It's the season of BAD will...

[Lace Neil Singer]

This happened this morning; I had my first customer and I was quickly and carefully scanning her stuff when a shampoo bottle slipped from my hand. I picked it up, checked it was OK then apologised to the customer. She said it was fine and I carried on. After the transaction ended, I started serving the next customers; that was when a supervisor turned up to say that the woman had put in two complaints, saying I was throwing her shopping down the belt. I was really upset about this, firstly cuz I had done no such thing and also cuz the woman had acted like it was alright when I apologised for dropping her shampoo, which was undamaged and fine. I couldn't help it; I cried. It was just nothing but pure spite by a nasty bitch of an SC.

The customers I was serving were really nice; they said that they were livid cuz they had watched me serve the hag and knew I hadn't been throwing her shopping around. They said they were going to go right up to Customer Services and the supervisor and tell them and her that the SC was lying about me and I'd done nothing wrong. After this, the supervisor came and said I could come off the till to have a drink of water and to calm down. After a few minutes, I was fine to come back.

But I'm really annoyed about this. I did nothing wrong at all, yet that nasty spiteful bitch decided to complain about me; not only give one complaint, but two; based on nothing more than an accidental, and apologised for, droppage of shampoo. Why accept the apology if she was going to bitch later? Why complain at all; the shampoo was fine! I know that CS doesn't like violence against customers, but I was thinking that I'd like to show her what throwing shopping is and throw the shampoo at her thick skull. It would serve her right for being such a mean, spiteful cow.

[crazylegs]

Although said violence would have been justified, with her plainly crested cranium such a tiny object would at n o point knocked any sense into her.

Would have made you feel a hell of a lot better though

[mariamousie1]

Even if you had been doing that, I hate it when people act all nice and then bitch about you behind your back. If she had a problem she should have taken it up with you. Phony.

[blas]

Well, see, some customers are flat out bitches and assholes to your face. Then there's others who never grew out of the "Mean Girls" mentality, and will act all cool and nice to your face, then go bitch to management.

[AirHostess]

Oh no you dropped her shampoo! It's like you dropped her baby on the floor!

Should have thrown a sharp knife at her head.

[Chevy Nachos]

I had a customer once complain that I threw money at her.

I was working at a suprermarket, and it was busy, and she thought I overcharged her a dime on a six pack of beer. Of course, we used scanner so I had no control over the price. It was really busy so I just gave her a dime out of my own pocket, finished the transaction and went on to the next customer.

A little while later the manager comes over and tells me that the lady called and said I threw money at her and I should be fired, blah, blah, blah. I wasn't fired, but I would have been if they found out what I did next.

The stupid biatch paid with a check. You know, with her address and phone number? Well, I hadn't turned in my till yet so I copied the information down for future reference. Her husband got a subscription to Hustler and a box af adult videos, and she got a vibrator catalog.

[rerant]

The stupid biatch paid with a check. You know, with her address and phone number? Well, I hadn't turned in my till yet so I copied the information down for future reference. Her husband got a subscription to Hustler and a box af adult videos, and she got a vibrator catalog.

That's so amazing. You're my hero.

[blas]

Oh my word.....

I did consider doing something like that. When I got suspended for 3 days because of the woman on foodstamps who said I was "taking food out of her childrens' mouths" and "being rude to her because she's poor and just wants to be like everyone else and have what they have"....well, I refused to sign the write up that went along with the suspension, and I asked for a copy of the complaint so that I could write a defense and give it to corporate. They put her name and (local) address on it!

But the little voice in my head told me not to. I told friends of the escapade, and they volunteered to intercept the giftcards and freebies that would be coming to her in the mail, but I declined. The little voice said no. It wasn't worth it. Just knowing that one day this woman will probably get busted for foodstamp or welfare abuse was enough for me. (several stores have bulletins with #'s you can call to report such things. I have that # somewhere). That's what made me feel better, or knowing that one day, her car will be stalled on the side of the road and I can just drive past her, laughing.

