Horrible, very bad day

[Arachne]

Yesterday sucked. With the strength of a thousand shop vacs.

To begin with, I turned my ankle on Wednesday. My ankle is very weak ever since I sprained it during my senior year of college, and then proceeded to not stay off of it because I needed to finish my portfolio in time to graduate. It took MONTHS to heal, and I don't think it ever really healed right. So it was going to be only a matter of time before I turned it again, but it's still a pain in the ass. And once again, I can't stay off of it, because you know, my job. I have to walk all over the store and show picky customers all the yarn.

But that's not really what made it sucky. What really made it sucky was when I was hunting through my boss' very, very messy desk for an invoice that wasn't there (which is another rant altogether), and I found a letter. The letter, my friends, had been written by an SC that I posted here about -- she was the lady who wanted to return some needles and didn't take a polite no for an answer. In the end, I had to all but throw her out of the store because she would. not. go. away. and kept insisting that she had NO WAY OF KNOWING that the return policy did not include needles. She finally left when I pointed out that the return policy was printed on the receipt that she was waving in my face.

Well, this evil lady, after treating me like her indentured servant, apparently went right home and wrote my boss a snarky letter about how RUDE I'd been and how she was NEVER coming back AGAIN. Of course, her side of events left out the fact that I'd been very sympathetic and apologetic to start out with, but that I simply hadn't been comfortable breaking store policy in this case. It left out that she'd pestered and badgered me until it became clear that politeness was not going to work. It left out how rude and awful she had been. In her version of events, she politely and sweetly asked me if I could pretty please accept a needle return, and I started breathing fire.

My boss hasn't said a word about this to me, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I mean, I'm very unlikely to be fired over this, since I'm singlehandedly keeping the shop afloat right now (and making a LOT of really good improvements), and since she gets far more people hunting her down to tell her what a treasure I am, but it really brought my day down to see that some bitch was telling vicious lies about my conduct to my boss as an act of petty revenge.

To make matters worse, animal control called and said they thought they'd found my co-worker's lost cat, but then it wasn't him. She was being really cool about it when she came in, but I could tell it had really gotten her down. Heck, I don't even KNOW her cat, and it got me down. I know how terrible I'd feel if it was one of my kitties out there in the cold, cruel world.

[SongsOfDragons]

Knitting needles don't cost very much, don't they? I wouldn't know myself, but even if you got the wrong size or length you could still use them for other things, like assassin knives or turkey skewers?

(Oh, and Arachne? Can I ask something else - d'ya mind telling me what 'colourway' wool is? I've used it in a narrative and don't know whether my description is right...)

[ominousoat]

None of the letters at our call center go directly to supervisors. So it's up to us CSRs to open and read them. It always sucks to find one that's about me, although it's funny at the same time since they feel like this is going to the president of the company and they will pretty much write out that I threatened to steal their children because they ever-so-innocently asked for something.

[BookstoreEscapee]

My ankle turns (against me, that is) pretty easily, too. I never even did anything to it that I can remember; I guess it's just weak. One time I was bowling, had just picked up my ball, just standing there, and all of a sudden I went straight down cuz my ankle just collapsed under me. Didn't hurt, though. Weird.

I've never had anyone write a letter to management about me (that I know of) but I did have a woman complain about me cuz I rolled my eyes at her. This was after I had politely explained to her that we did not have the magazine promo she was insisting she had just bought a few weeks prior. We hadn't had them since Christmas (this was summer). I told her twice, then she wanted me to ask someone else, so I called the manager. She heard me ask on the phone, I told her the manager said the same thing I did, then she wanted me to get the manager (who I knew had already had her dinner interrupted at least twice) up there, which was the last straw for me and I couldn't help myself, . I called the manager up and once she got there I just walked away. After, I asked if the woman had complained about me and mgr said 'yes' and went back to eating her dinner. (ps turned out she had bought the magazine thing in a different store that was a test store. we weren't. we were a test store at Christmas time )

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the woman yelled at me for rolling my eyes, which is why I walked away and why I asked the mgr if she complained. And it wasn't even my customer to begin with, she originally asked the other cashier, who was new and therefore hadn't been there when the magazine thing was, and I was kneeling on the floor stocking bags or something. The whole exchange took place with me on the floor.

[Kara]

I don't even want to know what customers say about me when they complain. Their version always has them as the innocent, unsuspecting customer with a heart of gold who was ripped to pieces by the vicious Rep from Hell. Customers call in to tell me the last rep was extremely rude and hung up on them just because they had a problem with something. Then I look at the last rep's notes and see the customer left out the part where they started yelling and cursing them out, and the rep warned them before disconnecting the call. We generally do not take complaints very seriously, because unless the call was recorded or a supervisor was listening in, there's no real proof that any mistreatment took place at all.

Your boss knows you better than the customer, and knows if whether or not your capable of such an action. My last supervisor I had before we changed shifts a few months ago told me about some of the ridiculous complaints she got once in a while and said the customers were idiots. I asked her if she'd ever gotten anything on me and she said she had, but she knew the person had been full of crap because I would never treat a customer that way so she deleted it without a second thought.

