Holding On To Their Bad Attitude

We’ve had an overhaul of our library system and, as a result, unfortunately, some holds have slipped out of the system. I understand that this is an inconvenience to the patrons, and we have tried to communicate it to the public to the best of our ability, but there is absolutely nothing we can do about it, and some patrons like to blow it way out of proportion.

Patron: “I’m waiting for a book I have on hold. When is it going to come in?”

Me: *Checking the account* “Oh, I’m so sorry. I can’t see any holds on your account. We’ve had a glitch in the library system lately that caused some holds to disappear, so just tell me which book you want and I can put it on hold for you again.”

Patron: “That is completely unacceptable! You had better put me next in line on that book or else!”

Me: “If you would please tell me what book it is, I will see what I can do.”

Patron: “How am I supposed to remember that? I put a hold on that book in February. You should know what book it is; just look it up on your little computer.”

Me: “As I have told you, unfortunately, we had a problem with the system, and some holds don’t show up anymore. I know it’s inconvenient, but there’s really nothing I can do about it. If you know which book you were waiting for, I can put it on hold for you again, but the data on some past holds has unfortunately been lost. I would like to help you, but I can’t do anything about this specific problem.”

Patron: “Well, that’s unacceptable.”

Me: “I agree. I’ve been on the phone with the company that supports the system for days, but apparently, they can’t do anything, either. I’m very sorry. If you remember the book you had on hold and approximately what date you put a hold on it, I will put that in the system for you.”

Patron: “Well, how are you going to compensate me?”

Me: “Pardon?”

Patron: “I think I deserve some kind of compensation for this, don’t you?”

Me: *Completely fed up at this point* “Absolutely.” *Gestures to the room* “Just for you, any one of the books you can find on the shelf today, you get to borrow completely for free and keep for six weeks.”