Another Example of Why I'm Over Retail

[Rivulatus]

So one of my co-workers takes a call today. A lady wants help to get a webcam working.

His first question was to ask what sort it was, and she responds with a brand that we don't sell.

He then asked her where she bought it. It was at one of our competitors, who are known for their cheap prices, but who don't offer anything in the way of tech support - basically just a supermarket for computer bits.

So CW tells her that he can't help her with a product not bought from us, and suggests that she calls the place where she bought it. She got a bit snipey that he wouldn't help her, and he quite politely replied that we only support products we sell, and for goods bought elsewhere she needs to contact the place of purchase. I overheard the conversation and CW was quite polite for the whole call. So the call ends, and all is ok. Right?

Wrong.

A few minutes later the store manager is on the phone with her. She is putting in a complaint about CW for not helping her, and being rude. She then says that CW has been rude to her before, and she refuses to come back in the store, she is never buying anything from us again because of the way he treated her blah blah blah. So to make up for the terrible way she was treated, the spineless SM organises to send one of our tech's out to her home to fix it for her at no charge, and then CW got disciplined over it.

WTF!!!! Firstly, she hasn't even bought anything off us. Secondly she lied about the way CW treated her. Thirdly she used blackmail that she won't ever shop with us again (yet there is no evidence she ever has bought anything off us, or ever will anyway).

AARRRGGGHHH - I hate the way customers use this sort of shit to get their own way, and I hate the way spineless managers give in to every petty little whinge that they have. It just reinforces to them that all they have to do is complain to get their own way.

[Akasa]

Call corporate loss prevention or owner, depending on how small or big your company is, and tell them about your manager sending techs out for free to install hardware bought at a competitor. Have an approx time and date, and include in that the disciplining your cw got for refusing to support competitor's hardware.

[blas]

Not to the exact T as you, but that's pretty much why I quit retail, too.

And when you do have a complaint against you, it's like going to the most unfair trial by the most biased jury they could find. Everyone thinks it's your fault, the Almighty Customer is always right.....ugh!

And the threat about never coming back? Please. She'll be back the next week, if not the next day.

The woman at the grocery store whose complaint got me suspended for 3 days (it wasn't the complaint itself, it's just that I'd already been written up for my drawer being off and this was the next step in disciplinary action), she used that same threat. I demanded a copy of her complaint so I could write my own defense, and it even said "Jane Doe Cuntrag says she will never do business with us again" and wouldn't you know it, a few days after my suspension was over, she was back.

I was a mere 16 or 17 years old at the time, and I do believe that was the first time I have really stood there and contemplated beating the living hell out of someone.

[Ravendjinn]

this is why i never wore my actual name badge at kfc we get some shockers trying to scab food

[BaristaTrav]

Call corporate loss prevention or owner, depending on how small or big your company is, and tell them about your manager sending techs out for free to install hardware bought at a competitor. Have an approx time and date, and include in that the disciplining your cw got for refusing to support competitor's hardware.

Bingo, I'm sure corporate would love to hear about the SM spending time and resources on helping a competitor's customer.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Bingo, I'm sure corporate would love to hear about the SM spending time and resources on helping a competitor's customer.

Why of course they would. It would show how their people are going "above and beyond" and "wow-ing" the customer.

LP might be a better bet, because they have to deal with the money lost from the tech being sent out to help a non-customer.

[I_Hate_SCs]

... and wouldn't you know it, a few days after my suspension was over, she was back.

I was a mere 16 or 17 years old at the time, and I do believe that was the first time I have really stood there and contemplated beating the living hell out of someone...

Oh, I can only imagine how angry you were. This might be stupid to do, but I would've: after you got suspended, have a friend call the store, ask for the manager, and tell them they overheard the conversation that the SC had that ultimately caused you to be suspended, and have your friend say the SC was lying and that they will go to corporate and get them (the manager) fired if anything happens to you. Yes, it is a little SC, but how would they prove your friend wasn't there? I'm sure the security tapes for the day were long gone. And what's the worst that would happen, the manager would get mad at YOU for something 'another customer' called and said another customer did?

[Skeksin]

And this is why I love having all calls recorded. They can't pull this type of BS when you can pull the call and hear exactly what was said and if they get snippy you just whip out with "we have the call recorded would you like to hear it?"

[Rivulatus]

Call corporate loss prevention or owner, depending on how small or big your company is, and tell them about your manager sending techs out for free to install hardware bought at a competitor. Have an approx time and date, and include in that the disciplining your cw got for refusing to support competitor's hardware.

Corp would give him a pat on the back, and probably suggest that he offer the customer an item or something as compensation. They are softer than marshmallow. We've had them tell us to do crazy things, like give a refund on an item a customer bought from the shop that was in our building before us - the former shop wasn't even the same category as us (we are a computer store, there was a homewares store here before us).