Don't insult the person you're asking for help.

[Dreamstalker]

We have one or two extremely high-maintenance constant complainers, and I had the displeasure of running into one of them today.

Inventory is on the 31st, so us worker bees are running around organizing shelves. I'm up to my elbows in pasta (literally; the shelf was so overstuffed and messed up that I had to take everything down) when one of the cleaners pulls me over to help a customer with risotto. That was all the background I got.

Me:
SC: duh

Me: Hi, what can I help you with?
SC: I'm looking for rice for risotto.
Me: May I ask what you're making? (depending on the exact ingredients and whether the result is 'wet' or 'dry' different varieties of rice are used)
SC: Oh, I had this risotto awhile ago that has truffle and parmesan and I want to make it.
Me: Ooh, that sounds good. Well, the typical risotto rice varieties are Baldo, Carnaroli and Arborio. The exact one will depend on the texture you want in the finished dish. I usually recommend Arborio, it doesn't absorb a ton of moisture so the rice will still have a defined texture.
SC: Why is this rice in bricks? [vacuum-packed] I had this brick rice once and I didn't like it. (D around the corner mouths "brickweed?" and I almost lose it)
Me: That's just a packaging method, we also have rice in bags.
SC: None of these bags are the one you said.
Me: This brand has a chart on back that tells you what type is used for what dish.
SC: *bitch mode-activate* Do you know what you're selling? You don't know anything about your products!
Oh no she didn't.
Me: Excuse me, you're the one who wanted my help. I've been here since before we opened, I know all our products and I have trained everyone in my department.
I take a few steps back and try to contact V on the radio; surprise, no answer (why do we even have these things if she's unreachable?)
SC: See? You don't know what you're selling and have to ask someone!
Me: Ma'am, I have been trying to help you. You are insulting my intelligence and not letting me help you, so this interaction is over and I am getting someone else.
With this, I dart off and find V, who is in a meeting (still no excuse for not answering the radio...if we need to be reachable at all times than you do too).
Me: V, sorry for interrupting, but there's a customer over in the rice area who is questioning my intelligence and won't accept my advice. She's being very rude to myself and D and I am not dealing with her anymore.

I never did find out the resolution (I really wanted to know if she tried to make me look bad), but later I find out from the Storytellers' manager --who's a great guy, we all wanted him to become the Grocery manager--that this woman has nothing but complaints every time she comes in. She's notorious for belittling anyone she interacts with...if it were up to me, she'd be banned. I have doubts about our managers standing up for us if she decides to make up some story about us being the rude ones.

[notalwaysright]

Reminds me of an old hag from the fabric store that would insult anyone who was cutting fabric for her. We didn't know how to measure properly, we weren't giving her the correct amount, we weren't cutting "with the grain" etc. Whoever called her number at the cutting counter would see her walking up, not even speak to her, and call for a manager.

This person even knew how awful she was because she didn't question why we refused to help her. These people must have terribly sad lives, to go around pestering retail workers.

[mjr]

Reminds me of an old hag from the fabric store that would insult anyone who was cutting fabric for her. We didn't know how to measure properly, we weren't giving her the correct amount, we weren't cutting "with the grain" etc. Whoever called her number at the cutting counter would see her walking up, not even speak to her, and call for a manager.

This person even knew how awful she was because she didn't question why we refused to help her. These people must have terribly sad lives, to go around pestering retail workers.

Seems like it might be dangerous, but wouldn't it be nice to just hand her the scissors, and say something like, "Well, since you're such the expert, you do it."

Or even better, ask them why they even come.

It could be an "on purpose" thing, in that they think that the employees themselves are "below" this person, and they don't want the "lowly" employee doing it.

[Dreamstalker]

With the new money (or old money breeding entitlement) flowing around here, I guarantee some of these people do it on purpose.

[mjr]

With the new money (or old money breeding entitlement) flowing around here, I guarantee some of these people do it on purpose.

Oh, it wouldn't surprise me.

The problem is, when you work in the service industry, some people take that to mean that you're their personal servant, and so they don't have to treat you well. Because "service".

