I Eat Rude People Like You For Lunch
(I am standing with several coworkers at my kiosk. We only have six employees, so it’s not unusual to have some customers want to speak with somebody they’ve spoken with before. Sometimes this is something important, like a sale, or a simple question about how to use their phone. A customer approaches.)
Me: “Hello! How’s it going?”
Customer: “Is [Coworker] here?”
Me: “He actually just went on lunch! Sorry! He’ll be back in about an hour, but—”
Customer: *sharply* “Well, does he have a cell phone?”
Me: “Uh… yes. But we don’t make a point of calling people in from their lunches unless it’s extremely urgent.”
Customer: “So, call him, then.”
Me: “Can I ask what this is about?”
Customer: “Call him.”
Me: “Sir, I’m not going to call him back from his lunch without knowing if this is something we can help with, or if you need him specifically.”
Customer: “He’s probably eating in here anyway. Call him, now.”
Me: “I will not. [Coworker] never eats here, so he’s not inside the building. I will tell him you’re here, but I’m not going to call him back unless you tell me why you would like to speak with him.”
Customer: “I don’t need to tell you anything.”
Me: “I’m just trying to help you. We can at least get you started with whatever you need to talk with [Coworker] about, or we can give you a call when he comes back in.”
Customer: “I’m done speaking to you!”
Me: “Perfect. He’ll be back in an hour, then.”
(I stepped away from the customer and continued about my work. After about ten minutes, he asked a coworker an extremely simple question and stormed out. My coworker, coming back from lunch, asked me why he got an email about the “rude little girl” working at the kiosk.)