This story starts a few months ago, when we have some hamsters in, we have a customer (it has to be said we weren't too keen on her from the get go)
any way, she askes how old our hammies were and I (it is usually me and 'sonia' working) told her they were about 9 wks old.
She asks how old they were when we got them in, and i tell her about 5 weeks.
fair enough, she says, she'll have one at 5 weeks, nothing over 6 weeks tho as it'll be dead soon (????)
They are all the same age, we get them from a breeding centre.
Sc-but i want a baby one
Me- they are still babies they live between 18 months and 3yrs (one person claimed theirs was 7 but i think they either had a guinea pig or a lot of hammies looking alike)
no, she is not a happy bunny, she wants a baby one, and gives me her phone number so I can phone her when I get the baby hamsters in.
And she comes in 2 or3 times a week
AAand phones us up on the days she can't make it in.
we sell the ancient decrepit (sorry sarcasm) hamsters, (grand old age of 12 weeks) order in and duly receive 20 more (our max capacity and min order from the centre)
sc comes in loudy moaning about us Finally having baby hamsters for sale. It is 4.30, she wants a cage, food and to be told Everything Anyone Needs To Know about hamsters (which is cool,cos I like people to be interested in whoever they are buying from me, but I had to wonder why she couldn't have done most or all of this during her previous visits) By this time its 5.15 and she is happy with everything she has chosen, tells me she is going to Asda, and will come back for her stuff. I tell her we close at 5.30, and we can keep everything back till the next day if she wants. Oh no, she's been waiting long enough for this hamster, she will be back when she is finished shopping, to collect it. Any way, she sends her daughter in 1 min b4 closing.
happy ending right? HAH! no, cos that would be toooooo easy
Last Monday (my day off so Sonia and, oh lets call her Rachel are working)
in comes Mrs P (you gotta sign for an animal so we know her name)
Her- the bottle I got with my hamster cage is leaking
rachel- oh, i'l get sonia (Rachels new)
sonia- ok, do you have it with you?(people often think the bottles leak, but most times they need to tighten it after fillling it)
Her- no
Sonia- well if you bring it in we can have a look, change it if needed
Now its Thursday, its me rachel and sonia (who is on her lunch break)
In comes Mrs P armed with empty bottle and huge chip on shoulder, goes straight to rachel, who brings her to me.
I have been told to expect this, so i am smiley and(i hoped at the time) sympathetic (that was a waste of energy as i found out later)
anyway, i take the bottle, and fill it with water to see what the problem is........there isn't one. it 's not leaking at all
I take it to show Mrs P (or as sonia later recorded in the log 'that bitch with the baby hamster!)
'It is leaking' she assured me, playing with the ball bearing and watches the water come out
'it's supposed to do that so the animal can get a drink, but when it stops licking the ball bearing, it stops the water spilling out *demonstrates*
its leaky and i want a new one was all she said
I suggested, had the hamster maybe pushed the bedding against the nozzle, as that would explain it
'No the bottle is leaking'
'well i could replace it but to be honest it won't make any difference as this one is fine'
she of course homes in on *replacment* as thats what she wanted. of course i also have to demonstrate that the new one won't leak so in all i am with her for 15 mins!
any way, as she is leaving, she shouts that if this one leaks too, she will be bringing the whole cage back for a refund (and if i had known then that she meant it, i would have involved h/o now!) I tell her that we could not refund the cage as it has been used and cannot therefore be re sold, and also the (non excistent) fault is not with the cage.
thats the back story, to anyone still reading, thanx for staying
She came in yesterday! with cage! at 4.30 (and was there for 20 odd mins )
She slammed the cage on the desk and demanded a full refund
sonia took our cordless phone into our office to call h/o.( we bought the cordless phone for privacy as our store phone is on the desk)
I explained what sonia was doing and took a moment to exlplain also the policy of not refunding the cage,
she waved the receipt in my face and told me that as the bottle had been sold as part of the package, and the bottle was faulty, she WAS entitled
to a full refund.I try again to tell her that we cannot take the cage back, and she tells me that;-
she has spent all weekend going round Glasgow, and everyone said she was entitled
that if i dont give her the refund she is going to sue
Which means i will get all her legal fees to pay
I am getting the vet bills to as the hamster now has a cold
sonia comes back, and tells Mrs P that (as i had already supposed) that we cannot take the cage back, only replace the bottle again, or she could take h/o address and make a written complaint.
