Dealing with complete idiots...

joe stodge

The other day in work, I had a customer come in spewing all kinds of piss and vinegar at me over a tin of spray cream.

She was on the verge of roaring about how the contents of said tin were gone off and how it nearly poisoned her and her husband and she wanted better than a refund because of the inconvenience.

I said to her, "you didn't buy that here".
It only seem to spur her on to get even angrier, of course she bought it here where else could she have bought it, who am I to know if she bought it in the shop or not. She done her shopping, she knows where she bought it.

I pointed out it was one of our competitors brands, sure it even had their company name and logo on it, did this convince her? Nope!

She wanted a refund off us and wasnt taking no for an answer. I flat told her I wasn't dealing with it anymore and if she wanted said refund to go to the other shop which is a ten minute drive away and they could deal with her.

I couldn't fathom how someone could be so stupid, has anyone else had to deal with someone be it in work or not that is astoundingly idiotic?

Ihatecuddles-old

I think you mean idiots :P

Was it from Roches Stores?

Ranicand

joe stodge wrote: »

I pointed out it was one of our competitors brands, sure it even had their company name and logo on it, did this convince her? Nope!

She wanted a refund off us and wasnt taking no for an answer. I flat told her I wasn't dealing with it anymore and if she wanted said refund to go to the other shop which is a ten minute drive away and they could deal with her.

I can not square these two paragraphs she was not taking no for an answer how did you get rid of the silly moo?

CiaranK

''The other day in work, I had a customer come in spewing all kinds of piss and vinegar at me over a tin of spray cream. '' That is a sentence you don't hear everyday :P

Yeah people are stupid, really stupid.

Larianne

If you stand there long enough, they usually run out of steam.

MadMardegan

Been working in nights clubs for the past 5 years... safe to say I've come across 1 or 2 idiots.

Steve O

I work in global online education company, you wonder how some people can dress themselves nevermind turn on a PC.

Mr Simpson

OP, get access to Ranting and Raving, theres a thread there that I think you'll grow to love

Marsden

Its the bane of retail, I had years of this thing. All you can do is grin and be polite till they sling their hook. I had one fella throwing a wobbly after he bought socks, tore the package to shreds, realized they didn't fit and demanded a refund. He told me its happened to him loads of times and wanted to know what he should do about it, the look on his face when I told him to buy bigger was socks was priceless. He marched off screaming about taking me and the shop to court and marched back in a minute later for the evidence (ripped packaging). I obviously never got the summons.

I can understand people being annoyed with a lot of retail policies but some people are just plain stupid.

Ranicand

Marsden wrote: »

I had one fella throwing a wobbly after he bought socks, tore the package to shreds, realized they didn't fit and demanded a refund.

I kind of see his point he should have put his foot down.

major bill

MarkMc wrote: »

OP, get access to Ranting and Raving, theres a thread there that I think you'll grow to love

where is this ranting and raving that you speak off? i remember it been on here months ago

joe stodge

Ihatecuddles wrote: »

I think you mean idiots :P

Yeah, that.

nocoverart

OP, you can't spell idiot, you bloody idoit! I can't pronounce comfortable so we're both bloody idoits

Ranicand

nocoverart wrote: »

OP, you can't spell idiot, you bloody idoit! I can't pronounce comfortable so we're both bloody Idoits

Yes whatever but did you get that refund on the tin of cream?:p

joe stodge

Ranicand wrote: »

I can not square these two paragraphs she was not taking no for an answer how did you get rid of the silly moo?

I just stopped dealing with her, I went back to other more pressing matters.

Ranicand

joe stodge wrote: »

I just stopped dealing with her, I went back to other more pressing matters.

Like what?:D

joe stodge

Ranicand wrote: »

Like what?:D

I hid out the back, until she fùcked off.

Mr Simpson

major bill wrote: »

where is this ranting and raving that you speak off? i remember it been on here months ago

Its a private forum, you need to request access from the mods. Off the top of my head, Dr Bollocko, Handsome Bob and Flourescence are some of the mods.

