Everyone's got a sob story...and I don't care

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

It's amazing to me, just amazing the kind of sob stories people will throw at me to convince me to give them a free upgrade, a credit on their bill, an exception to a policy or whatever else I've already said "No" to.

I swear I get several of these a day: Here are a few samples:

- Woman who begged me to give her $75 off her bill because her husband left her a few months ago and her dog died last week.

- Guy (late teens to early 20s I'm guessing) who thought that because he had a raging abusive mother and couldn't live at home that I should be totally willing to send him a free cell phone (with express shipping at no charge).

- A woman who is going through a divorce, has a mother dying of cancer, had her car break down on her just today and, oh yes, she lost her job last week. As a result, she wants her bill cut in half for this month

- A guy who had just spent $1000s on medical bills (that I can actually believe), had apparently caught his girlfriend cheating on him and was telling me again and again how much he hated his estranged father. Apparently all of this was supposed to soften me to the point of allowing him a warranty replacement and overlooking that little cracked screen problem he had.

- A young girl, broke and in college, just spent her last bit of money on food. Just broke up with boyfriend, parents want nothing to do with her, barely able to keep her lights on and oh, she's failing most of her classes too. So now she wants a THIRD extension on her payments.

- And a woman who had lost a daughter to cancer, a son in Iraq, a brother in Afghanistan, her parents to a car accident oh, and apparently her little niece was one of the unfortunate victims of the Sandy Hook shootings. Evidently, she wants me to take pity on her and credit her $600 for a phone that, you know, she never sent back to us like she was supposed to.

---------------------------------

I understand bad stretches happen. I had a week myself not long ago where I lost two pets, the alternator on my car crapped out and my paycheck was quite a bit less than I was expecting. That being said, I didn't go running to my cable company throwing a pity party.

I'm sure some of these sob stories are true and I feel for people dealing with difficult situations.

But after it awhile it does become a bit much, especially when I know most of them are either gross exaggerations or outright lies.

[rose_metal_nz]

Am I a bad person for automatically assuming that each one of those is a complete fabrication?
I hate people that make that shit up. There's enough bad things happening to good people as it is.

The other day I spent a looooong time helping a little old lady with all sorts of non-supported computer problems. My boss asked me why I went so far, I told him "Her husband just died." He looked at my screen and said, "She always says that. I think he's been dead for years."

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I guess a lot of my customers are good actors because some of them sure make their sob stories sound honest and real. Some I'm sure are true, but you're right. No matter how convincing they might sound, I'm sure oh, about 80-90% are phony.

[Argabarga]

I guess a lot of my customers are good actors because some of them sure make their sob stories sound honest and real.

The cynic in me just says: "practice makes perfect"

People who've suffered extreme personal trauma (not always, but most of the time, everyone is different after all) tend not to bring it up because, well, it HURTS when you're HURTING for REAL and you generally want to LIMIT that. Or at least refer to it nebulously. "Sorry, I'm having a family/personal problem right now".

Those who lose their mother for real and their first thought is call the cellphone service for a discount? That's the textbook definition of a sociopath.

FWIW: I get this too, not to the same degree, but I get a lot of cut-me-a-break-because-my-*fill in close personal familial/fraternal relation here*-just-died-and-I'm-so-riddled-with-cancer-I-might-just-dissolve-into-viscera-on-the-sidewalk!"

I'm not PROUD of it, but we've towed people who illegally parked for funerals, and THEY didn't get off free. (Excuse me while I twirl my waxed mustache and adjust my blackened cape) But, just because you suffered a loss doesn't mean you get to park your car at the CVS all day long..... especially when you aren't a customer.

[earl colby pottinger]

What do any of these have to do with bills?

With the exception of the medical bill guy (medical problems can get expensive very fast) none of these people have a compliant that implies they would be short of money or at-least not see the money problems coming weeks, even months ahead of time.

And in the case of the medical guy I would ask for a fax from the hospital, I know I am limited in what I can ask for but he can approve them sending the minimal data.

[Argabarga]

Also, from the "catch more flies with honey" ideology, I remember back in the pre-internet days when you still had to pay bills by mail, I was out of town on vacation and forgot to send in my credit card payment.

I called the 1-800 help line and informed them of the mistake and asked if they could calculate the current balance plus late fee so I could send the check that day.

The nice gentleman on the other end said forget about the late fee, it was only missed by 24 hours at that point and if I was planning on making a full payment, they'd be happy with that...

I didn't even ask for special treatment... and look how far it got me.

[MelindaJoy77]

At least there's sort of a reason that people are telling you their sob stories. I get sob stories and all kinds of other stories from customers as a cashier...and I really don't care. I have friends and family that I feel for when they're going through stuff, and they do the same for me when I'm going through stuff, but I'm a cashier not a bartender...

[cindybubbles]

At least there's sort of a reason that people are telling you their sob stories. I get sob stories and all kinds of other stories from customers as a cashier...and I really don't care. I have friends and family that I feel for when they're going through stuff, and they do the same for me when I'm going through stuff, but I'm a cashier not a bartender...

Neither are you a therapist, psychiatrist or psychoanalyst.

[MoonCat]

A lost job is a legit reason to ask for consideration. Credit advisers always tell you that if you have legit reasons to be low on money, you should call your creditors and work something out, that most places will try to work with you. I'm not sure how you could prove you'd been laid off or fired, but I would hope that a utility or phone company would be willing to at least try to set up a payment plan. Which of course you'd have to stick to.

That said, if someone has already gotten two or three extensions and comes up with a new reason every time they call, I, too, would think they're lying.

[the lawsmeister]

- Woman who begged me to give her $75 off her bill because her husband left her a few months ago and her dog died last week.

For some reason this one in particular had me imagining a blues riff playing in the background.

[Sheldonrs]

For some reason this one in particular had me imagining a blues riff playing in the background.

I pictured every country song ever written. Lol

[Argabarga]

That said, if someone has already gotten two or three extensions and comes up with a new reason every time they call, I, too, would think they're lying.

Either that, or they're just too much of a hazard to ever try and take on as a reliable customer. Some people's lives just are that chaotic, and from a purely pragmatic standpoint, it's a bad bet to rely on them in a financial capacity, especially when it's not that lucrative when compared to an average customer.

If given the choice, I'm going to choose the person who pays on time in money that's not covered in glue and bits of fuzz and leaves.... because I'd rather not have to wash it off before I take it...

[Monterey Jack]

People who've suffered extreme personal trauma (not always, but most of the time, everyone is different after all) tend not to bring it up because, well, it HURTS when you're HURTING for REAL and you generally want to LIMIT that. Or at least refer to it nebulously. "Sorry, I'm having a family/personal problem right now".

Those who lose their mother for real and their first thought is call the cellphone service for a discount? That's the textbook definition of a sociopath.

Exactly. Anyone who deliberately uses personal trauma to get freebies is a scam artist, or if actually telling the truth, is generally heartless.

[rose_metal_nz]

Yeah, not that long ago some b*tchy b*tch pulled the "family member's got cancer" line (hard to explain, but it just sounded skeevy the way they said it, and it got my back up a bit). THEN when I didn't - I can't remember, give them something free? Produce the moon? Something like that They pulled out "I bet you have NO IDEA what I'm going through" (said in the most Drama Llama voice).
I deliberately paused and managed to reply through gritted teeth "Actually I just lost someone close to me this time last year, to aggressive stomach cancer." And sat there, seething. There was the awkwardest silence after that Then suddenly, the drama stopped

[Captain Trips]

"Here's a goodie. Half of the family dying, the other half pregnant."