...Absolutely! It's the customers who make working in my Very Own Fabric Store a mixed bag of blessings and blips. Mostly blessings, but there have been a few blips.
It's the blips who make me want to resort to nasty sarcasm once in a while...
...Like the customer who wanted to return an item she'd bought exactly 61 days earlier. Our return policy is clearly displayed on the checkout counter -- and well as printed on the back of every receipt:
"For items purchased more than 60 days ago, or without a receipt, a merchandise credit will be issued."
No big deal, right? We're not saying you can't return it -- we're just not going to give you any money back. You get a store credit to use on anything you want.
Well, this particular customer treated me like I was one of those idiots that God creates from time to time just so they can be a source of irritation to other people. The way she intrepreted that statement was that as long as she had a receipt, I could give her money back. The word "or" meant nothing to her. So I politely told her I needed to check with the manager. (Who told me that if she had a receipt, to go ahead and credit her account. Dammit! I wished some other manager had been there that day!)
So, wearing my nicest I-want-you-to-feel-like-you're-a-cherished-guest-in-my-home smile, I turned back to the counter and gave her a thumbs-up, saying, "Okay then -- I can credit your account!"
"I know you can! I return stuff here all the time!"
This is where I wanted to say, "Well then -- I guess you think that's what makes you a Preferred customer? Why don't you just quit bringing stuff back, Bee-otch?!"
But of course I didn't...
Still smiling, I began the return process. And when the cash register indicated that the item she had paid $9.99 for two months ago was now in the clearance bin for $3.29, I said (in a very friendly manner), "Oh, I guess I'll have to change that so you get credit for what you paid."
"Damn right you will!" said the bit...I mean, er, customer.
(I take some consolation in the fact that I must be a bigger blip than she is, because she went out of her way to ruin part of my day. I apparently messed hers up without even trying!)
...Like the woman who returned nine glass mosaic vases, each carefully wrapped in our "custom" tissue paper (old pattern pieces), saying that she'd bought them for a ceremony, but hadn't used them. (She'd actually bought 11, but had decided to keep 2 of them for some reason.) Yeah, right, I thought as I unwrapped each one to be sure none of them were damaged. (The manager had to open the other register because a line was forming and I was apparently going to be busy for a while.)
Oh -- You didn't use these? Then what are these TINY LITTLE CONFETTI-LIKE SCRAPS OF PAPER in this one (you big fat liar?!!)
Sigh. Of course I didn't say that out loud either.
...Like the lady who called on the phone to ask if we carried Ultrasude. (We don't carry that brand, but we do have several similar lines.) She wanted to know what colors we had. She wanted to know what each one felt like. She wanted to know if I thought any of them would work for making little flower petals to glue onto pins. And she wanted me to listen to how she makes them to give as gifts.
She wanted to know how wide the fabric was. She wanted to know how much it cost. (At least those last two were reasonable questions to ask over the phone!)
She wanted to know if we had any small pieces of it...
All of these questions were asked in between times I had to put her on hold so I could run back and forth between the fabric displays and the cash register, seeking answers for her and ringing up a slew of real, tangible customers. All the while, I kept one eye on that blinking light, hoping she'd just give up and come in to see for herself! (Which is what I more or less told her when she asked me if I'd look in our remnant bin to see if there were any suede-type fabrics in either a red or a rose color in there.)
But this blip actually ended up being a blessing! After I had finally convinced her that she wouldn't be sorry if she came in to see our faux suede fabrics for herself, she wanted to know my name and how long I'd be there so she could meet me and thank me personally for all my help. And when she did come in, she said that everyone in our store was so nice and so helpful, she was going to start sewing again so she could come in more often!
Gulp. I was glad I hadn't resorted to sarcasm on her!
Truthfully, those are the only three blips I can think of. As I said, there are far more blessings in MVOFS, and I still love it there. I just wanted to vent a little bit...Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment