That's misleading!

[shinyainlace]

I had a longer first post, but my internet ate and I don't feel like re-writing it right now.

As an introduction, I work for a craft store.

So instead, I'll concentrate on a word that makes me cringe:

Misleading.

The number of times that our customers have thrown it around is uncountable, and today I got another one to add to the list:

Lady came up to the register and had very little problem, until we got to her ribbon. You see... the ribbon she had picked up was in a section right next to the ribbon that was on sale. I try to tell her that the ribbon that's on sale is not what she has, that it's such and such ribbon instead. She insists that the sign was in front of the ribbon she picked up. I give up and go look. What do I see?

The signs are in front of the ribbon that's on sale, with the brand name clearly printed on them, as well as the original price which is DIFFERENT then the original price of the ribbon that she's picked up.

I explain this to her.

Her response?

"Well... that's very VERY misleading! Very misleading indeed!"

[TonyDonuts]

Maybe it's just my cynical nature showing, but when I hear a customer say, "That's VERY misleading!" my brain usually translates that as "I'm too lazy to pull my own pants down when I poop," or alternately, "I'm too stupid to live."

Back home years ago, when I was a night supervisor for Hardee's, we were closing for the night.

I was going through the lobby telling people that we were closed, and we needed anybody not currently eating to get out (I said it nicer. No! Really! I did!).

One woman tartly informed me that she wasn't going anywhere, since she knew we were open 24 hours.

And how did she know this? Why it was right there on the menu!

I looked at the menu, and looked back at her, "Ma'am, there is nothing on our menu that has our hours of operation. There is certainly nothing that says 'Open 24 Hours.'"

She looked at me like something unpleasant stuck to the bottom of her shoe. "How stupid are you? It's right there!" And she pointed.

I looked at where she was pointing, and back at her, and asked, "Ma'am, you are aware that that is a Norwest Bank sign, advertising the 24 hour availability of the ATM machine two doors down."

She looked at the sign again. It said "Norwest Bank ATM - Two Doors Down - 24 Hour Access." She looked at me again, clearly, I was the Devil Incarnate. "Well, I'm sure you'll agree that sign is very misleading."

"Well, ma'am, I've been able to read the English language for a long time. I understand the difference between references to an ATM machine and the hours of operation of a fast food joint."

Her husband, who had been sitting quietly, snorted loudly, "I've been trying to tell her that for the last ten minutes." He got up, "We'll get out of your hair."

He started walking away, his wife trailing along behind him, "Well, I think we need to call somebody about this. I think that's very misleading."

And peace was restored to the land.

[Hyndis]

Another one of my favorites is UNACCEPTABLE.

Its usually screamed, shouted, or emailed at me in all caps just like that.



This is for people who are upset that no, the entire world does not revolve around them.

Our policies are X, Y, and Z. If you do not like them you do not need to buy our products. Our policies are our policies, and policies are not made to be broken.

I take a perverse pleasure in getting people to accept the unacceptable.

[ShadowTiger]

Yep. I find "Unacceptable!" to be more acceptable than "Misleading" these days. It's just a "Well you're going to have to be able to accept it. Them's the rules, hun. They wouldn't be there without a good reason."

Misleading, I just say "Yeah, I get that too sometimes. I look at the barcodes. They'll match up when they're the right item."

[RxBoy]

Ah yes that wonderful word...MISLEADING....you have no idea how much I want to ban that word from the English language!

My pharmacy is one of the many that does the low-cost generic drug program. There are signs posted in front of the pharmacy and on our website. It talks about how much money you can save by filling your prescriptions at our pharmacy with generics drugs priced at $4 for a 30 day supply. Underneath this is a disclaimer that says "selected generic drugs only...see pharmacy for details.

I cannot believe how many people assume that every single generic drug is going to be $4. Then they accuse us of being misleading by having that sign posted. I give bonus points to the people that expect their brand name drug to be $4 as well based on the sign. I actually had one person fill a prescription for Lipitor and then get mad when they found out the price for a 30 day supply was $180. They pointed to the sign that says $4 and I told them that applies only to select generics as it clearly states. Guess what they said? Misleading!