Scruffles

she clearly sounds like a very high functioning woman who did something stupid,but think deeper as there are other possibilities...

she might have been on a sugar drop or diabetic and going into a hypo...truly believed it was the brand she thought regardless of what she was being told due to being distracted and flustered from shopping/a argument at home/the profound mental trauma she has suffered from this cream...a bit of a vision problem and mistook the label...or so ashamed of herself when she was shown how it was the wrong shop she felt playing the deluded one was the only way to save face...or she coud have been mentaly ill and actualy delusional ...or,she was a lazy sod who coudnt be arsed the trip to the other shop and felt she if she was rude to staff long enough in the nearer shop,they woud refund it to get rid of her quickly.

faceman

These are the incidents will remember OP when you leave. You should post your story on boards.ie

Oh...

humbert

Between the spray cream and the piss and vinegar being spewed I had a very funny picture of the situation.

I had a fella come in one day with a One4All gift card. He wanted to spend it, but before spending it he wanted to know how much was on it. I said:

- How much was on it when you got it?
-"I don't know"
- What was the amount written on the card it came with?
- "There was no card"
- 5 mins of me describing what the card would have looked like, he stayed adamant there never was one.
- "These cards are for your shop, you should have this facility"
- No sir, these are from a separate company, we just accept them here.
- "I should be able to know how much is on it before I spend it. I'm entitled to that."
- Well you can actually just look it up online using the number on the front.
- "I don't have the internet"
- There's a public library just across the road where you could check it
- "They're not open for another hour".
- There's a number you can call on the back, where they'll tell you the amount.
- "I shouldn't have to spend money calling to find out the amount. I'm entitled to know how much is on it."
- It's a lo-call number.
- "That's still money! I shouldn't have to spend money on this, and anyway those freephone numbers are very expensive on my broadband". (How did he have broadband but no internet???)
- I think it's actually a fixed price, very low.
- Ten minutes of him complaining about his broadband to me.
-I'm very sorry sir, there's no other way to do it.
- "Can't you just scan it in your machine there and tell me"
- No sir, it really doesn't work that way.
- Ten more minutes of him accusing me of not wanting to scan his card. As though I'm getting something out of that. Then he just stood there, insisting that he was "entitled".

I ended up calling the customer service number on the card from my own mobile just to get rid of the guy. Then had to deal with all the complaints from the people in the queue that had built up behind him.

Raminahobbin

true-or-false wrote: »

I ended up calling the customer service number on the card from my own mobile just to get rid of the guy.

No matter what, DON'T ENCOURAGE THEM!!!

Now he's learned nothing from this interaction except that complaining will get him what he wants

Raminahobbin

Raminahobbin wrote: »

No matter what, DON'T ENCOURAGE THEM!!!

Now he's learned nothing from this interaction except that complaining will get him what he wants

People like that will never learn. Ever.

mickdw

true-or-false wrote: »

I had a fella come in one day with a One4All gift card. He wanted to spend it, but before spending it he wanted to know how much was on it. I said:

- How much was on it when you got it?
-"I don't know"
- What was the amount written on the card it came with?
- "There was no card"
- 5 mins of me describing what the card would have looked like, he stayed adamant there never was one.
- "These cards are for your shop, you should have this facility"
- No sir, these are from a separate company, we just accept them here.
- "I should be able to know how much is on it before I spend it. I'm entitled to that."
- Well you can actually just look it up online using the number on the front.
- "I don't have the internet"
- There's a public library just across the road where you could check it
- "They're not open for another hour".
- There's a number you can call on the back, where they'll tell you the amount.
- "I shouldn't have to spend money calling to find out the amount. I'm entitled to know how much is on it."
- It's a lo-call number.
- "That's still money! I shouldn't have to spend money on this, and anyway those freephone numbers are very expensive on my broadband". (How did he have broadband but no internet???)
- I think it's actually a fixed price, very low.
- Ten minutes of him complaining about his broadband to me.
-I'm very sorry sir, there's no other way to do it.
- "Can't you just scan it in your machine there and tell me"
- No sir, it really doesn't work that way.
- Ten more minutes of him accusing me of not wanting to scan his card. As though I'm getting something out of that. Then he just stood there, insisting that he was "entitled".

I ended up calling the customer service number on the card from my own mobile just to get rid of the guy. Then had to deal with all the complaints from the people in the queue that had built up behind him.

