I love my new manager. (long)

[Nakajo]

I seriously do. He's really awesome and today just made me so happy. I work at membership at my work (costco) and returns and membership are at the same desk, so while I was cleaning (it was a little slow today) I hear this.... (sad thing is, most of it is verbatim)

A customer comes up with his receipt.


SC= raving idiot
RC= refunds clerk
AM= awesome manager


SC=I want a price adjustment, I just bought this the other day and now it's $90 cheaper. Give it to me.

RC= Ok, sir, let me see your receipt. (looks up item on computer) I'm sorry, sir, it's an instant rebate on the item. We cannot give you $90.

SC=(VERBATIM!) I. WANT. A. MANAGER. NOW. (unwarranted madness)

RC=(on phone already) AM? I need you...


AM comes down, in his awesomeness. This guy is 23 years old, but he's smarter than most people in the store, and a great manager. However his age is a problem because some customers look down on him because he's young (which is sad, honestly)


SC=SHE (points at RC) won't give me my $90.

AM=What was it for?

SC=This mattress is $90 cheaper than it was when I bought it.

AM=(looks at our system screen) Sir, this is an instant rebate, I cannot give you the refund.

SC=WHY NOT?

AM=Instant rebates are discounts from the vendor/manu, not from our company. The vendor only honors them within the time frame it was bought.

SC=Well, you're SELLING them cheaper, so it IS from you!

AM=No, sir, it is not. You're more than welcome, however, to return your mattress and buy a new one, so the vendor will honor the rebate.

SC=This is ridiculous!

AM=I'm sorry, sir, but it is the only way the vendor will honor the coupon.

SC=Well, then I'm going to drag it behind my car the whole way here! You're Costco, you have to take it back(100% satisfaction return policy) anyway! (gets a look of triumph on his face)

AM=Sir, if that is your wish, go right ahead.

SC=WHAT? I'm going to tear this up, and return it, and you don't CARE?

AM=No, sir, I can just send it back to the vendor, and get full credit for it, regardless of it's state. It's part of the contract they hold with us, and in return for that wonderful service, we treat their policies with respect. (GREAT ice-burn moment)


At this point, the phone rings, I pick up. It's the front end manager.


Me=Membership.

FEM=Is AM down there? I need him. I'm having problems with a customer.

Me=He's with a member right now, and he's a little occupied.

FEM= Oohhhhhh! Got it. Hope he wins. Send him my way when he's done.
(We laugh, I hang up, back to the refund)


SC=It is in your power to do this! (he's really mad at this point)

AM=To do what, sir? (holding his cool!)

SC=Honor this coupon! Why won't you just give it to me?!

AM=Because, sir, just because I have the choice to take money out of this register and give it to you, it does not mean there is no consequence. You weigh those choices against those consequences, and I have weighed mine. I will NOT give you the refund.

SC=THIS IS STUPID!

AM=Sir, I've given you options to get your refund so both you and the vendor will be satisfied.

SC=But you want me to waste gas and my time to bring this thing back!?

AM=It is the only way I will honor your rebate.

SC=(leaves swearing like crazy)

AM=Bye, sir! Thanks for choosing Costco!


It was awesome.

[bendertiger]

Ironically, why didn't the moron just return the mattress? Oh wait...dumb customer....

[Neo_Classic]

Actually, the customer wouldn't even have to bring the mattress in. All you had to do was return it, re-ring him, and the rebate would automatically go through since it's instant. Why do people have to make things so diffcult?

[JustADude]

Actually, the customer wouldn't even have to bring the mattress in. All you had to do was return it, re-ring him, and the rebate would automatically go through since it's instant. Why do people have to make things so diffcult?

Because the AM had to have a physical mattress to return to the vendor, and I'm pretty sure it didn't occur to him to toss a perfectly good, brand new, mattress onto the return truck.

Of course, even if it did, he might have been sticking to his own principles, much like the SCs often claim to be doing. After all, why go out of your way to be helpful to someone who is being caustic and confrontational from the absolute start of the conversation.

[Neo_Classic]

He didn't need to have a physical mattress because the customer still wanted it. What would be the point of bringing it back to the store, return it only to have to buy it again? Why even do the first part? That's just ridiculous.

[JustADude]

He didn't need to have a physical mattress because the customer still wanted it. What would be the point of bringing it back to the store, return it only to have to buy it again? Why even do the first part? That's just ridiculous.

Yes, well, he was being pretty damn ridiculous himself, since he's basically trying to scam $90 off of CostCo by demanding they give him an instant rebate that WAS NOT IN EFFECT AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE. He was offered an option to get the money, which he was not legitimately entitled to in the first place, at the cost of a bit of gas and his own effort, and because he was hostile and aggressive from square one, any possible expedition of the process that might have existed was withheld in retribution for his behavior.

Here, though, is the exact quote that is relevant to the issue at hand, (i.e. why he has to bring the mattress back):

AM=No, sir, I can just send it back to the vendor, and get full credit for it, regardless of it's state. It's part of the contract they hold with us, and in return for that wonderful service, we treat their policies with respect. (GREAT ice-burn moment)

The chain of logic, his attitude aside, is as follows:

FACT-1: CostCo does NOT sell used merchandise.
FACT-2: The minute the return is processed, the mattress is considered a used return.

RESULT: The customer will be, according to inventory, getting a NEW mattress while the old one is added to the Return to Vendor list for the next outbound truck.

CONSEQUENCE: In order to actually get their money back for the returned item, they must place a physical mattress, no matter the condition, on the outbound truck in order to finish their part of the procedure.


