YOU'RE the one complaining!

[Pixilated]

Here at Le Tea Palace, we can't sell tea in quantities smaller than 50 grams (2 oz). Orders from headquarters.

So today a woman comes in and wants to buy some rather costly tea. She doesn't want 50 grams. When I've put 42 grams in the bag, she says that's fine. I explain that I can't sell under 50 grams. She's not happy. No whining or screaming but I get The Look (the 'Of Course You Can But You Won't' Look).

I sigh and go get the manager. Manager repeats what I've said, adding that if we do sell under 50g, we could be fired.

Cue The Lecture. This is not verbatim but the gist is there.

SC: "This is very bad business practice, you know."

Mgr: "Ma'am, it's not our policy; it's corporate policy. We have no choice."

Me: "May I suggest you go to our website and let corporate know you're not happy with this? They'll certainly listen to customers' complaints." (Yeah, yeah, I know, LOL ...)

SC: "Well, I think it's ridiculous. It's bad business practice!"

Mgr: *lather, rinse, repeat*

Me: *lather, rinse, repeat*

At this point I walked away to do something else as mgr. seemed to have the situation well in hand, so I missed what came next. Which was:

SC: "Well, I'm not going online to talk to your head office. If you won't stand up for yourselves, why should I?"

Uh, I dunno, maybe because you're the one bitching about our sales policies? I have no problem with it, nor does manager -- who at that point went and hid (briefly) in the depths of the supply room to do some deep-breathing exercises and get herself back into her Happy Place.

[Racket_Man]

SC: "Well, I'm not going online to talk to your head office. If you won't stand up for yourselves, why should I?"

:

Which is SC speak for "WHY are you NOT bending to my almighty will?????? I AM THE CUSTOMER SO DO WHAT I WANT AND I AM ALWAYS RIGHT!!!!!"

[sms001]

"Uhm, I do stand up for myself. What I'm not doing is standing up for you, over 8g of tea, when my job is on the line. Do you see the difference?"

(No, of course she doesn't, or we wouldn't be discussing her... )

[Argabarga]

you're the one bitching about our sales policies? I have no problem with it, nor does manager --

I have noted over the years more than a few customers who just can't grasp that you can't guilt me into bending policy because I don't have a personal problem with any of the policies. If I did, I wouldn't be working here.

"Don't you think this is *negative adjective*?!"

"No"


The look on their face is *positive adjective* every time.

[Silent-Hunter]

Why on Earth would anyone want only 50 grams of tea!?

[camjuniper]

SC: "Well, I'm not going online to talk to your head office. If you won't stand up for yourselves, why should I?"

Uh, I dunno, maybe because you're the one bitching about our sales policies? I have no problem with it, nor does manager

I once hit the end of my fuse when a SC with a similar issue (we were following not just orders from above, but, oh, STATE LAW about meals tax on prepared food) and basically asked her what she wanted me to do about. She told me that she's complaining to me (bagging her groceries) and the cashier so that we'd tell management so they'd fix it. Riiiight, file that in the circular file.

Ms. 8g totally needs to learn that the squeaky wheel only gets the grease if it's squeaking around the right person.

[wolfie]

Why on Earth would anyone want only 50 grams of tea!?

IIRC, a teabag (I know, this is loose tea, just using it as a point of reference) holds around 2 grams of tea, and is good for a small pot (2 cups) of tea. In other words, 1 gram of tea makes 1 cup to drink.

If someone is trying out a new variety to see if they'll like it, especially if it's a fairly costly variety, I can see why they'd want to buy a quantity somewhat smaller than 50 cups worth.

Tidbit: Many years ago, a tea vendor gave out samples in an attempt to get more business. He packaged the samples in small gauze bags, intending for the tea to be dumped out into an infuser before "dunking" in the teapot. Instead, people used the gauze bag of tea as an "all-in-one" infuser - and wanted to buy more of this conveniently-packaged tea. The tea bag was born.

[camjuniper]

IIRC, a teabag (I know, this is loose tea, just using it as a point of reference) holds around 2 grams of tea, and is good for a small pot (2 cups) of tea. In other words, 1 gram of tea makes 1 cup to drink.

I've found that looseleaf tea typically needs about 2-3 grams per 8 ounces of hot water, depending on the tea.

The problem with this lady is she was bitching about 8 grams. She wasn't upset about the first 42 grams--she wanted that much. If she's okay with getting that much, what's the problem with the equivalent of 4 more cups of tea?

[dalesys]

... what's the problem with the equivalent of 4 more cups of tea?

Obsessive-repulsive exorder. 42/2 => 21 => 3 cups a day for exactly a week. Bet she chops off/adds leaf fragments to get exactly 2.000000 g per cup.