I guess hearing goes fast and first for jerkwads

[kerrisan]

I used to be a cashier for Kroger. For those of you who go to Kroger, you know that they offer a discount card and that on your receipt, if you saved anything, the amount that you saved will be shown in big black BOLD letters. I can rant about how much I hate the discount card later. For now, I will tell you a story.

I had a friendly, mid-40's man come to my register one afternoon. He was the ideal customer: didn't try to start an annoying conversation, didn't stop you after every item to argue about price, etc. He was a nice guy. So I was very friendly to him. I kept a smile and was polite. So at the end of the transaction, I printed his receipt and told him how much he had saved (for the story's sake we'll say it was $5) with his Kroger card. The discussion went like this.

me: alright, sir, you saved $5 with your Kroger card today. have a great-----
SC: WHAT?!?!?!
me: . . . y-you saved---
SC: THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!!! PROVE IT!!!!

The guy is now SCREAMING at me and has gone from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde in a split second. Customers are staring and starting to become annoyed. Meanwhile I'm thinking "either this guy is bipolar or he is extremely anal about Kroger Card savings." So he starts arguing with me about prices.

SC: YOUR PAPER said that bananas were (insert whatever price here)!!!!!
me: Yes . . .?
SC: and that I could save (price) with my card!!!!!
me: Yes . . . and you have 3 bananas here. So you saved 3 times (price).
SC: WHAT ABOUT THE CHILI?!?!?!
me: it is (such and such price) with the card. so add that to the amount you saved on your bananas.
SC: BUT (whatever kind of rant about whatever kind of product)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
me: Yes, and you have 5 of those. So (whatever price) times 5, plus what you saved on your bananas and chili.
SC: Huh?????

I can see that they guy has NO idea what I'm talking about so I turn over his receipt and find a pen and start writing it all down and adding it up as I explain. This whole thing probably took about 5 minutes, and people were starting to leave my register. As I finish my "presentation" and explaination about why he saved what he did, he suddenly goes:

SC: oh, I saved $5! I thought you said I owed $5! Ok, bye!

And as quickly as Mount DuhBrain had erupted, he left. Without so much as an apoligy.

So I am left wondering how this guy heard "owe" instead of "saved" for 5 MINUTES and why he thought he would still owe money after paying.

[toolbert]

SC: WHAT ABOUT THE CHILI?!?!?!

I don't know why...but I just pictured Wierd Al saying this in my head...

But, on topic, this goes along with the "SCs never listen to you" types of threads. You could be screaming at them at the top of your lungs and they still won't know what you said.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Selective Hearing Disease. Lots of SCs suffer from it, so don't worry. It also enables them to tune out closing anouncements.

[kerrisan]

Bah, I just don't see why SCs think that Selective Hearing is going to help them. It just makes them . . . SCs! Oh well, makes for great stories.

[Gurndigarn]

I used to be a cashier for Kroger. For those of you who go to Kroger, you know that they offer a discount card and that on your receipt, if you saved anything, the amount that you saved will be shown in big black BOLD letters. I can rant about how much I hate the discount card later. For now, I will tell you a story.

For what it's worth, that damn card is why I no longer shop at Kroger. I do not want any more plastic in my wallet or on my keyring than I already have.

[kerrisan]

In some stores around here they installed a thumb-reader that would recognize your thumbprint and had your checkbook info and Kroger card info in it so you really didn't need anything but your thumb to shop. 1984, anyone?
But yeah, they've gone back to the card. All it is is a tracking device to track what you like to buy and send you promotions based on your purchases!

[Naaman]

Selective Hearing Disease. Lots of SCs suffer from it, so don't worry. It also enables them to tune out closing anouncements.

Yeah, when I was at Game, the number of times I sold a DVD or MMORPG game, patiently explained that these items weren't covered under the No fuss 10 day return policy. Three days later SC comes back demanding refund because it's a rubbish film or that they need half a Gigs worth of downloads over a modem before game is playable.
I once again explain that these items aren't covered, SC then tries to say they weren't told this (like that makes a difference) and I point out that yes I did tell them. After the customer sucks this information down the shouting, receipt waving and calls for the Manager start, which of course gets nowhere, followed by the two bastions of SCs everywhere "The customer is always right" and "I know my rights". Some times I miss that job

[kerrisan]

"the customer is always right" is one of the DUMBEST responses you can get from an SC. no, you are not always right, and no the rules don't change just because you utter those 5 words. I don't even think management has ever told me that. who came up with that phrase anyway?

