Not An Elegant Solution

(I am working on restocking a display near the front of an art supply store. Of course, because of my high visibility, any customer with a question comes directly to me. This isn’t normally a problem, but we have a corporate visitor coming by in an hour, and my manager has asked me to complete the restock in less than thirty minutes, which would be pushing it even if we were closed. Because of this, I try to quickly direct customers in the direction of their needed item, or get a coworker to escort them. One lady, however, is not having that.)

Customer: “Hey, I need some stencils.”

Me: “Okay, what kind of stencils? What are you using them for?”

Customer: “It’s for a sign at a wedding.”

Me: “Okay, so something elegant?” *Customer nods* “Then I would look at aisle 42. Our prettiest stencils are there. Lots of florals, curly designs, and prettier font types. We have stencils in several places in the store, but that aisle has our prettiest selection.”

Customer: *literally baring her teeth and growling* “NO, YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE ME THERE RIGHT NOW.”

(I escort her to the aisle and show her the products. She becomes very happy and enthusiastic. I ask her if she needs anything else and go grab the items for her while she decides on stencils.)

Me: “Okay, here are your other items. Have you decided on some stencils?”

Customer: “I sure have! Thanks so much!”

Me: “Not a problem. Like I said, we do have stencils in other places, but these are our best for an elegant and classy look. Do you need to see the others?”

Customer: “No, no, these are great; thank you!”

(I return to my restocking duties and the customer heads to the check out. Ten minutes later…)

Same Customer: *growling again* “HEY, YOU INCOMPETENT [string of insults]. YOU DIDN’T SHOW ME THIS STENCIL!” *waives a package in front of my face*

Me: “I’m so sorry about that. I thought you had made your decision.”

Customer: “YOU DON’T MAKE DECISIONS FOR ME. I’M REPORTING YOU TO CORPORATE.” *throws the package at me and storms out of the store*

(I got reported to corporate for not showing a customer looking for wedding decor a cartoon frog stencil from our kids’ craft section that she didn’t end up buying anyway. I guess I need to relearn the definition of “elegant.”)