Smile!

[KnittedPuppy]

I don't post very often but frequently lurk, so thought I should share a story to balance things out

Background: I work in a small independent shop, a bit like Boots but without a pharmacy, and more household cleaning stuff. There is a supplement called echinacea we used to sell years ago until our supplier informed us they would not be able to sell it to us anymore because of a change in legislation. It can now only be sold by pharmacies. Admittedly I can't find reference of this law online now, and to further confuse matters we are allowed to sell an echinacea cold remedy, because its a less concentrated form. But as far as I know everything our supplier said was correct. Anyway on to the story!

I was on the till changing a till roll, which is a rather noisy task as our tills are very old and rattle a fair bit.

Sucky Customer: Do you have any echinacea?

Me: *Can only vaguely can tell I'm being spoken to because of the noise, stops and looks up*
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over the till, how can I help you?"

SC: "Where's your echinacea?"

Me: "I'm sorry, we're not allowed to sell it."

SC: "Boots has it."

Me: "Ah, they are allowed to sell it because they have a pharmacy."

SC: "No, they just have it on the shelf."

Me: "As long as they have a pharmacist on the premises, they are allowed to sell it, we don't have which is why we're not allowed, I'm sorry." *Customer looks away, I assume we're done, so finish off changing the till roll when suddenly:*

SC:*throws the items he has across a free till counter with enough force for it to make a loud thump, and some items to land the other side*
"Your useless!!!!"
*Storms out*

Me: *Confused and left a little bit shaky from the sudden outburst, I'm not good with confrontation.*

A short while later he comes back:

SC: "May I please speak to your manager?"

Me: "Yes, of course I'll call for them." *calls, manager comes. I gesture to the SC* "The gentleman would like to speak to you."

I found out later that the SC had while he was gone, gone to a pharmacy and they had told him there was no reason we were not allowed to sell echinacea. He also complained about me, that I had a "deadpan face" and when he comes into a shop, as someone that works for the salvation army, he expects to see smiling faces.

I do smile at customers, but my mouth does has a natural downward turn and I don't tend to smile as I talk all the time. I have since been making sure I consciously smile at every customer throughout the whole interaction just to be safe... my face hurts now :P

[MoonCat]

First, he was an idiot.
Second, you did nothing wrong.
Third, he was an idiot.
Fourth, the person at the other store was an idiot too because obviously they didn't know what they were talking about.
Fifth, the customer was an idiot.

[eltf177]

He threw stuff and you and then came back?

"You want to see a manager? NO! Get out and never come back!"

[Arcus]

I did a quick google search and it took all of a second for me to see that there are rules in place for the sale of herbal medicines like echinacea. The other guy was that one that was wrong, not you.

[bainsidhe]

If this comes up again, where you're asked for an explanation why you don't sell the product, I suggest you simply say it comes straight from corporate that you're not allowed to, or even that it comes straight from the supplier that you're not allowed to. Since it doesn't seem the explanation is clear cut, it will save you the headache of trying to justify a decision made by a third party.

[Trixie]

The customer was an idiot. They probably just went into Boots and asked the front cashier where the product was and dumped what happened in your store and then probably told there was no reason for your store to not carry it.

Any normal person (read: not whiny, crybaby) would've taken your answer and reply "Oh, okay." Then go to the proper store and buy the product. Not really a big deal.

[notalwaysright]

SC: "Where's your echinacea?"

Me: "I'm sorry, we're not allowed to sell it."

I learned, at least at my old work, never volunteer information like that. I would answer, "I'm sorry, we don't carry it." The more you tell them, the more they argue. I have "resting bitch face" and can say that I never was able to just smile the entire time I was on the clock. It's impossible. And it wouldn't have mattered if you'd have been the poster child for smiling, the SC would probably have complained about that, too.

(The rule must have some exceptions, or maybe differs by state, because the local co-op sells echinacea and doesn't have a pharmacy.)

[Pixelated]

If this comes up again, where you're asked for an explanation why you don't sell the product, I suggest you simply say it comes straight from corporate that you're not allowed to, or even that it comes straight from the supplier that you're not allowed to. Since it doesn't seem the explanation is clear cut, it will save you the headache of trying to justify a decision made by a third party.

I second this. Don't even try to explain the whys and wherefores; let them go up the food chain if they want to debate the matter. In my time in retail, I've found that the appearance of stupidity on my part can sometimes be a blessing.

As for your facial expression, the customer is probably one of those who sets his face in a rictus (that he assumes is a smile) and leaves it there all day. I was told by a twit of a former boss that my facial expression always looked angry. It doesn't. But he's one of these people that goes around with a huge grin on his face all day. Nuclear fallout could be blanketing the city and he'd still be grinning like an idiot.

[Slave to the Phone]

I third this. Its what I do all the time. Blame it on someone else that is higher up the food chain. It helps if you can say something like "I'm sorry that we don't carry that, its a corp decision. Would you like their contact information?" Sometimes that deflects them, sometimes it doesn't, but if you stand your ground and if your manager is willing to back you up, it will work.

[Shyla]

I'm sure he lied that the other shop told him there was no law. He just wanted to complain and feel special. He's not in the Salvation Army either and that has no relevance to smiling faces. He's just a regular old jerk.