Thursday, March 22, 2007

Bullseye

Whenever a customer comes in and asks for a specific manager, it can mean one of several things – either they’re doing something specific with regards to a community function and need something from that person’s area of the store – or they talked to them over the phone and got told “ask for me when you come in.”

The problem with this last approach is that said person is not always there and available when said customer wants to do their thing. And it’s not like coming up and saying “Maria said I could do this” is some sort of magic talisman. We really don't believe you. No matter who you are.

So this well-dressed suburban soccer mom rolled in Saturday. Apparently she’d talked on the phone with some assistant manager.

I asked a supervisor to track him down. She waited 20 minutes and then they told her he was on lunch. She said she’d come back later. All this drama started at 10 a.m.

At 11:30 a.m., she rolled back. I tried calling the operator to get him on the phone. No dice. I yelled for another supervisor and they started trying to find him again. Finally, around noon, and after she’d been waiting another half-hour, he apparently hollers over the radio – “Just go ahead and do it.”

To this woman’s credit, she was VERY patient throughout this entire ordeal. Then, when she gets up to the counter, I find out why. She’s asking for a WHOPPER. And I DON'T mean the kind with two all-beef patties, special sauce and sesame seed bun!

What she wants to do is return – SANS RECEIPT a Sony PSP that she was carrying around in her purse IN A ZIPLOC BAG!

Oooo-kaaaay. Whatever. I could tell this one was getting a giant “APPROVED BY XXXX” in big writing on the return slip.

But this one’s not over yet!

I start pressing buttons on my register. When it asks me for the serial number of the PSP, I scan the unit and the following pops out of my register.

THIS ITEM IS NON-RETURNABLE
ITEM WAS SOLD ON XX/XX/2007
RETURN PERIOD EXPIRED ON: XX/XX/2007
ITEM WAS SOLD BY: Target Stores
SEE WARRANTY SYSTEM FOR REPAIR
CUSTOMER MAY CONTACT MANUFACTURER AT 800-345-7669 FOR ADDITIONAL OPTIONS.

Yes. Yes. Yes. After all this sturm und drang, the item in question came from Target.

I inform the suburban soccer mom of this, and that I can’t return said PSP.

She goes, presumably talking about her son, “The little b******. He said he got it at Wal-Mart.” She stuffs it in her purse and rolls out. Lovely.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL Funny story.

She’s asking for a WHOPPER. And I DON'T mean the kind with two all-beef patties, special sauce and sesame seed bun!

Sorry, hun, that's a Big Mac, not a Whopper.

Anonymous said...

At least she was patient and placed blame on the right person instead of throwing a huge fit, telling you YOUR computer is WONG and the MANAGER SAID TO RETURN IT!!!!!! =)

Anonymous said...

Sorry, WRONG. Not chinese. x)

Anonymous said...

That manager deserves to be lynched. What a jackass, keeping her there that whole time for nothing...

That lady was a SAINT for not blowing up!

Anonymous said...

Think she could teach a class on how to deal with walmart associates??

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

If her "little bastard" is old enough to purchase his own PSP he should be old enough to handle his own returns. Kudos to her for not taking it out on your, but that's probably because she's whipped.

Anonymous said...

I'm curious as to why the assistant manager didn't just take the time to go up to the desk and assist with the return.......Boy, would he have looked the dumb shit for approving a return from another retailer!!!!

Anonymous said...

I thought of you yesterday when I was at Walmart and overheard a similar soccer mom-ish type trying to return an *opened* *used* bottle of Ibuprofen becaues it "didn't work" for whatever she had taken it for. I didn't hear how that one turned out...

Red-Stapler.com said...

Now I want a Big Mac with fries...

Larry Kollar said...

Wow. You got a reasonable customer for a change!

Anonymous said...

Why are the good customers always white?

Anonymous said...

All well dressed,suburban soccer are white?

Anonymous said...

Anon Idiot-- Where in the hell did he say this customer was white? Where did he specify color or race or ethnicity at all? You are proving to be a Prejudicial Ass Baboon with your statement. You make it obvious that you believe: a) non-whites cannot live in the suburbs, b) non-whites cannot be "soccer moms", c) only white people can dress well, d)only white customers could have that amount of patience & class while waiting and e)that you have a 'magic way' of infering and imposing race upon the customers mentioned in past stories.

You show your ignorance, prejudice and narrow-minded thinking here, not our blogger. There are no black or hispanic or latino soccer players of note? Not one non-white lives in suburbia? Oh! And only whites can be "well-dressed"? I suppose only whites can be "clean" too? (I'm guessing that news refernce went right over your miniscule head.)

STFU with your illogical blathering!

yellowdoggranny said...

if I had your job, I would be in rehab..

Anonymous said...

She's gonna be pissed when she gets to Target and they wont take it back either. I used to work at Target and the managers there actually had a backbone