They could have chucked a brand new mattress on the truck and let him walk out of there with the money, but that would be something that requires the person actually be liked well enough for someone to go out of their way for them, a state from which the customer seems to have taken great pains to exclude himself.

[NightAngel]

They could have chucked a brand new mattress on the truck and let him walk out of there with the money, but that would be something that requires the person actually be liked well enough for someone to go out of their way for them, a state from which the customer seems to have taken great pains to exclude himself.

Not to mention that the store would have to damage the NEW mattress out and eat the cost of it.
If I were that manger's manager I'd be pretty livid if he did that.

[JustADude]

Not to mention that the store would have to damage the NEW mattress out and eat the cost of it.

Actually, not really.

What I meant was that, since they need a physical mattress in any condition to recoup the cost of the return, they could, if they wanted to bend the rules for a LEGITIMATE Good Customer, substitute the mattress that the customer has just purchased for the one he supposedly returned, which would still reside in the the customer's house. The inventory would still jive, since one mattress was put in Returns and one into the hands of the customer... just not in the way the system thinks.

As I said, though, that requires the people in the store like you well enough to actually go through the trouble of doing something like that for you.

[Nakajo]

Taking a mattress off the floor and throwing it back to the vendor also is a problem.

When we return items, we have to state the reason why. WE CANNOT LIE ABOUT THIS. Saying something is damaged or it's not comfortable indicates quality concerns on the vendor/manu's behalf. Saying a member doesn't like something is a little different, but the vast majority of those items are open and used.

Coming around again to the honesty factor... we have to be 100% honest to our vendors. Taking a perfectly good mattress off the floor and sending it back is a waste. We may not get credit if we just send back a perfect unused mattress... they'd just send it back, saying it's sale-able merch. And we cannot say the "mattress" he returned is sale-able without there being a discrepancy in the $90 instant rebate. And I don't think we'd trash our own merch to make it look used. You can make the same argument with the customer's mattress, but at least the mattress got some use out of it, and there's decent reasoning behind it's return.

If we get caught lying, we can lose the vendor. It is actually Law 4 in our warehouse, posted in BIG HUGE LETTERS:
1. Obey the Law
2. Take Care of our Customers
3. Take Care of our Employees
4. RESPECT OUR VENDORS
5. Reward our Shareholders

Of course, we take care of our customers, including this guy, which is why we gave him the option to return in the first place, but there are rules, and we cannot get around them.

I like my job, we're a damn good company, but this guy was pushing it really bad, and you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

[Bella_Vixen]

1. Obey the Law
2. Take Care of our Customers
3. Take Care of our Employees
4. RESPECT OUR VENDORS
5. Reward our Shareholders

I can't help but notice that taking care of customers has precedence over taking care of the employees...

[Neo_Classic]

^Frightening, isn't it?

[Nakajo]

Hahaha, actually I was told by a coworker these are the top 5 rules in that order because if we said it the other way around, customers would throw a fit. However, with the exception of the law being first, the other 4 are just in that order to look nice. They all are just as important as the other.

Believe me, we have to take some crap, but the NUMBER ONE RULE they tell us if a customer is being exceedingly rude:

WALK AWAY, and TELL A MANAGER IMMEDIATELY.

It's not worth being abused over. A manager may not stand up for you to their face 100% of the time (their job is to make customers happy, and I respect that), but if you walk away and tell a manager immediately, if the customer complains about you, it has NO MERIT. The manager will ALWAYS take your word over theirs about your and their actions, because you were the one being responsible, telling a manager and not trying to hide the problem, and therefore not worried of there being any consequences on your behalf.

We did that a lot when I was on front end packing boxes. We have a system for packing, and we do a great job at it, helping each other when we can, and correcting each other if there's a problem. However, if the customer FREAKS (and I mean completely FREAKS) out over your packing, you walk away. Usually, they get even more mad, especially when a manager or sup comes over and says that "You're welcome to pack your own cart if you are not satisfied with your packer's methods."

I LOVED THAT! My favorite

[mattm04]

When I was hired I started as a bagger, i have since move to Dairy and now Bakery. I had one lady, mid 40's with the designer purse, BMW or Mercedes, etc yapping on her cellphone while the cashier is scanning and I am bagging. She wanted paper in plastic for dry goods plastic for cold stuff. I was bagging (like she asked) and every once in a while she would throw out the don't crush the bread, don't drop the eggs, be careful with the fruit/veggies, etc. These are all thing I know. That did not bother me until she starts muttering into her phone on how she has a "fu**ing inbred retard bagging my shit, etc, etc." She then tell the same thing to the older lady behind her, who walks out of the line. I say, if you have a problem with my bagging you can politely tell me or talk to the manager," she then tells me to go f my self and as I walk away she says "ooo the retard is going to cry and piss his pants." All the customers and cashiers are watching her and she yells out "i need a bagger, mine was a dumb retarded kid." I was 20 at the time and was and still in college. I go up stairs and tell the manager. He knows that I am one of the best baggers and employees who will do my job with out being asked to, and I will do something I know needs to be done again with out being asked. The GM, Front End MGR, and assistant MGR go down. Our AM at the time did not take any crap from customers. He told one old lady who he caught scamming us to leave or he will call the police. While the FEM and GM talk to the lady the AM listens to other customers and employees on what happened. They have quick huddle and tell the lady that she is no longer welcome in the store if she plans to treat the associates like that. Even though she has a cell phone she wants to use our phone to call he husband for his advice. She is told to leave or the police will remove her. She leaves, we but back the groceries, and she has not been seen since.