How nice is to nice?

[ladyklack]

All of us on this board have dealt with our fair share of SCs, and I've noticed that some/most of us go out of our way to be overly nice to other retail workers when we're on the customer side of the counter. I've also noticed a few posts on this site entitled "was I an SC?" or something similar. In most of those posts, the OP did nothing sucky, but felt bad about having to say something or ask for something.

I've been thinking about this since yesterday. I was out with a friend of mine and we were getting coffee. Her coffee was, well, gross and full of loose grounds in the bottom of the cup. I told her she should go ask for a new one, and she didn't want to because she didn't want to be viewed as an SC. It took me about 15 minutes of persuading to get her to go and (nicely) ask for a new drink.

What I'm wondering is if anyone has ever suppressed the need to speak up over something because they were afraid that they might be viewed as an SC?

[blas]

Many times. I think we do it because we know how it feels to be berated, bitched at, verbally abused, sometimes even physically assaulted......and we worry that even the slightest thing may make us seem like SCs when we really aren't.

[calulu]

You know, there's a vast deal of difference asking someone nicely to rectify a wrong and being a self involved entitlement issued SC. You can ask nicely.

But you're right, having to deal with that sort of twit daily does completely change how you treat others working in the service biz.

[Kogarashi]

I agree with blas that the "too nice" aspect is often a bit of overreacting, though not always unjustified. After dealing with SCs day in and day out, some of us (myself included) start to get paranoid that everyone we deal with is going to act unreasonably even if we have a legitimate concern.

I think anyone in that situation just needs to remind themselves that if they remain polite about it, they shouldn't have reason to fear. An employee can't really complain if you're being polite but firm about getting a wrong rectified.


Story time.

Just today I actually got four oranges for free at Wal-Mart for simply being polite. There were two bins side by side with loose oranges, and I only saw the price sign on the produce department side (the other side was pointed toward the store entrance). $.44 per orange sounded pretty good, considering they're usually closer to $.66 each. I grabbed four.

When I got to the register, they rang up at $.58 apiece. I pointed this out to the cashier, who mentioned that she'd talked to the produce guys and the oranges were in the middle of a price change. I explained that the sign on the bin still said $.44 each, and she asked if I wanted someone (a manager) to come up to ask them. Since it was actually the end of the transaction and we were about to process the credit card, I said no. I explained I didn't want to hold up her line (at least two more customers with full carts), and that I would get it taken care of at the service desk.

Before hitting the service desk line, I checked the bin again. Approaching from this side (where the entrance is), I could see a $.58 sign on it, but when I checked the $.44 sign was still on the other side. You can't see them both at the same time, and a good number of customers would be coming from the produce section, not the entrance, to buy these oranges. So I got back in line at the service desk.

When my turn came, I explained to the service desk associate that there was an incorrect sign on one side of the orange bin, and that I didn't want to dispute the price I paid since I saw a correct sign there too, but I did want them to know so they could send someone to fix it. I didn't want any cashiers getting yelled at for something they couldn't control. The associate said she'd tell her manager, but ended up taking my receipt and completely refunding the purchase of the oranges anyway (they came to less than $3 and, per store policy, I got them for free due to missignage). I made sure to thank her, and took care to fill out the survey online once I got home.

I could've been seen as an SC by them for "demanding they fix the price when it was only off by a few measly cents," but $.14 per orange is actually quite a bit when you have to pinch every penny to make ends meet, and I tried to be polite and even explain that I was willing to pay the correct price for the oranges. The worry is that one will be seen as an unreasonable SC for something like this that someone can "live with."

[Darkwish]

I think that as long as you're polite and don't make any unreasonable requests, it's hard to be an SC. On the few times where I ended up being mistaken about something, I've always made sure to apologize.

Being seen as an SC has never really concerned me. The main thing that will keep me from complaining is if it just isn't worth my time or the hassle. I'm not going to complain if I get short changed by 10 cents (unless it seems they're doing it on purpose), but you better believe I'm going to complain over being shorted $10 when getting my change back! (This recently happened too. I was polite and got my $10 back without any real hassle.)

What really makes an SC an SC is their attitude. Just don't develop an SC attitude and you should be fine.

[wagegoth]

I'm actually more outspoken since I've worked retail than before I did. My parents brought me up to be polite and well-mannered. Unfortunately, my mother sometimes confused polite with doormat.

After working retail, I know how things work, I have a pretty good idea what can and can't be done, and I know what I should and shouldn't expect.

I don't scream, swear, berate staff, flip out, make obnoxious, unending phone calls, or follow the SC/EW playbook. But I expect to get what I paid for. I allow for acts of God, bad weather, unforeseen circumstances, computer failure, human error, and similar events. I do not allow for laziness, lying, bulls**t, lack of communication, and similar events.

You decide which kind of customer you want me to be: A) or B) .

[SubwayGirl]

I do think that a lot of times we are too nice. I have two good examples.

I was at B&N one day. I found a book that was marked on clearance for $6.99. It was originally $26.99. Well, it rung up for $26.99. I didn't say anything and just paid that price for it. When the cashier was bagging it up he noticed the sticker. He refunded me the difference. I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to look stupid if I was wrong. Instead I ended up looking stupid for not saying anything.

Today I went to the drugstore to pick up some refills that I had called in. There were 3 people working. I stood at the register. No one came to wait on me. I stood there for 10 minutes when finally someone came up. They thought that I was someone named "Kim" whose meds they were working on at the time. They felt bad when they realized mine were behind them in the bin. They apologized for making a mistake and told me I should have spoken up. So there again I ended up feeling stupid because I was afraid of being sucky.