A Customer’s Definition Of Rude: “Everyone But Me”

(I work at a membership-only club that requires members to scan a barcode upon arrival, to ensure the person checking in is, in fact, the member, and also to receive any alerts about payments or other issues. One particular member stands out to me, as she is quite rude and accuses us of being rude to her on multiple occasions.)

Member: “Oh, you do have [product]!”

Me: “Of course! We’ve always had them!”

Member: “You told me you didn’t have any!”

(I’m confused, because I have known since I was hired that this product was sold here, and also we have thousands of members so I don’t recall every conversation with every member.)

Me: “I’m sorry. If I did, I’m sure I just misunderstood you. Sometimes we sell out of [product type #A] but we still have [product type #B].”

Member: “You told me you didn’t sell any!”

(Luckily, the phone rings and I rush to answer it in order to avoid escalating an argument stemming from the member accusing me of lying to her. Another time:)

Member: “Your bathroom stall is broken.”

Me: “Which stall?

Member: “The handicapped stall. The lock doesn’t work!”

(I am slightly annoyed because the member is not handicapped and because many of our members use the handicapped stall to change clothes for our athletic services instead of using the designated changing rooms. Furthermore, the lock works.)

Me: “Oh, that one. Yeah, it locks; it just sticks a bit. You have to push it in and then move it over. Our manager knows and he’s looking to get the lock replaced.”

Member: “Well, it’s been that way for a long time. That seems like poor management to me.”

Me: “I’m sorry for the inconvenience. We’re kind of at the mercy of the shipping company. Sometimes it takes a while for them to deliver the lock replacements, but we’ve already placed the order so it should be here any day now.”

(The member still will not let it go, but I don’t remember what else is said. Another time: the same member asks my coworker for assistance. As I have been employed for a little over a year and was recently promoted to assistant manager, my coworker turns to me to ask a question she does not know the answer to, since she has been employed for less than a month. I am standing about five feet away from her.)

Member: “Well, that was rude!”

Me & Coworker: “What?”

Member: “I had a question that you didn’t know the answer to. You could have been more polite and walked over to her instead of shouting to her from here!”

(Again, I’m only a few feet away. It is not noisy, and we are able to speak at low volumes and still be heard. Also, it would have only taken two steps to approach me from where she was standing. I decide to just apologize and let her think she’s right, instead of arguing over something trivial. I put an alert on her member page, something we typically do with problem members to alert staff. That way, if a member complains about the staff and is known to be a problem member, we know it most likely isn’t something staff has done wrong. Also, we value communication and like to keep people informed of what’s going on. I put detailed messages on her account explaining everything mentioned above, as we are all getting irritated with her. Another time: months later, I am no longer an employee of said club. However, I have just gone out to eat with some friends at a restaurant close by and decide to stop in and say hi to my coworkers. Who is there but [Member], needing a detailed account of her payment history, which staff was able to print out for her. However, the printouts also display the “PROBLEM MEMBER” alert.)

Member: *to coworker, furiously* “What’s this all about?! I’ve never been anything but nice and respectful to everyone here!”

Coworker: “Sure, let me look at the details and see if there is a note. Usually, it’s just a payment issue.”

Member: “Well, ask her!” *pointing at me* “She’s the one who put that garbage on there!”

Me: “I don’t work here.”

Member: “Why did you put that on there? I haven’t done anything to deserve that! Take that off of there right now! My name is [First Name]. Take it off now!”

(By now I’m thinking, “How could you have possibly known it was ME who put that message on there unless you recall having an unpleasant interaction with me?” I also don’t recognize the member, as I have been gone for a while.)

Me: “I wouldn’t worry about it too much. We have a lot of members named [Member], so if there’s nothing you can recall, it probably just got put on the wrong member’s account by mistake.”

(My coworker looks up the account, and I remember her immediately from the number of notes left on her account and also her unique last name. I don’t say anything, though, since I don’t work there anymore.)

Member: “Well, I want to sit down with you and also with the manager to straighten this out. It’s clear that we need to address the issue of leaving nasty notes on people’s pages! That’s very unprofessional!”

Me: “I don’t work here anymore.”

Member: *to coworker* “Call your manager. I’m getting this straightened out right now!”

Me: “I don’t work here anymore. I have no obligation to do what you want me to. So, bye! Not happening because I don’t work here!” *smirks and leaves*