I don't ever think I've seen a customer like this

[jmowreader]

I've got 12 sheets of 1/4" plywood sitting on the shelf. Someone caught them with the tine of a forklift. A little bit of one corner is torn up.

Today a woman came in to buy them "at a discount." I told her I could give her 10 percent off, and I'd check with a manager to see if I could get some more off for her. (Understand: you could completely cover the damaged area with an outstretched hand.) The manager gave 20 percent off. I told her.

"Well, I want half off and I'm going to stay in the store until you give me what I want."

Then, once an hour on the hour for the next seven hours, she came up and asked if I was going to give her half off. (Nope.)

She finally got bored at 7pm and left...but not without screaming that I was an asshole and that she was going to come back all day, every day, until I gave her half off.

But SEVEN FUCKING HOURS? Come on!

[SeattleGirl]

1. Hm, some people just need to get a life!

What a b***h!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Do you have any recourse with such a "customer"?

I'd be tempted to tell her to get lost....politely of course......

But you probably can't do that.....

ICK......:puke:

[MrScorpio]

3. Living life medication free must be really liberating for her

But she should have more money to spend that way, I'd think

[hickman1937]

4. Watch TV. It's all about getting what you want what ever it takes,

and fuck how many people you stomp on and make miserable in the process. Most movies have been pushing this since the 60's.

[NMMNG]

5. Does she realize that if she got a job...

...instead of wasting her time in your store wating for a discount that isn't going to happen, she could have bought that wood several times over? :crazy:

[LaraMN]

6. Spoiled little phlegm-wad.

I hate that pompous entitlement complex some people seem to be afflicted with. My Mama would've ripped me a new one if I'd acted like that as a kid, much less as an adult.

[Floogeldy]

7. Fire the idiot that wrecked the wood with a tine, make him buy it . . .

. . . and then give the wood to the lady customer at no cost.

That's my fucking solution!

}(

[Starlight]

9. I'd make a bonfire in the parking lot before I gave the wood to that

beeatch!! :evilgrin:

[Floogeldy]

11. Right

Let the dumb employee destroy the fake wood, then try to take advantage of a customer by selling a worthless scrap product to her for twice it's actual value.

Fuck the corporate mentality. You know, there was a time in this country when corporations were required to serve the public or lose their charters!

[Az]

14. Um, I am as anticorporate as they come

But thats kinda anti worker and anti sane... .if ya ask me.

[Floogeldy]

24. How dare you question my sanity.

I'm going send a troop of my Pixies over to your house so they can sprinkle magic evil termites around the foundation.

I'm not kidding!

[Az]

26. Gonna have to contend with my army of smurfs

Just saying. Pixie vs Smurf throw down? Not even gonna be fair. Pixies will forget what they are doing in mid battle. Gonna be rough on the pixies.

[jmowreader]

38. "Worthless scrap product?"

Dude, I wish I could show you this wood over the Internets.

I can, however, describe the damaged area. Get a big piece of paper and a drafting compass. Draw a circle 12 inches in diameter. Then divide the circle into quarters. Color in one of the quarters.

The colored-in area you just made would more than cover the damaged area. The whole rest of the sheet is in fine condition, just perfect for cabinet sides and other smaller projects.

As for this "fake wood" comment: it's 1/4" mahogany plywood imported directly from Brazil. This is real sweet wood, man, you would like it.

[politicat]

44. i'll take it at 20% off! Where are you?

She's a twit. If she continues to show up, demanding the discount, it's really easy - she's loitering. Get your manager to call the cops on her.

Half-off on mahogany? Someone's been into the good catnip.

[jmowreader]

66. How far are you from North Carolina?

We're at 2060 Skibo Road in Fayetteville.

Actually, could you come the week after next? Inventory is next week, and if I have that broke-corner wood in stock the inventory trolls will account for it at full price. And believe you me, I need every penny I can get...

I think I've got a local buyer for it, though...my favorite lady contractor should be in a couple more times this week, and as she makes her own cabinets (and uses this as cabinet backs) she'll probably take it.

[politicat]

92. 3/4 across the country, much to my dismay.

I'm in Colorado, and while I have a sister in Jacksonville to whom I could wire the money, I still would have no way to get it here easily.

I hope the local lady gets it. She sounds like a goodie.

