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Another long one, but this one is good. It's from several weeks back.
I was working an afternoon shift with one other cashier, who we'll call Lisa. She was working the customer service desk. I happened to be at the other end of the service desk putting security wraps on some stuff for Electronics when a customer and his friend come up to her to pay for their stuff. I wasn't paying too much attention to the transaction, but then I heard the guy call Lisa "doll" a BUNCH of times. He said it more times in just two sentences than I could keep track of, which is certainly not normal (sometimes a customer will say "honey" but that's it). So I stopped what I was doing and moved in behind her, just so this guy would know that someone else had noticed his behavior and had taken an interest. Well, I guess I wasn't enough of a deterrent, because the next thing he does is reach out and put his hand on her arm! NOT COOL. And he's giving her this totally "sweet" and totally phony smile. By now I am standing right next to her ready to put myself in between her and this customer, and have one hand on the phone so I can call the MOD up to throw this guy and his friend out.
Thankfully, one of the guys in Electronics (we'll call him Matt) had seen and heard most of this and very deftly approached the guy and asked 'Sir, would you like me to help you submit your rebates right here in the store?"
(This guy did have some rebates from his purchase, and yes, we can let customers do them in the store. Though we don't usually advertise this fact, it certainly gave Matt a brilliant way of getting this guy off of Lisa, short of the Boot).
The guy totally played right into this and went off with Matt to submit his rebates.....WELL away from the service desk. In the meantime, I asked Lisa if she was ok, and she was, though she was thoroughly revolted by the guy. I made sure the MOD knew about what had happened, and then was sent on my 15 minute break (she'd already had hers, otherwise I'm sure she'd have gotten one after this).
End of story, right? Of course not! This is customerssuck.com! There HAS to be a part 2!
So on my way back up front after my break, I've largely forgotten about this guy, when Matt stops me and asks if I can help a guy with a rebate. He said that the guy was having trouble, and that he needed to help other customers (Electronics was fairly busy at the moment). I said sure, figuring that it couldn't be that bad. HUGE mistake!
It was the SAME GUY and his buddy! They hadn't left yet, and had apparently spent the entire 15 minutes pestering Matt with questions about how to complete the rebate redemption online. And Matt pinned them on me. Thank you, very much........
So I decided that I'd just start the whole rebate submission over with them. I entered the information off their receipt, then got the guy's basic info. It was at this time that I learned the second half of the reason why Lisa was so repulsed by this guy. He REEKED. He smelled like he hadn't showered in MONTHS, nor had he brushed his teeth in that time. Every single time he spoke a wave of horrific bad breath wafted over me, competing with his intense B.O. How I managed to not notice this when he was at the service desk is beyond me. So that made the following exchange all the more painful (and it was plenty painful in and of itself) and also explained why Matt wanted to get away from him.
Me: Ok sir, what is your email address?
SC1: Oh, I don't have one. I don't even have a computer.
Me: Well, an email address is required to submit your rebate online.
SC1: Why?
Me: Because the rebate center sends your rebate status reports via email.
SC1: Well, just use the other one. (referring to his street address, already entered)
Me: Sir, that won't work. A street address isn't the same as an email address. It won't work.
SC1:................................
Me: Do you know anyone with an email address you could use?
*SC1 and his friend, SC2, get into a brief argument about this. SC2 suggests that SC1 give his sister's email address*
SC1: But if I give you someone else's address, then they'll get my money!
Me: No sir, the check will still come to your street address, in your name. The only thing that your sister would get would be the updates on your rebate status.
SC1: Well I'm not going to bother her with that. Just use the other address.
Me: Sir, a street address is NOT going to be accepted as a valid email address.
SC1: Are you sure?