Surely if you accept one for all vouchers, you can work out whats on the thing?

Pinewoo

mickdw wrote: »

Surely if you accept one for all vouchers, you can work out whats on the thing?

Not until after it's been charged, suppose you could ring something through for 1 cent and print the balance.

LETHAL LADY

My working experience of dealing with people from both sides, customer and worker, tell me both tend to suffer from idiocy. Dealing with rageaholics is awful, as is dealing with ill-informed power tripping workers. Company policy leaves the latter down in a big way imo.

ballsymchugh

true-or-false wrote: »

I had a fella come in one day with a One4All gift card. He wanted to spend it, but before spending it he wanted to know how much was on it. I said:

- How much was on it when you got it?
-"I don't know"
- What was the amount written on the card it came with?
- "There was no card"
- 5 mins of me describing what the card would have looked like, he stayed adamant there never was one.
- "These cards are for your shop, you should have this facility"
- No sir, these are from a separate company, we just accept them here.
- "I should be able to know how much is on it before I spend it. I'm entitled to that."
- Well you can actually just look it up online using the number on the front.
- "I don't have the internet"
- There's a public library just across the road where you could check it
- "They're not open for another hour".
- There's a number you can call on the back, where they'll tell you the amount.
- "I shouldn't have to spend money calling to find out the amount. I'm entitled to know how much is on it."
- It's a lo-call number.
- "That's still money! I shouldn't have to spend money on this, and anyway those freephone numbers are very expensive on my broadband". (How did he have broadband but no internet???)
- I think it's actually a fixed price, very low.
- Ten minutes of him complaining about his broadband to me.
-I'm very sorry sir, there's no other way to do it.
- "Can't you just scan it in your machine there and tell me"
- No sir, it really doesn't work that way.
- Ten more minutes of him accusing me of not wanting to scan his card. As though I'm getting something out of that. Then he just stood there, insisting that he was "entitled".

I ended up calling the customer service number on the card from my own mobile just to get rid of the guy. Then had to deal with all the complaints from the people in the queue that had built up behind him.

those freephone numbers are very expensive????

dd972

how do you deal with 50% idiots?...

Solair

I did a summer job in a mobile phone shop a few years ago and we'd some absolute clangers:

Which network are you on? Nokia! I need a €20 for a Nokia... Some were also on "Nokio"
(Regularly happened)

A guy coming in ranting and raving about his Vodafone bill while we were not vodafone and were in fact one of their highly branded competitors. I was wearing a branded t-shirt, the whole shop was plastered in the logo and colours.

A lady came in to discuss how unbelievable rude the "operator" was. I scratched my head wondering what she was on about.

She'd been dialling the 1741 top up number and trying to speak to the automated system that takes the top up vouchers!

"do you sell hammers ?"
"This is a mobile phone shop"
"So you don't sell hammers then ?"
"No!"

Also worked in an electrical shop where a guy came in to complain about his washing machine. After a long discussion we realised he hadn't connected the water. I explained he'd need to connect it to a cold water supply and drain.

He said "oh right, so it doesn't just make the water itself like ?"

Dietsquirt

MadMardegan wrote: »

Been working in nights clubs for the past 5 years... safe to say I've come across 1 or 2 idiots.

You lot can come across pretty rude sometime though :P

Mushy

Ye need to share these stories in Ranting & Raving. It needs more love and support!

charlemont

Solair wrote: »

I did a summer job in a mobile phone shop a few years ago and we'd some absolute clangers:

Which network are you on? Nokia! I need a €20 for a Nokia... Some were also on "Nokio"
(Regularly happened)

A guy coming in ranting and raving about his Vodafone bill while we were not vodafone and were in fact one of their highly branded competitors. I was wearing a branded t-shirt, the whole shop was plastered in the logo and colours.

A lady came in to discuss how unbelievable rude the "operator" was. I scratched my head wondering what she was on about.

She'd been dialling the 1741 top up number and trying to speak to the automated system that takes the top up vouchers!

"do you sell hammers ?"
"This is a mobile phone shop"
"So you don't sell hammers then ?"
"No!"

Also worked in an electrical shop where a guy came in to complain about his washing machine. After a long discussion we realised he hadn't connected the water. I explained he'd need to connect it to a cold water supply and drain.

