First post, and a testament to awesome management.

[Rhion]

Hello everyone, I'm a long time lurker, first time poster. Your stories have kept me entertained, as well as stoked the fire that is my fury against that which are sucky customers for many a month. Recently I was reminiscing on the good old days, the days of university, and I recalled this story. I feel obliged to share it, and show that small businesses rock.

Anyways, I was working in a small drycleaning store, with a total of three staff. Myself, a nice woman who worked the presses, and the owner. I had previously been on deliveries, but an increased workload meant I now had to take front desk. It was my first day on front desk, and I was doing fine... until the point of sale PC crashed.
So, in the observed format of this forum, let me introduce:

Me: Cashier formerly known as "Delivery Boy"
AO: Awesome Owner
SC: Sucky Customer

Me: Welcome to xxxx, how may I help you?
SC: I have a shirt I need repaired.
Me: Okay, what do you need done?
SC: <irrelevant details on the required repair>
Okay, this is where I start entering the details into the computer. Quite a simple affair, I just have to enter the type of repair if it's a basic one, and the program does the rest.
Me: I'm sorry, the computer seems to have crashed, I've rebooted it, and it'll be back up in a minute.
I swear, if there were a sound to accompany the shift in mood of SC, it would be the shattering of glass.
SC: THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE, YOU'RE A F****** IDIOT.
ME:
AO: <listening in, as the presses are just around the corner> Piss off, you do NOT talk to my staff like that. <throws the garment back in her face>

I don't think I've ever seen someone retreat that quickly.

Anyways, thanks for reading. I've since graduated and got a job that doesn't require dealing with such moronic members of society... I may, however, have some posts for Unsupportable in the near future.

[reimero]

Welcome aboard!

And that's how a small business owner improves staff morale (and, indirectly, customer service across the board.)

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

The key phrase here is "small business".

If this were a chain store, the manager would probably give Ms. Potty Mouth a discount for her "inconvenience" when the computer crashed.

[Music Mo-Gal]

Maybe when the computer crashed, it short-circuited the SC's brain; hence the bizarre and sudden personality change.

[One-Fang]

Awesome manager. If only they were all like that!

[darknight73]

yay for the small business owner- you can do that if you own your own business butwork for a corporation hhhmmmmmm don't think so- customer is always right and you, well your not and the sc would have been apologized too- even if they are in the wrong

[tropicsgoddess]

Awesome manager. If only they were all like that!

I second that! The OP's Manager rocks! Welcome to CS!!

[depechemodefan]

I think it's a little extreme that the owner threw the garment at the customer's face...but it still was awesome.