I'd just like to share a small moan with the world. As those of you that know me will know, and many that read these blogs may know, I currently work in a shop. Now, part of the job is to deal with customer complaint, which isn't so bad when the customer is understanding and reasonable. Sometimes though, you wind up serving an arsehole, and I could swear that more and more of the consuming public is fitting into the arsehole category of customer.
One example, the one that inspired this very blog, occurred on the Friday night just gone. I was working with two of my colleagues, Jason and Tom, and thankfully we weren't very busy (most likely due to Children in Need being on the box). I say thankfully because the credit card machines were down, meaning that we could only take cash as payment for the whole night, and it would have been a complete nightmare if we'd been busy, as for those that ignored the signs and still attempted card payment, we had to send them outside to the cash point before completing their transaction. People were generally fine with this, and went out to make a withdrawal with no fuss whatsoever, I mean, it's not like it was our fault that the card machines were down... right?
Well, according to one customer it was. This, who was being very greedy anyway, had filled a pick-n-mix cup to bursting point. I'd never seen one filled so much, it was ridiculous! He came up to the till, placed it next to one of the many signs that explained that it was cash only for the night, and I scanned it through.
'That's £4.49 please' I said (he was buying a large cup).
The guy just stared at me, looked at the sign and looked back at me, not saying a word.
'Oh, sorry, I'm afraid the card machines are down, but there's a cash machine just outside the door' I say.
Still not uttering a sound, the man walks out, and 30 seconds later, he's back. In that 30 seconds I'd started to help another customer, so Tom takes over just as I'm saying thank you and goodbye to the other customer. The man then suggests to Tom that he should get a discount for going to the cashpoint, and we all chuckle in that awkward way when a customer makes an unfunny joke. Of course, it turns out that he isn't joking and actually believes that he has earned a discount. I politely say that we can't do that, and apologise again for the small inconvenience. The man then decides to continue arguing, and asks why exactly the card machine isn't working, to which I explain that there's a fault with the BT line, meaning that the card machines can't put through any transactions. According to the man, that's a lie, as his BT phoneline 2 miles away is working fine, and therefore out card machines must be working. I assure him that they are not, and he mumbles something about seeing a manager. I ignore the manager part, as it was her night off anyway and argue the basic point of: 'Why would we pretend that our card machine doesn't work? And especially on a Friday night!' He's still not having it, and as he pays, is still having a go at us. He tells us that we have lost his custom (Thank God) and that he'll go to a certain internet rental store, because they always let you pay by card (no sh*t). In complete disbelief I wish him a super weekend on his way out the door (hopefully forever) and then we all burst out laughing once he's gone. What a douche! Someone should tell him that not only are the online rental company in question apparently going under because nobody can ever get the films that they want from them, but that they also don't sell pick-n-mix.
Rant over :-)
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