[starsaucer]

For what it's worth, that damn card is why I no longer shop at Kroger. I do not want any more plastic in my wallet or on my keyring than I already have.

I don't understand... the card SAVES you money, it's not a credit card. And you don't have to use it if you don't want to...

As for that customer, how in the heck did he think he OWED money when you were explaining what he SAVED? Was he mental??

[kerrisan]

starsaucer, the thing with the card is that Kroger is one of the few stores that requires you to carry around a piece of plastic if you want to save money. the main beef people have with the card is "why doesn't Kroger just lower the prices to begin with?"

the answer to that is "because they want to send you promotions for the stuff they track you purchasing." ARGH.

as for the guy hearing something COMPLETELY different, I have no idea. I was pissed for a while (and embarrassed because he caught me COMPLETELY offguard with his yelling) and then I got my paycheck and all was right with the world.

I have a funny story that is kind of in the same category. At Kroger we always closed the side doors at 10 PM and just kept the middle door open (the one most visible from the registers) for security reasons. Around 10:30 this guy walks into the store through the middle doors and the following conversation ensued:

SC: excuse me, I have a question.
me: yes sir, how can I help you?
SC: did you guys lock the two side doors?
me: yes sir, we do that for security reasons.
SC: well then how am I supposed to get into the store?
me: . . . . . . . . . . . . you're . . . . in . . . . the . . . . store . . . .?
SC: *looks around* Oh! *does his shopping*

So yes, I guess SCs not only suffer from SHD, but also SSD: Selective Seeing Disease. I guess some people are just bent on finding something wrong so that they can have someone to yell at.

[protege]

I like the discount cards we have here. At Giant Eagle (or Gyunt Iggle, if you're from Pittsburgh ), the more you spend, the more you get off per gallon of gasoline at any GetGo (former Crossroads) gas station. With gas prices being what they are now--at least $3 a gallon--I'm happy to save some cash there. In fact, not too long ago, when I needed to fill up the Mazda's tank...my grandmother handed me her card, and I ended up paying about 17 cents a gallon Seriously, she'd saved up enough points that I spent about $2 to fill the tank. Now *that* was a good day

I haven't really noticed any increased ads coming her way since she started using the card, but she does get more coupons at the checkout line though.

[kerrisan]

Whoa. We need Giant Eagle in Texas!
Now that discount card is actually useful to the consumer.

[Jester]

SC: excuse me, I have a question.
me: yes sir, how can I help you?
SC: did you guys lock the two side doors?
me: yes sir, we do that for security reasons.
SC: well then how am I supposed to get into the store?
me: . . . . . . . . . . . . you're . . . . in . . . . the . . . . store . . . .?
SC: *looks around* Oh! *does his shopping*

That reminded me of one amazing story I had completely forgotten about.

I was working at a chain restaurant, and there were three levels....the bottom level, the bar level, and the upper level....but the upper level was only a mezzanine, really, so basically the bar level was 1/4 flight up and the upper level was 1/2 flight up from the main floor....and all of this was open, with no walls or barriers to obstruct one's view. Got all this? Okay.

SC=stupid customer (wasn't necessarily sucky, just stupid).
ME=cunningly brilliant and devilishly handsome server.

I am standing RIGHT IN FRONT of one of the sets of stairs that goes up to both the bar level and the upper level. SC walks up to me with two drinks in his hand, obviously just purchased from the bar. Meaning he had to have gone up there. (He and I were on the main level, again, right in front of the stairs.)

SC: Do you guys have an upstairs here?
ME: [turning to look at the clearly visible upper level] Um....yes, it's right there. [pointing to the clearly visible upper level]
SC: How do I get there?



ME: Um....you walk.....up the stairs?
SC: Oh, thanks. [walks away]

Every time I tell this story, I swear I can feel my IQ dropping and my brain hurting. It was THAT bad.

[kerrisan]

OMGWTFBBQLOL!!!

That is the funniest story ever; I think it totally beats my "how do I get into the store?" guy.

[Format C]

So I am left wondering how this guy heard "owe" instead of "saved" for 5 MINUTES and why he thought he would still owe money after paying.

English is probably not his first language.