Words fail me (and him too apparently)

[Jaden]

I'm not sure if this really qualifies as a SUCKY customer per say, but this is the best place to put it I suppose. If any moderators disagree, you can move it where it would best fit and I apologize.

So this old guy walks up to a register, probably about 60s or 70s. It's been a slow day, nobody else in line.

C: Cashier
Me: That 16 year old bagger kid
OG: Old Guy

C: How may I help you?

OG: Grash Megeifs Ghgadffg Nershnaff

Ok, so I jsut hit a bunch of random keys, but I swear that's what it sounded like! He wasn't mumbling, he was speaking quite loudly in a deep, throaty voice, but he wasn't actually speaking WORDS! I mean, it wasn't another language or anything, it was just total gibberish. Hitting a bunch of random keys is the best way to describe it honestly.

C: Ummm, could you repeat that sir?

OG: *louder, with more emphasis* GRASH Megeifs Ghgadffg NERSHNAFF

C: Ummmm

OG: Grrrrr...Mefghs Shur Clifed Hordish

Me: ...........I'm gonna go get the floor supervisor

So finally, with the floor supervisor and, after about 15 minutes, many other people joining us, we finally, FINALLY deciphered what he was trying to say. He was asking for some obscure brand of cigarrettes hidden away in a corner of the cigg cabinet. It was like playing freakin charades to figure it out. I feel bad for talking like this, since it probably wasn't his fault, but he was being kind of rude about it throughout the whole thing, and it was very frustrating (and more than a little funny).

Sorry if I annoyed anybody with the random letters mashed together to form the guy's words, but that really IS the best I could do to describe it! But I do apologize if anybody really did find that annoying. I found it annoyign to read it myself, and I'm the one who typed it

In other news, my new favourite word is now officially "Nershnaff"

[King BBCB]

I've been there before, and it's frustrating. I feel terrible, as I don't want to seem rude to people who have severe speech impediments or hearing problems, but I just can't figure out what they're asking for sometimes, try as I may.

For example, I remember one time a customer kept making writing motions with her hands. I kept leading her to our pencils, pens, markers, etc., and she kept shaking her head. Finally, I found a manager, who instantly figured out she wanted my pen to write down her request (for paints). I felt like an idiot.

[pbmods]

For example, I remember one time a customer kept making writing motions with her hands. I kept leading her to our pencils, pens, markers, etc., and she kept shaking her head. Finally, I found a manager, who instantly figured out she wanted my pen to write down her request (for paints). I felt like an idiot.

Who's the idiot? You, who associated a writing motion with pens and other writing implements? Or the customer, who, after the first try didn't work, kept doing the same thing over and over, figuring that eventually, she might get a different outcome?

[Twotall]

but he was being kind of rude about it throughout the whole thing...

How could you tell he was being rude?

[Mikkel]

Some years ago an older (80 or so )man came to my bicycle shop and told me something like that, after trying to understand I gave him a piece of paper and he wrote: Grvsk. I actually found out by him pointing and grunting that he wanted a new chain. I was told next day by his wife who picked the bike up that he had aphasia after a stroke but kept forgetting. Apparently aphasia make it impossible to write too.

[Ree]

Who's the idiot? You, who associated a writing motion with pens and other writing implements? Or the customer, who, after the first try didn't work, kept doing the same thing over and over, figuring that eventually, she might get a different outcome?

That's a little harsh.
Maybe she kept doing it, hoping he would figure it out.
Not being able to communicate must be really frustrating for people, especially if it's the result of a stroke or illness.

I've been in that situation, too, when I am stumped because I simply cannot figure out what the customer is trying to ask me.
It's embarrassing for me because I don't want to look stupid or make them feel bad, either.

When it's due to a really thick accent, and I just can't decipher it, then I do feel as if the customer thinks I'm stupid. I usually just say, "I'll get a clerk to help you," and then pass them over to someone else and hope they can figure it out.

[Jaden]

How could you tell he was being rude?