(At this point I'm almost ready to lose the snack I had during my break because of this guy's stench and am just wishing that he would GO AWAY. I almost decided to put in my own email address just to get rid of him, but thought better of it)
Me: Yes sir. Here, I'll show you *types in street address in email field; clicks submit; error message: invalid email* See? It didn't work. If you want to submit your rebate online, you HAVE to have an email address. If you can't provide me with one, then you'll have to submit the rebate by mail.
SC1: But Matt said that would take longer!
Me: Well, if you can't give me an email address that is your only option.
SC1: Are you SURE you can't just put in my street address again?
Me (emphatically): Yes!
*long pause*
SC1: Can you check with Matt?
Me: Sir, Matt will tell you the same thing. Neither he nor I can change this, and he's busy with other customers so I'm not going to bother him.
*another long pause*
SC1: Why do is email required, anyway?
Yep....you guessed it.......back to the beginning of the conversation with this guy for a second trip through EVERYTHING, including him asking me to use street address TWICE, and asking if I could check with Matt. Just about word-for-word the EXACT same series of questions, just with me getting VERY annoyed with him, and wishing for Lisa to page me to my register so I'd have an excuse to ditch this idiot.
Finally I just threw down the gauntlet and told him that I would not be able to complete his rebate submission and that he'd have to mail it in.
SC1: I'm gonna ask Matt.....
And (hallelujah!) he walked away from me and went to pester Matt some more. And I was glad. I made a beeline for the service desk and told Lisa about the whole thing.
Lisa: At least he didn't touch you........
Yes, there is that.
Ultimately it took the convincing of not one, but TWO managers go finally make him realize that he couldn't do his rebate online without an email address, and he left.
There's actually an epilogue of sorts. The same two meatheads came back a couple weeks later and somehow conned my sales manager (quite possible with his atrocious odor) into authorizing an exchange for a brand new $150 shredder, even though he ADMITTED that the first one failed due to operator error (he tried to shred too much too fast, it overheated, and he just ignored the overheat light until it finally burned out). Luckily I was not a participant in that charade; I merely witnessed it from a safe distance upwind.
Thankfully, I have not seen these guys since then.
I was working an afternoon shift with one other cashier, who we'll call Lisa. She was working the customer service desk. I happened to be at the other end of the service desk putting security wraps on some stuff for Electronics when a customer and his friend come up to her to pay for their stuff. I wasn't paying too much attention to the transaction, but then I heard the guy call Lisa "doll" a BUNCH of times. He said it more times in just two sentences than I could keep track of, which is certainly not normal (sometimes a customer will say "honey" but that's it). So I stopped what I was doing and moved in behind her, just so this guy would know that someone else had noticed his behavior and had taken an interest. Well, I guess I wasn't enough of a deterrent, because the next thing he does is reach out and put his hand on her arm! NOT COOL. And he's giving her this totally "sweet" and totally phony smile. By now I am standing right next to her ready to put myself in between her and this customer, and have one hand on the phone so I can call the MOD up to throw this guy and his friend out.
Thankfully, one of the guys in Electronics (we'll call him Matt) had seen and heard most of this and very deftly approached the guy and asked 'Sir, would you like me to help you submit your rebates right here in the store?"
(This guy did have some rebates from his purchase, and yes, we can let customers do them in the store. Though we don't usually advertise this fact, it certainly gave Matt a brilliant way of getting this guy off of Lisa, short of the Boot).
The guy totally played right into this and went off with Matt to submit his rebates.....WELL away from the service desk. In the meantime, I asked Lisa if she was ok, and she was, though she was thoroughly revolted by the guy. I made sure the MOD knew about what had happened, and then was sent on my 15 minute break (she'd already had hers, otherwise I'm sure she'd have gotten one after this).
End of story, right? Of course not! This is customerssuck.com! There HAS to be a part 2!
So on my way back up front after my break, I've largely forgotten about this guy, when Matt stops me and asks if I can help a guy with a rebate. He said that the guy was having trouble, and that he needed to help other customers (Electronics was fairly busy at the moment). I said sure, figuring that it couldn't be that bad. HUGE mistake!
