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The self-important lady came in again. This was on Friday as usual. For those of you that don't know her, click here: http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...ead.php?t=4062
She comes waltzing in with a 4-foot handrail in her cart. On it are many golf ball-sized samples of stain that she is deciding upon. I ask her how she is, how I can help her, etc. She pulls out a brochure of Minwax and Olympic stains and wants me to make her some samples of them. I tell her we can't do samples of stain, only paint.
SC: “Why?”
Me: “Because our sample machine only has paint in it, not stain.”
SC: “Ok, can you open a can of stain and put a dab on here?”
Me: “Sure. I can do that, no problem.”
I grab a standard color stain (light cherry) and stir it up and put a little dab on her handrail. She doesn't like it, and asks me to open another can of stain for another sample. This time she points to one that I have to formulate; it is not a standard color and has to be mixed.
Me: “Sorry, we don't have that color in stock. I have to make that color.”
SC: “Well, make it up and put a bit of it on here.”
Me: “I can't do that. I can't mix a whole can of stain just for a small sample size. I'd waste a quart, and I would definitely hear about it from my manager.” *I was smiling and being very polite, just like I always am with my customers - even the bitches like this one.
SC: *Sigh* “But the other man did it for me the other day! He made up about 5 cans for me and put samples on here.”
Me: “He did? Well, what I can do is...”
SC: “Can you tell me what colors are in this stain?”
I enter the stain name into the computer and it comes up with red and yellow umber. I tell her that.
SC: “Ok, how about this; can you put a small sample of those colors on here, and then we can mix them together, so I can see what the color will look like?”
Me: “No, I can't, because...”
This is where she got bitchy.
SC: “Look. Every time I come here, you always give me a hard time. I don't know what it is about you, but I don't like you. Can't I get someone else?” She turns to my co-worker, who just clocked out and was walking to the break room for his lunch break. “Can you help me instead of him?”
CW: (A very awesome guy) “Sorry Ma'am, but I'm off the clock. Knightmare is very good at this job, he can help you.”
SC: “I don't want his help. He's doesn't want to help me. I want a manager!”
Me: “Ma'am, I'm not trying to be difficult. If you will let me tell you why it won't work...”
SC: “I want a manager NOW!”
Me: “Fine”
I walk away to the phone, but she doesn't wait. She marches up to the customer service desk and I hear her yell: “I want a manager!”
A few minutes later, she and the same manager that dealt with her from before come over. She acts as if nothing happened, and I stay far away from her. I don't even want to know what is going on, I don't care, I just won't deal with her anymore.
John (name changed) walks over to me and asks: “ Why wouldn't you put the paint on her rail?”
Me: “Because it won't work, not what she wants.”
SC: “And why won't it work? Those are the colors that go into that stain!”
Me: “John, I tried to tell her but she wouldn't let me finish” I turn to SC and tell her.
Me: “The reason WHY it won't work is because you are only applying the tint colors to the handrail, not the stain. All you will get is whatever color red and yellow make, NOT what color the stain is. To get the color, you need the whole product. You need the tint and the base for the color to come out correctly.”
John: “You wanted stain? You said paint.”
John turns to me, cracks a little smile, rolls his eyes a bit, asks me to help another customer that is at the desk. Thank God, because I was not going to deal with her.
They finish up whatever they are doing. I don't want to know what happened, I don't care. I did tell John that if and when she makes a complaint about me, that I want to read it and make a rebuttal. I also said that next time she comes in, I will NOT wait on her. I will hand her off to someone else, or if I am working alone, I will call a manager to deal with her.
I am not a confrontational person. I don't know what I did to this lady that made her dislike me so much... I do have ideas though. Since I have been in paint, she has asked me to:
- color match a sofa cushion, which is very difficult to do, and when I told her that I can't guarantee a perfect match, she got mad at me. Color matching fabric is not easy, nor fun, to do. I don't even bother anymore.
- mix a 5-gallon bucket of paint just to see if it matches the same paint she bought 4 hours previous, but had no intention of buying. I said I wasn't going to waste 5 gallons of paint, and she got mad at me.
- take more discounts off of the "oops" paints she wanted. Lady, you are getting a $25 can of paint for $6.00. Take it or leave it. I told her I can't, she got mad at me.
- mix more tint into the "oops" paint so it would be the color she wanted, and wouldn't have to pay full price. I told her we are not allowed to do that, the "oops" paint is what it is. She got mad at me.
- color match a competitor's paint, and it didn't turn out. I tried 3 times, wasting 3 gallons of paint. It's nothing I did, the computer just couldn't duplicate the exact color. But of course, she got mad at me. AND THEN, when she returned later and saw the previous cans of paint on the "oops" pile, she again got mad when she found out that I put more tint into them to darken them up. Some customers do that; they want a color match or custom color. They then say they don't like the result, but come back later and grab them from the "oops" pile, and save $20 or so. So when I get one of those, I wait for them to leave, then add whatever color I want to it, so that color would be useless for that particular customer.
