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Ugh.....every time I set foot behind the counter at the copy center it seems like I have some sort of SC encounter. Tonight I had two.
I don't set the rates, part infinity
A gentleman with a heavy-accent wandered over to me because the useless sack of crap who was working Copy Center wasn't at the Copy Center. I really dislike this CPC associate because he is a Magician; he keeps disappearing. Plus he's a douchebag, and he does a barely adequate job.
I looked over to see if I could find him and saw that he was ringing at register 1!
I have no idea where Angelica was, but she wasn't on a break (bathroom, probably). Normally, I cover her for that, since the Copy Center really needs to be manned at all times, but I guess they didn't feel it was necessary.
*Le Sigh*
Anyway, this guy needed help with UPS. That, at least, I can do. Apparently he had a very heavy package and wanted to know if there was a weight limit. There isn't, though obviously the heavier the package, the more expensive the rate will be.
Then he asks if we charge more than UPS does. Erm.....no. I doubt UPS would allow that.
Then he asks to borrow a hand truck to bring it in. That I can't do for some stupid liability reason, but I can use the hand truck to bring it in for him.
So I brought a hand truck out to his car, hauled the box in, and wrestled it up onto the scale.
83.3 pounds.
(Electronic gear)
I get all the destination info in (he's sending it to Colorado Springs, and the origin point is....well, see My Location, it's close to that). That's pretty far, and this is an awfully heavy box. And he needs it to be insured for $500. And because it was over a threshhold weight (50 lbs, IIRC) a Special Handling Charge of $8 was added that can NOT be overridden.
The rate came to $86 for ground shipping.
The guy nearly shit a brick. He kept insisting that it "should have been" $40 dollars, and that that's what he'd get at a UPS store (then go there!). He asked if I was sure it was the cheapest. I spun the screen around so he could see it. $86 was the LOWEST rate. If he wanted it next day, it would have been $435.
SC: You're sure you don't charge more?
What? I already answered that question. And even if we do, it's not like I can adjust the rate DOWN. But if you'd like, I can jack it up further by adding additional service charges.
He eventually agreed to pay it, but I decided to be cautious and took him over to the Copy Center register to ring him out myself, keeping the sheet with the tracking number on it until he'd paid. The last thing I need is to have someone bail on paying.
The SC Time Dilation Field
Immediately after ringing out the guy for his UPS shipment, a woman plunked down a paper and said she needed five THOUSAND copies made, and that she NEEDED them to be finished TONIGHT.
OK, let's go over a few things.
-For those of you who dont' know, 5000 pages is an entire CASE of paper. TEN REAMS.
-She came in at 6:30 PM
-We close at 9PM.
-We don't have ultra-high-speed copiers in the building, so this would take several hours at least. Even if this were started immediately, it would not be done by 9, and that's assuming there are no other jobs in the queue.
-There were multiple jobs already in the queue, first come, first serve.
-A 5000 copy job is really something that should be outsourced to the district copy hub, not done in the store, since it would tie up our machines for far too long.
Thankfully, the Magician had reappeared, so I was able to foist this woman off on him so HE could explain all of the above whilst I beat a hasty retreat. However, I remained within earshot and was able to hear the following.
-She REFUSED to believe that the job was physically impossible to complete in the time remaining.
-She INSISTED that she'd called and was told by "someone" it could be done tonight. She's probably lying, but even if she did call, she probably didn't say she needed it that night, or had called much earlier in the day, then waited until 6:30 to come in.
-Needless to say, she couldn't come with a name for that "someone," despite the fact that we identify ourselves when we pick up the phone.
-She proclaimed that she's a GOOD CUSTOMER who is in constantly and spends "hundreds of dollars" with us, so we need to accommodate her. Pshaw. Hundreds? I've done better than that on a SINGLE SALE.
-She DEMANDED to speak to the manager. Focker came over.
-She REPEATED all of the above, making sure to point out that she didnt' think 5000 copies was that big a job, and that we should honor our "word" that we could get it done tonight.
-All of a sudden, it wasn't "someone" that told her it could be done tonight, but a MANAGER that said it.
Focker asks her if it was The Don.
SC: "Yes! The Don!"
Focker: "And you called today?"
SC: "YES!!"
Focker: Well, The Don wasn't in today.
I REALLY wish I could have seen the look on her face, because it must have been PRICELESS! The arguing stopped IMMEDIATELY, and when I looked over, the Magician was taking her info down on an order form and she left the job to be completed when it could.