[Runcible Spoon]

93. HEY!!! I'm in Fayetteville!

now if I buy that wood what can I do with it?

[ronnykmarshall]

60. Fuck her!

I'd burn that shit before I'd give that rude asshole one fucking penny off.

[bliss_eternal]

72. Yeah--

I'm with you.

[Floogeldy]

81. I like your style, Ronny.

:)

[jmowreader]

37. Well, your fucking solution is no fucking solution

First, I know who wrecked the wood with the tine, and he's a real good guy. He works in the department at night and he almost never damages merchandise.

And second, we're trying to get people out of this entitlement mentality. We have more than a few customers who shop us only for damaged merchandise. They come in, get their damaged merchandise, load it into the back of their $50,000 SUVs and take it home to their $250,000 homes. (We serve a lot of lower-income people, and they NEVER want damaged merchandise. I think the logic here is that they don't have a lot, but they want what they have to be as nice as they can get it. If they want to drywall a room, they'll buy one or two sheets of drywall every payday until they have as much as they need, and then they'll do the job. Middle-class people will put it on their Home Depot card and pay it off as quickly as they can. Seriously rich people don't come in--they hire someone. But the slightly-rich? They will come in and stamp their feet on the ground (yes, I have seen people actually do this) until we dig them out some damaged merchandise and sell it to them for half off.)

If you want, I can tell you about the guy who actually went to a manager to complain because I wouldn't move a 12-foot-high stack of drywall to get him the damaged one at the bottom of the pile.

[Gormy Cuss]

42. So, in your assessment, which category was she?

I'm guessing it's the slightly-rich, footstamping kind. That would explain why she wasted a whole day harassing you.
Your categorizations are as always spot on. There's one of your stories equidistant from us in two directions. In the store to the south, it's the Lexus mini-millionaires who have the "I'm special, that's why" defense down pat. To the north, it's more of a mixed blue-collar and middle class handy homeowner crowd. I can not stand the store to the south of us because the staff are poorly trained (I'd imagine the turnover is pretty high with all the demands of royalty down there) and the customers are obnoxious.

[jmowreader]

64. We'll call this one "upper-crust white trash"

Good-quality clothing but unkempt hair, makeup five years out of date and way too much of it, and too much cheap jewelry, including the requisite huge cross earrings.

Standard-for-UCWT largish tattoos: one listing the names of her five children, the other a big Christian cross with a Bible verse under it.

Driving Chevy Tahoe with two Bush stickers and six Jesus fish on the tailgate.

Probably goes to different stores trying to get shit for next-to-nothing as some sort of weird hobby.

[Syncronaut Seven]

68. That's it then! Mental illness.

Kind of that fundy waste on wife swap? (or what ever the hell that show is called)

High potential for stroking out. Give her a big salty prezel and call her a communist. That should do it!

[thinkingwoman]

49. Why exactly

does she deserve free wood? What the hell did she do to earn that besides throw a tantrum?

Geesh. :eyes:

[ronnykmarshall]

61. I think Miss Thang is lacking in the "free wood" department.

If ya know what I mean. Girlfriend sounds a little too cranky.

[thinkingwoman]

63. LOL Good point! nt

[Floogeldy]

83. What's this "earn" shit?

Free wood for the people, and the masses, too.

It's wrong for someone other than the people to own that which is created by Mother Earth.

Free wood! Free wood! Free wood! Free wood!

:smoke:

[thinkingwoman]

89. ok, that's it then...

share what you're smokin! :evilgrin:

[Floogeldy]

91. I wood

I mean . . . DAMN!

I mean, I would if we were in the same state.

I blew it.

:evilfrown:

[Starlight]

8. The manager has every right to tell her leave - permanently even

and he/she can have her arrested for trespassing if she refuses. Stores are private property and customers are "guests."

[Floogeldy]

15. No

There are lots of illegal reasons for a manager to tell a person to leave. Therefore, a manager does not have "every" right to tell her to leave.

And, customers are not "guests." They are Invitees.

[Az]

16. Actually there are antiloitering laws

The customer does not have the right to simply stand around in a store. It is a place of business. The owners do have some rights.

[Floogeldy]

19. Of course, owners have "some" rights.

Just not "every" right.

