A Dissatisfied Customer.

I told this story to the hostess the other day at work, and since she seemed to really like it, I figure I should share it with all of you. This took place a couple years ago, while working at Walgreen's. It was several weeks after Hurricane Katrina and our store was constantly crowded. The population of the town had nearly doubled, due to refugee's from New Orleans. The pharmacy was so overrun, it was taking at least two days to fill people's prescriptions. And thus our story begins.

I was working the front register at the time, while the cashier was taking a break. Taking over everyone else's position while they were on break was about 60% of my job... Another part of my job was to open the island register when the front cashier's line grew to long. When I was at the front register, like at the moment, there usually wasn't anyone to help ring up customers besides cosmetics.

While working the front register, with about 6 customers in line, the phone rings.
I answer...

"Thank you for calling Walgreen's, what can I help you with today?"

A females voice responds, "Hi, I'm very angry right now."

"What's the matter ma'am?"

"I put my prescription in two day's ago and it still isn't ready."

I kindly inform her, "O.k., well I can transfer your call to pharmacy if you like."

"No, that's alright, I just wanted to let someone know how angry I am right now. This is ridiculous, I have never had to wait two days for a prescription!"

I retort, "Well, I am more than happy to transfer you to pharmacy, if you like."

"No, I don't want to talk to them, I have already talked to them and they told me there is nothing they can do. They said they will get to it when they can."

"Well would you like to speak to a manger?"

"No, I don't want to talk to a manager, I just want to let someone know how angry I am and I certainly will not ever shop there again."

Meanwhile the customer I'm checking out is ready to pay.

"Your total is $7.52."

"What, my total...," the voice on the phone inquires.

"Sorry, I was talking to the lady who's groceries I just rang up."

"Look ma'am," I direct to the lady on the phone, "what would you like me to do?"

"I don't want you to do anything, I just want to let y'all know how frustrated I am."

At this point I've had enough,
"I don't care, I make $6.00 an hour, but if you want me to transfer you to someone who may care, I will do that. Now if you don't want to talk to either of your two options, I am going to hang up. I am the cashier and the line is growing longer every second I'm on the phone with you!"

"You are very rude, whats your name, I think I will report you."

I give her my name and employee number and ask, "Would you like me to transfer you to the manager now?"

"No, I will do it later."

"Alright, goodbye."
Click

Some of the customers were smiling and a few were actually laughing by the time I hung up the phone. I apologized to them for the wait. At one point I got so involved with telling this woman how I didn't give a shit, I forgot about what else I was doing.

When the cashier came back to her position, I informed a manger they may get a phone call about me. I explained the situation and he told me not to worry about it. I don't think she ever called. However, this is one of the reasons I will probably never work in customer service ever again, I can only put up with so much crap before I eventually lose it. I honestly don't think I would be able to keep a customer service job for long if I worked one now, I enjoy telling shitty customers off too much.

Lights, Camera, Stupidity

I worked on a movie set in New Orleans a few years back and the more I think about the experience, the more I realize just how many mentally deprived people I came across. In case you are interested, the small independent film is called "Flakes." I have a strong feeling it will quickly go to DVD, but non-the-less, I enjoyed my non-paying job as a production assistant.

Brief Synopsis taken from IMDB.com:

Aspiring rock musician Neal Downs (Stanford) manages a cereal bar. Stylish Miss Pussy Katz (Deschanel) is the creator of radically-themed art clothing. When the cereal bar, brings in an offbeat crew of locals, who debate the arcana of cereal history and ideal milk/flake ratios, an aspiring capitalist rips off their concept.

This film was shot on the streets of New Orleans and two buildings, catercorner to each other, were the sets of the two competing cereal bars. Parked along the street were several trucks along with lighting, audio, and film equipment along the side walks. One of the sets was built in a building which many people recognize as a popular place, unfortunately the name and purpose of the establishment is eluding me at the moment. Google, the local news archives, and the local paper's site were of no help in my search either. Apparently this film is so under the radar, even local news agencies didn't see much use in reporting much on it. The business was closed for renovations and decided to rent it out for the 28 days it took to make this film.

