Snap you in half...

[Ree]

Now that was really helpful, Saydrah.

Thanks for taking the time to try and help the OP.

I have to agree with you that he definitely possesses talents that are better suited to some of the jobs you mentioned, rather than customer service.

[VenomX]

You dont seem to understand. If they tell me $20 and wait until it hits $18 to tell me they only wanted $10 then they either pay the $18 or I do. There is no middle ground. My boss isnt running a business to give gas away and I dont woek to give people free gas.

Its actually 2 different businesses. Inside is cigarettes, tobacco, etc.. Outside is gas.

Put it this way...

If you was a waitress and a party ate $100 in food then said sorry we only wanted the free water/free bread. And they got up to leave. Would you let them just walk out if you knew YOU would have to cover the $100?

If you was working at, lets says Wal-Mart, and a guy came in and grabbed a TV and walked out. Would you let him if they made YOU cover the money for the TV?

Dont say you would call the police, remember you are in my town and IF they showed up you would be told its a civil matter and to take them to the District Justice. And no they will not give you the persons name and address so you could.

[Saydrah]

Well, I do not work at a gas station or in any of the other jobs you mentioned- retail was not the place for me, either- so the example I gave was just that; an example, relating to only one of several confrontations. I understand you are posting a couple of years worth of stuff, and I understand that I do not know your area, your store, your boss, or your policies; however, the LAST model does work fairly well for handling customer concerns. Offering a solution can be as simple as apologizing and promising to pay closer attention next time, and very apologetically telling the SC that yes, they do still have to pay for the gas. Even if you DID pay close attention this time and they ARE scamming you, immediately escalating the confrontation and refusing to accept blame are two things guaranteed to turn a minor issue into a huge one.

In any case, the single example provided was not the point of my post. The point is that retail/customer service crushes your soul and makes you unhappy if you aren't cut out for it- and, as much as a random chick on the internet can be sure, I am sure you aren't. Why continue in your job and having these confrontations if you are not the kind of person who is prepared to sacrifice your pride and grovel before the customer as they expect in order to defuse a bad situation? There ARE situations where there is nothing you can do to prevent a ruckus, the ruckus happens, and the customer should be banned; however, in multiple threads where a confrontation escalated into the need to ban a customer, I can identify areas where using a customer-focused problem solving model could have calmed the customer down and made the situation less explosive.

You really could make a fantastic contribution to company success in a more employee-driven field, but it seems like a customer-driven industry is not for you. I could never do automobile sales, for example, because if someone pushes me too hard I don't push back- I crumple into a pile of Sobbing Saydrah and want a teddy bear! However, you could be fantastic in a job like that, because you are not afraid to state your mind and push back, and you immediately are able to qualify whether dealing with a particular customer will be profitable or not. I just don't see why you would stay in customer service instead of making more money and being a better fit for an employer with a different focus. Wouldn't you rather be recognized for superior performance than as the guy who sprayed a customer with gas the other day?