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This incident happened earlier this week.
First some background information.
I work as a porter at 2 parking garages which are part of several parking garages that are managed by the company I work for. The other parking garages are in the same area as well. To save money there are only pay machines located at the exit gates inside each garage. If a customer needs help, they have to press the call button that is located on the pay machine at the exit gate. The call goes to the main office in one of the parking garages in the area where I work. Each porter gets a cell phone to use while working in case a customer at the exit gate inside one of the garages needs help. There is another porter who works at a garage near me. My direct supervisor is over three garages... the 2 that I work at and the one that the porter I just mentioned works at. Since she wants at least one porter on duty in case a customer needs help, she wants me to go to lunch from 12 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the other porter to go to lunch at 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
I get a call from the main office to help a customer at the exit gate at one of the garages that I work in. I had just returned from lunch, so while I was away, the other porter was available to help the customer.
I go to that exit gate, but there is no car there. I notice a car waiting near the elevator lobby on the first level. The driver of that car sees me, and he drives up to the exit gate. There is also a female with him. Here is what happend.
He tells me that he has been waiting for someone to help him for 20 minutes, that he pressed the call button on the ticket machine, that someone answered *the office employee who had called me took the call*, she said that someone would come and help him, but no one came. At that point I spoke to the call box. The same office employee who had called me on my work cell phone answered. She told me that the customers ticket was not working and that she could not see his car at the exit gate. There is a big screen monitor located inside that office that shows every entrance gate and every exit gate at all of the garages in that area managed by my employer. She tells me to let him know that she could not see his car at the exit gate, she did not know where he went to, and so she did not know whether or not he needed help. I tell the guy this, and he tells the office employee that she told him to back up.
So the guy hands me his ticket and a credit card. The problem with handing me a credit card when your ticket does not work is that there is no way to process the payment. Exact cash *this information is important* or check is needed. So I tell the guy this, and he gets pissy. He tells the office employee that 1) he does not have change, and 2) it is not his problem that the pay machine will not accept his ticket. The office employee tells him that she will subtract $2.00 from the total amount for the inconvenience. So he asks her how much he owes. She tells him the total amount, and he starts to argue with her at the call box. He tells her that 1) he is not paying that amount, and 2) he should not have to pay that much for her mistake *of telling him to back up*. She repeats a couple of times that she is giving him a discount, but he does not budge. The female then asks him how much is the parking fee. He tells her, and she gets some money from her wallet. But he still does not want to pay the amount. The female tells him that she will pay. But he still does not want to pay the amount. So the office employee asks both of them if they would like to speak to a manager. They both say yes. At that point they back up, and I wait on the other side of the garage for a manager to arrive. While I was waiting, I saw the female get out of the passenger side, walk up to the driver side, and speak to the guy.
The office employee calls me on my work cell phone and tells me that the customer's parking fee has been discounted again to "x" amount and to tell the customer. So I go to tell the female. She sees me walking toward the exit gate. The office employee tells me to hand the cell phone to her. So I do that. She tells the female what the final amount is. The problem is... she does not have exact change, the she has a twenty dollar bill, and she tells the office employee that. The office employee tells her that she can fill out a debit voucher and mail in a payment, but she does not want to do that. She wants to get change for her $20.00. She also tells the office employee the following...
She tells the office employee that she will get change for her $20.00, and she hands me the cell phone.
She literally asks other customers for change. Then she goes into the building that is next to the parking garage to get change. The entire time she is doing this I am on the cell phone. The office employee is asking me what she is doing. I tell her what she is doing. The office employee tells me to find her and to tell her that she can fill out a debit voucher. I go inside the building to try and find her. I finally find her, and she gives me exact change. I follow her out to the garage exit gate. She gets back into the car. I tell the office employee that she gave me exact change. She finally leaves.
This incident happened earlier this week.
First some background information.
