It’s All Downhill From Here

(I’m a customer buying ski boots at a store, when I over hear a conversation between another customer and a clerk.)

Customer: “Yes, I bought these ski boots a week ago, but they are faulty!”

Clerk: “I’m sorry about that, what seems to be the problem with them?”

Customer: “These locks won’t hold; they keep opening up!”

Clerk: “Would you let me see the boots, please?”

(The customer hands to the boots to the clerk, and he fastens the locks and can’t find anything wrong with them.)

Clerk: “I’m sorry, miss; the locks seem to work all fine. Could you explain more how they won’t hold?”

Customer: “Well of course they hold when you put them so tight to third position! Put them to first position and you’ll see! They won’t hold locked!”

Clerk: “But wouldn’t the ski boots be too loose for you to wear then?”

Customer: “Just put the locks to the first position and you’ll see!”

(The clerk puts the locks to the first position, and they do ‘fall off’.)

Customer: “See, these are faulty!”

Clerk: “But miss, these locks are used to fasten the boot around your foot. They are supposed to be put tight and not left loose.”

Customer: “But if I want to wear them on the first position, I should be able to do that! Why is there the first position anyway, if I can’t use it, huh? You tell me why? I won’t get full usage for my money if I can’t use all the positions!”

Clerk: “Every person has a little bit different sized feet and that’s why the locks are adjustable. The point is not to use all the positions of the lock but to adjust the ski boot to match your feet.”

Customer: “But what if I want to use the first position? Now I can’t; these boots are faulty!”

Clerk: “I can take these back if you wish, but I have to tell you that you will have the exact same problem with every other ski boot, too. The idea is to find the adjustment good for your feet, not to use all the positions.”

Customer: “I want to return these, they’re faulty! You should be ashamed of yourselves selling this kind of faulty items!”

(I can’t help giggling, and the other customer gives me some nasty glances. The customer then takes a call, I presume from her boyfriend/husband.)

Customer: “They’re taking the boots back, but are you sure this is right? The other customers are laughing at me… Of course hun… Yeah I know, they probably don’t know anything about skiing. I’m glad the fault was found this quickly. I can’t believe they would sell something like this. Okay, I gotta go; the clerk’s coming back.”

Clerk: “Here’s your money miss. And I’m sorry you weren’t satisfied with the product.”

Customer: “Well, you should be. But thanks, anyway. I’ll go buy my boots somewhere else!”

(The customer then turns and leaves. The clerk and I have a laugh at the story. I reserve the boots until next day for myself. They are really good, but I still want to try some other boots, too. I go to another sporting store and I see the same customer in there. She is giving them a hard time about the lock positions. She accuses the clerk of being incompetent, and that her boyfriend knows everything about skiing, and that she should be able to use which ever position she wants on the locks.)