A Detergent Deterrence
(The market I work at keeps the packages of detergent pods on the middle shelf. A customer sees where they are, and flips out.)
Customer: “Excuse me, miss?!”
Me: “How can I help you?”
Customer: “Is there anyone I can talk to about the placement of the detergent pods?”
Me: “Our manager isn’t in right now. If you want, I can give you his name so you can bring the matter up with him at a later date.”
Customer: “I want you to do something about it now! These are poisonous to young children. If a child were to open one of these and eat one in the store, you would have a major lawsuit on your hands!”
Me: “We’ve never had an issue with the placement of the product before, but I could see if the acting manager can do something about it.”
(I go to page the acting store manager to the aisle. When I return to the aisle, the customer is nowhere to be seen, but there is a young girl trying to open one of the containers. Upon seeing me the young child drops the container on the floor causing them to spill everywhere.)
Child: “I’m sorry!”
(As if on cue, the customer comes flying into the aisle.)
Customer: “See what I mean?! It’s a good thing you were here to stop this little girl before she ate one! I can’t imagine what would have happened if you hadn’t come into the aisle when you had! See how easy it is for a child to get into them?!”
Child: “But Mommy, you told me to open it!”
(The customer turned beet red, grabbed her daughter, and sprinted from the aisle. Thankfully she was stopped by the acting manager who had heard the entire exchange. It turned out that the woman had pulled the same stunt at several other markets in the area to get some form of compensation. She was forced to pay for the detergent pods in the end.)
This story is part of the American States roundup!
Question of the Week
Have you ever served a bad customer who got what they deserved?
