Anyone who works or has worked in the customer service industry has experience when it comes to dealing with rude customers. This is just an everyday part of the job in many fields. You can sometimes tell which ones are going to be bad news as soon as they enter your workplace. They seem to emanate negative energy, and their tone is often sharp and sarcastic. They are not to be confused with customers having a “bad day,” because reason doesn’t seem to work on them. Sometimes their antics are so outrageous, you may begin to wonder if it’s a practical joke or some kind of secret shopper test.
Often times, the best way to handle those situations is to “kill them with kindness.” While that’s easier said than done, having a good attitude can help defuse a bad situation, or at the very least, make the rude person leave frustrated because they couldn’t pull you down to their level. In this story, which is most likely not a true story, but rather a cautionary tale about karma, one manager was able to turn the tables on a belligerent customer in a cheerful way — although I wouldn’t recommend trying this at work.
I’m a manager at a grocery store, so I get awesomely rude customers on a daily basis. Every Wednesday is senior discount day. You have to be 55-60 to qualify for the discount. Needless to say, Wednesdays are tense. Lots of seniors, and lots of other people who don’t want to deal with the seniors. I don’t generally mind the old folks. Most of them are pretty cool and have some interesting stories and cute jokes.
This Wednesday there was one particular customer who was being a huge pain in the a** from the moment she walked in. She was tall, blonde, high heels, very made up, and dressed to the nines. She was probably late 30s to early 40s. She came storming up to customer service, “There are NO parking spots. This is ridiculous. I’m going to request to corporate that you expand your parking lot, since you don’t seem to have the initiative to request that yourself.”
Off to a great start, lady.
She comes storming back up about 45 minutes later. “I am in a HUGE hurry, and every line has someone in it. I need to check out here.” We had three lines open, and each one had ONE single customer. ONE. I say “No problem, but I’ll get you at a checkout. You have too many items to get here.” She has a HUGE hissy fit. “I don’t have time for this. Let’s GO.”
At this point I was getting really annoyed…
“You only have one brand of makeup? That is ridiculous. I only wear MAC, but I was going to settle for Revlon, but you don’t even have that. Now I have to make a whole separate trip.”
“Please don’t put my bread on top of my eggs, the eggs could roll over and crush the bread.”
“Please bag my avocados separately; I need to use those for a face mask tonight. They need to be perfect, I have a photo session for work tomorrow. I’m in a magazine.”
She was unbelievable. Finally, at the end, I had had enough.
As she’s about to pay, I say, “Don’t forget today is senior discount day! You get 5% off!”
She just stared at me.
“What?” I smiled broadly. “Every Wednesday, senior citizens get 5% off their bill. I’ll go ahead and take it off. You are 55-60, right?” She is staring at me, debit card in hand, cheeks getting red. I lose my smile slowly and say “Oh, you don’t qualify? Sorry about that. Maybe next year! Thanks for your honesty.”
I haven’t seen her in the store since.
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Source: tickld