I am not your mother

[customersruinmylife]

This involved a regular customer. I am not very fond of this customer. He is the stereotypical old man. He is very entitled, he is a tight-wad (I once witnessed him chew a co-worker out because she accidentally short changed him a penny), he is inpolite, and to top it all off, he smells.

He walked up to me as I was clearing some tables and handed me a business card.

SC: I need you to call this number.

It was the business card for a local taxi firm. Their main office is located literally around the corner from the pub.

Me: Would you like me to call you a cab?
SC: No, I need you to call them. I got a taxi here this morning and I left a bag in the back. I need you to find out where my bag is.

OK, that annoyed me. I am trying to work. Do I really look like I've got time to run around after him? But...I know what this guy is like, so I decided to save an arguement and called the taxi company. Unfortunately, when I called them, I got an automated message:

Message: Hell this is *taxi company*. We are experiencing difficulties with our phone lines at the moment, so please leave your name and number and we will get back to you as soon as we can. We apologize for any problems this might cause. *BEEP*

I hung up. I couldn't be bothered with that.

Me: I couldn't get through. I got a message saying they were having problems with their phones.
SC: Well keep trying! I need that bag! You need to find my bag!

All of a sudden, he was treating me like it was my fault he had lost his bag.

Me: The taxi office is just around the corner. Why don't you pop in?
SC: No, you go down there and ask. I need that bag.
Me: I've got a pub to run! I can't be going off playing detective about something that didn't even happen here!
SC: You need to find my bag!
Me: You've been here for hours. How come it has taken you this long to notice you don't have it?
SC: I did notice...earlier. But I didn't need it then. I'm going home and I need it now.

I felt my brain begin to melt.

SC: Can you call them again?
Me: I'm sorry, I've got things to do.
SC: Well, call them later then.
Me: This is not my responsibility.
SC: Well I'll come in tomorrow and get someone else to find it!

I just walked away from him. He was making me angry. I pinned a note on the wall for the manager that is in tomorrow.

"If Stinky comes in asking you to ring *taxi company*, just tell him you called and they don't have his bag. It will save you a lot of grief. Believe me!"

[aurelemsrealm]

On things like that, I just hand them the phone, tell them make it quick, and make it known that I have my own job to do. If they take too long on the phone, the line "mysteriously" gets unplugged behind the counter. You know, sometimes things don't work right, and I have to reset them.

[Anakah]

Why the hell would he assume that you are responsible for him? I would have told him to kiss my butt to begin with. That idiot.

[bainsidhe]

We'll sometimes get a customer all hot and bothered because they lost their ID/credit card/purse/wallet/keys and no one turns it in. Not like it's OUR fault. But yours is extra special because it never ever involved your pug. Until idiot started making demands, that is.

[ArcticChicken]

On the other hand, sometimes people never come back for their things. At the store we've got a bluetooth headset, two cellphones, three checkbooks, someone's senior citizen SEPTA ID, someone's hospital ID, eight or ten credit cards, and a WIC ID. Most of these things have been there for several months.

[mariamousie1]

Hey, customersruinmylife, my mom lost her car keys. You have to come to Canada and find them, NOW!
Or is it only your responsibility if my mom spent time in your bar briefly? Someday I'll get the hang of this entitlement thing...

[infinitemonkies]

What the hell?!?

I can see an SC demanding employees do tasks for them that are completely unrelated to the job. Hell, we all see it all the time.

But this guy is going to come back to the pub the next day so you can make his phone call for him?

[customersruinmylife]

But this guy is going to come back to the pub the next day so you can make his phone call for him?

I am dreading work today, because I cannot be bothered with him. I know he'll be there when I go in, and I really don't want to start my shift dealing with him!

[reimero]

Eh. Just refer him to VRS. That's Dave's job anyway

[WhiteRose]

OR tell him the store down the street has his stuff but they're going to burn it if HE specifically doesn't show up in five minutes....then lock the door when he leaves...

[Red_Dazes]

OR tell him the store down the street has his stuff but they're going to burn it if HE specifically doesn't show up in five minutes....then lock the door when he leaves...

..*giggle* That is wonderful.. yes yes do that!

[jjllbb]

On the other hand, sometimes people never come back for their things. At the store we've got a bluetooth headset, two cellphones, three checkbooks, someone's senior citizen SEPTA ID, someone's hospital ID, eight or ten credit cards, and a WIC ID. Most of these things have been there for several months.

Don't the checkbooks have addresses on them? My company mails back whatever has an address on it, and keeps everything else in the safe for a few weeks and then shreds it.

[customersruinmylife]

Little bit of an update. He was at work today when I went in, but he didn't say a single word to me.

I asked the manager who was on in the morning if he had said anything. His response?

"Yeah! He's been bothering me all morning! I told him I called them and that they didn't have it just to humour him, but he didn't believe it! I lost it and told him to go and find out for himself. I mean, what am I? His mother??"

Ahhhh, I guess the title for my thread was spot on.

[tropicsgoddess]

What part of his bag is not the pub's responsibility did that EW not understand.

[infinitemonkies]

Here at the hotel, the single most common item left behind/forgotten is cell phones and/or chargers. In any given week housekeeping will find 5-10 phones. We've got a big box of them locked up in lost & found.

The thing that really amazes me is that about 50% of people who lose thier phone will never even attempt to find it or get it back.