Cuz he kept getting louder and louder and waving his hands all over the place That's why I said "kind of" rude, because he probably was getting just as frustrated as us, so I can understand

[Becks]

For example, I remember one time a customer kept making writing motions with her hands. I kept leading her to our pencils, pens, markers, etc., and she kept shaking her head. Finally, I found a manager, who instantly figured out she wanted my pen to write down her request (for paints). I felt like an idiot.

Why feel like an idiot? I more than likely would've done the same thing. Of course, it might have been helpful if she had done her writing motions, and then pointed to YOUR pen.

[Bliss]

That's a little harsh.
Maybe she kept doing it, hoping he would figure it out.

I agree with you both, in this case he was dealing with a human, so it's expected that the same motion will bring a different response, specially when the failure in the first interpretation will possibly cause the person to try to apply a different interpretation on the next iteration since the original one proved to be incorrect.

But, I can also understand where the original comment came from, since I work with computers whose response to stimuli under unchanging enviroments is unchanging as well, it has always amazed me that people perform an action on a system, find the outcome is not what they want, and then perform the same action expecting a different outcome when the machine is programmed to associate the outcome to the action...

bleh

[Customer Beating Robot]

Deaf woman

Perhaps a little off topic, but it goes with the theme of not being able to understand the customer.

I used to work electronics in a Wal-Mart. Our cash registers were right at a major intersection in the store. So naturally, a customer would start searching from the front of the store and by they time they got to the back, they were right next to us. So they always asked us for assistance in finding things.

One time this deaf lady came up to me all huffy. At first I couldn't understand her, but after giving her a pen and paper, I could understand that she needed a dead bolt. From the story, her trailer had been broken into and her boyfriend had sent her to get a new lock. I took her over to the hardware section and we found the door knobs and deadbolts. I am showing her all the different kinds and she keeps asking for a specific type of deadbolt. I can't remember exactly what she said, but it had something to with the motion. I think she wanted to be able to turn the key a certain way and have it lock. Most dead bolts have you turn the key toward the door to lock it. I think she wanted to turn the key away from the door to have it locked. She probably couldn't be bothered to learn a new motion.

Now, since I don't work in hardware, I kept offering to get her a hardware associate. She kept screaming "No!" and would just write furiously that she wanted this certain type of deadbolt. I explained that this was all we had and that since I didn't work in hardware I would not be able to help her much, but that I could get someone for her.

Finally, she just gives me the angriest look and just huffs off. I am guessing her boyfriend must have smacked her around a good bit, that is probably why she was so angry. We had a time trying to communicate and perhaps some of her frustration was that she was deaf. When I first met her, I didn't know she was deaf so I was talking to her normally. Then she just screams "I am deaf!!" as loud as she can. Sorry, but I couldn't tell. You know, deaf people don't come with signs. If you can talk adequately then good for you, but don't be surprised when people don't know you are deaf.

[King BBCB]

That's a little harsh.
Maybe she kept doing it, hoping he would figure it out.
Not being able to communicate must be really frustrating for people, especially if it's the result of a stroke or illness.

I think that's what she was trying to do, what with there not being any way for her to say, "You're not understanding me." I can understand why people thought she might have tried to act differently to get better results, but she probably just couldn't think of any way to do so at the time.

It's not something I fault myself over, but I did feel a bit foolish at the time for not thinking that she might want to write down her question, and totally missing the boat that she didn't want to buy writing supplies.

[AFpheonix]

I had the trifecta a few months ago: a deaf non-english speaker, who had no refills left on his script.
Typically, I can just write down what I need to tell deaf people, and they get it, are happy, and go away. Non-english speaker? If they speak spanish, cambodian, vietnamese, korean, chinese, or german, then there's someone back here in the pharmacy that can get them sorted out.
I couldn't even figure out what language he understood.

I did end up calling the number we had on file, and got ahold of his son, who said he'd come pick up his dad and explain what was going on, since the gentleman couldn't figure out why we were only giving him a 3 day supply until his doctor called in some refills for his script.