Double standard, Ass?

[elysia]

I imagine this is pretty common but it still PISSES ME OFF and this particular example is more annoying than the usual "i'm going to stand here on my cell phone as you're trying to help me" sucky customer.

First the guy comes in with a box to ship. He says its a return and the company told him to just bring it to UPS because its all ready to go. Well its not ready to go because the only label that is on it is the old one from when it was sent to him. He got pissed that I wouldn't ship it for free.

SC: Well they TOLD ME to just bring it in and I wouldnt have to pay for it!
Me: Well, I'm sorry but I can't send it without a new label; its like trying to resend a letter with an old stamp. If they send you a new, prepaid label then I could send it at no cost to you, but....
SC: Well I'm not paying for this!

At that point his cell phone rang, and he answered, commence a 10 min conversation. We were the only two people in the store at the moment and I was at a loss. Half of his info had been entered in the computer for the new label, if someone else came in I'd have to erase it. I considered going back to what I was doing before he came in, but it was in the back of the store and I didn't want to leave him up front alone. So I stand there and wait for him to be done. He keeps talking and freaking talking, and it was his wife or something, they go on and on about whats for dinner and what so and so said about so and so. As I stood there waiting. HOW RUDE.

He tried to tell me something twice but it wasnt clear and he got all annoyed when I said, "What?" and waved his hand at me like I was interrupting him.

The store phone rang and since I had nothing better to do, and its MY JOB, I answered it. Five seconds into my conversation, his ended. With a twinge of righteous vengeance, I made him wait as I helped the person on the phone.

When my conversation ended, he told me, "Your customer service here is terrible. I think I'll just take this to FedEx" and left.

BYE.

[Demolition Man]

He was probably trying to scam you into sending it for free. Henseforth the "I'll take this to FedEx" since you didn't bite into his scam.

[The Grim Shipper]

There are a few places guilty of telling people they can just send it back for free. Mostly catalog/shopping channels. I don't know whether the operators assume ARS labels were enclosed or that UPS employs magic fairies to bypass the need to pay for fuel or what...

[taxguykarl]

I imagine this is pretty common but it still PISSES ME OFF and this particular example is more annoying than the usual "i'm going to stand here on my cell phone as you're trying to help me" sucky customer.
BYE.

Yes that is common. As for double standards, we (my cw's and I) will get canned if we talk on cells in front of customer; but they are free to gab throughout the interview--there we have a major screw up waiting to happen.

[malmalthekiller]

Yeah, I see this all the time.

When I work customer service, I'm also responsible for answering the phones (that aren't answered in the fitting rooms first), and I'll usually ignore them and deal with the people in person first.

But when I do answer the phone, the people in line get pissy and say I should deal with them. When I deal with the people in line, they say I should answer the phones, because they'd hate trying to call and not get an answer.

I'm only one person.

[Snowbird]

SC: Well they TOLD ME to just bring it in and I wouldnt have to pay for it!

Why do I get the feeling that the way they TOLD him was via their paperwork or website("no shipping fees on returns!") and not an actual employee of the company? I've done this before, they have to send out the label but it's the easiest thing in the world to do.. as long as you call and tell them.