This of course is not good enough and she demands a refund
we tell her again head office will not allow this
She tells me that if this had been a mobile phone package, and one part didn't work, she would be entitled to a brand new phone! (and grinned smuggly at me) well ididnt really answer as i dont really know about mobile phones or what they had to do with this(!)
sonia offers again to change the bottle even tho niether of us can see a problem(yup, it came back with water in it an sonia has been watchin it not drip)
Mrs P now launches into a tirade about wanting to give small stores a chance rather than goin to our large competitor and how we had had the chance to make things right
but my attitude stank on thursday, and i told her it was all her fault it was leaking (w.t.f.?) and now she wanted a full refund
S- we can't give you a refund, only chage the bottle again
Her- do you want my hamster to die?
Me&S ???? of course not!
Her- then give me a refund!
Me- we can't! head office have said we can only change the bottle, and give you their address to write a complaint
Her- who is in charge here
Me- Me
Her- I want to speak to the manager
Me - thats me
Her- give me a refund!
Me (oh god! how many more times) We cannot refund the cage, we can only change the bottle, head office have said you can make a written complaint
Her- and what am i supposed to do with the hamster in the mean time? (it wasn't in the cage so don't know what she's already doing with it)
And why are head office involved, i am your customer, my contract is with you?
in fact i'll phone them(remember our non cordless phone) you dial and i'll speak to them
Me- we really cant let you do that, we can give you their address though
Her- give me their phone number
Me- we're not alowed to do that (i agree tho, its a stoopid rule)
anyway, behind our till(which we are using for other customers being served during this time) we have haed office phone no. fac no. and most of our other stores number as everyone seems to call us to get their local shops phone no. Mrs P has leaned over and got the number, and thinks she is using my phone to call h/o
Me- sorry, you can't do that
Her- why not?
Me- its company policy, its for buisiness usage only (oh i can see where thats going)
Her-(smugly again) well this is buisiness
Me- its not a public phone
Her- I am not the public! I am a customer!
Me- you are not using my phone
she glares, i have run out of things to say and sonia is off helping someone
we have another chorus of 'Give me a refund!/I cant'
before;-
Her- I am not leaving without my refund, i can stay here all night
Me- (oh no your bloody not) I Cant Give You A Refund (and personally i hope she doesn't get one as i'd hate to have gone thro all this for nothing)
she grabbed the cage and stomped out, i call h/o and get 'A', who thought it was hilarious and didn't mind that the woman had 'stolen' the phone no.
Then today i was phoned by 'N' at h/o, giving me an ear-chewing for not checking the water bottle.(W.T.F.!) Mrs P is coming back in with it!!!! *sound of me crying*
*sound of sonia running away*
any way, she askes how old our hammies were and I (it is usually me and 'sonia' working) told her they were about 9 wks old.
She asks how old they were when we got them in, and i tell her about 5 weeks.
fair enough, she says, she'll have one at 5 weeks, nothing over 6 weeks tho as it'll be dead soon (????)
They are all the same age, we get them from a breeding centre.
Sc-but i want a baby one
Me- they are still babies they live between 18 months and 3yrs (one person claimed theirs was 7 but i think they either had a guinea pig or a lot of hammies looking alike)
no, she is not a happy bunny, she wants a baby one, and gives me her phone number so I can phone her when I get the baby hamsters in.
And she comes in 2 or3 times a week
AAand phones us up on the days she can't make it in.
we sell the ancient decrepit (sorry sarcasm) hamsters, (grand old age of 12 weeks) order in and duly receive 20 more (our max capacity and min order from the centre)
sc comes in loudy moaning about us Finally having baby hamsters for sale. It is 4.30, she wants a cage, food and to be told Everything Anyone Needs To Know about hamsters (which is cool,cos I like people to be interested in whoever they are buying from me, but I had to wonder why she couldn't have done most or all of this during her previous visits) By this time its 5.15 and she is happy with everything she has chosen, tells me she is going to Asda, and will come back for her stuff. I tell her we close at 5.30, and we can keep everything back till the next day if she wants. Oh no, she's been waiting long enough for this hamster, she will be back when she is finished shopping, to collect it. Any way, she sends her daughter in 1 min b4 closing.
happy ending right? HAH! no, cos that would be toooooo easy
Last Monday (my day off so Sonia and, oh lets call her Rachel are working)
in comes Mrs P (you gotta sign for an animal so we know her name)
Her- the bottle I got with my hamster cage is leaking
rachel- oh, i'l get sonia (Rachels new)
sonia- ok, do you have it with you?(people often think the bottles leak, but most times they need to tighten it after fillling it)
Her- no
Sonia- well if you bring it in we can have a look, change it if needed
Now its Thursday, its me rachel and sonia (who is on her lunch break)
In comes Mrs P armed with empty bottle and huge chip on shoulder, goes straight to rachel, who brings her to me.
