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First, a bit of background on my job: I've been working in a family owned antique shop for 5 years now, and I've got a good grasp on how things work. We also aren't a normal shop. Rather than buying our own antiques and selling them, we rent out tables and locked cases by the month or the year and we make all our money off long our dealers rent space from us, no consignment percentages off items sold or anything. As such, an unhappy dealer is a very bad thing for us. An unhappy customer...not so much. Not that these circumstances mean I blow off any customer I don't like. I try and be polite and patient with all customers, no matter how much they suck. Sometimes that even leads to greater closure.
Now, I live in Maine, which if you've ever been there in the dead of summer, you know it's a tourist hellhole. People from around the country come to stay on our beaches, try our lobster, and other such things. Usually the tourists are all right, but we get a good share of people who think we need to kowtow to their whims or we'll suddenly go out of business. I had one of those people recently and it ended rather hilariously for me.
This old couple was looking at a large number of expensive glass items, putting them aside to pay for later. When they brought up a very expensive pitcher, the husband told his wife to take a picture of it to send to their daughter. We don't allow photos because we had a stint where people were using the photos they took to misrepresent their items on ebay and other auction sites. After politely telling them we just don't allow photography in the store, the gentleman stepped aside with me, and begins to browbeat me about how 'You're messing up a big sale here' and 'You need to stop being such an a**hole'. I was a bit taken aback, but I continued politely insisting that these were the rules and I wouldn't break them. Finally fed up, he walked away and stopped at the foot of the stairs to our second level, long enough to shout back at me 'That's the problem with you Mainers! You're all stubborn jacka**es!'
It gets better though. Once the couple came down to pay for their merchandise, they used a credit card, which was declined by our machine. It's stated on our computer for all to see that if this happens then we charge 20 cents for the fee that the banks charge us for a declined transaction, and when I told them this the gentleman nearly lost it, beginning to berate me again and call me a 'Pompous A**hole'. I ignored it and simply ran a different card with the 20 cent charge, while the couple blamed our machines for the mistake. Once they left, I checked with the owner to make sure all the machines worked properly, and when I left the office, the couple from the depths had returned, calling their bank. After making me listen to the response they got, I offered to undo the 20 cent charge, thinking to myself that I'd just take 20 cents of my own and attach it to the receipt to be done with it. The wife seemed gracious enough, just saying she wanted me to see that there wasn't a problem with her card. But the man again decided to call me names as he stormed out.
Every time someone leaves the store, whether they bought anything or just used out bathrooms before getting on the road again, I always wish them a nice day. This couple was no different, though as they left, I loaded up as much saccharine sweetness in my voice as possible and gave a big smile and hearty 'Have a very nice day!' In a moment I will always remember, the man spun around in the entryway and hollered back 'F*** YOU!'
Sometimes, I love this job in spite of the customers.
Now, I live in Maine, which if you've ever been there in the dead of summer, you know it's a tourist hellhole. People from around the country come to stay on our beaches, try our lobster, and other such things. Usually the tourists are all right, but we get a good share of people who think we need to kowtow to their whims or we'll suddenly go out of business. I had one of those people recently and it ended rather hilariously for me.
This old couple was looking at a large number of expensive glass items, putting them aside to pay for later. When they brought up a very expensive pitcher, the husband told his wife to take a picture of it to send to their daughter. We don't allow photos because we had a stint where people were using the photos they took to misrepresent their items on ebay and other auction sites. After politely telling them we just don't allow photography in the store, the gentleman stepped aside with me, and begins to browbeat me about how 'You're messing up a big sale here' and 'You need to stop being such an a**hole'. I was a bit taken aback, but I continued politely insisting that these were the rules and I wouldn't break them. Finally fed up, he walked away and stopped at the foot of the stairs to our second level, long enough to shout back at me 'That's the problem with you Mainers! You're all stubborn jacka**es!'
It gets better though. Once the couple came down to pay for their merchandise, they used a credit card, which was declined by our machine. It's stated on our computer for all to see that if this happens then we charge 20 cents for the fee that the banks charge us for a declined transaction, and when I told them this the gentleman nearly lost it, beginning to berate me again and call me a 'Pompous A**hole'. I ignored it and simply ran a different card with the 20 cent charge, while the couple blamed our machines for the mistake. Once they left, I checked with the owner to make sure all the machines worked properly, and when I left the office, the couple from the depths had returned, calling their bank. After making me listen to the response they got, I offered to undo the 20 cent charge, thinking to myself that I'd just take 20 cents of my own and attach it to the receipt to be done with it. The wife seemed gracious enough, just saying she wanted me to see that there wasn't a problem with her card. But the man again decided to call me names as he stormed out.
Every time someone leaves the store, whether they bought anything or just used out bathrooms before getting on the road again, I always wish them a nice day. This couple was no different, though as they left, I loaded up as much saccharine sweetness in my voice as possible and gave a big smile and hearty 'Have a very nice day!' In a moment I will always remember, the man spun around in the entryway and hollered back 'F*** YOU!'
Sometimes, I love this job in spite of the customers.
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