Food Stamp Entitlement Whore

[anyanka2]

I had a couple food stamp entitlement whores this past week. The first was a combination entitlement whore/scam artist. A bit of background information - my store's policy is not to accept computer copied coupons. This lady paying for the vast majority of her order with EBT had three bags of cat treats that were not covered. She produces three coupons which were obvious photocopies, but I wanted to get a manager's approval before telling her that I could not accept them. Of course, the MOD is idiot toad bitch who is technologically illiterate who accepts them. I talk to another supervisor about what will happen once the head office gets them and if they can be traced back to me. She says I'm safe, but should have had bitch sup initial them to show that she took them.

The second was yesterday. An EBT customer lied to my manager about how I was unwilling to help him. This 50/60 something man comes through my lane with massive amounts of frozen food and other items in the 10 for 10 promotion this week. He groups his order together how he wants it bagged, which was appreciated at first but got irritating how he slowed down my ringing up his order. He purchased some orange juice which was leaking and I offered to page someone to get him a replacement one, which he turned down. That orange juice had dripped down on a package of mac and cheese. I offered to wipe it off for him, but he did it himself damaging the package and expecting me to go and get him a new one, which I did because it was no problem to do it, even though he had damaged it in the first place. His companion is a woman of a similar age who is less picky about her order and pays for the rest that isn't covered under EBT food with her credit card.

I think everything's good, but after my break my manger calls me into his office to tell me of the customer's complaint. I tell the manager that the customer is lying and was a pain in the ass in more tactful terms to me and the baggers. The manager gives the spiel about how we need to try and be polite to every customer regardless of how they treat us, something I don't entirely agree with, but understand his perspective. He says that it's apparent after I tell my side that the customer was lying and I did the right thing and that you can't satisfy everyone.

I'm tired of working retail and being abused by customers who assume they are god. I sure hope this new job works out - no more SCs!

[marasbaras]

Regarding the initials: CYA works wherever you go ... retail or otherwise.

[Peppergirl]

I The manager gives the spiel about how we need to try and be polite to every customer regardless of how they treat us, something I don't entirely agree with, but understand his perspective. He says that it's apparent after I tell my side that the customer was lying and I did the right thing and that you can't satisfy everyone.

I'm tired of working retail and being abused by customers who assume they are god. I sure hope this new job works out - no more SCs!

A decent manager would have listened to your side BEFORE starting the 'be polite to every customer regardless of how they treat us' bullshit.

And I'm sorry, there are limits to being polite. To me, that sentence would mean that ANY behavior by the customer should be met by politeness. Bull-SHIT. Not that this guy verbally abused you, but there are MANY cases in which a customers actions should not be met with politeness.

I'm sorry this happened to you. Just see it for what it is: That guy is a miserable dickhead with a shitty life and wants to take it out on people who didn't do a damned thing to him to deserve it.

[blas]

I feel for you. I was written up and suspended (I'm not sure if policy was that customer complaints warranted suspension, or if it was simply because it was the 3rd time I'd been written up) after this woman on foodstamps trying to scam the store complained about me.

I've told this story time and time again, so I'll shorten it up. Weekly coupons. Customers were only allowed to use 1 coupon per visit per item per customer. Easy right? Many customers didn't listen and somehow got their hands on several coupons and management just said "F it" and let them do it. This woman had 8 of EVERYTHING. I needed an over-ride. She asked why I was stopping the transaction. I said I needed an over-ride for her coupons. She proceeded to scream at me "ARE YOU SAYING WHAT I AM DOING IS WRONG? I AM ON FOODSTAMPS! I CANNOT AFFORD THIS WITHOUT COUPONS! YOU ARE TAKING FOOD RIGHT OUT OF MY CHILDREN'S MOUTHS!" and she then proceeded to call the store and complain. She got a buttload of coupons and freebies as well. I hope that tided her over for a few years. Bitch.

How dare I try to take Doritos and Pepsi out of her children's mouths!

Just to add, the fact that she was on foodstamps doesn't really have anything to do with anything, just the fact that she had to be SO dramatic over it.

[Andara Bledin]

And I'm sorry, there are limits to being polite. To me, that sentence would mean that ANY behavior by the customer should be met by politeness. Bull-SHIT. Not that this guy verbally abused you, but there are MANY cases in which a customers actions should not be met with politeness.

Oh, no, everybody should always be met with politeness.

But there are different shades of polite.

Now, there's the polite you use with decent people. You smile, you say 'please' and 'thank you' and you are a generally happy and friendly person.

Then, there's the polite you use with douchebags. You do the absolute bare minimum of what you need to do in order to do your job and keep things from holding up the people behind the douchebag (no point in making things take longer for the decent folks behind them, after all), but no friendly words, no offering of help with anything, and no suggestions on how things could be done better. Just the absolute bare-bones minimum of what might be considered civility.

For sauce, you can add a subtle touch of mocking disdain to your expression, just so long as it isn't obvious.