[Buzzard]

There's also the whole "I'm a miserable (excuse for a) person, so I'll spread the misery to make myself feel better at someone else's expense" deal. It's not exactly an efficient way to boost one's self, but it's sometimes the only way they know (or more likely WANT) to do. Yes, it's a miserable existence, and I'll only spend pity on those who don't/can't understand that there's other ways to do things. Those that choose this path... get nothing from me unless, of course, I can send a nice boot to a posterior.

[Dreamstalker]

This woman clearly had no idea what she was doing beyond "I wanna make this NAO". The least she could have done was looked up a similar recipe so she could give me a specific type of rice. Fine, have fun--and waste precious truffles--experimenting.

I do possess a coveted "manager" lanyard from the days when J wanted us to wear them to show that we are employees, but I hesitate to display it lest V see it and decides that she needs to revoke my ability to print price tags (technically only managers should have access to that system, but J trusted me with that power because I do it correctly).

[emax4]

Maybe demand that she apologize to you before she gets help, otherwise she will have to wait for a manager or another staff member that you're NOT going to call for her.

[XCashier]

Reminds me of an old hag from the fabric store that would insult anyone who was cutting fabric for her....This person even knew how awful she was because she didn't question why we refused to help her. These people must have terribly sad lives, to go around pestering retail workers.

Reminds me of The Nemesis at my old fabric store (undoubtedly, every store has at least one of these.) Now that I no longer work there, if I see her in the middle of one of her tirades, I will not hesitate to verbally tear her a well-deserved new one.

Seems like it might be dangerous, but wouldn't it be nice to just hand her the scissors, and say something like, "Well, since you're such the expert, you do it."

I know you were just being facetious, but no. No, no, no, no, no, HELL NO. NEVER allow fabric store customers to cut their own fabric! The store will lose money right and left! We kept the scissors behind the cutting counter, but customers still managed to get a hold of them and do their own cutting. I never caught anyone doing this, but my managers knew about customers who would cut a huge hole in the middle of the fabric, or cut a horrible crooked line, or similar situations. You can't sell fabric if there's a huge gaping hole in the middle, so we'd have to cut that part out and write it off, and that's money we lost. As was the time spent correcting their stupid mistakes / deliberate mis-cuttings.

[Havering]

My wee state agency has a few frequent flyers who only want to call us and segue into insults. I worked emergency dispatch and like you, Dreamstalker, I don't play that game. When it gets personally insulting, they get one warning. It continues? "If there's nothing I can help you with, I'm terminating this call." Click.

[Evannah]

This makes me blood boil. I've had it happen to me loads. You are asked for your help, you give it, but somehow your answer (which is usually really good) is somehow wrong and you're either stupid or rude. Or both. I don't work in retail anymore. I do actually miss it, but I don't miss the rude customers.

[notalwaysright]

Reminds me of The Nemesis at my old fabric store (undoubtedly, every store has at least one of these.) Now that I no longer work there, if I see her in the middle of one of her tirades, I will not hesitate to verbally tear her a well-deserved new one.

Ours was nicknamed the Witch, and I can still picture her in my mind. :/ It's funny, we sort of thought she had a twin who was nice, since there was a lady who looked just like her but was just a normal nice customer. In reality I'm sure it was the same lady, but he must have been very bi-polar or have some similar issue. It was so extreme that we knew right away if she was "the twin" or "the Witch." Her demeanor was like night and day.

Nowadays, with smartphones, I hardly ever need to ask advice from an employee but if I do, I pretty much just buy whatever they say. If I knew better, I wouldn't have asked. The only annoying thing is when I have a dumb question and my phone doesn't get reception. So I had to ask "are these sweet rolls?" And the bakery lady's like "???" because they were plain sandwich rolls, just named something I didn't recognize. It must have seemed like an odd question, lol. But I didn't want to risk buying them for sandwiches, then find out they're like cinnamon on the inside or something!

[Dreamstalker]

I'm the type of person who would try an ingredient even if it's not the EXACT thing...then again, I do my research and see if I can in fact substitute X and if yes, I'll do the work required to make it work. If the original ingredient is sufficiently obscure and/or I didn't do my homework beforehand, that's on me for waiting until the last minute and I'll deal with the results.

Then again, I was raised to be adventurous when it comes to food (mom fed me homemade oyster stew as first solid food, dad traveled all over the world when I was young so at two years old I developed quite the palate for Peking duck)