Olive Foil
(As a general, one of my duties is to return items that customers no longer want at checkout to their proper places throughout the store. I have a cart full of such items and am working on returning it all. Halfway done, I am stopped by a customer who needs assistance.)
Customer: “Excuse me. Do you know where the olives are?”
Me: “Sure thing!”
(I lead him to the aisle with the olives, returning a can of olives in my cart to its proper place on the shelf. As I am about to leave, the customer stops me again.)
Customer: “Excuse me, but you don’t seem to have any of the olives I want.”
Me: “What kind of olives do you want?”
Customer: “I want the olives without the pits.”
Me: *pointing to jars on the shelf* “These do not have pits in them. They are actually filled with—”
Customer: “I want the ones without the holes.”
Me: “Okay…” *I point out other jars to him* “These ones do not have holes in them.”
Customer: “But those have pits in them.”
Me: “So you want olives without the pits, but without the holes.”
Customer: “Yes.”
(After standing there with him in frustrated and confused silence for another minute, I directed him to the olive bar upstairs so he could choose whichever olives he desired. As soon as he started to leave, I bolted out of the aisle with my shopping cart, hoping to avoid him until he left the store.)
Question of the Week
Have you ever served a bad customer who got what they deserved?