I don't know how much more simple we could make it for people. When they ask about our program, we give them a printed list of every drug in our pricing program broken down by drug used to treat various medical conditions. They can then take this list to their doctor and he or she can see if one of the drugs on the list would be appropriate to treat their condition. I don't see how we are misleading anyone. About the only thing more we could do is send one of us with them to their doctor appointments and ask the doctor to prescribe one of the generics on our list! I give up! LOL

[Kristev]

The barcode trick has pulled me out of the "How much is this" fire more than once.

[Crafty1289]

My current bugbear is customers dumping their non-promotional products ON the promotional products shelf, and taking the promotional product instead. Then another customer comes along without their brain in gear and takes the non-promotional product, expecting the promotion to work. Their brain suddenly engages a gear at the checkout, where they kick up a stink about it trying to con them out of money. STFU moron, I'm dealing with it, and it wasnt our fault the non-promo product was there ok?

[shinyainlace]

My current bugbear is customers dumping their non-promotional products ON the promotional products shelf, and taking the promotional product instead. Then another customer comes along without their brain in gear and takes the non-promotional product, expecting the promotion to work. Their brain suddenly engages a gear at the checkout, where they kick up a stink about it trying to con them out of money. STFU moron, I'm dealing with it, and it wasnt our fault the non-promo product was there ok?

YES!

A million times yes!

This happens to me aaaaaaall the time!

I tried to explain this to a lady once about some suckers (they were 39 cents instead of the suppose 11 cents - they get mixed up ALL THE TIME because we get them by season and when seasons overlap, they look almost exactly the same and so on and so forth).

What did she say to start this?

"Well, that's misleading!"

When I go on to explain, she interrupts me and goes "Well, isn't it YOUR job to fix it?"

I about snapped. Lady, you go try to fix EVERY SINGLE thing that's out of place in this entire store when you've been on the register for 80% of your shift checking people out who get bent out of shape over a quarter and three cents. >(

[Catwoman2965]

Ah yes, the old "well, that's MISLEADING" comment. I get that too, I can kind of see their point, as our sale signs ususally say "up to 50%off
and if you quickly glance at it, it might look like simply "50% off" most of the time customers are ok when you point that out, but some have to pull the "that's misleading" card. Not my fault you can't be bothered to look carefully.

We also periodically have promos, buy one, get one 50% off. MANY customers conveniently miss the buy one part, and assume that they are ALL 50% off. Again, sorry, no, learn to read.

[Food Lady]

"It's not misleading. The problem here is your misREADING.

[Evil Queen]

At least she didn't scream "bait and switch".

[ottid]

Oh, had a customer complain about a promotion today, saying that our advertising was misleading, I don't know how

The main promo is here. I'm not sure what the female thought was wrong, oh wait, she wanted to use the voucher straight away because she wasn't from our town. Admittedly the advertising doesn't say when you can use it, but as the promo is "Mags for Mum" perhaps she would think that it would be for use for after Mother's Day? And they aren't store specific, if she went to another "book and stationery" shop in a different town, she could use it there. I need to find it on the mailer that went out...

ETA: It has the old goody "Terms and conditions apply. Ask in store for details" So wait, the promo almost worked, she almost spent money in our store to get the free mag...

[Mr Hero]

I've gotten this a few times. My hotel is in front of a Motel 6. There is a sign on my hotel and one behind the desk that says the name of the hotel, and not being Motel 6. Out in front by the street is a sign that says Motel 6: $39.99 per night. Should be no confusion right?

SC: But the sign says $39.99
Me: That's for Motel 6 behind us
SC: That's misleading.

***
SC: But your sign says $39.99
Me: That's not our sign.
SC: But it says $39.99
Me: But it's not for here.

***
SC: Why does it say $39.99?
Me: That's for Motel 6.
SC: I'll get a room anyways, but that's bait and switch.

[Difdi]

There's this quote that seems to somewhat apply. "Surprise happens in the mind of the commander." It refers to how someone (in the case of the quote, a military officer) can see every single scrap of available data, and still be caught flat-footed by something he or she saw clearly but ignored.

Slightly mutated, it could be "Misleading occurs in the mind of the customer." Of course, I've seen quite a few individuals whose reading ability makes me want to use a far less kind word than "customer" there...

[TelephoneAngel]

My bugbear is "it's illegal".

me "I am sorry but you are not entitled to an authorisation payment due to (XYZ - EXPLAINS POLICY)

customer - "it's illegal, im going to sue you, my brother is a lawyer, etc yadda yadda"