I have been told to expect this, so i am smiley and(i hoped at the time) sympathetic (that was a waste of energy as i found out later)
anyway, i take the bottle, and fill it with water to see what the problem is........there isn't one. it 's not leaking at all
I take it to show Mrs P (or as sonia later recorded in the log 'that bitch with the baby hamster!)
'It is leaking' she assured me, playing with the ball bearing and watches the water come out
'it's supposed to do that so the animal can get a drink, but when it stops licking the ball bearing, it stops the water spilling out *demonstrates*
its leaky and i want a new one was all she said
I suggested, had the hamster maybe pushed the bedding against the nozzle, as that would explain it
'No the bottle is leaking'
'well i could replace it but to be honest it won't make any difference as this one is fine'
she of course homes in on *replacment* as thats what she wanted. of course i also have to demonstrate that the new one won't leak so in all i am with her for 15 mins!
any way, as she is leaving, she shouts that if this one leaks too, she will be bringing the whole cage back for a refund (and if i had known then that she meant it, i would have involved h/o now!) I tell her that we could not refund the cage as it has been used and cannot therefore be re sold, and also the (non excistent) fault is not with the cage.
thats the back story, to anyone still reading, thanx for staying
She came in yesterday! with cage! at 4.30 (and was there for 20 odd mins )
She slammed the cage on the desk and demanded a full refund
sonia took our cordless phone into our office to call h/o.( we bought the cordless phone for privacy as our store phone is on the desk)
I explained what sonia was doing and took a moment to exlplain also the policy of not refunding the cage,
she waved the receipt in my face and told me that as the bottle had been sold as part of the package, and the bottle was faulty, she WAS entitled
to a full refund.I try again to tell her that we cannot take the cage back, and she tells me that;-
she has spent all weekend going round Glasgow, and everyone said she was entitled
that if i dont give her the refund she is going to sue
Which means i will get all her legal fees to pay
I am getting the vet bills to as the hamster now has a cold
sonia comes back, and tells Mrs P that (as i had already supposed) that we cannot take the cage back, only replace the bottle again, or she could take h/o address and make a written complaint.
This of course is not good enough and she demands a refund
we tell her again head office will not allow this
She tells me that if this had been a mobile phone package, and one part didn't work, she would be entitled to a brand new phone! (and grinned smuggly at me) well ididnt really answer as i dont really know about mobile phones or what they had to do with this(!)
sonia offers again to change the bottle even tho niether of us can see a problem(yup, it came back with water in it an sonia has been watchin it not drip)
Mrs P now launches into a tirade about wanting to give small stores a chance rather than goin to our large competitor and how we had had the chance to make things right
but my attitude stank on thursday, and i told her it was all her fault it was leaking (w.t.f.?) and now she wanted a full refund
S- we can't give you a refund, only chage the bottle again
Her- do you want my hamster to die?
Me&S ???? of course not!
Her- then give me a refund!
Me- we can't! head office have said we can only change the bottle, and give you their address to write a complaint
Her- who is in charge here
Me- Me
Her- I want to speak to the manager
Me - thats me
Her- give me a refund!
Me (oh god! how many more times) We cannot refund the cage, we can only change the bottle, head office have said you can make a written complaint
Her- and what am i supposed to do with the hamster in the mean time? (it wasn't in the cage so don't know what she's already doing with it)
And why are head office involved, i am your customer, my contract is with you?
in fact i'll phone them(remember our non cordless phone) you dial and i'll speak to them
Me- we really cant let you do that, we can give you their address though
Her- give me their phone number
Me- we're not alowed to do that (i agree tho, its a stoopid rule)
anyway, behind our till(which we are using for other customers being served during this time) we have haed office phone no. fac no. and most of our other stores number as everyone seems to call us to get their local shops phone no. Mrs P has leaned over and got the number, and thinks she is using my phone to call h/o
Me- sorry, you can't do that
Her- why not?
Me- its company policy, its for buisiness usage only (oh i can see where thats going)
Her-(smugly again) well this is buisiness
Me- its not a public phone
Her- I am not the public! I am a customer!
Me- you are not using my phone
she glares, i have run out of things to say and sonia is off helping someone
we have another chorus of 'Give me a refund!/I cant'
before;-
Her- I am not leaving without my refund, i can stay here all night
Me- (oh no your bloody not) I Cant Give You A Refund (and personally i hope she doesn't get one as i'd hate to have gone thro all this for nothing)
she grabbed the cage and stomped out, i call h/o and get 'A', who thought it was hilarious and didn't mind that the woman had 'stolen' the phone no.
Then today i was phoned by 'N' at h/o, giving me an ear-chewing for not checking the water bottle.(W.T.F.!) Mrs P is coming back in with it!!!! *sound of me crying*
*sound of sonia running away*
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