[Starlight]

18. You're misinformed. A manager certainly CAN tell a person to leave the

store. I don't think anyone but you and the crazy lady believe employees should not only tolerate abusive customers but should give them gifts. She can be kicked out of the store and, if she doesn't leave, she can & should be arrested.

[Floogeldy]

20. Oh. So asking for a discount is "abusive?"

What if she is in the store because she is cold? So, you're all for kicking homeless, cold, starving people out of stores.

I see.

[Starlight]

23. Read the OP's original post so you understand what we're talking about.

:eyes:

[Floogeldy]

25. Okay. I read it.

And your point is?

[Az]

27. Pretty much the world's worst haggler

And calling the sales staff that has no control of the price an asshole is pretty abusive IMO. Someone came into my house and treated me like that I would toss them out. They didn't throw her out. They showed remarkable patience. And they actually offered her a significant savings on the product. I don't think she was negotiating in good faith.

[Floogeldy]

28. Okay.

Maybe she's not the world's most gifted negotiator.

But you've got to admire here perseverance!

[Az]

30. The psychologist in me gets curious after the first hour

There is something else going on there.

[Floogeldy]

*sniff*

Don't you see? That poor lady was someone's daughter, or sister, or mother, or lover.

Somebody has to look out after her, support her, and take her side.

I mean, after all, she just wanted some half-price, worthless, damaged plywood.

What's the BIG FUCKING DEAL?

;)

[Az]

33. Worthless?

You rebel! You are trying to undermine the entire resource value system that this world functions by. Fiend!

;)

[Floogeldy]

34. Heh heh heh heh

:evilgrin:

[ronnykmarshall]

62. Speaking of wood ...

get off the cross .....

Jesus Helen Christ !!

[thinkingwoman]

51. uh, not in this state

and not in any state that I know of. Managers and store owners absolutely can ask people to leave and law enforcement will back the store up if necessary.

[Floogeldy]

80. State shmate!

Think again!

Can't kick someone out of a store for being black. Can't kick someone out of a store for being handicapped.

I didn't say stores have no rights. I said they don't have "every right."

You big goo goo head!

}(

[mongo]

84. Guess what -

I can kick someone out of my store for absolutely no reason what-so-ever!

That's right - and I kick 15-17 yo's out of the store all the time - even though my front room has absolutely nothing explicit - because I just don't want any minors in my store at all! (unless they are obviously accompanied by their parents, and they still aren't going in the back).

Oh, and you don't have to "leave the store" for me to hold you for shoplifting either. The act of concelment is probable cause, and I can detain you.

Ever heard the phrase "we reserve the right to deny service"?

[Floogeldy]

85. No

You do not have the right to deny service to any person, for any reason.

Therefore, you do not have "every right" to kick people out of your store.

I dare you.

}(

[mongo]

96. I have in the past

15 yo boys who insisted that I sell them condoms. I had to physically remove one boy from the store once.

A really annoying person who was bothering other customers - he's banned forever.

A prostitute who was telling customers to pick her up out front. She would come and browse (and shoplifted once or twice before I caught on) - she's banned from the store too, although I haven't seen her around the 'hood.

Of course, normally I don't throw people out of the store. The only people I routinely throw out of the store are minors. If I have one 18yo and a 17yo come in the store, I send the 17yo outside to wait.

And to get back to your previous post, I would NEVER throw someone out of my store because they were black. In fact, in 3 years, I have had only one bad experience with a black person. I can't think of any black regualar customers that annoy me, although I do have several white customers that get on my nerves.

I've had other customers that I knew shoplifed (because I find the empty box on the wall from something they were looking at, but didn't catch them conceal it), that I banned from the store.

For some reason, my black customers on average are more friendly, more likely to engage in conversation with me, have less of an "entitlement attitude", seem to have more fun in the store, and are way less likely to be embarrased, or look like they feel shamefull at the register with their purchase. I have no idea why that is.

[thinkingwoman]

87. oh well fine!

Just pick on a girl when she's intoxicated why don't you. :evilgrin:

[Floogeldy]

90. Damn! I wish you had told me sooner.

I would have asked for your phone number, or sumpin'.

;)

[SammyWinstonJack]

10. Was she a republican? What a cheapskate! And she seriously

needs a life! So many things wrong with this!