The question I was asked most often, despite the obvious answer, was... are you ready for this?
"What are y'all doing?" Granted this question came in several variations, sometimes it was phrased as, "What's going on here?" But despite minor word variations, this question was nearly always accompanied by a very confused expression. Keep in mind, there is lighting equipment, cameras, and many other signs which would indicate, to any mildly intelligent person, something is being filmed. Even if they knew this and simply wanted to talk about it, a much better approach would have been to ask whats being filmed. Instead they piss me off instantly with one of the dumbest question a person could ask in that situation.

At one point, while they were filming down the road, I was given the task of guarding the equipment and vacant set's. While exquisitely preforming my noble duty, a couple walked by and looked through the window of one of the sets, which had a sign hanging over head which read, "Flakes Cereal Bar." The man immediately exclaims to his companion, "their opening a cereal bar here, what a stupid fucking idea...!" "And why the fuck are they opening two of them right across the street from each other?"All I could seem to do was look at him like he was the dumbest man on earth.

I felt it was important to let him continue in his rant before I informed him of what was actually going on. I have to admit, he was a great source of entertainment at that moment. Despite noticing all the film making equipment all around him, when I informed the dolt (with a very mocking voice) it was a movie set, he replied, "How the hell was I supposed to know that?" Surprisingly he didn't seem at all embarrassed. He seemingly saw no reason he should have been able to deduce something close to that answer.

In summation, pay attention to your surroundings, it may keep you from asking stupid questions... I know momma likely told you there are no stupid questions, but she was wrong. Or perhaps she was right, because as the other saying goes, "there are no stupid questions, only stupid people." Yup, maybe momma was right after all.

Why your employees hate you and their job.

A lot of small business owners, as well as store managers are constantly faced with one question: why is our turn-over rate so high? The simple answer would be; you are rude, greedy, inconsiderate, and are incapable of ordering what you need for the next truck. If you want to keep employees for extended periods of time and don't want to have to train new associates every week, treat them with at least a little respect and learn how to run a company.

I went in to work today (the restaurant shall remain nameless considering I'm still employed there) and noticed we were two employee's short in my position. Considering it's a Saturday, and is expected to be busy I figured a couple called in sick. When I went to look at the schedule I noticed only the four of us were scheduled, which seemed very odd to me. I than suddenly realized it was the last of the month and knew exactly why we were short handed. The managers wanted their bonuses.

The way our company is ran, management is given a profit margin they are supposed to meet, if they meet the requirements they all get a monthly bonus. So, because they wanted a bonus, we were short staffed. Very nice of them, I know.

Now, here is my main problem with this whole situation. I understand wanting to receive the bonus, if I were in their position I would want the extra cash too. However, I wouldn't wait till the last day of the month to make sure I get it and wouldn't screw my employee's over either. It isn't because I'm a nice guy, it is because I would want my employee's to be as happy has possible. Happy employee's make for happy customers, happy customers make for more money, which in turn, makes management happier. Not to mention, angry employee's steal from you more than someone who is happy with their job. I don't support stealing, but it's never-the-less true.

Instead, half their staff hates the their jobs and are looking for new places to work and, inevitably, hate. I plan on seeing if I can't find something Monday and may take the day off tomorrow. The way I see it, I'm doing them a favor. They want to save as much money as possible, so I am considering calling out and giving them what they want...

On top of all that, the light in the mens bathroom was burned out and their were no more light bulbs, despite the fact the truck arrived two days ago. I couldn't even enjoy my morning shit.

So, in summation, if you are a manager of any business, in particular, a business which hires students and high school graduates like a restaurant, don't treat your employee's like shit. Unless of course you enjoy spending the extra money constantly training new employees.