'Ma'am, what do you want me to do?'....
So I'm at my local Safeway this evening and this woman's debit card won't work at the checkout stand. She's basically being a PITA (pain-in-the-ass), but the supervisor/manager guy is handling it I think perfectly. A case study...
Woman: 'Your card reader isn't working right'.
Manager: 'Ma'am, that just isn't true. Literally hundreds of people have used that card reader today and you are the first one to have a problem with it. If you look, no one behind you in line is having a problem using it. The problem isn't the card reader, it's your card.'
W: 'Well, I KNOW I have money in my account, I just checked today.'
M: 'OK, well, then there is our ATM machine, you can just take money out and pay by cash.'
W: 'I don't want to pay the $1.50 fee. I'm not going to pay that fee. YOU people, Safeway should pay that fee for me.'
(long pause)
M: 'Ma'am, we can't do that. I can't do that. If you suggest to me something I CAN do, I will happily do it for you.'
W: 'Well, I have money in my checking account. I will sign whatever you want for my groceries, I'm good for it.'
M: 'Basically, you want me to take an IOU.'
W: 'Well, it's YOUR card reader that is causing the problem.'
(longer pause)
M: 'Ma'am, it's busy. We have a lot of customers and a LOT of grocery stocking to do. I'm not here to solve the problems with YOUR debit card. Either withdraw money from your account at that ATM and pay for your groceries that way or just buy your groceries another time.'
... and he walked away.
Good for him. Good for ALL checkers everywhere.
Note to the General Public: other people aren't obligated to solve your problems or make changes to their policies because of your problems. They SHOULDN'T if you are presented with viable options (using the ATM in this case) but refuse to choose one.
Personally, if I were that manager, I wouldn't have wasted any more breath than to say, 'Ma'am, we accept cash, check, food stamps, or a SUCCESSFUL credit or debit card transaction.' And left it at that. No arguing, no bullshit, just say that and leave it at that.
So I'm at my local Safeway this evening and this woman's debit card won't work at the checkout stand. She's basically being a PITA (pain-in-the-ass), but the supervisor/manager guy is handling it I think perfectly. A case study...
Woman: 'Your card reader isn't working right'.
Manager: 'Ma'am, that just isn't true. Literally hundreds of people have used that card reader today and you are the first one to have a problem with it. If you look, no one behind you in line is having a problem using it. The problem isn't the card reader, it's your card.'
W: 'Well, I KNOW I have money in my account, I just checked today.'
M: 'OK, well, then there is our ATM machine, you can just take money out and pay by cash.'
W: 'I don't want to pay the $1.50 fee. I'm not going to pay that fee. YOU people, Safeway should pay that fee for me.'
(long pause)
M: 'Ma'am, we can't do that. I can't do that. If you suggest to me something I CAN do, I will happily do it for you.'
W: 'Well, I have money in my checking account. I will sign whatever you want for my groceries, I'm good for it.'
M: 'Basically, you want me to take an IOU.'
W: 'Well, it's YOUR card reader that is causing the problem.'
(longer pause)
M: 'Ma'am, it's busy. We have a lot of customers and a LOT of grocery stocking to do. I'm not here to solve the problems with YOUR debit card. Either withdraw money from your account at that ATM and pay for your groceries that way or just buy your groceries another time.'
... and he walked away.
Good for him. Good for ALL checkers everywhere.
Note to the General Public: other people aren't obligated to solve your problems or make changes to their policies because of your problems. They SHOULDN'T if you are presented with viable options (using the ATM in this case) but refuse to choose one.
Personally, if I were that manager, I wouldn't have wasted any more breath than to say, 'Ma'am, we accept cash, check, food stamps, or a SUCCESSFUL credit or debit card transaction.' And left it at that. No arguing, no bullshit, just say that and leave it at that.
posted by Tony Bags at 10:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home