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Ruined an office's christmas...go figure :P

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  • Ruined an office's christmas...go figure :P

    At the spa we are already booking services for the Christmas season and slots are filling up fast. But not everybody seems to understand this for some reason. Take, for example, the lady I just spoke with...

    me: Hi, this is <me> calling from the <spa> spa. I am returning the message you left earlier this morning. How may I assist you?

    lady: Hi, yes. I wanted to book services for the girls in the office for December 22 in the late afternoon.

    me: Okay, how many of you would there be and what services are you looking for?

    lady: Five of us are coming in and we want five 30 minute massages, and then four of us want pedicures and one wants a manicure.

    me (after looking at the schedule for that date): On that day we only have four massage therapists on all day, and there is not currently enough afternoon availability to get all those pedicures and manicures in. Was there another day you would be interested in?

    lady: What do you mean? When I called on Friday I was told there was enough availability for at least the manicures and pedicure at the same time!

    me: I do apologize, but that was almost a week ago that you called and those slots have since been filled.

    lady: Well, what am I supposed to do now? What day do you have available to fit all of us in then?

    me: We can do it the morning of December 23 starting at 9am.

    lady: That's just not going to work! We need this all done by the evening of December 22nd for our staff Christmas party. You need to get us in!

    me (after looking at the previous days of that same week): I do apologize, but that week does tend to fill up quickly and I am not seeing availability to get you all in at the same time.

    lady: I guess I'll just have to look somewhere else then. What do you say to that?

    me: I fully understand your frustration, ma'am, but we simply are not able to accommodate you on the date that you want.

    lady: You can move people around to get us in!

    me: No, sorry, I cannot and will not do that. They booked in when the slots were still available and unless they cancel we will not move them.

    lady: Fine! You've just ruined our Christmas!

    me: Sorry to hear that. Have a nice day <click>

    I don't *need* to get anybody in, and I certainly don't give a rat's ass if you take your business elsewhere. One thing in the spa business is that for every one person who says they're going somewhere else, we've got at least five new people trying to book in. And I am not about to move a guest who had the intelligence to book an available appointment as soon as they could jump on it. Nor are we going to hold time slots for tentative appointments for longer than the end of that business day. If you'd had us block those slots off on Friday and didn't bother getting to us until today to actually book them, well, they would have already been un-blocked no later than Saturday morning. Sucks to be that 'lady'.

  • #2
    My answer, "You made my day, I win the office pool on who will ruin a Christmas first.". I am sure she expected you to roll over so as not to lose a customer. Also if she is calling so late in the season there is a good chance NO SPA has an opening early in the day on December 22.

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    • #3
      One of the downsides of my current job: I no longer get to ruin Christmas.
      Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be evil.

      "I never said I wasn't a horrible person."--Me, almost daily

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      • #4
        Ya know, everytime I hear that "we will take our business elsewhere" line I can't help but wonder where they think their money goes.

        Do they think it goes into our pockets?

        Because as far as I know it goes into the company pockets. And I get paid whether or not you decide to shop here. So how exactly am I supposed to care if you go elsewhere? Especially as these people are either one and done customers or they spend so little that the company certainly won't miss them.
        Don’t worry about what I’m up to. Worry about why you are worried about what I’m up to.

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        • #5
          She ruined her own Christmas by being unreasonable. Sorry, but you'll have to try harder.
          Customers should always be served . . . to the nearest great white.

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          • #6
            So does this win for the earliest ruin for this year?
            AkaiKitsune
            Sarcasm dear, sarcasm. I’m well aware that dealing with civilians in any capacity will skin your faith in humanity alive, then pickle anything that remains so as to watch it shrivel up into an immortal husk thus reminding you of how dead inside you now are.

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            • #7
              When the sales person at my employer expressed hesitation at getting a lot of alterations marked before closing, the customer on the phone threatened he'd take it "to the store next door." They are less likely to stay open five minutes extra than *we* are....and I do their alterations, too.

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              • #8
                If she tackles other places at the same speed she tackled yours (calling and then waiting a week before calling back) she'll be lucky to get in anywhere before the new year.
                Customer service: More efficient than a Dementor's kiss
                ~ Mr Hero

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                • #9
                  I'm telling you, Christmas creep keeps getting worse and worse. Ruining someone's Christmas before Halloween. It's just not traditional. Pretty soon you'll be ruining people's Christmases before Labor Day.

                  Although to be fair, I do seem to recall someone saying their next Christmas was ruined during the clearance sales the week after Christmas.
                  "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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                  • #10
                    I think the lead up to Christmas is going to do my head in with people getting angry that we can't wave a magic wand and fit them in for the date and time they are demanding. Hell, I work here and I can't get in for appointments when *I* want! I do have approval to book my appointments to fall during my shifts, largely because I work all five days a week that we're open, and I will work late/early to cover the time I'm not actually working while I get my services done. I've actually rescheduled my own appointments in order to fit customers in - sure, I grumbled about it, but I also know that regular customers come first as they pay full price and I only pay half.

                    Earlier today I had somebody chew me out because we couldn't put all six people in their group into one room for pedicures, and how other places could do it for them no problem. I had to explain to them how our various rooms work and how many people they can each fit for services...only to be told to move things around to accommodate them or they'd go elsewhere. I very *nicely* told them that they were welcome to go wherever they could get their desires accommodated. I somehow managed to remain polite and not swear, until the call disconnected. It seems to be a regular thing for all the women in an office to decide to go to the spa as part of their holiday celebrations, but most do not seem to realize that they need to book well in advance and then blame us for not kissing their asses. Bleh.

                    And my manager wonders why I have no issues working away doing daily audits in my little back office. Numbers don't argue.

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                    • #11
                      Quoth KuariKaydrith View Post
                      <clip> It seems to be a regular thing for all the women in an office to decide to go to the spa as part of their holiday celebrations, but most do not seem to realize that they need to book well in advance and then blame us for not kissing their asses. Bleh. <clip>
                      The answer is simple. Just go ahead and book their six pedicures for Dec. 22, 2022. (That date is a Thursday.)

                      "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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