When You’re Totally Hosed, Call The Manager
I work for an automotive parts retailer, and one of the things we sell is different diameters of rubber hose, priced by the foot. You can buy however much or little you want, but the minimum price will be that of one foot.
A customer comes to my counter and asks for six inches of hose in a particular diameter.
Customer: “How much does that cost?”
Me: “I’ll have to ring it up to get the exact price, but I think it’s a dollar or two plus tax.”
Customer: “Okay.”
I go in the back, cut the hose, bring it back to the front, and I ring it up.
Me: “Okay, so the exact price on this is $1.99 per foot. It’s priced by the foot, so your cost will be $1.99 plus tax.”
Customer: “YOU SAID IT WAS A DOLLAR OH TWO!”
Me: “I said it was a dollar or two.”
That one’s on me; I shouldn’t have worded it like that.
Customer: “How can it be more than a dollar if it’s $1.99 per foot and I’m only getting six inches anyway? I want to see the manager!”
My manager is the coolest guy ever. We’ll call him “M”. He goes through the whole thing again with the customer. The customer eventually gives in and just buys the hose at the correct price. He then states that he’s going to call corporate on us.
Customer: “What’s your name?”
Manager: “M.”
Customer: “What’s your last name?”
Manager: “M.”
Customer: “What’s your full name?”
Manager: “M.”
Customer: “M is your full name?”
Manager: “My name is M.”
The customer left after that, and neither of us ever heard another thing about it. “M” was the coolest manager I’ve ever had. I always liked him, but after that day, I knew he had my back.
