Have you ever been the SC?

[Maevis]

*raises hand*

I'll be the first to admit that the reality-politeness filter of my brain occasionaly short-circuits which leads to incidents like this:

I went to the convenience store to buy a pack of cigarrettes.
It was a store that I went to nearly every day.
And every time I bought smokes, I was carded...without fail.
And yet, the one day I didn't have my wallet and I got carded *zzzttt* System Failure! I don't recall what I said to the cashier but it was very long winded and rude.

I left and sat in my car for about 10 minutes and had a stern talking to myself, and then marched myself back into the store to apologize to the clerk and explain that I knew she was just doing her job, and No ID meant No smokes. She avoided ringing me up for several weeks before deciding that I was only half a nut-job.


On another note have you ever had an SC apologies to you? (I'm sure one of them has...I think...maybe...)

[Jester]

Why yes. Yes I have.

[Retail Associate]

Have you ever been the SC?

Unfortunately, yes I have. But it was before I ever worked in retail and I swear I would never do it again.


The incident took place in the store I am working at now. I had bought the movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" on tape (this was before DVD's) for my son for Christmas. He was thrilled to have the movie and decided he wanted to watch it right away. He popped it into the VCR and the damn thing hopped, skipped and jumped all the way through it.

I went back to the store a few days later to get a replacement. They, of course, had no more "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" in the store so, they offered me "Pinnochio." Well, I didn't want "Pinnochio" because I knew my son wouldn't want "Pinnochio." I pointed that out to the clerk and she stated their policy regarding opened tapes - exchanges only, no refunds.

After explaining to her that when I purchase a new, unopened tape I expect it to be in good condition. And after explaining to her that it wasn't my fault this store sells junk, nor was it my fault they were out of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," I told her I wasn't leaving until I got a refund. I stood there for 15 minutes. I didn't yell or get nasty, just stood there, off to the side, staring at the clerk. Finally, they realized I wasn't going to leave and sent the hardlines manager over to refund my money.

At this time the store had only been open for about a year. Their products were even cheaper than they are now. I can't even remember all the junk I had to return because it was damaged or didn't work at all. Two things that come to mind are a motion detector light and a ceiling fan.

This store had/has a reputation for putting damaged/used/broken/worn items back on the floor for sale. I had put marks on both boxes to see if they were put back out on the shelves and they were.

[Canarr]

I suppose, yes. Though I'd say the employee involved was also sucky.

A few weeks ago, I went to BK for a cholesterol fix (a certain Burger and a small soda), and upon unwrapping it, discovered the girl at the counter had given me the wrong burger. I hadn't taken a bite yet, and went to the front to exchange it.

Me - well...
CCC - Clueless Counter Chick, not entirely fluent in German

Me: Excuse me...
CCC: Yes?
Me: Sorry to interrupt, but you gave me the wrong burger. I ordered a Grill Pepper, you gave me this Grill Steak.
CCC: You ordered Grill Steak.
*This is where I lost my polite tone, I'm afraid.*
Me: No, I ordered a Grill Pepper, and that is what I would like.
CCC: What is problem? You order Grill Steak, you didn't get Grill Steak?
Me: No, I *ordered* a Grill Pepper, and I *want* a Grill Pepper. I *got* a Grill Steak, but I don't *want* it.

By then, she'd finally gotten a clue, and exchanged my burger. I wasn't overly happy, and have avoided that particular CC since then.

[Lehk]

...He popped it into the VCR and the damn thing hopped, skipped and jumped all the way through it.

... They, of course, had no more "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" ... when I purchase a new, unopened tape I expect it to be in good condition. And after explaining to her that it wasn't my fault this store sells junk, nor was it my fault they were out of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," I told her I wasn't leaving until I got a refund. I stood there for 15 minutes. I didn't yell or get nasty, just stood there, off to the side, staring at the clerk.

you were definitely not an SC. the clerk should have paged a supervisor/manager immediately when there were no units available to replace and policy forbade giving a refund.

the whole point of having managers interact with customers is that they are allowed to use common sense and reason when dealing with company policy, while many places will discipline or even fire a clerk who bends the rules for the sake of fairness or reason.

