Unfiltered Story #161876
(I work in the very large gift shop of an art museum. In addition to souvenirs we also sell over three hundred different books, all of which have to do with art or artists displayed in the museum. My shift has just ended but I haven’t managed to leave the store when a customer approaches me.)
Customer: “Excuse me, I need help finding a book. I saw it the other day and I can’t find it now.”
Me: “I can certainly try to help. What book was it?”
Customer: “I don’t remember the name. But it was $12.99. And it had a white label.”
(All of our books are priced $XX.95, so I already know we’re off to a bad start. I pick out one of our most popular books, a guide to the museum, which is $12.95 and has a white cover.)
Me: “Was this the book you were looking for?”
Customer: “No, no. That’s not it. It had a white label. It was $12.99. And I don’t think it was that shape.”
Me: “Okay, could you tell me anything about it? Was it about a certain artist, or a particular kind of art? Or you said it was a different shape, was it much larger or smaller?”
Customer: “I wrote it down, but I can’t find it. It had a picture in it that I liked, and I want to look at it again.”
Me: “What was in the picture?”
Customer: “I don’t know. But I liked that picture. I want to look at it again.”
Me: *getting desperate* “I need some kind of information in order to help you find this book. Anything at all. Do you remember anything about it?”
Customer: *blank stare* “It had pictures.”
Me: “Ma’am, we’re an art museum. All of our books have pictures. Were they pictures of paintings? Photographs? Sculpture?”
Customer: “Well this is very frustrating! It had a picture I liked, and I want to look at it again! It was $12.99! If you can’t help me, I guess I’ll have to look for it on my own!”
(She storms off muttering “It was $12.99!” to herself and I nearly run out of the store since it is now well past the end of my shift. I wonder if she approaches grocery store clerks and demands that they find her “food” without telling them anything about it!)
Question of the Week
Tell us your story about a customer who couldn't understand the most simple concept.
