sucky library customer

[KellyHabersham]

To give a little background on this - earlier this week, this older woman (I'll call her "Irma") had come in to return some library books and pick up a hold request, the receipt printer at the self-checkout machine she used wasn't working, so she came up to the customer service desk to get a receipt. So I looked up Irma's account, printed out a receipt for her, and she insisted that one of the items listed on it was one that she had returned.

Irma wasn't exactly being sucky about that, but she was definitely a little pushy and insistent, and I got the impression that she wasn't going to leave until I figured out where that returned book had gotten to. It turned out that it had been set aside for the circulation staff to review, because it had been returned with an ice cream stain on it. I showed the book in question to Irma, and she mentioned having tried to wipe it off, and didn't seem to think it was a big deal. She finally left, and later on (this being on the advice of our senior circulation clerk) I billed Irma's account for the damage. (she was the only person to have checked the said book out)

Anyhow, this charge put Irma's account over the fine limit, so she wouldn't be able to check anything else out. I knew she was NOT going to be happy about that, and it happened to be my luck that she came in again this afternoon, when I was one of the staff members at the customer service desk. Irma wasn't yelling or asking to speak to a manager, but she definitely was upset about being charged for the book. I tried to explain to her what our policy was, and might have been willing to take a look at her account and waive the fee as a courtesy, but she didn't really give me a chance to. Irma just kept going on and on about she shouldn't have been charged for that book, she wasn't going to pay the replacement cost,....etc., and while my fellow co-worker at the desk didn't step in, our security guard did come and stand behind the desk. (because he could tell that there might be a problem)

Fortunately, the only thing that happened was that Irma made a comment about how she just wasn't going to check out any more books then, dropped the book she had intended to get on the service desk, and left. I do not know whether or not she might try to complain to upper management in the Library department, it's hard to tell.

[Kristev]

I've gotten some water damage on library books. But I've either paid the fine or purchased them.

[KellyHabersham]

I've gotten some water damage on library books. But I've either paid the fine or purchased them.

That's what most of our customers do when a book gets damaged. But every so often, you get someone who wants to argue about it, and Irma was just one of those customers. I get why she was upset, but our policy is that if a customer damages an item, and they are the only person to have checked that item out, we do have to bill them for it. If I did not do this, and it was found out, I could end up getting in trouble for not following library policy.

[SpyOne]

I remember once as a small child I had completely lost a library book. I was terribly upset, though my parents assured me that paying for the book was not a big deal.
The same parents that had taught me that books were special and that you must be very careful to never damage a book - programming that in my adolescence left me aghast at the notion of using a highlighter in a text book or reference book.
And I had lost one.

[Rayndel]

I had a book vanish off of my side table while I slept. I was more afraid that it had just vanished into thin air. Never did find it either. (I think it was Prince Caspian.)

Now when I turned a book into the library (on bike) and they said I hadn't, that I argued about. I don't know what happened. They'd had a fire at the library that day and much later they found the book at a library that's a good 20-30 minute car drive away. They told me I must have accidentally dropped it off there. On bike?!

They wrote it off but there was some kind of I assume nasty note on my account for years. Every time I checked out books whoever was checking it out would stare at the screen, give me a side eye or roll their eyes and finish checking my books out. Years later someone asked me about it and I told her what happened. She finally took the note/alert off.

[Argus]

Now when I turned a book into the library (on bike) and they said I hadn't, that I argued about. I don't know what happened..

I've had two or three times that something I returned to the library made it back to the shelf without actually being checked back in. Fortunately, I was monitoring the status each time (especially after the first incident), noticed that it was still checked out after a few days, and was able to get it checked in properly before the due date.

They'd had a fire at the library that day and much later they found the book at a library that's a good 20-30 minute car drive away. They told me I must have accidentally dropped it off there. On bike?!.

Even if that other library had no connection to your library, it seems odd that they would just let the book sit there for a while without saying anything to yours.

[dendawg]

I'll call her "Irma"

By any chance, was her last name Gerd?

[Rayndel]

Even if that other library had no connection to your library, it seems odd that they would just let the book sit there for a while without saying anything to yours.

Yeah, it was a good month later that they found it. They were all interconnected with the mobile library and book loans and the like. I don't know how my book got from the outdoor book drop to another library entirely.

[EricKei]

I don't know how my book got from the outdoor book drop to another library entirely.

Well, I mean, libraries are sometimes thought of as magical places ...but not in THAT way!