Physical altercation with customer!

[StevieJD]

Take them cell phones and shove them were the sun don't shine.

Ooops, I wasn't suppose to say that.

There is a place for them. I have more than one customer send their staff, family whomever to pickup parts. Cells come in handy when dealing with somebody that is just a courier.

But those damn 30 minute converstations about your much younger sister's genital herpes, your mom's next door neighbor's ingrown toe nail, or the bounced check that your boss wrote trying to cover his mortgage is really NONE OF MY BUSINESS and besides I really don't want to hear it.

So when you only got 1 F******* bar on your cell signal while you are inside my concrete block and metal beamed building maybe that is a hint to NOT speak louder, maybe it is a hint to turn the sucker off or go outside.

[myswtghst]

Somewhat similar - where I work is considered a campus, in part, because it's about the size of a community college campus. There are multiple buildings, and some departments are badge-only, meaning you have to be approved and have your badge set up so you can buzz yourself in. Mine is one, in part because we deal with a lot of government and public safety stuff.

Next to the door on your way into my call center is a HUGE sign stating that we are not to hold the door for anyone. Now, if you tell me you're on your way to meet with someone who works here, and can give me a name I recognize, I might let you in. But if you flat out admit that you don't have access, and laughingly tell me "it's no big deal," I'm going to pull the door shut behind me and leave you standing outside. Do not grab the door and try to push your way in - I'm good friends with the security guys on this campus - I bring them food and chat with them, therefore they love me.

[donruss]

When I serve someone at the drive-thru, I will wait for a few seconds if they are on their phone. If I get no acknowledgement or they do not put their call on hold. I shut the window and walk away. Sorry, if you do not have time to conduct business, then I dont have time for you.

[karath]

Seconded. Personally, I wanna get one of those machines that knock out every cell phone for 100 yards. That way when I get a customer like that, I can just flip the switch.

My manager is seriously considering buying one of those.

Trust me, while cell phone folk are seriously vexing in most retail positions...people who continue their cell phone conversations in fast-food drive-thrus take the cake. MOST customers are polite enough to at least tell the person on the other end "one sec, I have to order my food." Takes about a second to do that, a few more to order, and the convo is back online.

Now, if the SC keeps his/her conversation going, they or the cashier WILL mishear something during the transaction. I have yet to see this fail and I've been there for going on three years in June. One way or another something about the order is going to get screwed up, and the SC's convo will get paused or terminated anyways while they're yelling at the "useless" employees. Fortunately we don't get TOO many of these, but my manager IS seriously considering finding a cell phone scrambler for the SC's whose conversation can't wait the 15 seconds it takes to place their order.



p.s. - if these were business calls that they were on I wouldn't mind; everyone needs to make a living, and after watching my dad for twenty years I'm under the impression that genuinely important conversations do not get interrupted for anything short of a natural disaster. Of course business(wo)men know better than to hold vitally important conversations in fast food drive thrus, so its always THE most inane conversations you can imagine that Mr. and Mrs. SC couldn't possibly pause.

[NightWatch]

During my stint as a sammich maker, I always worked the closing shift alone (3-9). Since I was alone, I didn't really have time to deal with anyone on their phone. If someone walked up to order and was talking on their cell, I'd ignore them, and if someone came up behind them, I'd take their order first... Most people accepted it, but a few would get upset. My favorite was if I was in the middle of their order and they started up a phone conversation, I'd stop whatever I was doing for them and go to the next person. If they really pissed me off, I'd make them go all the way back to the end of the line.

[MacPrince]

My manager is seriously considering buying one of those.

Just so you and your manager are aware- those cell phone jammers are quite illegal. The FCC doesn't cotton to people jamming radio signals in general, and telecommunications frequencies in particular.

And that's leaving aside the issue of people who have to be reachable- doctors, etc.

[Rubystars]

At my first job one of the managers told me that customers must be treated as if they are small children prone to temper tantrums. Expecting them to act like adults and take "no" like adults was bad customer service, apparently.

[wolfie]

Just so you and your manager are aware- those cell phone jammers are quite illegal. The FCC doesn't cotton to people jamming radio signals in general, and telecommunications frequencies in particular.