He said "oh right, so it doesn't just make the water itself like ?"

Some of these idiots should donate their brains to science so they can be studied to see if their stupidity is genetic or cultural.

Galwayguy35

joe stodge wrote: »

The other day in work, I had a customer come in spewing all kinds of piss and vinegar at me over a tin of spray cream.

She was on the verge of roaring about how the contents of said tin were gone off and how it nearly poisoned her and her husband and she wanted better than a refund because of the inconvenience.

I said to her, "you didn't buy that here".
It only seem to spur her on to get even angrier, of course she bought it here where else could she have bought it, who am I to know if she bought it in the shop or not. She done her shopping, she knows where she bought it.

I pointed out it was one of our competitors brands, sure it even had their company name and logo on it, did this convince her? Nope!

She wanted a refund off us and wasnt taking no for an answer. I flat told her I wasn't dealing with it anymore and if she wanted said refund to go to the other shop which is a ten minute drive away and they could deal with her.

I couldn't fathom how someone could be so stupid, has anyone else had to deal with someone be it in work or not that is astoundingly idiotic?

Situations like this are why I would never work in a shop as I have no patience for someone mouthing off at me when they are in the wrong.

I was in SuperValu a few weeks ago and this one emptied her trolly of shopping onto the conveyor and the cashier totted it up for her, she then asked for the loyalty card and yer wan told her she forgot it but wanted the discount regardless.

When told this was not possible she started bitching and moaning and said she wasn't moving until she saw a manager.

There was myself and another woman behind her waiting in the queue and she then turned to us and told us she "wasn't fookin moving so we should just pack up and go to another till".

The poor cashier then copped another earful from her.

I think if I was that cashier I would have thrown the ignorant cow head first into the trolly and rammed it through the front door and then hand in my notice.

No job is worth having to put up with morons like that.

Mr. G

Around christmas I'll never forget what happened when I was in a large store and some man was in front of me at the checkout. He proceeded to call her "sooty" and wanted to return things. She started to shout and intimidate her and whatever happened (guess some panic button under counter) security kicked him out. When I got to the checkout, another cashier said and I quote "some people are just complete retards". The poor woman fell into tears.

Irish Guitarist

Years ago I worked in a DIY shop. Someone came in one day and wanted to get a refund on a can of paint. It must have been an old can of paint he just grabbed out of the shed and brought in to try his luck. I told him that it had been used (the outside of the can was caked in dried paint as well as being badly dented) and that we didn't even stock that paint brand. He swore blind that he had bought it the previous week and had never used it. Moron.

Solair

I don't understand where people get this notion that they're "entitled" to a full refund on a product they just decide that they no longer want.

I mean, a lot of shops (as a nice gesture) will facilitate it where something is totally unused but, people seem to think its like refunding for a faulty item then go on complete rants because someone won't take back their used item!

BostonB

Pinewoo wrote: »

Not until after it's been charged, suppose you could ring something through for 1 cent and print the balance.

Blanch center vouchers work like that. I think its a bit of pain shops can't check the gift cards. The service desk can do it though.

BostonB

I asked some one to take a screen grab of something And email it to me. They printed out the screen grab. photocopied it on their fax. then scanned in a copy and emailed it to me. I can't remember what their reason for doing that was. but I was speechless when I realised what they had done.

BostonB

I know an older person who walked into a shop demanding to know why their mobile didn't work properly. The phone shop guy looked at it and said we can't fix this. The customer demaneded to know why. Its a TV remote was the reply.

In fairness the phones back then did look a bit like a remote. There was a flip side to this. When having tea with his sister,one day she looked at the table and said, that's odd. What's odd. Theres a TV remote on the table. Why is that odd says he. I don't own a TV was her puzzled reply.

The one phone was one of those 3 line mono displays. All black and slim.

corktina

BostonB wrote: »

I asked some one to take a screen grab of something And email it to me. They printed out the screen grab. photocopied it on their fax. then scanned in a copy and emailed it to me. I can't remember what their reason for doing that was. but I was speechless when I realised what they had done.

yeah, I'm speechless too...never could get the hang of doing screen grabs, never mind use the fax.