[Tufty]

Once, in my youth, I was hanging out with friends, but I only had enough money for a video to rent, or a pack of smokes.

I rented the film, watched it, then took it back saying it didnt work, and bought some smokes with the change.


Im so ashamed...

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

There are times where I still am an SC. The only difference is after joining this site I keep it for special occasions where the retail-drone is being truely unreasonable.

I'm more tolerant of slow service as long as I can understand the reason for it (short handed, crowded diner...that sort of stuff). But as soon as the drone starts telling me that I can't do something that I know they can then I start reaching down and finding my inner bastard.

Case in point: I'm trying to return a copy of Neverwinter Nights (PC game) because the disk is unreadable by any and all CD-Roms I put it into. You can even see a discoloration in the CD that looks like the metal foil bit in the middle that the data is embedded into was folded slightly before it was encased in the plastic.

I take the package and I ask for an exchange.

Nope said the drone, it is against company policy to accept any returns for any reason. I point out the sign that states the policy against returns and shows him the bit that says that exchange for the same title for defective goods is acceptable.

Nope, he won't hear any of that. We go back and forth with me getting madder and madder until I finally snap and verbably lash this brain-dead twit within an inch of his life attracting the attention of the manager (whom he refused to call in spite of my requests that he do so).

The manager comes over and I slip back into my calm mode and explain that I have a non-working copy of NWN and that I want to exchange it for a working one and that this guy wouldn't allow me to do that even though I showed him that your posted policy stated that it was permissable.

Sometimes you have to open up the can of verbal whoop-ass to get through the Sucky Retail Drones in the world.

[Azalea]

I plan on being an SC today when I return to the pharmacy where an employee CUSSED OUT MY MOTHER!

The most memorable time I can think of is one I really and truly am ashamed of. The whole thing was DUMB, really dumb, although I admit the employees were also being dumb. I was at a McDonald's with a friend of mine and ordered a premium chicken sandwich. I get my sandwich, go to the table and uh....um....there's no chicken in it. Bacon, lettuce, tomato, but no chicken. Okaaay, so I go back to the register, and McMoron #1 riffles through my sandwich looking for the chicken . Lo and behold, he finds it...and it's a nugget. Yes, a chicken nugget in the sandwich. At six bucks a pop, this is not acceptable, he says he'll see what he can do. McMoron's McManager comes up and rifles through my sandwich again saying, "Well, this is just the way they came. This is all the chicken we got. I can put another one on there for you if you like."

I have had enough of people pawing through my food (what there was of it). I just want my money back at this point.
So round and round we go with McManager offering to make me another nugget sandwich (no thanks), asking if I want something else (I've lost my appetite by this point). The whole time this exchange is going on, he's laughing and joking with his staff like this is just the funniest thing they've ever seen. Imagine, someone getting mad because they had to pay six bucks for a chickenless chicken sandwich!

Somewhere, somehow, the Inner Bitch in me was released.

I finally get my money back and hand over all the food. McManager laughingly asks, "Is there anything else you need?"

I am NOT proud of my response. Not that I'm apologizing to this jerk, just that I am not usually this cruel. I have to mention that the manager...I don't know, looked different. Not like he had Down's Syndrome or was obviously developmentally delayed or anything, but you could tell he was a little slow. My response was mean spirited and thoughtless and I regret it.

I told him, "Yes, I was just wondering, why did they make the retarded guy the manager?"

All laughter stopped and he mumbled something under his breath. I turned and walked out the door with my friend. I think I had every right to be pissed, more about the handling of my food and their attitudes, but that was wrong, even I admit.

[wagegoth]

I'm with Mongo. I've worked retail. I know what can be done and what can't. I've also learned how to be an SC, especially when I think I'm being mistreated.

