Being A Tool And Spilling Your Tools

I work for a store that is under a multi-store ownership. Our other store sells building material, and often customers will request it to be shipped to our store for easier pickup.

During the height of the lockdown in our area, a contractor who we don’t like because he is arrogant and rude came in.

Contractor: “I got a call that some material I ordered arrived.”

We looked through our whole receiving area and found nothing. The customer started getting rather angry.

Contractor: “But I got a call from you saying that it’s here!”

We went around, asking every staff member if they had seen the other store come by and drop the material off. Everyone said they never even saw the other store arrive.

Manager: *To the contractor* “Go wait in your vehicle, and I’ll make some calls to figure out what’s going on.”

Contractor: “You all don’t know how to do your jobs!”

The guy spewed and ranted for a bit, and then angrily stomped back to his truck.

Since it was close to closing time, I went outside to put stuff away. The whole time, I saw the guy angrily stomping around, slamming doors and the tailgate of his truck. After several minutes of observing his fits of rage, I saw him get back into his truck and turn it on with the tailgate open and an open toolbox resting on the back.

He then hit the gas hard and sped out of his parking spot, going for the exit. But his toolbox slid off the back and slammed onto the ground, spilling his tools everywhere.

I bit my tongue trying not to laugh as I watched him stomp out of his truck and go back to collect his fallen tools. Just as he finished and got back in, my manager came out and walked up to the driver’s side window.

He talked to the guy for a moment, and then the guy flipped him off and sped out of the parking lot.

My manager came over to me, chuckling.

Me: “What happened?”

Manager: “The guy’s material did arrive, but it arrived at the other store. That’s who phoned him. And they didn’t send it over to us because he never asked them to.”

A few days later, I talked to a coworker from the other store who dealt directly with the contractor.

Coworker: “He was nice and sweet on the phone when he was asking about why his material wasn’t sent to your store. I’m not one to tolerate much, so I told him that he never asked it to be sent there. I told him we’d discussed it being sent over, but he never said yes to it. When I told him we would send it over, I told him he’d better be nice to the workers at your store when he went to get it. He asked what I meant, and I told him I’d heard how rude and disrespectful he was to all of you for something that wasn’t your fault. I said that if I heard about him treating you like that again, we weren’t going to bother ordering anything for him again. He told me he was under a lot of stress trying to get his job done, but I told him that was no excuse to treat you all the way he did. I said, ‘Treat them better or don’t shop with us at all.’”

His material did arrive at our store, and when he came to pick it up, let’s just say he’d miscommunicated how much he actually wanted. We could see his face turning red with anger, but it was funny watching him trying to keep his rage under control.