You can't refuse my unreasonable request. After all, I pay your wages!

[greensinestro]

How many of us have heard customers tell us this before? "I'm paying your wages so you're going to give me what I want!" Really? I work in customer service, have worked in billing, repair, and technical support, and this is in the phone industry and cable TV. I have yet to see on any bill like this where in small print it tells a customer that part of their payment goes to pay an employee's wages. I myself have bills like this to pay, and I have yet to see this disclaimer on any of my utility bills.

How about grocery stores? I worked for Publix in high school, and we always had some misfit customer who would actually say this to the front end employees or managers. I shop at Publix, and have yet to see this on my receipts. In fact, at any department or grocery store I've shopped at, I have never seen this on any receipt, credit card statement, or anywhere on the walls of these stores.

So, where do customers get the idea that when they pay a bill or buy something, they're paying mine and your wages? I know my job, and if they know it better than I do, I would like them to point out this disclaimer to me.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I remember someone saying this to me at the newsagent where I worked part time during college to fund my all night boozing sessions. The reason was cuz I wouldn't refund them paper money; that's something that only the boss could do. My reply? "Well sorry, but you're too fat and too old to be my boss, so I think you're mistaken about that." Oh I would love to be able to say that now; back then, I hated the job and I reckoned that if this guy complained to my boss and he fired me, I could get another job easily. As it happened, he didn't and I kept the job right up to my final exams.

[Demonoid Phenomenon]

Oh, the things a desperate customer will say to satiate their over-inflated ego.

Technically, yes, if EVERYBODY stopped shopping at a particular place that would be bad for business and would definitely affect one's paycheck (or eliminate it altogether).
However, when one customer declares their business to be the One Buck To Rule Them All...no. I'll get a paycheck whether or not you ever shop here again, baby. Get over yourself.

[danegrous_21]

technically demonid is right and so is the customer. where i work now, we have to make somewhere around $350 per work hr and when i worked at the H-E-B, it was $423 per work hr. where i live, in south texas, HEB has a chokehold on groceries. the only people they cant run off is super walmart.

[steviededalus]

Next time that happens, just use their own faulty logic and say "Sir/Ma'am, as I also shop here/have service here/whatever as well as receive a paycheck, I pay my own wages and am my own boss. Bugger off."

When I worked at a tobacconist's, I would get that one occasionally. I would just look quizzically at them and say "You don't look like my manager..."

[Worker-Intellectual]

I've never gotten that one, but if I did, I would have asked for a raise because dealing with idiots like you should be worth a hell of a lot more than minimum wage

[powerboy]

I've never gotten that one, but if I did, I would have asked for a raise because dealing with idiots like you should be worth a hell of a lot more than minimum wage

I actully said that before to a customer that said, he pays my wages.

[greensinestro]

Obviously we have plenty of mixed opinions on this one. But as I say, I still don't see where a customer is paying my wages. True, if customers frequent the business you work in, that brings in money and avoid things like bankrupcy and lay offs. However, if it's in say, a grocery store or department store, I was always under the impression that the store and the product sold is who got the benefits of that. Of course that leads back into if the store gets the profits, then that means they get money to give their employees. Catch 22 here.

[Palsgraf]

The last time some moron (Harvey - I remember his name!) tried to tell me to do what he wanted because he pays my salary, I reminded him that we were evicting him because he was not paying his rent.

"So no, you don't pay my salary."

I laughed at him until he walked out of the lobby.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

I had someone pull that one on me when I was on an on-site repair. Customer was a bit narky at me because I couldn't magically repair a server that had a 5 gallon water bottle break on it and flood the sucker.

"I pay your wages!"

"No sir, you don't. You didn't select us for this job, this was an open bid for contracts that we happened to have won. The United States Government selected our proposal as the winning bid and we have been working with your facility ever since. No, you do not pay my wages, the United States Government does. You can complain to them that my techincal abilities are unable to magically resurect this server that was damaged by a falling water cooler bottle, but I think they would be more interested in the fact that it was flooded by all that water and would be far more interested in your explaination of why the water cooler bottles were stored on a shelf over the server and why you didn't have anything in place to prevent the bottles from falling onto the server."

The guy shut up pretty quick

M

[Argabarga]

I should hacksaw a penny in half, and then carry that around so I could hand it to the next person who uses that line and tell them "Consider yourself reimbursed for time spent"

[Rapscallion]

Tempting, but there may be laws about defacing the currency - there are in the UK (rarely observed, for that matter...)

Rapscallion

[Gurndigarn]

Tempting, but there may be laws about defacing the currency - there are in the UK (rarely observed, for that matter...)

Rapscallion

No queen here to get upset about us poking holes in her... and Lincoln hasn't complained, either.

More seriously, I believe you can do whatever you want with the minor coins. But just remember, kiddies: I'm not a lawyer. I just shoot my mouth off online.

[Argabarga]

Tempting, but there may be laws about defacing the currency - there are in the UK (rarely observed, for that matter...)

Rapscallion

Unless the law has changed since I checked last, defacing US currency is not illegal, provided the defacing is not an attempt to coutnerfeit or defraud.

You have the perfectly legal right to tear up a hundred dollar bill.

In fact, you can then sent the torn up parts to the US Treasury, and if they can verify the seriel number, they'll send you a fresh one.

[Auto]

technically demonid is right and so is the customer. where i work now, we have to make somewhere around $350 per work hr and when i worked at the H-E-B, it was $423 per work hr. where i live, in south texas, HEB has a chokehold on groceries. the only people they cant run off is super walmart.

Best PT job I ever had was the summer after HS at a HEB bakery.

They were terrified the employees might unionize so management bent over backwards to take care of us. The bathrooms and locker rooms were cleaned several times a day. clean fresh uniforms every day. Supervisors demanded we take our breaks when we were supposed to.

The pay was good but not great but the work was unbeleivably easy as everything was automated and most of what I did was stand around making sure the baking pans didn't jam up and stop the line. which is to say, I stood around and talked to the other employees.