Other than not bowing down to Her Highness, I can't think of anything that I have done to piss her off.
She comes waltzing in with a 4-foot handrail in her cart. On it are many golf ball-sized samples of stain that she is deciding upon. I ask her how she is, how I can help her, etc. She pulls out a brochure of Minwax and Olympic stains and wants me to make her some samples of them. I tell her we can't do samples of stain, only paint.
SC: “Why?”
Me: “Because our sample machine only has paint in it, not stain.”
SC: “Ok, can you open a can of stain and put a dab on here?”
Me: “Sure. I can do that, no problem.”
I grab a standard color stain (light cherry) and stir it up and put a little dab on her handrail. She doesn't like it, and asks me to open another can of stain for another sample. This time she points to one that I have to formulate; it is not a standard color and has to be mixed.
Me: “Sorry, we don't have that color in stock. I have to make that color.”
SC: “Well, make it up and put a bit of it on here.”
Me: “I can't do that. I can't mix a whole can of stain just for a small sample size. I'd waste a quart, and I would definitely hear about it from my manager.” *I was smiling and being very polite, just like I always am with my customers - even the bitches like this one.
SC: *Sigh* “But the other man did it for me the other day! He made up about 5 cans for me and put samples on here.”
Me: “He did? Well, what I can do is...”
SC: “Can you tell me what colors are in this stain?”
I enter the stain name into the computer and it comes up with red and yellow umber. I tell her that.
SC: “Ok, how about this; can you put a small sample of those colors on here, and then we can mix them together, so I can see what the color will look like?”
Me: “No, I can't, because...”
This is where she got bitchy.
SC: “Look. Every time I come here, you always give me a hard time. I don't know what it is about you, but I don't like you. Can't I get someone else?” She turns to my co-worker, who just clocked out and was walking to the break room for his lunch break. “Can you help me instead of him?”
CW: (A very awesome guy) “Sorry Ma'am, but I'm off the clock. Knightmare is very good at this job, he can help you.”
SC: “I don't want his help. He's doesn't want to help me. I want a manager!”
Me: “Ma'am, I'm not trying to be difficult. If you will let me tell you why it won't work...”
SC: “I want a manager NOW!”
Me: “Fine”
I walk away to the phone, but she doesn't wait. She marches up to the customer service desk and I hear her yell: “I want a manager!”
A few minutes later, she and the same manager that dealt with her from before come over. She acts as if nothing happened, and I stay far away from her. I don't even want to know what is going on, I don't care, I just won't deal with her anymore.
John (name changed) walks over to me and asks: “ Why wouldn't you put the paint on her rail?”
Me: “Because it won't work, not what she wants.”
SC: “And why won't it work? Those are the colors that go into that stain!”
Me: “John, I tried to tell her but she wouldn't let me finish” I turn to SC and tell her.
Me: “The reason WHY it won't work is because you are only applying the tint colors to the handrail, not the stain. All you will get is whatever color red and yellow make, NOT what color the stain is. To get the color, you need the whole product. You need the tint and the base for the color to come out correctly.”
John: “You wanted stain? You said paint.”
John turns to me, cracks a little smile, rolls his eyes a bit, asks me to help another customer that is at the desk. Thank God, because I was not going to deal with her.
They finish up whatever they are doing. I don't want to know what happened, I don't care. I did tell John that if and when she makes a complaint about me, that I want to read it and make a rebuttal. I also said that next time she comes in, I will NOT wait on her. I will hand her off to someone else, or if I am working alone, I will call a manager to deal with her.
I am not a confrontational person. I don't know what I did to this lady that made her dislike me so much... I do have ideas though. Since I have been in paint, she has asked me to:
- color match a sofa cushion, which is very difficult to do, and when I told her that I can't guarantee a perfect match, she got mad at me. Color matching fabric is not easy, nor fun, to do. I don't even bother anymore.
- mix a 5-gallon bucket of paint just to see if it matches the same paint she bought 4 hours previous, but had no intention of buying. I said I wasn't going to waste 5 gallons of paint, and she got mad at me.
- take more discounts off of the "oops" paints she wanted. Lady, you are getting a $25 can of paint for $6.00. Take it or leave it. I told her I can't, she got mad at me.
- mix more tint into the "oops" paint so it would be the color she wanted, and wouldn't have to pay full price. I told her we are not allowed to do that, the "oops" paint is what it is. She got mad at me.
- color match a competitor's paint, and it didn't turn out. I tried 3 times, wasting 3 gallons of paint. It's nothing I did, the computer just couldn't duplicate the exact color. But of course, she got mad at me. AND THEN, when she returned later and saw the previous cans of paint on the "oops" pile, she again got mad when she found out that I put more tint into them to darken them up. Some customers do that; they want a color match or custom color. They then say they don't like the result, but come back later and grab them from the "oops" pile, and save $20 or so. So when I get one of those, I wait for them to leave, then add whatever color I want to it, so that color would be useless for that particular customer.
Other than not bowing down to Her Highness, I can't think of anything that I have done to piss her off.
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