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Upon arrival this wistful September morn' the morning guy, right before leaving, warns us that a certain lady may be calling to complain about being towed. Seems she got the hook at 3am the night before and came in to demand a refund on the grounds that she had out-of-state plates (irrelevant) and was only there for "5 minutes" despite the lot having a whopping "wait THIRTY minutes before towing" rule in effect, was contemplating criminal charges for us stealing her car (I've lost the capacity to even pretend to laugh at this anymore) and most importantly, that he and everyone else in the office that morning was rude for not seeing it her way.
About 2 hours into the shift, while I'm manning the phones while Towing Manager (henceforth just manager) tries to get his head above the tsunami of paperwork that's piled up on him in the wake of two back-to-back home football games in this town, the return of she-beast, as foretold by prophecy, does, in fact, come true.
ARGA: Friendly Neighborhood Towing, Argabarga speaking.
WOMAN: I want the manager
ARGA: Of which department?
WOMAN: We got towed and I want to complain to the manager about your employees!
ARGA: Okay, hold for me one second please.
*dump to hold*
ARGA: Hey, Manager, it's "Them" from this morning.
*Manager rolls eyes, picks up phone*
MANAGER: Yes, yes I'm the manager. Okay.... No, that was a legitimate tow for property trespass as is outlined in the Borough towing ordinance, the property owner had every right to tow you. No, I won't refund you. No you can't talk to them. No, you can't talk to them. Why? Because they are under me, I'm their supervisor and I'm speaking for them now, you do not have to talk to them and they can't override me anyway, I'm not going to be circumvented and I've already said you won't get a refund. No, you cannot talk to my other employees. No.... N... Ma'm........... Ma'm............ okay, have it your way. *click*
ARGA: Didn't get the answer they wanted?
MANAGER: I couldn't get a word in edgewise, she wanted to talk to the morning person, then she threatened to call the cops and have us charged with theft of services, then she said she was coming down here in person, I don't know what she wants but I don't have time for this. If they come in here, send them to me and I'll get rid of them, if I don't get last weekends stuff sorted out by this weekend we'll never get on top of it and I'm just NOT dealing with this today.
Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, they do come in and proceede right to Manager's desk. They're a lot older than they sounded on the phone, and Husband and Wife pair who look to be about 60-something. Wife starts in first.
WIFE: Your employees were VERY rude to us this morning! They told us to "shut up"!
MANAGER: Mmm hmmm
WIFE: You.... you obviously don't care
MANAGER: Not really, I'm very busy today, I have about 4 hours of meetings and paperwork to do yet, so I really don't have time for this and I tired to explain it to you earlier on the phone but you wouldn't let me talk, there really wasn't any reason to come here, so I don't know what you want me to do. Have a nice day now.
*goes back to his work*
WIFE: So, that's it?
MANAGER: Pretty much, I'm not refunding any money for what was a legal and legitimate tow.
WIFE: But your employees were rude to us!
*Manager could humor them with an "I'll talk to them" promise, but is clearly just fed up since this is go-around number 3 for these folks and they just aren't getting the message. If this had been air-traffic control, after 3 tries at the same runway without a landing, they'd stop ordering you to TOGA and just send you to an alternate airport, and that's what the manager is clearly thinking too, so he opts to end the conversation stone-cold as you'll see. Had it been me, I'd have played with them some more*
MANAGER: Well, I'm not going to refund you, you can leave now, have a nice day.
WIFE: But your employee was rude!
MANAGER: You have a nice day, Ma'm.
WIFE: So you aren't going to listen to us?
MANAGER: No
*Now hubby pipes up*
HUSBAND: If this is how you treat your customers you're going to be out of business soon!
MANAGER: Oh no
HUSBAND: I'm serious!!!!
MANAGER: Sir, if I had a dollar for everyone who told me that, I'd be a millionaire by now! Have a nice day.
HUSBAND: I can't believe you'd treat us like this!. You keep treating people like this and you're going to go under!
MANAGER: We're going to go under? *turns to rest of office* Uh oh, Hear that guys? We're goin' under! Now you've got me terrified Sir! I better run for it now!
HUSBAND: You little twerp! If I were 10 years younger, I'd kick your f*cking ass!
MANAGER: That's nice, you have a nice day now and leave
HUSBAND: Cocky asshole!
*Husband stomps out, but the missus stands where she is, probably in shock that her demands aren't being met. That line about a "rude employee" always works at the Cracker Barrel, after all*
WIFE: I want to talk to someone above you!
MANAGER: No, you have a nice day
WIFE: There's nobody here above you I can talk to right now?!
MANAGER: No, have a nice day ma'm
WIFE: I want a business card or something with your name on it!
*Manager points to stack of cards in plastic holder on counter, she takes one*
WIFE: So you're not going to...
MANAGER: No, have a nice day, and leave before I call the police to escort you out.
WIFE: I... I just can't believe you run a business this way!!
*Manager motions for employee who just came in to hold front door open*
MANAGER: You need to leave, now. I WILL call the cops.
And she did. Speaking of leave, when I left at the end of my shift, the place was still, against all the odds, above ground. Like manager said, that list of people sure that we're going to go out of buisiness any nanosecond now is forming around the block.....
The irony of course is that as long as there is a steady supply of people bitching about being towed for their illegal parking, well, that means we'll naturally be STAYING in business, nobody mad at us, and we'd have a problem.
Wonder what her next trick is? Probably the BBB. Not that we care. We already get "hate mail" from "watchdog" groups like that informing us that there have been complaints against us and they'd like for us to explain ourselves. Just last week we got one from a lady who sicced them on us for towing her for being a lesbian....
