Hey guys. It's been about 2 years since my last post (give or take a few months) but now I'm ready to contribute again.
For the record, I'm a very nice guy. I'm easy to talk to, I get along with most others, and if someone's having a problem, I'm more than willing to lend a helping hand. There is a lot I will tolerate as well. Rudeness, I'll handle. Attitudes, I'll ignore. But if you throw a personal insult at me, I will not let you get away with it.
Case in piont: last week, an aggressive and impatient Polish lady carrying a cordless phone from her home practically ambushes me when a CW and I were helping another customer pick out a TV (note: I'm no longer a cashier, I got bumped up to Electronics). Without warning, she pokes me in the arm to ask me a question.
ME: Who else?
SC: Sucky Customer
SC: Excuse me, you have battery for phone? (English wasn't perfect, but understandable)
ME: Uh, let's go take a look.
I walk her down to the batteries for cordless phones. I will say that cordless phones are not really my thing, so I asked her;
ME: Do you know what type of battery you need?
SC: No, I don't.
Ok, she needs my help, but she doesn't know what exactly she's looking for. Was she trying to make my job not easy? I couldn't answer her question, so I decided to be honest with her.
ME: I'm not sure if we have what you're looking for.
SC: Let me talk to someone else, or manager.
ME: (a bit miffed at this point) OK.
SC: (as I was walking away) Incompetent.
Now the gloves are off. I turned around and looked at her for two seconds.
ME: I'm sorry!?
SC: You heard me.
ME: I don't understand why you would say such a thing.
SC: Because you don't know! (she then said something along the lines of me not being able to do my job, and this is when I raise my voice at her)
ME: DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT I WAS ONLY TRYING TO HELP YOU!? I WAS NOTHING BUT NICE TO YOU! I DON'T NEED TO TAKE THAT FROM YOU! (points finger) YOU DO NOT CALL ME THAT!!!!
SC: Ugh! (walks away, and fast)
When she storms off, I walk in the other direction. Only one of the managers overheard it, and I explain everything to her. I then tell my department manager what happened, then tell him that I was heading to the break room to blow off steam. Every one of my coworkers praised me and told me they were proud of me for standing up for myself. Apparantly, she never filed a complaint about me, since no other manager came to talk to me about it.
I think the reason I didn't get in trouble was because I called her out on her bullshit without getting nasty and without insulting her. Otherwise, she would have had grounds to file a complaint.
Super Cashier: 1
Sucky Customer: 0
For the record, I'm a very nice guy. I'm easy to talk to, I get along with most others, and if someone's having a problem, I'm more than willing to lend a helping hand. There is a lot I will tolerate as well. Rudeness, I'll handle. Attitudes, I'll ignore. But if you throw a personal insult at me, I will not let you get away with it.
Case in piont: last week, an aggressive and impatient Polish lady carrying a cordless phone from her home practically ambushes me when a CW and I were helping another customer pick out a TV (note: I'm no longer a cashier, I got bumped up to Electronics). Without warning, she pokes me in the arm to ask me a question.
ME: Who else?
SC: Sucky Customer
SC: Excuse me, you have battery for phone? (English wasn't perfect, but understandable)
ME: Uh, let's go take a look.
I walk her down to the batteries for cordless phones. I will say that cordless phones are not really my thing, so I asked her;
ME: Do you know what type of battery you need?
SC: No, I don't.
Ok, she needs my help, but she doesn't know what exactly she's looking for. Was she trying to make my job not easy? I couldn't answer her question, so I decided to be honest with her.
ME: I'm not sure if we have what you're looking for.
SC: Let me talk to someone else, or manager.
ME: (a bit miffed at this point) OK.
SC: (as I was walking away) Incompetent.
Now the gloves are off. I turned around and looked at her for two seconds.
ME: I'm sorry!?
SC: You heard me.
ME: I don't understand why you would say such a thing.
SC: Because you don't know! (she then said something along the lines of me not being able to do my job, and this is when I raise my voice at her)
ME: DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT I WAS ONLY TRYING TO HELP YOU!? I WAS NOTHING BUT NICE TO YOU! I DON'T NEED TO TAKE THAT FROM YOU! (points finger) YOU DO NOT CALL ME THAT!!!!
SC: Ugh! (walks away, and fast)
When she storms off, I walk in the other direction. Only one of the managers overheard it, and I explain everything to her. I then tell my department manager what happened, then tell him that I was heading to the break room to blow off steam. Every one of my coworkers praised me and told me they were proud of me for standing up for myself. Apparantly, she never filed a complaint about me, since no other manager came to talk to me about it.
I think the reason I didn't get in trouble was because I called her out on her bullshit without getting nasty and without insulting her. Otherwise, she would have had grounds to file a complaint.
Super Cashier: 1
Sucky Customer: 0
Comment