Tuesday, February 13, 2007

If you have a point to make, don't yell at me

Every now and again, you will get a customer who is either just an insufferable a****** or just wants to make a point. Now, I don't really care what your motivation is, but really, there are better ways of making a point than coming to Customer Service and kicking up a fuss and making my life miserable. I really don't have any power. If it makes you feel better, that's good -- but karma is a cruel mistress.

Anyway.

This guys came up with a cart full of stuff and handed me a can of shoe polish. He stalks up to the counter and goes "WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS!"

I take the thing and scan it. It says "SALE NOT ALLOWED, PRESS CLEAR" which means the product has been recalled for some reason. I don't know why, but it is against the law to sell it.

I tell him and he snarks "Well, the ought to take it off the d*** shelf them." I'm like "I'm sorry, sir. I don't know why it is still on the shelf, but I cannot sell it to you."

Then he goes. "Well, I'm just not happy with this store. I'm not buying anything here tonight. I want my money back on all this stuff."

He lifted four bags of stuff out of the buggy, put it on the counter and then sat there with his arms crossed. I was like "Whoa."

So I started crossing items off the receipt and made sure I had everything.

I did it all and it totaled up exactly right. And then the evil creature accused me of forgetting something. I was like "No. The total of the return is $135.57. That's how much you paid because you had her void off those two things back at Register 21. That's why that number is higher."

He goes "Oh. I forgot about that." Oh, because you were so busy trying to make my life hell just to prove a point?

Look. I'm all for not shopping at Wal-Mart. But really. Don't buy a buggy full of stuff and return it just because you get pissed off that you can't buy an ITEM IT IS AGAINST THE LAW FOR ME TO SELL YOU. Remember the stupid kid and the toy?

I hope there was an axe murderer waiting for him in the back of his car on the way home.

13 comments:

Brenda said...

Ha! It makes me feel better that Customer Service gets their share of the same grief our local Wal mart from HELL offeres their customers.
My latest rant is over at my blog.
Jimbob sent me here from my comments.
Do you know Jimbob?

CoffeeZombie said...

I had some fun with the "SALE NOT ALLOWED" message, recently. I happened across a stock of Plasma Mugs at a Wal-Mart near my office, so I toss one in my cart and go on. When I get to the register, the thing scans with the error above. The cashier tells me that it means the item is on recall. Saddened, I relinquish my mug and go on.

Over the course of the next couple weeks, I find a Plasma Mug in two other Wal-Marts, and get the same message. I return to the first, and it's still on the shelf. I figure maybe something's changed, so I pick it up again, and get the same error.

By this point, it's become a challenge. I know it can't be on recall; ThinkGeek sells the exact same item, and was still selling it. So, I kindly ask the cashier if I could take it to customer service to see if they can help me. She says, "sure," so I bring it up and explain my reasoning why it can't be on recall, but customer service says they still can't sell it. The next week, it was off the shelves. :-(

A few weeks later, it was back on the shelves, and the purchase went through. Why it suddenly worked, I don't know. I'm just happy I finally got the mug.

Anonymous said...

BBC:

Press are now coming to us in order to find you. If you trust me enough, e-mail me at JRMonsterfodder [at] gmail.com and I can get you a national radio interview. Maybe they have one of those things to make your voice go all electronic so nobody can recognize it.

Jonathan

Anonymous said...

My, my, my. And I thought I occassionally had my moments. Whoa! In retrospect, can you really do anything but laugh at this guy? I'm trying to figure out why shoe polish would be recalled, though.

Don't you know, stupid people yell because they feel it makes them sound more intelligent?

Anonymous said...

Check this out

http://youtube.com/watch?v=b2aqDzK0Dsg

WM security at its finest. Does your store not have LP or do you just not care to discuss it? I am curious because I work WM LP....

Ryan said...

This is like the "Walmart Conspiracy" site...

I like it.

I have a lot of respect for those that deal with angry people on a regular basis and keep thier cool. That's called integrity. You must have some.

yellowdoggranny said...

I think there should be a law that says if you shop at wal-mart at least once a week, you should be sterilized...not allowed to breed...how scary are these people.??

Anonymous said...

To clarify, most of the items that ring up "sell not allowed" on the register are not true recalls. They are merchandise that "may not meet quality standards." Usually we are to take them off the shelf, and hold them until further notice.

And my god, customers ALWAYS, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get pissy when this happens. ALWAYS. It's hell.

Anonymous said...

And the next time some idiot says "WELL WHY IS IT STILL ON THE SHELF THEN?!?!?" I'm going to reply truthfully:

"Because sir, no one in this store has time to sift through 20 emails for recalls right after they clock on, seek out every last piece of merchandise and get them off the shelves. Not to mention many recalls are activated before we know about them. And finally, sir, the people who work in that department and might, just MIGHT, have time to complete that task DO NOT HAVE EMAIL ACCESS."

Anonymous said...

Yellowdog granny...Sterilize not just the once a week Walmart shopper but MOST of mainstream society.

This country is FULL of incompetent idiots!

Unfortunately, the above mentioned are the only ones that breed like rodents, solidifying the fact that the "dumbing down" of America is inevitable!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

What the hell do car amplifiers have to do with anything in this post??? OMG---did you get spammed????????? Sheesh.

Anonymous said...

Anon said: This country is FULL of incompetent idiots!

Unfortunately, the above mentioned are the only ones that breed like rodents, solidifying the fact that the "dumbing down" of America is inevitable!


***Clap clap clap!*** You hit a chord with me on that one. It's the sad & maddening truth!