You just know it's Christmas

...when you get yelled at by angry customers. And sales, when it suddenly gets a whole lot busier and a whole lot more stressful. I would like to think that I am getting a lot more able at dealing with angry, almost child-like temper tantrums. Hissy fits thrown by adults.

Story of the day*:

Today, a lady, Angry, had 2 pairs of shoes on hold for her. She had asked one of the other staff from another store to call us and put them aside for her, but problem is, when she came in, they were the wrong style. Oops. It happens occasionally. Either the staff at the other store, one of the guys, gave the wrong code (unlikely, as she insists he took the shoe to the phone while calling us for the check) or the staff at our store (couldn't recognise the handwriting) got the wrong shoes. We think it was a mistake on our end, presumably by one of the new trainees.

So, I brought out the shoes for Angry and boy, was she peed... Veins popping and blood pressure soaring.

"They're the wrong ones" she cried out indignantly. I looked at both pairs, same style 8 and 8.5. "It's the other style" We only had the one pair left. Wrong size. Sold out. Oops.

"I can't believe they got the wrong ones. The guy at Howlong took the shoe with him as he called you for them" she exclaims, veins popping, taking the shoe and showing me.

"Oh. Perhaps they gave us the wrong code, or maybe the mistake was on our end and they put the wrong ones aside."

"I can't believe this. I've driven all the way from Howlong and you've put the wrong shoes aside" she cries accusingly.

"Unfortunately, we've sold out of the other style completely. We do have some more boxes we haven't transferred in yet (like 20 footwear and clothing boxes), but we don't know for sure. They may or may not be there. Most of the other stores have sold out too. If you like I can try and find them from another store" I respond in my most contrite voice.

"Well, that's not my problem. This is disgraceful, blah blah blah" ... She goes on for a bit, I just watch the show and think of Waiter, and how calm he is. I was mildly amused by how worked up she was getting over a pair of $39.95 shoes. It's not uncommon though.

I manage to locate the shoes at another store, about 20 mins away from my store, probably about 30-40 mins from her place? I don't know.

"They have the 8.5 at Poowong" I offer. "Unfortunately, we don't transfer stock between stores during promotions.

"Well, why should I drive all the way to Poowong to get the shoes when you made the mistake... blah blah blah...."

While calling Poowong, I was contemplating whether I really wanted to bend the rules for Angry. Hmm, do I really want to get them transferred? Not really. She's pretty rude. I could just not offer any help just to spite her... Like I proffered to Andie earlier, "Gees, I'm a bit of a bitch sometimes, huh"

Well, after returning to Angry, who was by no means any calmer than when I left her, I thought about it for a while and, bugger it. It is bad publicity for the company, it was our mistake, I'd be peed if I were her... oh well.

"Ok, we can try and get them transferred from Poowong. But just note that the sale is only until the Xth Aug. I can't guarantee that by the time you get them, the shoes will still be on sale"

"WHAT?! Why not? Why should I have to pay for your mistake? I should be able to get them for the sale price, blah blah (me: WTF?)"

I attempt to explain: "I can try to get Poowong to send them on Monday, hopefully it'll only take a few days to receive them, but I just can't guarantee that we'll get them by the end of the sale. We don't control the prices of the stock, they automatically go back up to full price after the Xth August. They're reduced now, but I don't know for sure how long they'll take to get to our store and for you to come in again and pick them up, so I can't say that they'll definitely still be reduced."

Indignant, nostrils flaring, "Why not, we're talking about, what, 11 days until the end of the sale. You mean to say your internal transfers take so long?!" she demands, incredulous.

"Look, (if you'll just let me explain!) sometimes things go wrong. Some things are out of our control, sometimes the company we use to transfer our stock may take longer than a few days, so I just can't guarantee that you'll get them in 3 days or so. I'll get them to send them on Monday, but I can't say for sure when we'll receive them, hopefully on Wednesday" I offer. "I'll take down your details and we'll send you a postcard when they arrive. We can give you a call (oooh, breaking Company Policy here) if you like, that may be quicker. But just don't wait too long to pick them up, they'll go back up to full price!" (Secret: sometimes transfers take so long because people forget to send them, forget to put them out the back and then sell them to someone else, or they get engulfed by the abyss that is the back room of some stores, send us one shoe, odd shoes, wrong shoes, send them to the wrong store, etc)

There's nothing else I can do, she seems satisfied that at least she'll still be able to get them. Hey, at least they still exist. It was a massive stroke of luck that Poowong was the first store I called and they picked up the phone and they had the shoes. I didn't think I had much chance of finding them anywhere. Sale stock is hard to find.

I was trying very hard to be nicer to her the more angry she got. That'll make her feel nice and bad! It's not that the anger in people brings out the compassion in me, it just makes my black heart churn with glee.

"So we'll get Poowong to send the shoes here and we'll let you know. Or would you rather they be sent to Howlong instead? Is that closer for you?" I'm using my nice voice and attitude, obsequious and subservient.

This surprises her and completely throws her off guard.

"oh, yes, that would be closer."

Great, so it's settled. "Ok, so if I can just grab your details..." I start to walk back to the counter, but wait, there's more...!

"Oh, I want to try on some jeans as well" she interrupts. Crap. This isn't over.

So, as she proceeds to try on more boots, jeans, etc, I continue to be extremely polite and helpful. I serve other customers as well, and check up on her to see how she's going. She seems to have calmed down significantly. Good.

Well, it gets quite busy, and when she is eventually done, she decides to buy the other pair of shoes (similar style) as I said that she can get that pair first and exchange them if she's not happy with them once she gets to Howlong. She seems happy with this. She also purchases the jeans. I put through the sale for her, and she thanks me for my help. She is genuinely grateful for me tracking down the shoes for her and organising it all.

Yay. That makes me happy inside. I averted a nasty situation and dealt with her anger professionally and courteously. I changed an angry customer into a nice, happy one! Hopefully Poowong and Howlong don't screw up and she gets her stupid shoes.

I like to think that after 2 years, I am strong of character enough to deal with angry customers like Andie. She's been working in retail full time for about 4 years. Crap, she's one of the most patient, tolerant people I know. I told her so and she laughed! She always seems to get all the loons though, I tell ya, so she probably has plenty of experience.

I understand that people get angry at seemingly small, insignificant things. "People are dying in wars" I whispered under my breath to Andie. "Yeah, tell me about it"

Maybe she was having a bad day, and the smallest thing ticked her off. She lets it out on us becuase someone has to take the flack. We're easy targets. There's always karma. She wasn't completely unreasonable though. I've dealt with worse, and heard of colleagues lucky enough to suffer worse experiences.

You've just got to shake it off. Water off a duck's back. Nothing personal. Who cares, won't see them after this experience anyway. Like Waiter said (I think I may have learned a lot from this guy! He's got some insight and wisdom!) they'll be gone in a few mins and The Company will still be here. So no matter how little I care for the person/Company, I still have to care for my job and reputation, cos snitchers cause us major grief from Upstairs.

*Names of people and places have been changed.

But you know what would be really funny to say to a customer, "Calm down, you'll give yourself a heart attack" Hahahah! Thanks again Waiter!

Like Rose on Titanic, "Calm down mother, you'll have a nosebleed".

oh, so spiteful but so caring. There's always karma. There's always karma.