Monday, February 25, 2013

Angry/Rude Customers

Happy Monday, guys! Last week was rough, and last Friday was the worst of it. I had one incident after the other, but the worst by far was a disgruntled, what I imagine, stripper. This woman came in, with her stroller and friend in tow, looking for clear platform stripper heels. She was a size 7 looking for 6 inch heels. Unfortunately, we only had the style she was looking for, in her size, with 7 inch heels. I let her know and she said she didn't mind. I put the sample shoe into the box with its pair and offered her 30% off because it was a sample shoe. She said that she wanted to check out one more store nearby to make sure they didn't have it., so I told her I would hold the shoes for her, although we don't do that. So far, I've done her two favors.
She came back and picked up the shoes and left, without ever having tried them on. 30 minutes later, she called furious, saying that I messed up her purchase and she wanted to just return the package. She said I gave her one size 9, and that she wanted six inch heels, but received 7 inch (even though she agreed to this in the store). I informed her about our no return policy, but I would gladly trade them for the right size.
When she came in, with her child again, she was very nice and apologetic, explaining that she'd had a rough morning because the store that she originally wanted to go to was closed on Friday, and that she was on her period. I helped her find the right size, two size 7s in the 7 inch, and I sent her on her way. 20 minutes she calls back, irate, yelling over the phone, "This is bullshit, you gave me the wrong size again! I'm going to come in and you are going to give me free shoes, because you ruined my order again! Bla...bla...bla...I'm a bitch...bla...". By this point, Ariana arrived at work and got to hear some of the rant. A little bit later, stripper mom comes back in fuming.
She stormed in, berating me, saying the whole situation was "bullshit", I was inept, an idiot, that I ruined not only her day, but her entire life...She also demanded that I give her free merchandise, since I caused her so much pain and suffering. Her whole life was ruined guys. Apparently, the shoe had the wrong sticker on it; it was a size six, not size seven (remember, she never thought to, I don't know, try the shoes on before she paid for them). I tried not to lose it on this nut-job as I scanned the item and had her run her card. Apparently, I was so focused on not beating her to death with a black rubber dildo (a la Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), that instead of returning her cash, I charged her twice. I seriously thought her head was going to explode.

Just like that, but with less clothing

She went full rampage, yelling, crying (no, not crying, sobbing), demanding free shoes, threatening to call my boss (good luck with that lady) and the BBB, suing...she just lost her damn mind. I returned her money immediately and then just let her rant away. I gave her my boss' number and told her the best time to call, and gently sent her on her way.

Too bad this wasn't the first, and won't be the last, time I got a difficult customer. Here are some other angry customers I've had to deal with, and some Facebook posts I put up afterwards.

  • The very first angry customer I had was back in May. A man and his girlfriend came in looking for vibrators. I was able to help the girlfriend find the perfect toy, and then it came to helping the guy. He was looking for a male vibrator, something similar to a pocket pussy. I had just started a month ago, so my product knowledge wasn't very extensive. I offered him a Tenga Flip-hole, thinking that it vibrated and rang them up. The couple was very happy with how much time I spent with them, and how open I was about the products. I thought it was a job well done. Well, the toy didn't vibrate and the customer was pissed. I guess he threw a temper tantrum, especially after my manager offered him a credit card with store credit instead of his money back. He ended up throwing the gift card to our window cleaner saying he wasn't going to "ever use this shit". Needless to say, my screw up became a nice little present, because my manager and I were able to buy ourselves some pretty nice vibrators with it.
  • During the summertime, I had a strange looking guy come in, freaking out because he didn't like the quality of a bullet that he had bought. He stood at the counter for half an hour, complaining about how soft the vibration was, and that his girlfriend wasn't able to get off with it. Seriously, half an hour to complain about a product that we had no control over.
  • In August, an upper class, married couple came in to get some marital aids. I was very patient with them, and helped answer any questions they may have had, since it was their first time buying toys. The husband was pretty taciturn and clipped, so I tried to help them find whatever they needed quickly. Once it came to lubricants, I handed them over to Tati, who they were very rude to. Once it came to ringing them up, they were suddenly in a huge rush. I had to test the toys to make sure they were working, which led to sighs, grunts, and rushing. He snapped at me for not testing them fast enough, and again for taking, seriously, more than 5 seconds to put all the products in the bag. The husband was super rude, and was so pushy, that I pulled all the items back out to check them out and then put them back in. Eventually, he yelled at me saying that it was "embarrassing to be seen in this shop", and then threw his money at me, without waiting for the change. This was FB post that followed:
    • "Just because you're embarrassed because you've never been to a sex shop, doesn't mean you can behave like a complete PRICK and snap at me to hurry. Rudest customer I've had so far. Next time, I'll scream out, "Hey Tatiana, can you get a price check on the MONSTER vibrator with the suction cup and the vibrating clit dolphin in red?! As well as the cherry flavored lube??" Douchebag. I hope his bag breaks on the way to his house."
  • This is more of a general angry customer that we've all had, and I'll keep it short because this post is already so long. Any time we are out of a toy or product, we have to hear about it, over and over, and over again from irate customers. I seriously don't know how people can get that angry about cock rings.
    • I like it when people at work come up to me to ask for a certain toy, and then when I tell them I don't have it, they just stand there awkwardly. Their whole day was ruined because we didn't have any french ticklers left."
I think the "customer is always right" policy warrants some customers to act like complete morons, and should be more of a suggestion, than a rule. If you work in retail, you know what I mean. Can someone make a Yelp page where we rate the customer?

End rant. It was pretty long, sorry.

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