"You do not know!"....round 2.

[Dreamstalker]

The Perugina chocolate company does make dark, white, and milk versions of their signature candy (Baci, little balls of YUM consisting of a hazelnut, chocolate cream with hazelnuts and chocolate coating); but the original was dark chocolate.

In addition to bags, tubes, single Baci and smaller 8-piece boxes, we sell fancier 21- and 28-piece boxes. The boxes are only produced in dark chocolate.

I was about to clock out, when a male SC nearly grabs me (the look I gave him, plus the looming presence of K, must have made him not go through with it) and demands that I find him a box with only milk chocolates.

SC: "Why don't you have boxes of the milk chocolate? These are all dark!"
Me: "We have the milk chocolates in smaller boxes, bags, and tubes. The company only makes the large gift boxes with dark chocolate."
SC: "No, you get me a box of milk chocolates."
[I was half-tempted to fetch a bulk box of the single milk Baci from storage; it is a 'large box of milk chocolates' and the only way anyone in this reality could fulfill his request...but something told me this guy really wouldn't get it and I didn't want to make him think that he could order me around]
K: "We do not have the gift boxes in milk, the company doesn't make them that way."
SC: "You do not know. Get me someone who knows."
Me: "I'd be happy to get the manager, he will also tell you that the only boxes of milk chocolate we have are these small 8-piece ones here." [points to shelf]
SC: *now in a vaguely mocking tone* "You do not know. I want this *waving a large box around* in milk chocolate, I know you sell it! get me someone who knows!" (oh, he did not just go there)
K: *silently motioning for me to scoot and punch out before SC pushes any more buttons or Security gets involved* "Sir, my coworker has told you and now I am telling you that what you want does not exist. The company only manufactures the large boxes in dark, and always has."

SC mocks me one more time (I didn't hear exactly what he said) and flounces off. The only word I heard him say to his son was "stupid"...classy.

I relay this to J in the office just in case SC tries to complain; J confirms that K and I told SC the truth, and should SC demand him later he would be all too happy to oblige

SC was of a persuasion that isn't used to females making decisions (or telling him no), so that could be why he was so weird toward me.

Yet another reason I'm grateful for no name tags (managers have their IDs visible on a lanyard, but the worker ants don't have to and were told not to probably so SCs can't single anyone out)

[workerbee222]

Of all the SC, the most annoying are the ones who have never ever done anything like the work you do, but mystically, know more about your job than you do.

[Dreamstalker]

Especially in a gourmet store. I've fielded many, many rounds of "You have to have [something that every 'full service' grocery on the face of the earth carries, including the one 200 yards away in the mall], why do you call yourself a grocery store if you don't?" but most of them eventually heeded my rebuttals/explanations. This guy, though...

...come to think of it, I dealt with almost the exact same thing, word for word except for the product, at my old store once (SC was the same persuasion to boot). Pity I can't remember that SC's face...would be interesting if I could tell J that there was 'history' with him.

[Ironclad Alibi]

I thought up a wonderful solution to the SC's problem.

I would buy the 28 piece dark chocolate box, and four of the milk chocolate boxes (32 pieces total milk chocolate). Then I would empty the dark chocolate pieces from the big box and fill the big box full of the milk chocolate pieces. I assume it is for a gift, so the gift receiver would have all milk chocolate pieces.

Meanwhile, I get to keep the extra milk chocolate pieces, and all of the dark chocolate pieces. And that's a win-win situation for me.

If I actually do this, please don't tell Mrs. IA.

[Dreamstalker]

That was my idea as well, but I assumed SC wanted the box to remain sealed...I think there's a shrinkwrap machine in either the office or one of the prep rooms. J would probably charge SC double for the 'personal shopping', with extra tacked on for whoever had to deal with him.

Mom said she would have told him to go to the manager of the candy company...with how certain SC was that he 'knew' the company made milk chocolate gift boxes, I wonder if he thought they're in the US.

[EricKei]

with how certain SC was that he 'knew' the company made milk chocolate gift boxes

I just figured the SC was going with the classic "Customer is always right" fiction -- i.e. If he said it, it BECOMES true.

[Crossbow]

Can confirm: Large box is only in dark (used to work for Perguina's parent company). Also can confirm: SC is a royal bitch.

[notalwaysright]

When I started at my work I remember older women persistently telling me to ask someone else. I was 19 and the older ladies never believed a word I said. After a while, we got a batch of new hires and I had been working there for some months. A women doesn't like my answer and she sees my CW who is older. The customer says "ask her." I say "I can, but I've been working here longer than her, so I know our stock better." The lady looked so surprised that the older lady was the new employee not me.

I have become much more firm in my manner, and it reduced these demands, though I still get them. Nothing makes me happier than a customer making me ask someone else, and they give the same answer as I did. For a while there was a group of people (or several groups) from a very different culture... They would aggressively push for discounts, and when I said that I could not alter the price, they would interrupt any other employee they could see and say loudly demand a lower price.

[Dreamstalker]

My store has their 'mission statement' on the wall near the offices for all to see. Up near the top of the list is "The guest is not always right".

I kinda take issue with the term "guest" (if a guest in any of our homes left trash all over, broke stuff and left it to ruin other items, and was condescending and arrogant they'd be out on their ass), but the public rebuttal of that cardinal retail rule is nice and the outright assholes seem to be few and far between compared to my previous job.

[Slave to the Phone]

I totally have to stop opening Dreamstalker posts. I'll bet I gained 10 lbs just drooling over the descriptions of the chocolates. No, I did not look the company up online, its embarrassing when my sweetie asks me why there are tongue marks on my monitor.

I have to wear my state ID on a lanyard or clipped to me somewhere easily viewable. I always wear lanyards that don't have swivels and then accidently put it on backwards so name and pic are not showing. Nobody has ever called me on it.

[gremcint]

oh man this reminds me of a similar thing. so we don't normally sell tvs in store these days. someone decided that we would sell one single model of a 55" tv for christmas time. no display model or anything. We just have it in a box on the floor. we've sold a couple so hey whatever.

customer comes up to me "do you have mounting brackets for tvs?"
"no"
"then why are you selling these tvs?"

yes because you are only allowed to sell a tv if you sell every possible accessory for it.

[Crossbow]

yes because you are only allowed to sell a tv if you sell every possible accessory for it.

And the only possible way to place a TV is mounted to the wall. Twit.

[Captain Neon]

-20F (-29C) outside and customer wants to buy a battery for his car and then asks us to install it for him in the parking lot. "There's just a brace and couple of other small things in the way," he says. 2/3 of us on staff have changed batteries in that same model car for someone in a bind on a nice day and it is a half hour job if you know what you are doing. To do this job right, one should really remove the distributor cap.

Install for certain vehicles amounts to loosening three bolts. Even on a nice day, we shouldn't be replacing this guy's battery, and it was not about to happen in subzero temps. His response when we told him we wouldn't do it: "Why do you sell batteries if you won't install them?"

[EricKei]

"then why are you selling these tvs?"

"Because Corporate makes us...That's how this works."

[Slave to the Phone]

"Why do you sell batteries if you won't install them?"

What I would have gotten fired for is answering "Why are you buying a battery in a DIY place if you won't install it?"

Seriously, go buy your parts at a place that does install them if you can't/don't want to do it yourself.