Won’t Make Any Concessions
(I work in a movie theater in a relatively small urban area; we have two ticket booths at the entrance of the complex and a concessions stand that occupies the back of the lobby. The ticket booths are only open when we’re busy, so each one has a large signs that say TICKETS MAY BE PURCHASED AT CONCESSIONS STAND. A customer comes in between shows, when the lobby is empty and I am the only employee not on break. He stands in front of an empty ticket booth for about five minutes before I call out to him.)
Me: “Sir? Can I help you with anything?”
Customer: *ignores me*
Me: *after another few minutes* “Sir? You can purchase your tickets here at the concessions stand.”
Customer: *again, ignores me*
(After what must be fifteen more minutes, he approaches the concessions stand.)
Customer: *angrily* “What the h*** is wrong with this place? I’ve been waiting twenty minutes and nobody’s there to sell me a ticket!”
Me: “I’m sorry about that wait time, sir. What show are you interested in? I can sell you tickets right here at the concessions stand.”
Customer: “No, I don’t want anything to eat. Everything here is too expensive. Get in the booth and sell me a ticket.”
Me: “I’m sorry, but I’m not allowed in the booth. But I can sell you a ticket right here; I just need to know what show you’d like to see.”
Customer: *loudly* “I don’t want anything to eat!”
Me: “Yes, sir, I understand that, but—”
Customer: *even louder* “I. DON’T. WANT. ANYTHING. TO. EAT!”
(At this point, one of my managers has heard him shouting and comes out from the office.)
Manager: “[My Name], is there is a problem out here?”
Me: “No, just—”
Customer: “Yes! There’s definitely a problem! I want to see [Current Popular Movie], but there’s no one in the ticket booth!”
Manager: “Yes, we only open the booths when we’re very busy. You can buy tickets here at the stand, though; [My Name] will get you whatever you need.”
Customer: *quickly, almost cutting my manager off* “I don’t want anything to eat!”
Manager: “That’s fine, sir. We don’t only sell food here at the stand, we also handle ticketing.”
Customer: “Oh. Are you SURE I can get tickets here?”
Manager & Me: “Yes, sir.”
Customer: “Well, okay. I’d like one to [Movie] at [time].”
Me: “You may have missed the beginning; are you sure you’d like that time? We have another showing starting in about an hour.”
Customer: “No, I want [current show].”
Me: “All right. That will be [price].”
(I process his ticket order and, out of habit, ask before I run his card:)
Me: “Is there anything else I can get for you today?”
Customer: *after a pause* “Actually, yeah. Let me get a large popcorn.”
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Question of the Week
Have you ever served a bad customer who got what they deserved?