Irishcrx

Yeah retail, the feckin joys of it. Have had more than my fair share of idiots when I worked in Mcdonalds and Smyths when I was younger. Two that stick out , first one was a bloke and his young daughter walking around the store. He was putting toys into her back pack (Don't think the little girl was aware of what he was doing) security saw him and questioned him about it asking him to empty the back pack , he threw a wobbler in the store , ended up with two security having to restrain him. Dirtbag , if you want to try steal fine but don't bring a little 6 year old girl into it and make her have to witness you being a dead beat father first hand.

Second , also another father. Literally as we were closing one Xmas eve comes up to the store and starts banging on the window shouting that he 'I hava ta geta me young wan Xmas box open the door yas B******' you'd think he could have done this any time in the two month;'s leading up to Xmas but no no right on the verge of closing time Xmas eve was the time to do it , probably the only chance he got with all the drinking and heroin to be had. Manager wouldn'ty open the door so he wedged himself in between the shutter and started attacking the glass treatening the stab us so we had to go out the back while security got him out between the shutters.

At least he was persistent.

stephendevlin

true-or-false wrote: »

I had a fella come in one day with a One4All gift card. He wanted to spend it, but before spending it he wanted to know how much was on it. .

If I come in can you tell me how much is on my Visa card?

Pinklady11

For those of you needing to let off steam here is how you get to the Ranting & Raving forum.

Be sure to check out the Cries of Retail thread.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=64768655

lost in cork

I worked in a tool hire shop and i met some idiots in there,like the guy who hired a chainsaw to lop some branches off a tree ,he leaned his ladder against against a branch and climbed it then promptly cut off the branch the ladder was leaning on ,he ,the branch,the ladder and the chainsaw all hit the deck.
The woman who came into hire a lawnmower ,off she went cutting her lawn but didnt bother emtying the grass box till the mower got so clogged up the blade stopped turning though the engine was still running ,she turned it over to free the blockage ,she lost 4 fingers as the blade was freed.

stephendevlin

stephendevlin wrote: »

If I come in can you tell me how much is on my Visa card?

Oh don't even get me started on all the crap I get about our in-store ATM. It's one of those 365 BOI ones.

"It wont tell me my balance"
-Are you bank of Ireland?
"No, AIB/NIB/TSB/UB, of course"
-Well it's Bank of Ireland so it can give out money but it only has account details for BOI customers.
Cue the rant about how that's ridiculous, they should be able to check their balance. I've even gotten crap because the town only has three ATMs, as though that's anything to do with me.

Then there's the elderly people who have no problem walking away from the ATM with their card still in it to ask you questions about how to use it, while also taking the time to complain that it should be somewhere more private so people can't see their PIN.

I'm not even going to describe the time a guy came in at midday stinking of drink and then got fresh with me over not having enough in his account to buy booze and pay his sky bill.

MarkMc

MarkMc wrote: »

OP, get access to Ranting and Raving, theres a thread there that I think you'll grow to love

Pfft, everyone knows After Hours is Ranting and Raving.

Tzardine

I remember a good few years back I was working in TK Maxx in Swords Pavillions. I was standing around at the customer service desk which was all the way at the back of the store.

A woman comes up to the desk with a microwave and was going mad. Saying that it was faulty etc, spewing on and on, the girl on the desk couldnt get a word in at all. She finally did and asked for the receipt. She looks at the receipt for a second and says to the woman :

"Yeah we dont see microwaves, this is a clothes shop, your receipt is for Argos"

The womans face was great. How did she walk past all the clothes and still not cop on that it was not Argos ??

joe stodge

Me. There seems to be a problem with your laser card.

Most people. No your terminal has the problem.

Me. Maybe that's why it's been taking cards all day, no problem. Thanks for clearing that up.

Call Me Jimmy

I just don't understand where people get the idea that they can talk to people in the way they do in retail. Where does it come from at all? Idiots indeed. And also, one of the first rules of persuasion is to make the other person want to help you, so talking **** to them seems counter-productive.

But I'm leaving out the main reason, arseholes who have no self-awareness letting off the steam that has built up in their mundane and childish relationships at home. Anyone in retail is basically a proxy Jeremy Kyle, and for that you have my sympathies.