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At work today, a customer was asking me if we're hiring - for her son. She tells me that he talked to the SM and filled out an application and all, but that he hadn't heard anything back. I told her to talk to the administrative coordinator that was there - she was just putting some new hires into the system. She proceeded to explain that he needs a yes or no as to whether there's a job open or not, yadda yadda yadda. She keeps basically repeating this schpeal....wash, rinse, repeat.
Finally, I catch somewhere in there that he's 15. We don't hire 15-year olds. My company does, but only in extreme situations (family financial hardship, etc). My store does not. The exchange went something as follows:
Me: Me
SC: her....
Me: Ma'am, we don't hire 15-year olds.
SC: Yes, you do.
Me: No, ma'am, we don't. [my company] does, but only in rare, extreme situations. This store does not.
SC: Yes, you do.
Me: At this store? (trying to get inside her head)
SC: Yes.
Me: Ma'am, I've been here for 4 years. We've never had a 15-year old at this store. The minor rules are so strict - they can only work 2 hours without a break, only work til 6pm, only work (I think) 3 or 4 days a week...it winds up being more trouble than it's worth. We don't hire them at this store.
SC: Yes you do (see a pattern?)
Me: (Frustrated that she's arguing with me). He'll have to wait until he's 16. He hasn't heard back because he's only 15.
I kinda ignored the rest of what she was saying. It's obvious that she didn't believe me (or want to believe me), and there wasn't a manager readily accessable to grab real quick. I HATE when customers think they know soooo much more about the day-to-day operations of the store than the employees who have been there since they were old enough to work (i.e. me).
Finally, I catch somewhere in there that he's 15. We don't hire 15-year olds. My company does, but only in extreme situations (family financial hardship, etc). My store does not. The exchange went something as follows:
Me: Me
SC: her....
Me: Ma'am, we don't hire 15-year olds.
SC: Yes, you do.
Me: No, ma'am, we don't. [my company] does, but only in rare, extreme situations. This store does not.
SC: Yes, you do.
Me: At this store? (trying to get inside her head)
SC: Yes.
Me: Ma'am, I've been here for 4 years. We've never had a 15-year old at this store. The minor rules are so strict - they can only work 2 hours without a break, only work til 6pm, only work (I think) 3 or 4 days a week...it winds up being more trouble than it's worth. We don't hire them at this store.
SC: Yes you do (see a pattern?)
Me: (Frustrated that she's arguing with me). He'll have to wait until he's 16. He hasn't heard back because he's only 15.
I kinda ignored the rest of what she was saying. It's obvious that she didn't believe me (or want to believe me), and there wasn't a manager readily accessable to grab real quick. I HATE when customers think they know soooo much more about the day-to-day operations of the store than the employees who have been there since they were old enough to work (i.e. me).