Over-react Much?

[UnChosen]

I work part time at a fast food restaurant similar to Taco Bell. I've only started for about 3 weeks ago so I'm still not familiar with all the little details at the place.

So last week I was working a shift when this guy came in, and ordered a burrito. The bad part came when it was time to pay, and he wanted to split the cost of one Burrito, which is less than $6...over cash and like 3 debit cards, because he only has like $2 in cash and $2 in each of his bank accounts.

Seriously? Maybe your first priority should be to manage your finance better instead of ordering fast food and holding up everyone with this kind of silly request.

Not to mention, most store does not allow employees to do something like this because it screws up the inventory count and makes things confusing for the accountants.

So, in the nicest tone of voice I could muster, I replied with "I'm very sorry, but I can't do something like that"

To my surprise, he started throwing a temper tantrum about how I "lost a sale" and a bunch of other typical SC speeches.

It wasn't until a more experienced co-worker came by that I learned that apparently he's a "regular" customer. That co-worker then proceeded to "bend the rules" and charged ~$2 for multiple "blank" items, and told me to leave a note for the accountant so that he doesn't get confused. In the mean time the SC proceeded to complain non-stop to my co-worker about my bad service.

How the **** am I supposed to know that he's a "regular" customer? On the flip side, shouldn't he be the one to notice that I'm a new employee and request for someone that knows him?

When my co-worker explained the obvious to him (that I'm new), he then proceed to complain about how I should get the manager if I don't know how to work...

So apparently its my fault that I don't go bother the manager for every crazy customer that wants special treatments.

Part 2

Apparently the story doesn't just end there. I came to work this morning and guess what I found out...

The SC PHONED back to the restaurant the escalated the complaint the manager. Of course, he left out all of the important details that would make his complaint look less credible...it was simply "rude guy who gave me horrible service"

Thankfully, that co-worker from before filled in all of the detail for my manager so I didn't get into trouble.

P.S. The only reason this guy is a "regular" is because he always ask for extra fillings and our workers are nice enough to give it to him.

The moral is...be too nice to customers and you end up raising "spoiled brats" like this...

[emax4]

Maybe he meant "regular asshole" not "regular customer".

[XCashier]

Yep, give 'em an inch and they'll demand a mile.

This guy is an idiot and a bully. If the manager had any semblance of a spine, that SC would be banned.

[EricKei]

apparently he's a "regular" customer.

He sounds more like a regular asshole to me...Whether he's a regular or not, what he was asking for is unreasonable -- I'm not even gonna get into the fact that he probably shouldn't be out getting fast food if his cash situation is that tight >_> He was just being a dick.

Oh yeah, another reason why the accountants wouldn't wanna split up a sale like that -- Merchant Services companies charge per-transaction plus a percentage on transactions, generally. Each card used would likely have cost your store anywhere from 20 to 50 cents just for the priveledge of accepting the card. Given the low profits on non-drink items at ANY restaurant, the store probably LOST money on the transaction if he was using three of them...x.x And if he's costing you money, he's not a customer, in my book

Anyhoo, to !

We have aplenty and nice warm cookies by the score. Help yourself!

[mikoyan29]

If the situation is that bad for him, you'd think he would want to pare those three accounts into one account as I would imagine the fees are eating him up. Unless, he's got a bunch of free accounts floating around. I absolutely hate it when I have to split up transactions but when I do it's for a big ticket item like a TV or something and rarely at that.

[Andara Bledin]

Merchant Services companies charge per-transaction plus a percentage on transactions, generally.

From what I understand, debit is generally a flat fee (which places such as Arco and various generic ATM mahines pass on to the consumer), and credit transactions have percentage-based fees with a minimum charge.

So, three $2 debit transactions probably loses the store over $1 in fees. The store is taking $6 in ones and just burning one of them. He's not worth the hassle, and if the store didn't do it for him, he'd figure out a way to pay within the rules.

^-.-^

[EricKei]

Aye, but ATM withdrawal != POS Debit use. The latter goes thru Merch Services and does indeed carry a fee; to the best of my understanding, it often ends up being more than the Credit fee for the typical-size transaction at many places.

[emax4]

Something else I thought of... If he's a regular customer and claims to know the rules, and that he knows the people there will do this for him, why wouldn't he have known that you were new on the job? It would have been appropriate (but so wrong) to say, "Sir, in our handbook, it doesn't tell us that you are a regular customer and we're supposed to do things your way."

[Andara Bledin]

Aye, but ATM withdrawal != POS Debit use. The latter goes thru Merch Services and does indeed carry a fee; to the best of my understanding, it often ends up being more than the Credit fee for the typical-size transaction at many places.

Is this POS debit use (which one of my examples, Arco, uses, as does Costco, both of whom do so to keep costs down, with the former passing the debit fee on and the latter not) or is it POS debit as credit use, which all of the fast food places I've visited lately do (Jack in the Box, Rallys, Del Taco, Chick-fil-A)?

^-.-^

[EricKei]

Is this POS debit use <snip>

^-.-^

Good question ^_^

When I said "POS Debit use", I was referring to running a debit card as a debit card, meaning, with PIN; thus, the DC fee structure applies. If they just swipe & sign, it's run as a credit card, and the CC fee structure applies. For all intents and purposes, a "Swipe & Sign" is functionally identical to an actual Credit card, in that it actually gets processed by the Merchant Services company and Visa/MC/major CC company and then to the bank, while a PIN transaction goes thru Merchant Services and then (generally) to the bank, bypassing Visa/MC/etc.

If there is no "major CC" insignia on the card and a swipe & sign is possible anyway, I suspect that that is a special case, and I'm not sure how that would work. The only time I've seen that done was when I was with GameStore; they paid us via cards that were linked to a local bank chain, and we could use them -- at GameStore only -- as if they were CC's. For a $2/transaction fee that wasn't listed on the receipt, of course ~_~

[Andara Bledin]

The only time I've seen that done was when I was with GameStore; they paid us via cards that were linked to a local bank chain, and we could use them -- at GameStore only -- as if they were CC's. For a $2/transaction fee that wasn't listed on the receipt, of course ~_~

In that case they work the same as gift cards.

All types of that scheme are a truly shitty way to get paid, so if you have a choice, go with anything that isn't that.

^-.-^

[EricKei]

All types of that scheme are a truly shitty way to get paid, so if you have a choice, go with anything that isn't that.

We weren't. The one thing they did right was that they always went through a bank with local branches (I would not be surprised if they HAD to). The first X transactions a month were free, so I did my best to make exactly two transactions: I just pulled the entire contents of my "account" at said bank's ATM every payday, then deposited that into my own actual bank account.

[tropicsgoddess]

Yep, give 'em an inch and they'll demand a mile. yard

Edited for truth. That's why I only give them the bare minimum unless they're super nice.

[XCashier]

Quoth XCashier
Yep, give 'em an inch and they'll demand a mile. yard

Edited for truth. That's why I only give them the bare minimum unless they're super nice.

A mile is longer than a yard...

[dalesys]

A mile is longer than a yard...

Whose yard are we talking about here? An inch could be more.