Good Afternoon, Ms. Entitlement Whore

[NateTheChops]

This is in no way meant to be disrespectful to all teachers. Nor do I intend to offend the members of this board who are in the education field. But it seems that the biggest entitlement whores I have run into since working at the bent staple, have been teachers.

Most of them are very pleasent. I'm always recommending books I read when I was in the grade they taught, and alot of them are happy that my teachers had a student like me who loved reading and writing as much as I do. I've had a particularly good relationship with teachers who have Asperger's students in their classes.

But every so often I get gems like this one from two days ago.

Teacher Entitlement Whore = TEW
TEW's Husband = TEWH
Oh look honey! He's doing his best Cujo impression by frothing at the mouth. How very rea-aaaaah! = Me

TEW buys two folders.

TEW: (In a more authoritative than inquisitive tone) Now those are supposed to be five cents, right?
Me: *Looks at price* Er, they're actually 1.98 each.
TEW: But they were five cents in August.
Me: *Thinking* And this is November, your point?
TEW: I'm a teacher and my friend says she got twenty of these for five cents.
Me: Yes, ma'am. That was during the back-to-school sale. Teachers with a rewards card get to buy more than the limit for regular customers.
TEW: *Whining* Oh, well can you give me some kind of discount on these?
Me: If they were damaged, I could take a few cents off.
TEW: Well were they damaged?
Me: *Thinking* You just brought them to me, wouldn't you notice any damager? *Outloud* No ma'am, I'm sorry, they're in good condition from what I can see.
TEWH: Well, how much are they?

I repeat the price.

TEWH: *To his wife* So just pay the man.
Me: *thinking* Can I marry you sir?
TEW: But they're sooooo expensive.

Oh my god. This woman looks old enough to be my grandmother and she just whined like a five year-old. She paid for the folders, but not without whining about how much they cost and how unfair it was that everything was so expensive.

[Sandman]

I called someone out like that before when I worked at Staples. Customer claimed that her friend brought an item at a certain price at a certain location... well I looked it up in the computer.. and I told her that she must been mistaken.. as that location hasn't sold one in over a few months. She kept on changing the location and then just walked out in a huff.

Boss man never got after me.. as he knew I would make sure I had all my ducks in a row before I called a customer out.

[bainsidhe]

Discounts in general tend to bring out the worst in people, as exampled by another post where a restaurant was apparently "unAmerican" because they didn't give free meals on Veterans Day and IPF's many posts about senior day. If you offer a special discount, people demand more and accuse you of being a horrible person/business for refusing. Small wonder why some special deals are becoming a thing of the past...

[Jester]

TEW: *Whining* Oh, well can you give me some kind of discount on these?
Me: If they were damaged, I could take a few cents off.

STOP!!!


Seriously, let's look at what you just did. You actually told an SC a way they could get a discount. You realize, of course, that opens you up for all kinds of abuse? For example, I can easily picture another SC bending or crumpling the folders..."Yep, they're damaged alright. How much are they now?" Or even the same SC coming back a few days later, crumpling the folders slightly before approaching the cashier, then saying, "These were damaged....can I get a discount on them?" NEVER give an SC information they can use against you or your employer if you don't have to.

The correct answer to the above inquiry is either:

(A) "No."

OR

(B) "Yes, ma'am. I can give them to you at the 5 cent price....at next year's back to school sale. In August."

[LingualMonkey]

The correct answer to the above inquiry is either:

(A) "No."

OR

(B) "Yes, ma'am. I can give them to you at the 5 cent price....at next year's back to school sale. In August."

OR

(C) I would be happy to give them to you for 5 cents each if you can build a time machine and go back to when they were on sale.

OR

(D) If you'd like, you can picture them as costing 5 cents each, with a 1.93 per folder late fee for missing the sale.

[NateTheChops]

Honestly, if I hadn't told her that, she might have gone to a manager and they would have said the same thing. I learned long ago there was no point in throwing myself on a sword for a policy that no one enforces.

Sticking to my guns has only ever been as effective as the people in charge.

[JustaCashier]

(B) "Yes, ma'am. I can give them to you at the 5 cent price....at next year's back to school sale. In August."

Only problem with that is, there's no guarantee the folders will be 5 cents apiece next August.

They may still be on sale, but at a higher price. And, of course, we all know that that Bitch would remember Nate stating that, and would insist on holding him to that price, even if they're only 6 cents apiece, and she again gets a very small amount such as two folders.


Mike

[Jester]

Only problem with that is, there's no guarantee the folders will be 5 cents apiece next August.

Good point.

Then the only correct answer is, in fact, "No."

[Brojekk]

STOP!!!


Seriously, let's look at what you just did. You actually told an SC a way they could get a discount. You realize, of course, that opens you up for all kinds of abuse? For example, I can easily picture another SC bending or crumpling the folders..."Yep, they're damaged alright. How much are they now?" Or even the same SC coming back a few days later, crumpling the folders slightly before approaching the cashier, then saying, "These were damaged....can I get a discount on them?" NEVER give an SC information they can use against you or your employer if you don't have to.

The correct answer to the above inquiry is either:

(A) "No."

OR

(B) "Yes, ma'am. I can give them to you at the 5 cent price....at next year's back to school sale. In August."

Excellent advice. I find it's best to only give the bare mininum,no perks,because perks always come back to haunt you later on,in my experience.

[MoonCat]

And she bitched about TWO folders at the obviously astronomical price of...$1.98 each??

Wow, and people call me cheap.

[Dave1982]

One thing Nate didn't point out....the 5-cent folders are normally $0.49. Whatever folders this person was interested in are among the most expensive that the Bent Staple carries. AT BEST they'd have been on sale for $0.99.

I say she was just fishing for a discount. Wasn't even the right item.

[NateTheChops]

Probably right. I think the five cent ones were the flimsier ones, but at the time I didn't think of it. Honestly, when a sale that happened five months earlier is over I just don't remember anything about it except that it was five months ago.

I only wish some of my customers had the same attention span.