Customers That Laugh At You

[braindead]

I don't have customers laugh at me because I work on the phones I don't have the ability to give SC's the nasty look but I have learned to politely rip them a new one when they make me angry. Here are a list of things that will cause a tongue lashing.

-Be rude to me and order me to help. (this one happens all the time)
-Talk down to me because I am not a manager also because I am female
-Blame me for things I have no control over like the postal service, other companies, the weather, their kids, their stupid answering machine and the other endless list of reasons people are having a bad day.
-above all I don’t care if you had to hold for 15 minutes when you have been chewing me out for 30.

sorry a bit of a rant there.

[pbmods]

Makes you wonder how many lives were "lost at sea" because they were rude to the search and rescue team?

(Yeah, probably zero. But in fantasy land, you could walk to Europe on 'em!)

[Canadian In Maine]

I calmly stuck on the new sticker (1.29 lbs, I will never forget it), and as I reached over to hand it to her I leaned in close and whispered, "You take this now, and get the f*ck away from me." I had murder in my eyes and I guess she could see it. Her eyes opened wide. She took the potato salad, wheeled right around, and took off at high speed.

You showed more restraint than I would have been able to manage.

The best I've been able to manage is to just put their items down and walk away because I knew if I didn't I'd say something that would cause me to lose my job.

[dragonflygrrl]

My fall-back is usually, "Sir/Ma'am, if you don't calm down and moderate your tone/language, I will be unable to help you. Would you like me to continue helping you?" After that, if they still want to cut up rough, I just smile sympathetically and say, "I'm sorry. Apparently I'm not going to be able to help you. If you'd like to come back another time when you are calmer, I'll be happy to see what I can do for you." From that point on, my feeling is that they are officially no longer customers, they are just loitering in the store, so I feel free to treat them as such.

[chainedbarista]

under different circumstances, this wouldn't have upset me so much, but we were slammed with people, and i was working my ass off to keep things going in a timely manner, so it upset me more than i'd have liked it to:

i was making drinks as usual, going at a good pace, which kept me on time (we have 3 minutes from order to hand off) and all was well. i was a little stressed from it, but not too bad (we had been getting groups of people on and off since my shift started at 830 am; it was now about 1045 am).

things were going along, i was getting ready to top off a caramel frap (how i LOATHE these things), lid it and set it out for pick up. i must have set it too close to the edge, because it fell off, throwing the frap (that junk is nasty, sticky and just plain annoying when it gets on you) everywhere, floor, counters, ceiling; then the crap drips back onto me and into my hair.

annoyed that this will slow me down and i need to remake it asap, i squint my eyes shut for a second (trying to calm down-i have a nasty temper) then i turn to get a new cup and start the remake when this old bag starts laughing as if it were the funniest thing to ever happen in the history of mankind.

that pretty much did it for me; i turn to her and say, 'it's always funny when it's SOMEONE else's mishap, isn't it?' as i accompany it with a death glare. she looked at me, then her laughing slowed then stopped.

damn, why is it that everyone thinks that things should always be laughed off? i realise it isn't a big deal, but as she was laughing, i'm more than sure she'd also start bitching about why her drink wasn't ready. duh, asshat!

good thing i was given a break after that happened...

[Meegz]

I've been laughed at when I struggle to get chairs down from the 15 foot shelf with a flimsy ladder. "Haha look at her trying to get those down, bet that sucks!"

Or sometimes customers will ask me where our red and white wine glasses are (I work at Pier 1) and I will show them. They chuckle and say "No no, get me someone that KNOWS something about red and white wine, you're a little kid". I'm 21, and I know my merchandise anyways because I work there. Or they pick up one of our CDs that have a lot of 70s/80s rock bands "DO you know these bands? Probably not, kids of the 90s don't know much" Well just how do you know?

[Lace Neil Singer]

Once at the pet centre, I was catching a pair of lovebirds for a customer when one of the little gits bit me. I was wearing gloves, but its beak went right thru the glove and right into my finger, making it gush blood everywhere. Somehow I managed to shove it into the box rather than strangling it... things weren't helped by the customer who started giggling like a moron. I glared at him, he shut up straight away. Just how is it funny to watch someone getting hurt?