It was the SAME GUY and his buddy! They hadn't left yet, and had apparently spent the entire 15 minutes pestering Matt with questions about how to complete the rebate redemption online. And Matt pinned them on me. Thank you, very much........
So I decided that I'd just start the whole rebate submission over with them. I entered the information off their receipt, then got the guy's basic info. It was at this time that I learned the second half of the reason why Lisa was so repulsed by this guy. He REEKED. He smelled like he hadn't showered in MONTHS, nor had he brushed his teeth in that time. Every single time he spoke a wave of horrific bad breath wafted over me, competing with his intense B.O. How I managed to not notice this when he was at the service desk is beyond me. So that made the following exchange all the more painful (and it was plenty painful in and of itself) and also explained why Matt wanted to get away from him.
Me: Ok sir, what is your email address?
SC1: Oh, I don't have one. I don't even have a computer.
Me: Well, an email address is required to submit your rebate online.
SC1: Why?
Me: Because the rebate center sends your rebate status reports via email.
SC1: Well, just use the other one. (referring to his street address, already entered)
Me: Sir, that won't work. A street address isn't the same as an email address. It won't work.
SC1:................................
Me: Do you know anyone with an email address you could use?
*SC1 and his friend, SC2, get into a brief argument about this. SC2 suggests that SC1 give his sister's email address*
SC1: But if I give you someone else's address, then they'll get my money!
Me: No sir, the check will still come to your street address, in your name. The only thing that your sister would get would be the updates on your rebate status.
SC1: Well I'm not going to bother her with that. Just use the other address.
Me: Sir, a street address is NOT going to be accepted as a valid email address.
SC1: Are you sure?
(At this point I'm almost ready to lose the snack I had during my break because of this guy's stench and am just wishing that he would GO AWAY. I almost decided to put in my own email address just to get rid of him, but thought better of it)
Me: Yes sir. Here, I'll show you *types in street address in email field; clicks submit; error message: invalid email* See? It didn't work. If you want to submit your rebate online, you HAVE to have an email address. If you can't provide me with one, then you'll have to submit the rebate by mail.
SC1: But Matt said that would take longer!
Me: Well, if you can't give me an email address that is your only option.
SC1: Are you SURE you can't just put in my street address again?
Me (emphatically): Yes!
*long pause*
SC1: Can you check with Matt?
Me: Sir, Matt will tell you the same thing. Neither he nor I can change this, and he's busy with other customers so I'm not going to bother him.
*another long pause*
SC1: Why do is email required, anyway?
Yep....you guessed it.......back to the beginning of the conversation with this guy for a second trip through EVERYTHING, including him asking me to use street address TWICE, and asking if I could check with Matt. Just about word-for-word the EXACT same series of questions, just with me getting VERY annoyed with him, and wishing for Lisa to page me to my register so I'd have an excuse to ditch this idiot.
Finally I just threw down the gauntlet and told him that I would not be able to complete his rebate submission and that he'd have to mail it in.
SC1: I'm gonna ask Matt.....
And (hallelujah!) he walked away from me and went to pester Matt some more. And I was glad. I made a beeline for the service desk and told Lisa about the whole thing.
Lisa: At least he didn't touch you........
Yes, there is that.
Ultimately it took the convincing of not one, but TWO managers go finally make him realize that he couldn't do his rebate online without an email address, and he left.
There's actually an epilogue of sorts. The same two meatheads came back a couple weeks later and somehow conned my sales manager (quite possible with his atrocious odor) into authorizing an exchange for a brand new $150 shredder, even though he ADMITTED that the first one failed due to operator error (he tried to shred too much too fast, it overheated, and he just ignored the overheat light until it finally burned out). Luckily I was not a participant in that charade; I merely witnessed it from a safe distance upwind.
Thankfully, I have not seen these guys since then.
It was unbeliveable.
- Angelspit, '100%'
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