The Card Number Number Is Wrong And So Is Their Attitude

We have this customer who always pays for parts over the phone. He’s the owner of a used car dealership in another town, and he is always nothing but rude. These are just some of the interactions I’ve had with this guy.

The first time:

The customer reads his card number off like an auctioneer.

Me: “Could you please repeat that a little bit slower?”

Customer: “Ugh. Ooonnnnnneeeee, twwwwwwoooooo, thrrrrrreeeeeeeee, foooooouuuuurrrrr…” *Continues for all of the numbers*

The second time:

The customer reads his card number.

My machine says it’s an invalid number. Our machine is finicky and sometimes won’t recognize when you hit a button, so I assume that’s what happened.

Me: “Could I get that number again, please? The machine didn’t like it the first time.”

Customer: “You have to pay attention! I can’t be telling you my card number all day. If you do it wrong too many times, it’ll lock me out!”

Me: “Can you please tell me the number again?”

He reads the card number, but two numbers are switched around this time, so instead of “1234“, he reads “1243” the second time. It goes through.

The third time:

The parts guys always tell the customer the total before they transfer calls to us for payment. This time, the total is $6.70.

Me: “Your total is six-seventy.”

Customer: “Six hundred and seventy dollars?!”

Me: “No. Six-seventy. Six dollars and seventy cents.”

Customer: “You need to say six dollars and seventy cents because the customer will automatically assume you mean six hundred and seventy dollars.”

Me: “I can take that credit card whenever you are ready.”

Customer: “What’s the total?”

Me: *Sighs* “Six dollars and seventy cents.”

Customer: “Good, you said it correctly this time. You don’t want to mislead your customers.”

The fourth time:

The customer reads his card number.

Me: “Okay, that went through.” *Click*

I hang up before he has a chance to be a jerk.

The fifth time:

I come into work one afternoon, and the morning cashier is on the phone and shaking. I look at the ticket and see that it’s this guy. I take the phone from her.

Me: “Your total is [whatever]. Can I please get the card number?”

Customer: “Oh, my God, are you people all incompetent? I’ve already told you my card number three times! You’re going to lock me out!”

Me: “I can take that credit card whenever you are ready.”

Customer: “Get it right this time!”

He reads me the credit card number and it goes through.

Me: “All right, that went through.” *Click*

It turns out that this guy yelling at the morning cashier made her forget the first zero in the expiration date; instead of typing in 01/23, she typed in 1/23, which the machine didn’t recognize. She asked if she could go for a smoke break. 

I don’t know why this guy has to wake up and be awful. The parts guys have grumbled about him before, so it’s not just me.