What is the point of a policy is you don't enforce it?

[MadMike]

No doubt...I'm sure there were some people that tried to stuff 3/4 of the thing in their mouths and count that as one bite.

Actually, a buddy of mine could stuff a whole Burger King Whopper in his mouth and eat it in one bite. It was something to see, and it taught us all to keep our hands away from his mouth.

[greensinestro]

Interestingly enough, one of the fast food chains -- and I think it was Wendy's, but I might be mistaken -- introduced a new sandwich, and had a commercial for it that offered a "one bite guarantee", that stated that if you took one bite and didn't like it, they'd give you your money back. There was even a disclaimer at the bottom of the screen that stated that the guarantee would not apply if more than one bite was taken.

I can only imagine how many headaches that one caused.

I can only imagine myself. Joe Schmo probably got 14 free bites before he was ejected. Meanwhile, he's had a complete meal.

[tenaciousb]

Interestingly enough, one of the fast food chains -- and I think it was Wendy's, but I might be mistaken -- introduced a new sandwich, and had a commercial for it that offered a "one bite guarantee", that stated that if you took one bite and didn't like it, they'd give you your money back. There was even a disclaimer at the bottom of the screen that stated that the guarantee would not apply if more than one bite was taken.

I can only imagine how many headaches that one caused.

Ugh... Let me just go ahead and turn in my resignation letter now....

Anyway. Yeah that is bullshit. If a manager wants to return it then fine, you get your ass out here and doing it. I was just calling you to check to save you the trip out here when you supposed to say to no.

I once saw my gm return a copy of windows xp home that runs $199 that was purchased about 5 hours prior. I forget what the guys excuse was. But he talked to the same manager prior to buying it. I'm sure he was setting him up the whole time.

I'm just waiting to try see someone return some expensive software with blank cds and cd burner on the same receiipt.

[Kiwi]

We didnt accept patterns for knitting or sewing either due to copyright

one day I stood firm for over 20 minutes with a customer, pointing out over and over again that it was illegal for her to return it. Its intellectual property, final sale, not going to happen.

Finally the store manager came over and waved me off telling me to return it...so I called her back over and said in front of the customer, If you want to return it and break the law, then you go right ahead, but no way im breaking the law for a total stranger over $3.

The store manager returned it. Great example to set for your employees eh!

[greensinestro]

We didnt accept patterns for knitting or sewing either due to copyright

one day I stood firm for over 20 minutes with a customer, pointing out over and over again that it was illegal for her to return it. Its intellectual property, final sale, not going to happen.

Finally the store manager came over and waved me off telling me to return it...so I called her back over and said in front of the customer, If you want to return it and break the law, then you go right ahead, but no way im breaking the law for a total stranger over $3.

The store manager returned it. Great example to set for your employees eh!

See? That's the stuff that dreams are made of! You follow the law to the letter, but your supervisors won't just to get rid of a troublemaking customer. You had already kept this customer arguing with you for twenty minutes, probably twenty minutes too long for your manager to deal with, and instead of sticking to his or her guns, it was more profitable to get rid of the trouble so it would not cause other customers to witness this issue.

Go figure.

[Kiwi]

Go figure.

I suppose its all about what matters more to you, profit, or obeying the law. The pattern was clearly marked with a "final sale stamp" that explained why....

My manager was clearly interested in just getting rid of trouble which is her perogative, but I wouldnt break the law for my own family, let alone some total stranger who is clearly in the wrong for barely over minimum wage.

Would I have been caught, most likely not, but it shouldnt have been an issue in the first place. A work place can not force an employee to break the law (or break policy) The store manager could override policy, I could not.

[Dave1982]

I just wish that managers would have the spine to just tell people to leave. If they are causing trouble, just tell them to leave. That's it. This whole "preservation of customer base" thing is crap. You just know that these people are going to be the type to shop around anyway with no loyalty whatsoever. Therefore, there's really no loss. If I had the authority to do so, I'd be throwing out at least 3 or 4 people per week for being jerks.

[DesignFox]

If only it were that simple Dave1982....if only it were that simple. You guys should try management sometime...it's a whole new barrel of monkeys.

Although, I agree with one thing, in the case of breaking the law, manager should NOT have given in to customer demand. There are laws and certain policies that should NOT be broken and those policies are there to protect you- stand behind them and use them to your advantage when necessary!

When I managed, I was the sneaky manager- I liked to make the customer *think* I was giving in to their stupid demands...but really I was charging them more than they would have paid had they been honest/nice/polite, OR I follow policy to the letter even if their complaint is legit---(a.k.a. you get 1 free photo for your inconvenience if your an asshole, whereas, for example... a really really nice family had problems twice when they came to the store- the gave us a 3rd shot anyway, and never complained. I remembered what happened to them the first two times, and that they hadn't caused a scene, and they left with about 40 bucks worth of extras, not to mention an apology and a thank you for giving us the benefit of the doubt).

I'm calculating when it comes to that sort of thing. I don't like rewarding bad behavior, but I don't want to lose my job, either. I also HATE when as a manager, you DO stick to policy, and customer service, your DM or whoever rewards the asshole later anyway. Just easier to get rid of them- they actually get less that way. Or if you're me- find a way to screw 'em and have them smile and thank you for it...

[Dave1982]

I know. Still, one would think that the higher-ups - who don't have to deal with custoemrs face to face - would be able to be more disconnected and just say "that's the policy" and not worry about someone getting violent on them or anything. That being the case, they'd actually be able to back you guys up, thus allowing you do to the right thing with these nitwits.