[Mixed Bag]

More common than such laughing are needless jokes or even comments. I've been told I'm too quiet sometimes, even when people are looking for support, but I'll take that over desperately filling a void anyday, given how often this backfires. It's really not hard to witness something outrageous in zenlike silence once you get used to it. (I know my humour isn't always appreciated, but that's the nature of wit, and at least I try to be fairly original in the process.)

[TYFSOK]

I'm sure we're all sick of customer quips when the scanner fails to register. Somehow, every damned one of them thinks they're the first to come up with, "Oh, that means it's free, right?"

One of my fellow booksellers came up with the perfect response. Whenever a customer giggles and makes the "free" one-liner, he would look them squarely in the eye and say, "No, actually that means it's priceless. Do you still want it?"

[batmoody]

I remember this one lady, oh man she pissed me off. I work at a grocery store, and we are required to offer our customers a carryout if they have 2 or more bags. A gallon of milk or big thing of laundry soap etc, is considered one of these "bags".
We have to do it. It's our job.
This trashy old lady comes through my line, she's just kind of obnoxious anyways. She buys a gallon of milk and other stuff that fit in to a bag. I am required to offer her a carryout. (I know, I know....bad bad checker!)
Me:"Would you like a carryout with those today?"
She stands there, stares at me and just busts up laughing....
SC:"Do I look like I need a carryout?", still laughing.
I don't know why but it just pissed me off! It was just the way she was laughing. Like I just said the stupidest thing.
Me: (With hell fire shooting out my eyes) "No! But Safeway seems to think so!"
It shut her up,and I now continue to use that line every time I get smack for offering a carryout.

[COMINATCHA]

This thread reminds me of a customer I had to deal with when I worked at Target.

I was called over to the microwave section to help a customer. I get there and am faced with this really tall chunky guy, about 3 times the size of myself. He started telling me that he would like to purchase a microwave, and I had to stop myself from laughing when I heard him speak. He was very VERY feminine. He was doing all the stereotypical queer gestures, and kept calling me 'sweetie.'

His problem was that he wanted to purchase the microwave, but he didn't know how on earth he could possibly carry such a heavy thing downstairs to the register.

I raised an eyebrow.

I looked at him and again noted how much bigger than myself he was.

I sighed.

I grabbed the microwave off the shelf and proceeded to take it to the register for him.

As we walked over there, he was giggling, saying he was glad he didn't have to carry it as it looked mighty heavy. I got the last laugh however, when I set it down on the floor for him and told him to have a nice day. He suddenly looked panicked and said "Aren't you going to carry it out for me?"

Me - "No, we don't do that here."

I walked off, and laughed. Moron.

[blas]

I got treated like a total idiot at the gas station, by customers who were all on government assistance and appeared to have not made it past the 6th grade. That's some sick irony, isn't it?

Anyways, it blew my mind how customers would talk to me like an incompetent child, when in reality, I am much smarter and much better off than them. That's the way it goes in retail. Sure, most of us COULD be at a "better" or "real" job making lots more money, but whose business is it where we work anyway? If none of us were here to help you and put up with your tantrums and your belittling, you wouldn't have anywhere to get your stuff.

We need to create a "day in my shoes" event where the most notorious SC ever should have to work at a Wal-Mart or a gas station or a sit down restaurant for ONE DAY and see what it's truly like to be in our position. I bet they'd learn to never berate or belittle us ever again.

[Mixed Bag]

SC:"Do I look like I need a carryout?", still laughing....
Me: (With hell fire shooting out my eyes) "No! But Safeway seems to think so!"

Whether I'm a customer resisting policy or an employee dealing with same, I like it when the responsibility can be put on the company rather than the employee made to look like they're supporting something they disagree with. Way to go here!

In another thread someone asked, how it can be insulting for an employee to call a customer something like "sweetie" if the customer called the employee the same thing? Likewise, what's wrong with stating a company thinks something if it's that company's policy?

[RecoveringKinkoid]

[QUOTE=TYFSOK;16505]I'm sure we're all sick of customer quips when the scanner fails to register. Somehow, every damned one of them thinks they're the first to come up with, "Oh, that means it's free, right?"

QUOTE]

My sister always said the same thing about the idiots at the zoo where she worked. She worked in the birdhouse, and every time she was in an enclosure working, every genius comedian that walked by had to say "oh look at that funny bird!" And then laugh like they'd just said the most original thing in the world.

[Mixed Bag]

So that's why the zoo stopped letting employees wear boas.