[BamaGirl]

12. Wow, some ppl are obviously insane

:crazy:

[Az]

13. Think you may be dealing with an OCD there

Walk away slowly.

[Robeson]

35. That was my first thought, too.

[Book Lover]

17. She's not a customer until

she actually buys something. She could have picked up some part time temp work during those 7 hours and bought twice the amount of plywood she was trying to dick you guys out of!

[Floogeldy]

21. Probably a multi-generational welfare leech.

Eh?

[Book Lover]

22. You know what's interesting?

I always read your username as "Floodgeldy" - amazing what the mind will fill in, eh?

[hickman1937]

29. Bull. Multi-generational entitled scammer.

A true american. The only way to get rich is to stomp and scam everyone between you and a buck, right floo?

[Floogeldy]

31. Well, sure.

I mean, that's how I got rich!

;)

[hickman1937]

32. You betcha.

;) :*

[bliss_eternal]

73. LOL--no shit!

She could have worked for it, went out and chopped it and hauled it back to the store in all that time.

:nopity:

[NuttyFluffers]

36. that's too fun! hide it and tell her you sold it when she comes back!

say, "hmm, someone was willing to take the 20% discount. oh well, now it's gone. still wanna wait?"

if i was the manager i'd have lots of fun at her expense. how often do you get a certifiable whack job willing to waste their time like that? it's like being paid by the hour to torture a willing subject! that's like... a miracle! do you know how much i would have given to be able to mentally torture the kids harassing me during the Pokemon craze?!?! do you! :evilgrin:

[DS1]

39. I'm glad I live nowhere near you, you seem to be surrounded

by righteous assholes.

[jane_pippin]

40. You need one of those "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone

(Crazy Lumber Lady, this means you!)" signs.

[Aristus]

41. Hmm. Something tells me that woman had plywood for brains.

What a scary individual.

[gollygee]

43. Start a betting pool

to see how long she can keep it up.

You might as well have fun with it!

[fishnfla]

45. When a customer swears at one of our employees, they are gone

I dont care who they are, how much they spend I send them packing with a lecture on grown-up manners. We have a zero tolerance for abusive behavior towards anybody in our offices. The employees appreciate me sticking up for them. They also know its a blanket policy: they lose their cool with a customer, they are gone too.

[Pithlet]

46. I had a boss like you, once.

I think that's terrific. Good customer service is vital, but there's no reason to tolerate abuse of one's employees. Good for you :thumbsup:

[thinkingwoman]

52. Right on fishnfla

That's the same policy I had with my biz.

[kick-ass-bob]

47. hmmm, vinegar or honey?

She should think about that a little bit.

[skygazer]

48. That's amazing

Apparently, her time is worth absolutely nothing if she's willing to waste an entire day trying to get a stack of plywood at a ridiculous discount. Sounds like 90% of the wood was usable - 10% discount seems eminently reasonable to me. Why is that people always seem to want something valuable for nothing? Amazing.

And I really despise that tactic of "I'm going to annoy the shit out of you until you give me what I want." It never worked for my kids, who I love, and it's sure not going to work for some fucking witch who's trying to intimidate me.

I once had some whacko come up to the express line when I was checking there one day with about $400 worth of groceries loaded up into her cart - she began literally throwing it on the belt and announced in a pissy voice, "You ARE going to ring this up." I said, "No, I'm not," signed off my register and left her standing there with her cart half unloaded. I refuse to be strong armed - screw that.

[thinkingwoman]

50. If you worked for me

I'd have authorized you to throw her out of the store and back it up with law enforcement.

Not kidding either. I once threw a preacher out of my office for accusing me of being against religion when I refused to let him place a ad in the paper for free.

Customer service is a good thing. Taking shit from people is not.

The sense of entitlement of some people is overwhelming at times. And the funny thing is that most of them are the same ones who feel we should cut "entitlement" programs that help the poor. :eyes:

P.S. after I threw that preacher out, his church fired him. :evilgrin:

[bliss_eternal]

67. Good for you!

For throwing that assbag out--and I agree, if the original poster worked for me, I would have none of her either.

[thinkingwoman]

88. to this day

it is simply the most fun I've ever had at work. :evilgrin:

[HEyHEY]

53. Call the cops

[Fox Mulder]

54. She could've worked for seven hours...

and made money to pay for the plywood...but instead, she stays in the store and pesters you???