Yes, I know, if only it were that easy.

[powerboy]

if only it were that simple. You guys should try management sometime...it's a whole new barrel of monkeys.

That is so true.

Once at my shop. The owner returned an open DVD, without checking, and after it was checked, the disc's were blanked. Oh well it was only $5.00, it was a lesson learned for them to always check it.

[HYHYBT]

I've never heard, except here on CS, about any *law* against *giving refunds* on copyrighted material. With easily copied, expensive items like software it's good business sense, and it may well be in some contract between the seller and the supplier, and certainly it's illegal for the customer to make a copy to keep and return the original, but that's not the same thing. After all, books (you know, those old-fashioned stacks of paper attached to each other along one end) are covered by copyright law too, and people return those all the time. For that matter, so is the printing on the package that almost anything comes in.

Edited to add one: Most software licenses that I've bothered to read thoroughly, at least for anything I buy a hard copy of, specifically *allow* you to resell it as long as you remove it from your computer and either destroy any backup copies or pass them along to the buyer. And returning it to the store for a refund is, essentially, selling it to them for what you paid. Again, it's the customer breaking the law (if they really did make and keep a copy; many such return attempts are legitimate) and not the store.

[Argabarga]

I just wish that managers would have the spine to just tell people to leave. If they are causing trouble, just tell them to leave. That's it. This whole "preservation of customer base" thing is crap. You just know that these people are going to be the type to shop around anyway with no loyalty whatsoever. Therefore, there's really no loss. If I had the authority to do so, I'd be throwing out at least 3 or 4 people per week for being jerks.

I really wish more managers and more companies would recognize how harmful it is to keep a customer who is being a pain in the long run vs. losing a sale in the short run.

Yes, from a corporate standpoint, allowing someone to make a scene or to be needlessly difficult with employees who are trying to be helpful if it means 1 more buck in the till seems like a good idea. It's 1 more buck than you had before that person came in. You made money, that's the goal of your buisiness.

But why, oh why, can they not see that in the long run, in going after that dollar they are costing themsevles much more. Forcing an employee to have to take abuse demoralizes them, no human being works more effectively in such a condition.

A demoralized employee

- will not give 100% of thier effort
- will not be cheerful, happy or in a good mood, even around good customers
- will feel no obligation to do anything beyond their black-and-white job description
- will feel unappreciated, ignored, and will have no loyalty as a result
- will be made to feel incompetent when policy and proceedure they have done correctly is undone on the whim of managment.
- will cost the company far more to have to train a replacement when they finaly quit in disgust than all the minor sales you lose by pissed of SC's not getting thier way

The final thing that drove me to quit my department was not the hours, not the pay, not even the customers per se, but the fact that the rules were bent to the customer's wishes time and time again, even when those demands were patenly inappropriate, the more you whined and complained, the more likely you were to get your way. I was forced to apologize for things that were not my mistakes, they were not even mistakes, period. I was told to break the very policy that I was expected to know the letter of and was drilled on time and time again. It also inexcusibly involved mangament backing out of things I was promised becuase in some cases 1 customer didn't like the system. Specificaly, when the delivery system was instituted, I signed on with the condition that I would not have to carry cash, or accept checks, that delivery hours would be set, a deadline would be in place for ordering if you wanted same day delivery, that customers would be billed via credit card and all I'd have to do is make the final hand-off of medication.

Lo and behold, not 3 days into the system, all those promises were broken,
and that was it. After 3 years of it, I couldn't stand to see the whiney, the rude, and the outright wrong rewarded.

Yes, this is a rant fest, but, it's the Number 1 problem in customer service these days, managment must learn, demoralized employees are not productive or loyal employees, and nothing will demoralize faster than creating an environment where there is no concept of "unreasonable request"

[cheese]

Thats why I always call over a supervisor or manager as soon as a customer starts to argue. If they ask if they can do something or get a discount or whatever, I'll say that we can't do that once, if they complain or ask again I'll get someone over straight away. Then its up to the supervisor to either bend the rules and get in trouble for it - or to take the shouting from the customer when they also say no (I don't get paid enough to put up with that!)

To be honest I really don't care whether a customer gets what they want or not, it doesn't make any difference to me whatsoever. The bit I can't stand though is if you do try to argue with them, then a manager gives into them anyway, is the smug look they give you afterwards, with the "See, I told you it was OK, you just don't know how to do your job" while I just sit there clenching my fists

[Lace Neil Singer]

At the garden centre, we had an interesting situation. The Idiot Manager would try to make employees cave in to whiny SCs; however, I always refused point blank to do so if the request was either unreasonable or against store policy. And you know what? I was safe in that fact, cuz the boss was dead against handing over refunds unless the customer had a receipt and a broken item. Otherwise, they got store credit and no amount of whining or complaining changed that rule. So, anyone who bent these rules risked getting a bollocking; so, I refused every time to do a refund if a customer didn't follow the rules, and said to the IM every time, "You want to give this customer a refund, so you do it. Cuz I'm not losing my job over this." And, cuz he feared the boss, he'd then have to explain to said ranting customer exactly why he couldn't give them the refund he'd previously promised. I used to wish he'd do it anyway and then get the sack, but sadly that never happened.

[CrazedClerk]

I deal with PC software too, I am so thankful I have a manager with a backbone who admantly refuses any opened PC return. He has been known to cave once in awhile if it's a console game, but he usually stands his ground.