacitated or inebriated while in your establishment, there is no reason not to serve her. If he has a problem with it, that's between HIM and HER.

My dad once called Sears to tell them to close my mother's credit account (my dad is a control freak, and my mom's a bit loose with the credit cards LOL). Sears told him to blow it out his ear - they don't care if the husband and wife are arguing about it, the account is under HER name.

Definitely do not sit back and allow husband to act that way - if he was that way with you, imagine how he's treating your staff. As co-owner and manager, you are responsible for their safety. If someone's making threats, take it seriously.