P.I.T.A. Regular

[Knightmare]

He's not so much an SC, but just a general pain-in-the-ass (P.I.T.A.). He came in this morning, early. 6:22 a.m. to be precise. He wanted pre-taped rolls of 12" paper (kinda like a drop cloth, but.. well, paper instead of plastic) so he could trim out his baseboards. Turns out we were out of stock, so I told him. Then he asked if we had any of the applicators for the rolls. Now, these things are like giant tape guns. they hold both the paper, and some tape, so you can apply both with a smooth seam.
Turns out, we stopped carrying them. They are discontinued. No mas. Zero on hand. None. Zilch. Gone for good.
I told him so, and said, jokingly, that we have the paper, and we have the tape... so you can still do what you want to do.
"That's not good enough. I guess I'll just have to go to Home Depot then. You know, your competition!?"
So I trembled in fear for a bit about him going to another company. Actually, I just shrugged my shoulders and said "Well, if you must, then. Anything else I can help you with?"

This guy comes in all the time, and is always difficult, but not a SC. He just has very odd requests, is somewhat demanding, and a huge know-it-all. We don't run and hide when he comes in, we just groan.

[Boozy]

When will they realize that we just don't care if they go to the competition?
I always got paid the same regardless.
The one time I DID care if they went to the competition was when I worked for my sister's restaurant. It was a small family business that had just opened, so every customer mattered. But the more of a pain in the ass a customer was, the less my SISTER wanted them as a patron. She always said she hadn't quit her corporate job to deal with the same damn idiocy all day. That's supposed to be a benefit of going into business for yourself.

[Gurndigarn]

But the more of a pain in the ass a customer was, the less my SISTER wanted them as a patron. She always said she hadn't quit her corporate job to deal with the same damn idiocy all day. That's supposed to be a benefit of going into business for yourself.

It is... but the corollary is that if you turn away too many customers, you go broke.

[ShortTemperHatesStupidity]

When will they realize that we just don't care if they go to the competition?

They won't. See what I've learned is some customers think that if they give you even $1 of their hard earned money that you have to bend over backwards for them for one of the following reasons:
"The customer is always right"
"Every customer lost tells at least 10 people about their bad experience. Consider losing the business of 11 people" (or something to that effect-some stupid cliche)
"You owe me"-I find sometimes they take this to the Napoleon complex level, almost as if to say they think you now work for them, bringing me to my last reason,
"I pay your paycheck"-I wish they knew how it really works... I always think to myself that they should know, they work too.