rude freeloaders and the inability to deal with them as we should

[chainedbarista]

anyone else have a dilemma like this?

it usually revolves around free water or samples; these people demand or even just bark out the word to us, rather than ask, you know, with courtesy, considering it actually costs us to give these out.

we have one pair, brother and sister, who come in without fail at least four times a week; say they want water, are rather rude about it and leave without so much as an acknowledgement for our efforts.

the kicker happened last week: the brother idiot shows up, (note, these two have NEVER bought anything here and never will), leans up against the counter, all ghetto style, and utters 'water.' no, can i have a cup, can i get some water, just 'water.'

i think the next time this little assboil comes in and pulls this crap, that i'll remind them that the counter isn't there to support their lazy butt and to ASK nicely, rather than mutter out something.

he can complain all he likes; he's not a customer, just a freeloader, so go ahead and complain, it won't get you anywhere, assboil.

[rvdammit]

Direct him to the aisle with water in?

[scorpionf]

Does your store sell bottles of water??? You could just say "sure, it's $___" and hold the bottle of water in your hand!

*** $___ = insert price

[CanadaGirl]

They come in 4 times a week for free water? Don't the taps at home work?

[BlakeMP]

May I just announce here that "assboil" is my new Favorite Insult of the Day?

[chainedbarista]

we do sell bottles of water, but these cheapskates will never cough up the cash when they can be freeloaders and get it without contributing so much as a cent.

i hate these types with a passion; the frequent offenders make me want to drag them in back for a much needed beating.

unfortunately, the geniuses at corporate won't allow us to charge even a quarter to cover the cost of the cup. why? because this takes away the 'community' feel we're supposed to create.

why in god's name (or the goddess' or cthulu, etc.) would we want to encourage freeloading on this scale, when it actually costs us is beyond me. once in a while is one thing, but several times a week is quite another. buy something and contribute, cheap asses!

i don't know about their taps, i just know i'd like them to dissapear...permanently.

[BusBus]

If you want to passively get rid of them, start giving them warm tap water to drink. That's never refreshing.

-BB

[chainedbarista]

i might try the 'special water' trick an old coworker used; he would put peppermint syrup in it and hand it out.

mmm, peppermint water.

[BookstoreEscapee]

May I just announce here that "assboil" is my new Favorite Insult of the Day?

I don't know, "asshat" is still my favorite

BN cafe has a pitcher of ice water with lemon on the condiment counter, with little plastic (probably 4 oz.) cups. So if you just ask for water you get directed there (though if someone really wants it they'll give a regular cup of water with a lid).

In the cafeteria at work they have fountain sodas, but if you just get a cup of ice they charge you 5 cents for the cup.

[Lyse]

The Starbucks that I worked at had this problem. It's a 24 store in a relatively suburban area, so naturally this is the place for all the teenagers and unemployed 20 somethings to hang out for 3-4 hours at a time at least 4 times a week. They would all chip in to buy one drink (usually a kids cocoa) and then everyone else got water. During the holidays, the DM spent two overnight shifts at our store doing marksouts and such and asked us about this. We explained that it was a regular problem, but we weren't allowed to do much about it.

Two days later new word came down. Water could be requested if the person had already bought something (although, we did have leeway for those that we knew were regular customers/non troublemakers or with a group of paying customers). Also, any requests for water were to be treated as a regular purchase. That meant that the person had to get in line and wait, request the water and then pick it up at the bar in the order it was recieved.

You wouldn't believe the whining when this went into effect. Oh, wait. Yes, you would. By the time that I ended up having to leave a month later, our persistant loiterers were down to maybe one visit a week and for a much shorter duration. And hey - actually paying customers increased since they were driven off by the loud drunken/drugged profanity laden conversations being held (and once we would ask them to remove themselves from the store itself, they would just end up outside where we could still hear them).

[chainedbarista]

we do (i do with great enjoyment) make them get in line; i don't give freebies priority over a paying customer ever, and if they have a problem with it, there's the door, bud.

got an attitude? i can make it even easier, there's the door, and you will go out it, sans water.

it still doesn't keep them from coming around; much like alleycats, if it's there and you have to give to them, they'll come.

*sigh*

[Gurndigarn]

By the time that I ended up having to leave a month later, our persistant loiterers were down to maybe one visit a week and for a much shorter duration. And hey - actually paying customers increased since they were driven off by the loud drunken/drugged profanity laden conversations being held

That's what many CEOs who never work in the field forget. A small percentage of your customers cost you money... but that small percentage of people can cost you a lot: in scammed/stolen goods, in loss of image (scaring away profitable customers), and loss of employee satisfaction.

It's not so bad in the places that have a specific "what to do if the guy's a jerk" plan in place-- with checks and balances to avoid sucky employee abuse-- but the places that say "suck it up; they're a customer and you're not" aren't as profitable as they should be.

[Becks]

If you want to passively get rid of them, start giving them warm tap water to drink.

I happen to LIKE warm tap water. I HATE cold water, I really do.

But that's just me.

...

[bigjimaz]

The 'az' part of my nik here refers to the fact that I lived in Arizona.

In Arizona, it is illegal to refuse someone drinking water, no matter how bad you want to tell them to stick it up their hind quarters.