Wherein Apparently I am Wrong...

[LuckIsOnMySide]

Hi Everyone ,

I've got another one for you today, courtesy of a customer who believed he knew more about the store than I did...

Anyway, I was busy on the shop floor training one of the new girls when our SC comes up to the till. A little background first: how we train our staff is that we run over the basics with them first i.e. how to generally operate the till, then we get them on the shop floor and supervise them whilst they experience more... complex matters .

SC: I'd like £10 Lyka mobile top-up please.

Now, we only sell top-ups for the major networks, such as Vodafone and Orange, and in our 219 year history have never sold Lyka mobile top-ups.

So I, in the hope of stopping the new girl wasting her time searching for a non-existant top-up, approach the customer and say:

Me: I'm sorry Sir, we do not sell Lyka mobile top-ups.

To which the customer replies:

SC: Of course you do! I brought one here last week!

Me: Sir, you must be mistaken. None of our stores (we are a very large chain) sell Lyka mobile top-ups.

This is the part that pushed me over the edge though, note that I had also been having a really bad day up to this point:

SC: You can't talk to me like that, you're accusing me of being wrong! Don't you know the customer is always right?! I demand you give me a Lyka top-up right now! I know you sell them! (He says 'know' in a really elogonated and snide tone).

Me: 1) I just did, 2) Yes I am, 3) No they're not, 4) Sir, I have worked in this store for nearly four years, and I know (I replicate his tone) we don't have them. So either buy something else or get out my store!

SC: How dare you! You'll be hearing from my lawyer about this! *storms out the store*

Me: *in the most sarcastic tone I could muster* Thank you, have a nice day!

I then turn to the new girl, who has been watching the whole thing with this sort of expression on her face, and say:

Me: Don't ever do what I just did.

To which we both burst out laughing .

Stay tuned...

[BrightEyedKitty]

That could have been handled better, tbh...

[LuckIsOnMySide]

I know, but as I stated I was already having a really bad day, and this guy just pushed me over the edge. I wasn't going to fuck around with the likes of him...

[Sunshine]

yeah, that would have been my reaction too...who's gonna know better, you or him? hmmmph

[EricKei]

That could have been handled better, tbh...

Well yeah, but anyone who pulls the "always right" line has no intention of being reasonable anyway -- he just expected immediate capitulation along with, apparently, magic. Not much of a loss if he doesn't return, methinks.

[LuckIsOnMySide]

Exactly, asshats like him don't deserve to be handled better .

[Bunny the Veggie Slayer]

Just wondering, do you generate top-ups direct from your tills? Or do you have a stand-alone paypoint terminal? Our chain has both, and while the tills only print vouchers for the main dozen or so providers, our PP box has loads more including Lyka.

I remember the first time a customer asked for one. She was a polish girl who worked for the local bakery. She hadn't been in the country very long, so while she was ok with conversational English, if she got confused about anything she could get stuck for the right word.

So she's asking "Can I have a Lyka mobile top-up?"
But we're hearing "Can I have, like, a mobile top-up?"
This went round and round for a few minutes, until we all suddenly clicked.

[fireheart]

So she's asking "Can I have a Lyka mobile top-up?"
But we're hearing "Can I have, like, a mobile top-up?"
This went round and round for a few minutes, until we all suddenly clicked.

Ours are standalone....prepaid ones are EXTREMELY rare, although I know that some ATMs will provide phone credit oddly enough O.o

[LuckIsOnMySide]

Just wondering, do you generate top-ups direct from your tills? Or do you have a stand-alone paypoint terminal?

Ours are done through the till, but the fact of the matter is that this asshat thought he knew more about the store than I did, even though I work there and he doesn't...

[Dips]

SC: You can't talk to me like that, you're accusing me of being wrong! Don't you know the customer is always right?! I demand you give me a Lyka top-up right now! I know you sell them! (He says 'know' in a really elogonated and snide tone).

Wow! That is just such a completely out of left field and weird statement for the SC to make.

And then he threatened to sue you? Wow.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

It's even better when it's the SC's husband/wife/uncle/aunt/friend/what the hell ever who knows your store better than you do.

About a week ago, I had a woman looking for....I don't know what it's called, it inflates like a miniature kiddie swimming pool, and you put crushed ice in it and use it to keep drinks and food items cool. Supposedly her aunt had found this thing in my store.

She asked three different people where this thing was. THREE. Including Yours Truly. Each time she got the same answer--we don't have it and never did. Each time she insisted her aunt had seen this thing here and we must not know what's in our store.

I think her aunt either needs to stop visiting us while tripping balls or more closely notice where she actually is shopping.

[MidoriDelSol]

This happens to me a lot too. One memorable woman asked me if we carried something that didn't even exist. It was one of those prepay cards for Wii in a denomination that simply doesn't exist. I told her if she wanted that denomination she would have to buy it through her Wii with her credit card. She didn't like that answer and asked my manager the same thing. He knew it didn't exist but still told her to look across the street at another store. I love when people are so stupid they would rather believe the incorrect/lying answer and waste gas then to believe the person who told them the truth.

[LuckIsOnMySide]

I actually have something like this from time to time, but it concerns Apple's Itunes cards and the fact that they don't come prepaid with £10, only £15, £25 or £50. No matter how hard we try to explain this to the customer, they never get the hint that £10 prepaid cards do not exist and insist that they will find it in 'Boots across the road.' Yeah, good luck with that...

[EricKei]

About a week ago, I had a woman looking for....I don't know what it's called, it inflates like a miniature kiddie swimming pool, and you put crushed ice in it and use it to keep drinks and food items cool. Supposedly her aunt had found this thing in my store.

Well...I do believe I've seen those before. A collapsible/inflatable cooler isn't a bad idea. That does not change the fact that you guys don't carry them, tho.

I think her aunt either needs to stop visiting us while tripping balls

Indeed.

[protege]

Things could be worse. How? What if the president of your company calls...and he gets irate because you can't transfer him to another department? At the time, the office I was working in had originally contained 2 firms, with their own phone systems. The firm that had the front part of the office had moved out, and for whatever reason, my then-boss decided not to combine everything. Supposedly, it was cheaper to simply keep both phone systems, even if you couldn't transfer someone directly--instead, the caller was told to call back on the other line.

Not this guy. He *flipped out* because I told him that I "refused" to transfer him. I told him the previously-mentioned info about the phones. He actually screamed at me, and said something like "I don't know why you're doing this, you just have to push a button" at which time I foisted him off on my boss...who told him to go fuck himself

People like that piss me off. I mean, I'd worked in that office for several years. I was there when the other firm moved in, I was there when they moved out. Hell, I even helped run the lines for the fucking phones. Yet, this assclown, who had *never* even set foot in the office was telling me that I wasn't doing my job? Fuck that.