^-.-^

[Peppergirl]

Agreed, Andara

I was actually referring to the 'customers' who are so bad that they threaten the clerks. Sadly, I've known of several places where it's deemed perfectly acceptable by management for a customer to threaten a clerk with bodily harm.

[marasbaras]

I was actually referring to the 'customers' who are so bad that they threaten the clerks. Sadly, I've known of several places where it's deemed perfectly acceptable by management for a customer to threaten a clerk with bodily harm.

Talk about spineless managers. That's never acceptable.

My policy would have been to have the employee immediately call for backup. Hospitals have a code they can send over the loudspeakers that will call every spare person to a certain area for a show of force.

Stores need to do this. Threaten a cashier with bodily harm? Suddenly, everyone not tending the tills in the store is around you.

[anyanka2]

Agreed, Andara

I was actually referring to the 'customers' who are so bad that they threaten the clerks. Sadly, I've known of several places where it's deemed perfectly acceptable by management for a customer to threaten a clerk with bodily harm.

I feel for those poor employees. I sure hope that management feels the consequences of their neglect by high turnover.

I know the economy sucks and all sectors are hurting, but that doesn't give retail management the right to bow down to the all mighty customer at the expense of their employees. The customer is not always right. Unfortunately, that basic truth is overruled by the bottom line and the attitude that every customer is worth keeping.

Unfortunately, none of the management personnel at my store has any spine when dealing with customers. They're either too worried about the temporary decrease in sales due to a new Super Wal-Mart, too buddy buddy with the customers, or too worried about other things in their life.

It also doesn't help that the area where I work has the highest unemployment rate in the country and the state recently proposed increasing the food stamp payments to twice a month because of the increase number of people receiving EBT benefits. Before the current recession started, food stamps/WIC/EBT purchased were at least 20% of the store's weekly sales. Now it is up to about 25%.

[edible_hat]

A decent manager would have listened to your side BEFORE starting the 'be polite to every customer regardless of how they treat us' bullshit.

I think I've posted this here before, but my manager has been quoted as saying "You should treat customers with respect. But when they try to scam us, they're not customers."

[StevieJD]

I have a rule in my business.

If you hear loud voices you must respond.

Thankfully I have a couple guys working in the warehouse the size of a house and meaner looking than a linebacker chasing down a quarterback.

Real effective to shut down a mousy man or woman that is getting a bit vocal.

[Danjo]

I have a rule in my business.

If you hear loud voices you must respond.

Thankfully I have a couple guys working in the warehouse the size of a house and meaner looking than a linebacker chasing down a quarterback.

Real effective to shut down a mousy man or woman that is getting a bit vocal.

Our manager is of the "Hide in the office and close the door" variety so if there's not a officer person on duty we're left to deal with shouters ourselves. Most of our cashiers are the sort that have been doing this a while and you yell at them at your own peril.

A few however are 16 years old. You DO NOT start yelling at them if you want to stay in the store. I'm not a big threatening guy, but I have magical blowfish properties when someone tries to bully the cashiers.

About EBT cards, I had a guy come in the other day with a New York EBT card and a 3 year old North Carolina Driver's liscence. SOmehting about that seemed wrong but the card worked. Maybe I'm just too cynical.

[Andara Bledin]

Agreed, Andara

I was actually referring to the 'customers' who are so bad that they threaten the clerks. Sadly, I've known of several places where it's deemed perfectly acceptable by management for a customer to threaten a clerk with bodily harm.

Ah, well, that's gone from a "customer service" issue on over into a potential "personal safety" issue.

Personal safety trumps customer service, every. single. time.

A few however are 16 years old. You DO NOT start yelling at them if you want to stay in the store. I'm not a big threatening guy, but I have magical blowfish properties when someone tries to bully the cashiers.

Heh. I've known people who could do this. I used to have a friend who was a 5' 10" ex-Ranger. He was a really fun guy to hang out with (he would sometimes GM our Shadowrun sessions, and they always rocked), but you never wanted to get on his bad side, because he was a serious badass.

^-.-^

[Danjo]

Heh. I've known people who could do this. I used to have a friend who was a 5' 10" ex-Ranger. He was a really fun guy to hang out with (he would sometimes GM our Shadowrun sessions, and they always rocked), but you never wanted to get on his bad side, because he was a serious badass.

^-.-^

Well I'm about as far away from serious bad ass as you can get. But I do the unsahven, slightly off, quiet white guy thing pretty well. Oh and I do play a lot of Shadowrun so maybe that's what gives us our blowfish properties.

[chainedbarista]

andara put it perfectly; shades of polite is what i practice.

good get good, bad get civil and the bare minimum to get them out the door as fast as possible.

selective treatment? certainly; it's the golden rule that rules me, for the most part.

as for that old man and the scammer; beware, when you've pulled your schtick one too many times, you'll come against someone who will give you a much needed slam.