About 20 years ago, I bought a VCR. I know it cost over $200, not the most expensive, but not a cheap purchase. I paid for an extended warranty because I was told that I could bring the machine in for a free service before the warranty was up in a year.

It worked well. I took it in for the free service about a week or so before the warranty was up. Within a week after getting it back, two days after the warranty expired, the VCR expired. I called the store. "Sorry, out of warranty, not our problem." I pointed out that the service was to include checking for any items that showed wear or appeared ready to fail. "Sorry, out of warranty, not our problem."

I waited for about two weeks, until the store had a big 3-day sale in the electronics department, and then I returned to the store with the VCR and my husband. I played bad cop, my husband played good cop. I carefully modulated the volume and tone of my voice so that surrounding shoppers could hear my unhappiness and dissatisfaction. "I'm returning this item. It doesn't work."

SA: "Okay, we can do that." Takes my receipt, then notices the date. "I'm sorry, ma'am, this item is well past the return date."

Me: "I know it's past the return period, but I am extremely unhappy and I have my original receipt! This item is only a year old and it's broken. Something that costs this much should certainly last more than a year!"

My husband played reasonable. "No, we really don't want to return it, but we're really unhappy," stated very calmly and a bit sadly, with a "what can I do" nod toward his obviously unhappy wife. (We oughta be in pictures! )

This continued for a few minutes.

Looking around at the attention we were receiving, the MOD decided that repairing the VCR for free was a better choice than losing any of the many potential customers listening in. Yea for us!

In the parking lot, my husband started laughing. He's used to being the assumed "bad guy" (barrel-chested Irishman, former semi-pro tackle) so he had a blast watching me play the scene and getting to be the "nice guy."

[Darkmage]

Yes

Normally I try really hard to be nice, but I am also a bit of a flake and when I am tired my mind can wander off without me.

I was grocery shopping early (around 8:00 am on Saturday, hate crowds) and one of the things I needed was carrots for a stew I was going to make. I was mentally trying to decide if I needed one or two one pound bags of carrots only to find three pound bags were on sale for 20 cents more then a one pound bag… Sold!

Fast forward to check out. The three pound bag has a hole in the bottom and carrots are falling out. I shove the carrots back in and look up and notice the cashier is a woman, probably around 50 years old, no problem, she will realize the bag does not need to be replaced, after all, they are carrots. Stuff rings through I am getting my credit card out to swipe it and hear “Sir! This bag has a hole in it, do you want me to get you another.”

Now, in my mind we already had this conversation and it was decided that we did not need a new bag. What I hadn’t noticed when I checked out the cashier was the young, greener then grass bagger who most likely has never cooked anything. I live in an upscale neighborhood and most of the teenagers are somewhat less then self sufficient. I am very confused, not totally awake and look up with a puzzled look on my face and say “Um, no, they’re carrots.”

I noticed most of these details on the drive home and this whole exchange probably took 1.5 seconds, but it seemed to last minutes when I was there. Her face had this eager, puppy dog look of “Oh boy! I get to help the customer! I get to save the day!” which immediately fell to a kicked puppy look as she realized she couldn’t save the day and may or may not have thought I was rude (I may have been, my train of thought had not only derailed, it was now a smoldering wreck at the bottom of a chasm), followed by the look of a child who didn’t know something but is now pretending they did and she said “Oh, right, just carrots”.

As the smoke begins to dissipate from the wreckage that was my train of thought I quickly look over to the cashier to see if I need to elaborate, apologize, or something. She had one of those “Kids, she’ll learn” kind of smiles and I took that as a no problem sign. Paid, got in to the car, got halfway home when the whole scene replayed itself in slow motion and I seriously wondered if I had been an SC to the poor bagger. I also wondered how long it would take before she became a bitter, world weary worker. After all, I lived in an upscale neighborhood with plenty of self-important entitlement whores.