I work as a porter at 2 parking garages which are part of several parking garages that are managed by the company I work for. The other parking garages are in the same area as well. To save money there are only pay machines located at the exit gates inside each garage. If a customer needs help, they have to press the call button that is located on the pay machine at the exit gate. The call goes to the main office in one of the parking garages in the area where I work. Each porter gets a cell phone to use while working in case a customer at the exit gate inside one of the garages needs help. There is another porter who works at a garage near me. My direct supervisor is over three garages... the 2 that I work at and the one that the porter I just mentioned works at. Since she wants at least one porter on duty in case a customer needs help, she wants me to go to lunch from 12 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. and the other porter to go to lunch at 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
I get a call from the main office to help a customer at the exit gate at one of the garages that I work in. I had just returned from lunch, so while I was away, the other porter was available to help the customer.
I go to that exit gate, but there is no car there. I notice a car waiting near the elevator lobby on the first level. The driver of that car sees me, and he drives up to the exit gate. There is also a female with him. Here is what happend.
He tells me that he has been waiting for someone to help him for 20 minutes, that he pressed the call button on the ticket machine, that someone answered *the office employee who had called me took the call*, she said that someone would come and help him, but no one came. At that point I spoke to the call box. The same office employee who had called me on my work cell phone answered. She told me that the customers ticket was not working and that she could not see his car at the exit gate. There is a big screen monitor located inside that office that shows every entrance gate and every exit gate at all of the garages in that area managed by my employer. She tells me to let him know that she could not see his car at the exit gate, she did not know where he went to, and so she did not know whether or not he needed help. I tell the guy this, and he tells the office employee that she told him to back up.
So the guy hands me his ticket and a credit card. The problem with handing me a credit card when your ticket does not work is that there is no way to process the payment. Exact cash *this information is important* or check is needed. So I tell the guy this, and he gets pissy. He tells the office employee that 1) he does not have change, and 2) it is not his problem that the pay machine will not accept his ticket. The office employee tells him that she will subtract $2.00 from the total amount for the inconvenience. So he asks her how much he owes. She tells him the total amount, and he starts to argue with her at the call box. He tells her that 1) he is not paying that amount, and 2) he should not have to pay that much for her mistake *of telling him to back up*. She repeats a couple of times that she is giving him a discount, but he does not budge. The female then asks him how much is the parking fee. He tells her, and she gets some money from her wallet. But he still does not want to pay the amount. The female tells him that she will pay. But he still does not want to pay the amount. So the office employee asks both of them if they would like to speak to a manager. They both say yes. At that point they back up, and I wait on the other side of the garage for a manager to arrive. While I was waiting, I saw the female get out of the passenger side, walk up to the driver side, and speak to the guy.
The office employee calls me on my work cell phone and tells me that the customer's parking fee has been discounted again to "x" amount and to tell the customer. So I go to tell the female. She sees me walking toward the exit gate. The office employee tells me to hand the cell phone to her. So I do that. She tells the female what the final amount is. The problem is... she does not have exact change, the she has a twenty dollar bill, and she tells the office employee that. The office employee tells her that she can fill out a debit voucher and mail in a payment, but she does not want to do that. She wants to get change for her $20.00. She also tells the office employee the following...
- She will pay for her parking *three times*
- Why is the pay machine not working?
- Does the pay machine stop working a lot?
- She has never had this problem before
- This problem is ridiculous
- She should not have had to wait that long for help to arrive
- and so on and so on
She tells the office employee that she will get change for her $20.00, and she hands me the cell phone.
She literally asks other customers for change. Then she goes into the building that is next to the parking garage to get change. The entire time she is doing this I am on the cell phone. The office employee is asking me what she is doing. I tell her what she is doing. The office employee tells me to find her and to tell her that she can fill out a debit voucher. I go inside the building to try and find her. I finally find her, and she gives me exact change. I follow her out to the garage exit gate. She gets back into the car. I tell the office employee that she gave me exact change. She finally leaves.
Was it ever offered to simply have the change difference sent to them by mail or something? With the long story I'm imagining that other cars may be backed up. If that were true, couldn't you call a tow truck to stop their arguing?
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