Oh, and knowing that she's scum of the earth and scamming stores to get freebies and using her low income as a means of justifying scamming, that helped me through it, too. Knowing that people who are worse off than her can be honest, decent people while she insists on being a digusting slug and getting cashiers suspended just to get her jollies off and get even with the "rich" folk.

[Lace Neil Singer]

With the bitch I talked about in my post, I can only hope that she undercooks her turkey and ends up with a bout of food poisoning as karmic vengence. XD

[DGoddessChardonnay]

With the bitch I talked about in my post, I can only hope that she undercooks her turkey and ends up with a bout of food poisoning as karmic vengence. XD

Careful there with the wishing . . . Karma has a tendency to bite one in the butt when it's least expected.

Yes, the SC was a two faced twit who probably didn't age mentally past middle school and should be dealt with accordingly.

Try not to worry . . . karma will find her on its own.


As a side note, violence against SC's isn't allowed by law . . . if you're not caught. Just don't discuss it here.

[bainsidhe]

Clearly this website is proof that sucky customers taint our lives year-round. But I also think part of the suckiness I've been dealing with is a sign of the season. Just as staff are flustered, tired and overworked, customers are tired of dealing with crowds, traffic and (what they percieve to be) unsimpathetic employees.

Yesterday a gentleman complained that he was "blown off" when his $13.92 DVD didn't ring up for $5.00. If it was only a buck or two, we would have just changed the price. But he was asking for more than half the cost to be taken off, which meant a price check. Apparently CSM A came to the register first, I only became involved when she saw me and asked that I go back to electronics and confirm the price. By the time I reached the register to see what the DVD was so I could run back, the customer told us not to bother, because the lines were long and he couldn't wait. He was upset because the price wasn't what he thought it should be and I'm sure he had already been waiting a while. I made it clear that I'd be happy to run back and confirm the price and I apologized for the inconvenience. So he complained that he felt he was "blown off", when that really wasn't the case, we were just too busy to give the level of attention he wanted/needed. Sadly, this is happening a lot this joyous holiday season.

On a side note, I have launched shampoo, pasta sauce (glass doesn't fall unscathed, sadly), lemons, an entire turkey, etc. Not for being careless, it's just that I'm only human and things slip. I scan hundreds of items per shift. Statistically, I'm going to drop something eventually.

[angelicafire]

So how come your manager felt it was appropriate to let you know about a customer complaint in front of other customers?

[Listerfiend]

I was once ringing up a customer who had a bunch of stuff, including a ton of yarn. I finished ringing the yarn and put it in a bag, when a skein of yarn fell out (as is the nature of round things--they tend to roll when unrestricted; which is why I tie bags with yarn in them now). The customer's son picked it off the floor, handed it to me, and I put it back in the bag. I assumed the matter was finished, but the customer FLIPPED OUT...
SC: I'm sorry?
Me: Pardon?
SC: You need to apologize for that! This is ridiculous--you are SO rude!
Me: ...I'm sorry about that, but it was just an accident. Plus, I figured it was okay, seeing as it's yarn and it can't break or anything...
SC: You need to learn about customer service! You're not being honest! Now I want an HONEST apology!! (this is shortened--she went on this tirade for a few minutes)
Me: I'm deeply sorry that your yarn fell out of the bag. It won't happen again, and I take full responsibility (for the laws of gravity--which I wanted to say) for it.

The customer behind her (who was waiting the whole time) had this incredible "wtf" look on his face as SC walked away. Before I was even able to greet him, he said "what a nutjob! I guess some people just need things to complain about." During his transaction we talked about how crazy people can be, and he said that he admires cashiers because we deal with these people all the time.
Naturally, I gave him a coupon for being awesome.

[Lace Neil Singer]

So how come your manager felt it was appropriate to let you know about a customer complaint in front of other customers?

I haven't the faintest. But she did end up apologising to me later about that.