[kelly]

It's awful when customers complain, especially when you've done absolutely nothing to them. One time when the supermarket was closed, I was on the till ringing up the last customer. One of my colleagues was also waiting to buy something and her mum was waiting with her. The front door was locked and this guy managed to sneak in the exit door right next to my till as the last customer left. I (very politely) said, "I'm sorry sir, we're closed". He even smiled at me and said, "What?"

I said, "We're closed- you just walked in the exit", and he looked round at the other staff putting their coats on and an obviously closed shop. He then proceeded to shout that I could take my shop and shove it up my f***ing a***, before storming out. I wasn't fussed as there were several of my collegues around who saw and heard everything, but I went and told the manager just in case.

The next day as I went in, he asked me to tell him again what happened. Apparently this guy had stormed home and rung the shop, keeping the manager on the phone for at least twenty minutes. In his version, he walked in the shop and I told him to f*** off!! Luckily the manager believed me and others all backed me up, but it's scary, isn't it??

[chainedbarista]

that's beyond suckage; why they lie is a complete mystery, especially when they're told that the call is monitored or there are witnesses that can contest their version of the story. (sc's being sc's and using sc logic, however...)

i don't see anything coming of this, either; you have your performace and many compliments on your side, but it always sucks when some sour, nasty creature ruins the moment with an unjustified 'i was so abused tale.' eesh.

arachne, this might sound strange, but start icing your ankle when the problem crops up; it will reduce swelling and help the injury feel better (and heal faster too). i have a shoulder that likes to play 'hmm, i just might dislocate on you today, or not' with me, and i've found that icing it (and other injuries) works wonders.

[zzapp the witch]

Easiest way to ice an injury: Take a styrofoam cup and fill it 1/2 to 3/4 with water. Set it in your freezer until fully frozen. When you take it out, peel down the styrofoam so the ice is sticking out of the top. Now you have nice, neat ice that you can keep a handle on without freezing your fingers, too.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Easiest way to ice an injury: Take a styrofoam cup and fill it 1/2 to 3/4 with water. Set it in your freezer until fully frozen. When you take it out, peel down the styrofoam so the ice is sticking out of the top. Now you have nice, neat ice that you can keep a handle on without freezing your fingers, too.

I like the reusable gel ice packs. The one I have came with a fabric sleeve to keep the cold plastic off your skin. They wrap around wherever you need them and they can just sit in the freezer til you need 'em.

[Arachne]

Yeah, if my ankle is gonna keep doing this, it's gonna be time to get a gel pack or two for the freezer. I didn't get a chance to ice my ankle this time because I had to go right to work after I turned it and I was at work all day, so it wouldn't have mattered either way. But for next time.

Oh, and SongsofDragons, colorway wool is wool that's dyed, often hand-dyed or even hand painted, so that it changes color as you work it. Usually they'll wrap the yarn up into a really big loop, three feet in diameter or more, and dye or paint it in sections. Some really fancy ones, like Noro, actually shift colors only once over the course of the whole skein.

For some great examples, google 'Noro', 'Koigu', and 'Colinette'.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Unless your boss is so greedy or so chickenshit as to can you over one customer complaint, I wouldn't worry about the letter. Myself, I think I'd have a good laugh over it.

I second the re-usable gel pack idea. They are flexible enough to fit around your ailing ankle.

[Reyneth]

There are some awesome hot/cold packs that aren't filled with gel, but rather this thermal mud. They freeze within an hour and hold heat really well too - nice and flexible whatever the temperature. I highly recommend them - I think I got mine at red bullseye. If your ankle (or whatever) is really bothering you, start with ice and then alternate cold-hot-cold-hot, ending with heat 20 minutes each hour.

I just need to find a way to keep them on my shoulders after I've been photographing with the BIG camera and HUGE lens........

[SongsOfDragons]

Oh, and SongsofDragons, colorway wool is wool that's dyed, often hand-dyed or even hand painted, so that it changes color as you work it. Usually they'll wrap the yarn up into a really big loop, three feet in diameter or more, and dye or paint it in sections. Some really fancy ones, like Noro, actually shift colors only once over the course of the whole skein.

Ooh, thankies.

And good luck with the ankle.

[AFpheonix]

Heh. We sell a variety of gel packs that can be frozen/microwaved. Several come with ACE bandages with a pocket in them to insert the pack, which is kinda nifty. We also sell specialized wraps for assorted parts of the body like lower back or knees that come with a freezable/microwaveable pack.

I have a few of those, but for myself and my horses, I also keep the cheapest cold pack of all in the freezer: frozen bag o' peas. Woohoo!

[BookstoreEscapee]

I just need to find a way to keep them on my shoulders after I've been photographing with the BIG camera and HUGE lens........

For hot to wrap around your shoulders look for a "Bed Buddy" neck wrap that you can put in the microwave. You can get it at Bed, Bath & Beyond or places like that. At BB&B I found it where they have the bath mitts and soaps and stuff. They're around $10. Pop it in the microwave for 1 1/2-2 minutes and it holds heat for about 20 minutes or so. I also use it on my wrists, and even sometimes slip it under my sheets when my room is really cold. My roommate had one in college and I used to borrow it, then asked for one for Christmas, and then a few years ago my parents kept borrowing it so I got them each one for Christmas. I keep mine in my desk at work for when I type too much. They also make those self-heating wraps that stick to your skin; they're sized/shaped for different areas like neck or back. They work really well but are a bit pricey and you can't reuse them.