:wtf:???

[redqueen]

55. That's because not that many people are that crazy stupid.

What a dumbass. :eyes:

[Loonman]

56. The mentality of some people...

I have people ask me all the time if I can "make an exception". NO! No exceptions! If we're going to make exceptions, why bother making rules?

[jackelope72]

57. Civility really seems to have become an endangered species nowadays.

I see it all the time where I work; demanding, abusive customers who care only about getting as much as they can for as little as they can pay, and who will even go so far as to make personal attacks on the employees if they don't get exactly their way. I even had one guy call me "a fucking lardbucket asswipe" and tell me: "You better hope I don't see you drivin' around town with those faggoty ass Kerry bumperstickers on your car. I just might drive up your insurance rates for you." I told him that I was going to report his statemtent to the police so that I would be covered if such a threatened accident really did happen, and then I asked him to please leave. My boss heard the entire conversation and never said a word to me about it.

[bliss_eternal]

70. OMG!

That IS horrible!!! What a piss ant! Good for you, telling him what you did.

I don't get this attitude of entitlement people have these days. It started years ago, when I was still in restaurants. I'd kill myself doing the absolute best I could, bringing something out the second it came out of the oven, for a customer in a hurry--only to have someone plop down loose change and say something like,"...I thought it would be faster..."

:wtf:

People like the guy you helped should fuckin' shop on-line. Asshole.

[Left Is Write]

58. What a nutball.

[ronnykmarshall]

59. When she comes back ...

tell her to get a fucking life.

[lovelaureng]

65. Psycho-hose beast, sounds like.

[bliss_eternal]

71. LMAO--

:rofl: Haven't heard the term, 'psycho hose beast' in a while. I love that one!

:rofl:

[bliss_eternal]

69. It's hard to feel sorry for someone like this...

Anyone that has seven hours to spend in a store has bigger issues than whether she gets half off of an item or not...

:crazy: :freak: :crazy: :nopity:

When I worked retail, we had this customer that had bags and bags of items from our store. Seriously, merchandise that dated back for years. Her primary chore each day was bringing in some old bag of merchandise, to get discount adjustments on her credit card--for the items that were currently on sale.

I'm not kidding--she did this over and over and over again. We saw her every week without fail. I hated helping her. It just seemed so pointless. Talking with her you came to realize she was sad, lonely and had some other issues that made her a bit of a recluse. Doing what she did, gave her some interaction. Thinking about her still makes my head spin. I never saw anyone quite like her.

[obxhead]

74. I would have gone to the nearest construction people

nearby and given them 30% off just to screw with her fragile little mind.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

75. Retail Sucks

There just isn't any way around it.

[Shine]

76. Jeez, what a nutball!

:eyes:

[Rabrrrrrr]

77. Rabrrrrrr's perfect solution - (yes, this is a standard excellent Rabrrrrr

Solution) -

Tell the over-haired bad-makeupped bitch that she can have the wood at half price, but for every board foot of it, you get to take the whole sheet to her goddamn fundy-fuck over-entitled illiterati jesus-fish-owning Christian-in-overzealous-shouting-only face.

[bliss_eternal]

94. LMAO!

:rofl:

Too funny, Rabrrrrrr!

[jmowreader]

95. It would be nice, wouldn't it?

Unfortunately, our SOP prohibits beating the shit out of the customers.

Even the ones who need it.

[Redstone]

78. Reminding me once again how fortunate I am,

that I don't have a job that requires dealing with the general public.

I don't know how people like you can manage to do that day in and day out without losing your grip with people like that customer, but I salute you for being able to anyway.

Hang in there,

Redstone

PS: Call the cops if she follows through on her promise to come back. That's one dangerously obsessed woman.

[baldguy]

79. Sometimes customers have to be fired.

"I'm sorry, but I think it's time for you to pursue other options."

[mongo]

86. Ha - I'll have to remember that one.

[madeline_con]

82. If she comes back, call the cops.

It's harassment, and you're not required to be stalked by this weirdo!

[Floogeldy]

97. I am disturbed by all of the "ENTITLEMENT" invocations in this thread.

That is a RUSH LIMBAUGH hot-button term from the 80's and 90's.

You got brainwashed. Voted for Bush, did ya?

}(