And that's leaving aside the issue of people who have to be reachable- doctors, etc.

While jamming is illegal, how about shielding? Proper application of foil (or mesh with openings smaller than cellphone wavelengths) would turn the place into a Faraday cage. Cell signals wouldn't be able to get in, but it would be entirely passive (i.e. not emitting any RF energy). Since the law used to go after jammers is based on them being illegal transmitters, I'd think passive shielding would be legal.

[MacPrince]

I believe passive shielding is legal, yes.

Though as Karath's manager wants to block people from using their phones while in the drive-through, a Faraday cage might not be the most practical idea.

[Andara Bledin]

I suspect that passive shielding is perfectly legal, but with such a situation as a store or other publicly accessible place, you would have to have copious signage regarding the fact of lack of cell signal.

Anybody can be required to have to answer a phone call while shopping or at a theater (provided they answer it outside of the screen room, and have the ring set to vibrate), and it's not fair to them that the few people who are complete asshats (and they are a notable minority, although unfortunately quite notable) would force punishment on those who are completely innocent of wrongdoing.

Case in point: One of the people I work with had to go to the emergency room a few weeks back because she's old and her body is slowly breaking down as bodies tend to do. Now, consider how you would feel if you were the emergency contact for someone who had reason to go to the emergency room, and you were unreachable because someone nearby was irritated at cellphone asshats and had nixed all cell coverage in the place you were standing?

^-.-^

[earl colby pottinger]

Jammers

Not all jammers are continuous transmitters, some you push a button and as long as you hold the button down all phones in range will disconnect. Also you can mod the output to take the range down to say twenty meters.

Thus at a drive-thru whenever the SC is yakking too much on the phone, cut them off - and don't tell them that you are doing it on purpose

Still illegal, but since you are not transmitting 99% of the time and at only very low power it will be very hard to trace.

[solemnwarning]

My manager is seriously considering buying one of those.

Trust me, while cell phone folk are seriously vexing in most retail positions...people who continue their cell phone conversations in fast-food drive-thrus take the cake. MOST customers are polite enough to at least tell the person on the other end "one sec, I have to order my food." Takes about a second to do that, a few more to order, and the convo is back online.

Now, if the SC keeps his/her conversation going, they or the cashier WILL mishear something during the transaction. I have yet to see this fail and I've been there for going on three years in June. One way or another something about the order is going to get screwed up, and the SC's convo will get paused or terminated anyways while they're yelling at the "useless" employees. Fortunately we don't get TOO many of these, but my manager IS seriously considering finding a cell phone scrambler for the SC's whose conversation can't wait the 15 seconds it takes to place their order.

I think jammin a mobile signal would require basically sending out garbage on any channels used by the phone, preventing anything that uses those bands from operating within the range of your transmitter, probably a big no-no as far as the FCC goes.

A faradae cage works well, but only if you're trying to block the signal INSIDE a building.

EDIT: DOH! Two pages with no discussion about the technical bit of shielding/jamming a radio signal and then page 3 has pretty much nothing BUT discussion on it! >.<

[Difdi]

The biggest problem with either active or passive cellphone blocking is, as someone else noted, liability. Even if you're not caught at it, do you really *want* to be responsible for the guy who isn't notified his mother is dying, due to no cellphone reception, and thus never gets to say goodbye? Or the guy who has a heart attack on a out of the way aisle, punches his emergency button, and nobody gets the 911 call? I personally don't want something like that on *my* conscience, especially not if I did it to avoid mere inconveniences and annoyances.

And just imagine the liability, both civil and *criminal* for getting caught...

[karath]

Ah, good to know. I was more than a little worried about the liability/legality of the whole thing myself. <3 you guys, thanks for all the advice!

[crazylegs]

Ah, good to know. I was more than a little worried about the liability/legality of the whole thing myself.

Be aware that not only will you block Mobile Phone signals, you may also block radio, definately not an option for police/other emergency services, especially if they attend your location and require additional units (for whatever reason).

We have a location in the town where I work which has no signal, our emergency calls will transmit through the electronic fog, but only with a 30 sec delay.