How she managed to write that letter with a straight face, I don't know
How the BBB took it seriously, I have no idea
We got a good laugh out of it as it went in the garbage, that's for sure, I DO know that!
About 2 hours into the shift, while I'm manning the phones while Towing Manager (henceforth just manager) tries to get his head above the tsunami of paperwork that's piled up on him in the wake of two back-to-back home football games in this town, the return of she-beast, as foretold by prophecy, does, in fact, come true.
ARGA: Friendly Neighborhood Towing, Argabarga speaking.
WOMAN: I want the manager
ARGA: Of which department?
WOMAN: We got towed and I want to complain to the manager about your employees!
ARGA: Okay, hold for me one second please.
*dump to hold*
ARGA: Hey, Manager, it's "Them" from this morning.
*Manager rolls eyes, picks up phone*
MANAGER: Yes, yes I'm the manager. Okay.... No, that was a legitimate tow for property trespass as is outlined in the Borough towing ordinance, the property owner had every right to tow you. No, I won't refund you. No you can't talk to them. No, you can't talk to them. Why? Because they are under me, I'm their supervisor and I'm speaking for them now, you do not have to talk to them and they can't override me anyway, I'm not going to be circumvented and I've already said you won't get a refund. No, you cannot talk to my other employees. No.... N... Ma'm........... Ma'm............ okay, have it your way. *click*
ARGA: Didn't get the answer they wanted?
MANAGER: I couldn't get a word in edgewise, she wanted to talk to the morning person, then she threatened to call the cops and have us charged with theft of services, then she said she was coming down here in person, I don't know what she wants but I don't have time for this. If they come in here, send them to me and I'll get rid of them, if I don't get last weekends stuff sorted out by this weekend we'll never get on top of it and I'm just NOT dealing with this today.
Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, they do come in and proceede right to Manager's desk. They're a lot older than they sounded on the phone, and Husband and Wife pair who look to be about 60-something. Wife starts in first.
WIFE: Your employees were VERY rude to us this morning! They told us to "shut up"!
MANAGER: Mmm hmmm
WIFE: You.... you obviously don't care
MANAGER: Not really, I'm very busy today, I have about 4 hours of meetings and paperwork to do yet, so I really don't have time for this and I tired to explain it to you earlier on the phone but you wouldn't let me talk, there really wasn't any reason to come here, so I don't know what you want me to do. Have a nice day now.
*goes back to his work*
WIFE: So, that's it?
MANAGER: Pretty much, I'm not refunding any money for what was a legal and legitimate tow.
WIFE: But your employees were rude to us!
*Manager could humor them with an "I'll talk to them" promise, but is clearly just fed up since this is go-around number 3 for these folks and they just aren't getting the message. If this had been air-traffic control, after 3 tries at the same runway without a landing, they'd stop ordering you to TOGA and just send you to an alternate airport, and that's what the manager is clearly thinking too, so he opts to end the conversation stone-cold as you'll see. Had it been me, I'd have played with them some more*
MANAGER: Well, I'm not going to refund you, you can leave now, have a nice day.
WIFE: But your employee was rude!
MANAGER: You have a nice day, Ma'm.
WIFE: So you aren't going to listen to us?
MANAGER: No
*Now hubby pipes up*
HUSBAND: If this is how you treat your customers you're going to be out of business soon!
MANAGER: Oh no
HUSBAND: I'm serious!!!!
MANAGER: Sir, if I had a dollar for everyone who told me that, I'd be a millionaire by now! Have a nice day.
HUSBAND: I can't believe you'd treat us like this!. You keep treating people like this and you're going to go under!
MANAGER: We're going to go under? *turns to rest of office* Uh oh, Hear that guys? We're goin' under! Now you've got me terrified Sir! I better run for it now!
HUSBAND: You little twerp! If I were 10 years younger, I'd kick your f*cking ass!
MANAGER: That's nice, you have a nice day now and leave
HUSBAND: Cocky asshole!
*Husband stomps out, but the missus stands where she is, probably in shock that her demands aren't being met. That line about a "rude employee" always works at the Cracker Barrel, after all*
WIFE: I want to talk to someone above you!
MANAGER: No, you have a nice day
WIFE: There's nobody here above you I can talk to right now?!
MANAGER: No, have a nice day ma'm
WIFE: I want a business card or something with your name on it!
*Manager points to stack of cards in plastic holder on counter, she takes one*
WIFE: So you're not going to...
MANAGER: No, have a nice day, and leave before I call the police to escort you out.
WIFE: I... I just can't believe you run a business this way!!
*Manager motions for employee who just came in to hold front door open*
MANAGER: You need to leave, now. I WILL call the cops.
And she did. Speaking of leave, when I left at the end of my shift, the place was still, against all the odds, above ground. Like manager said, that list of people sure that we're going to go out of buisiness any nanosecond now is forming around the block.....
The irony of course is that as long as there is a steady supply of people bitching about being towed for their illegal parking, well, that means we'll naturally be STAYING in business, nobody mad at us, and we'd have a problem.
Wonder what her next trick is? Probably the BBB. Not that we care. We already get "hate mail" from "watchdog" groups like that informing us that there have been complaints against us and they'd like for us to explain ourselves. Just last week we got one from a lady who sicced them on us for towing her for being a lesbian....
How she managed to write that letter with a straight face, I don't know
How the BBB took it seriously, I have no idea
We got a good laugh out of it as it went in the garbage, that's for sure, I DO know that!
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