I don't set the rates, part infinity
A gentleman with a heavy-accent wandered over to me because the useless sack of crap who was working Copy Center wasn't at the Copy Center. I really dislike this CPC associate because he is a Magician; he keeps disappearing. Plus he's a douchebag, and he does a barely adequate job.
I looked over to see if I could find him and saw that he was ringing at register 1!
I have no idea where Angelica was, but she wasn't on a break (bathroom, probably). Normally, I cover her for that, since the Copy Center really needs to be manned at all times, but I guess they didn't feel it was necessary.*Le Sigh*
Anyway, this guy needed help with UPS. That, at least, I can do. Apparently he had a very heavy package and wanted to know if there was a weight limit. There isn't, though obviously the heavier the package, the more expensive the rate will be.
Then he asks if we charge more than UPS does. Erm.....no. I doubt UPS would allow that.
Then he asks to borrow a hand truck to bring it in. That I can't do for some stupid liability reason, but I can use the hand truck to bring it in for him.
So I brought a hand truck out to his car, hauled the box in, and wrestled it up onto the scale.
83.3 pounds.
(Electronic gear)I get all the destination info in (he's sending it to Colorado Springs, and the origin point is....well, see My Location, it's close to that). That's pretty far, and this is an awfully heavy box. And he needs it to be insured for $500. And because it was over a threshhold weight (50 lbs, IIRC) a Special Handling Charge of $8 was added that can NOT be overridden.
The rate came to $86 for ground shipping.
The guy nearly shit a brick. He kept insisting that it "should have been" $40 dollars, and that that's what he'd get at a UPS store (then go there!). He asked if I was sure it was the cheapest. I spun the screen around so he could see it. $86 was the LOWEST rate. If he wanted it next day, it would have been $435.
SC: You're sure you don't charge more?
What? I already answered that question. And even if we do, it's not like I can adjust the rate DOWN. But if you'd like, I can jack it up further by adding additional service charges.
He eventually agreed to pay it, but I decided to be cautious and took him over to the Copy Center register to ring him out myself, keeping the sheet with the tracking number on it until he'd paid. The last thing I need is to have someone bail on paying.
The SC Time Dilation Field
Immediately after ringing out the guy for his UPS shipment, a woman plunked down a paper and said she needed five THOUSAND copies made, and that she NEEDED them to be finished TONIGHT.
OK, let's go over a few things.
-For those of you who dont' know, 5000 pages is an entire CASE of paper. TEN REAMS.
-She came in at 6:30 PM
-We close at 9PM.
-We don't have ultra-high-speed copiers in the building, so this would take several hours at least. Even if this were started immediately, it would not be done by 9, and that's assuming there are no other jobs in the queue.
-There were multiple jobs already in the queue, first come, first serve.
-A 5000 copy job is really something that should be outsourced to the district copy hub, not done in the store, since it would tie up our machines for far too long.
Thankfully, the Magician had reappeared, so I was able to foist this woman off on him so HE could explain all of the above whilst I beat a hasty retreat. However, I remained within earshot and was able to hear the following.
-She REFUSED to believe that the job was physically impossible to complete in the time remaining.
-She INSISTED that she'd called and was told by "someone" it could be done tonight. She's probably lying, but even if she did call, she probably didn't say she needed it that night, or had called much earlier in the day, then waited until 6:30 to come in.
-Needless to say, she couldn't come with a name for that "someone," despite the fact that we identify ourselves when we pick up the phone.
-She proclaimed that she's a GOOD CUSTOMER who is in constantly and spends "hundreds of dollars" with us, so we need to accommodate her. Pshaw. Hundreds? I've done better than that on a SINGLE SALE.
-She DEMANDED to speak to the manager. Focker came over.
-She REPEATED all of the above, making sure to point out that she didnt' think 5000 copies was that big a job, and that we should honor our "word" that we could get it done tonight.
-All of a sudden, it wasn't "someone" that told her it could be done tonight, but a MANAGER that said it.
Focker asks her if it was The Don.
SC: "Yes! The Don!"
Focker: "And you called today?"
SC: "YES!!"
Focker: Well, The Don wasn't in today.
I REALLY wish I could have seen the look on her face, because it must have been PRICELESS! The arguing stopped IMMEDIATELY, and when I looked over, the Magician was taking her info down on an order form and she left the job to be completed when it could.
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