Some People and Lotto!

[AmericanZero8503]

So this lady comes up.

SC- Two five dollar powerball tickets please.

(Well I assumed that since we can print tickets of $10 she'd prefer that, but lotto customers are scary creatures who want everything THEIR way)

Me- *I hand her the ticket* $10 please.

SC- *FLINGS TICKET BACK IN MY FACE* I SAID two $5 tickets.

Me- *I disconnect the machine from the wall, using one swift motion that makes it look like I'm printing a new ticket* I'm sorry ma'am our machine just went down.

SC- FINE!

---Lesson: Treat the Customer Service People with respect. If not....things crash...and you'll be sent away.

[theredbaron47]

*snicker*

This goes back to what someone else posted on the board, something about don't piss off the person who handles your travel plans / lotto tickets / food / purchases / etc., as it has the potential to backfire.

But on the other side...

The customer said, "two $5 tickets". Not one $10 ticket, but two $5 tickets.

Were I in your situation, I would have sold her two $5 tickets as requested, especially with the knowledge you've gleaned from experience with lotto customers that they tend to be crazy.

[MiloMorai]

They also could have been card stuffers for 2 different people.

[Bella_Vixen]

I hate to break it to you in so many words, but YOU were the sucky one.

[theredbaron47]

I hate to break it to you in so many words, but YOU were the sucky one.

In the sense that you didn't actually satisfy the customer (despite her suckiness, but hey... that's part of our job), and rather than fix your mistake and admit that you were wrong, do something that was uncalled for, I do have to agree.

[Broomjockey]

Lesse, didn't fulfill a simple request, provoking the suck. Suck bad, yes, so balanced. Then pulling the plug on the machine just to spite the person? Wrong.


Broom's decision? You both sucked.

[theredbaron47]

Very succinctly stated, BroomJockey.

[aurelemsrealm]

The best thing to do when in doubt in a situation like that is ask the customer if he/she might prefer a $10 ticket rather than 2 $5 tickets. Some machines will only print up to $5 tickets, like the one we use at my store. I always ask customers when they want multiple plays if they want them on the same ticket, or if they're leaving it up to me. For instance, I have one customer who always gets $6 in PowerBall quick picks. I could give him those in several different ways, but we've agreed that 2 $3 tickets seems easier than a $5 and a $1 ticket. If the customer cops an attitude at that, then the blame for suckiness falls totally on the customer.

As for unplugging the lotto machine, that's not such a great idea. It usually takes several minutes to reboot the lotto machine, in my experience. I've had to reboot the machine due to power outages or programming and network glitches before. It seems to take forever, and that's always when you get 20 immediate lottery customers in a hurry.

[Cyphr]

Yeah you didn't quite do the right thing. I dont think its a big deal if she was doing it because she had a better chance of winning. lottos tickets are usually liek 1 in 11 millsion or so. While 2 in 11 million is more likely to win than just 1 in 11 million it doesnt make a bit of difference statiscatly

[Seshat]

While the customer's reaction was out of proportion to the initial problem, I agree that you were in the wrong in the first place.

Customers usually have reasons for making their requests in specific ways. In this case, I'd strongly suspect that she intended them as card stuffers, as MiloMorai suggested.

If I were the customer, asked for two $5 lottery tickets, and got handed one $10 ticket, I simply wouldn't pay for it (and I'd leave it with the shop). It's not what I asked for, there's no reason I should take it.

By trying to force the customer to take the incorrect item (by pulling the plug on your lottery machine), you were way out of line. You made a guess, gambling that your guess was more what the customer wanted than what they'd asked for. Your guess was wrong. You should have dealt with the consequences of making a bad guess.

[purplecat41877]

we can print tickets of $10

Where I work, if a customer request $10 worth of powerball tickets, they'll receive 2 tickets. That's because our lottery machine will only print 5 games on one ticket.

[Namrepus221]

We had a guy a few days ago come in and ask for $10 for powerball tickets.

He wanted 1 powerball ticket for every days drawing.

Powerball doesn't draw every day.

He took a little paper slip and started filling it out...which would've made the tickets be the same thing that he had just gotten.

He also started abusing my co-worker saying she was an idiot and didn't know what she was doing and he had done it in every other store he had ever been too.

I finally spoke up and told him to lower his voice and calm down the guy left because he "didn't need the attitude and the abuse"