J
Julia Altshuler
Guest
Customer comes into wine and cheese shop. He speaks to co-worker for a
moment about ordering wine, and since I know more about the wine in the
store (only from working there longer, I'm no expert), I take him up to
the computer/register to take the order. This means saying that the
wine he wants sounds familiar, saying that I think we're out but will
check the product list, seeing that the inventory does, indeed, say
zero, and moving to take an old fashioned order which involves writing
down the customer's name, phone number, credit number and type of wine
wanted. Somewhere in there, and it's hard to remember where, the
customer interupted me at which point I knew immediately to shut up and
let him finish. I smiled at him while he went into this long tirade,
the upshot of which was that the boss KNOWS he wants the wine since he
orders a case every month, KNOWS his name and that he doesn't have to
put up with this, if he has to he'll order somewhere else. I'm making
it sound more polite than it was. The man was a jerk. I just stood
there and smiled while he bawled me out. When he asked me something
that amounted to "can you do that?" I nodded once, and he left.
When the boss got back, I gave him what part of the order I was able to
take, mentioned how unpleasant the customer was, and learned that this
is NOT a standing monthly order. The guy ordered once before. The boss
scarcely knew him but was able to remember what it was about.
I wondered about my options at the time. I was very near to throwing
the guy out of the store and asked the boss about that, but he said that
I really couldn't throw someone out unless he was doing something
illegal. I have to admit that there's some sense to this policy, but it
got me thinking. Are there limits to what an employee is expected to
put up with? That's not to say that anything was too terrible. I've
been yelled at before, and I did know that the best way to deal with
they guy was just to grin at him without trying to defend myself.
At my next shift, I learned that the guy had called to complain about
me. The mom and pop pair who are my bosses didn't come to me to tell me
about the complaint. I learned when we were chatting about customers in
general. So it's not like they were unhappy with my work or how I
handled it, but they didn't defend me either. They didn't tell the
customer "look, she asked for a credit number. We TOLD her to do that."
That made me ask if the guy said anything specific that I'd done that
set him off. I know that I didn't remember saying anything awful, but I
also know that it's possible for something to be interpreted different
ways, and I wanted to know if maybe I'd said something that I should be
aware of so I could make sure I didn't get perceived as impolite again.
When I was asking questions along those lines, I learned that this
same guy has been hitting on a co-worker.
This is a young lady I really like. She's young (22), quite pretty,
very nice, the sort of kid who can talk to and make friends with people
who are older (I'm 47) and be lovely and genuine. She has an infectious
laugh and bright smile. I could understand that young men might think
she was flirting, but it's hard to help it when you're that pretty. She
could model. (She has professional dance and acting experience.) It
turns out that the customer has been hitting on her. She said it
started out O.K. with him just talking to her, but most recently he's
been asking her out and making comments of the "if I were younger"
variety, not of the kindly old man gently teases with young woman old
enough to be his granddaughter, but more of the middle aged man makes
young woman uncomfortable variety. She said that the next time he comes
in, she's heading for the bathroom and staying there.
This leads me to the question I'm opening for discussion. What are the
limits? I know what I'd put up with from a boss, but I've never
wondered before about what I'm expected to put up with from a customer.
You read all the time about sexual harrassment from a boss, but what
about from a customer? The boss (a nice guy who can get grouchy but who
has never been mean or unfair, someone who is actually more likely to
get himself into trouble for being a pushover) hasn't given us any
guidelines except the nothing illegal one. Any thoughts?
--Lia
moment about ordering wine, and since I know more about the wine in the
store (only from working there longer, I'm no expert), I take him up to
the computer/register to take the order. This means saying that the
wine he wants sounds familiar, saying that I think we're out but will
check the product list, seeing that the inventory does, indeed, say
zero, and moving to take an old fashioned order which involves writing
down the customer's name, phone number, credit number and type of wine
wanted. Somewhere in there, and it's hard to remember where, the
customer interupted me at which point I knew immediately to shut up and
let him finish. I smiled at him while he went into this long tirade,
the upshot of which was that the boss KNOWS he wants the wine since he
orders a case every month, KNOWS his name and that he doesn't have to
put up with this, if he has to he'll order somewhere else. I'm making
it sound more polite than it was. The man was a jerk. I just stood
there and smiled while he bawled me out. When he asked me something
that amounted to "can you do that?" I nodded once, and he left.
When the boss got back, I gave him what part of the order I was able to
take, mentioned how unpleasant the customer was, and learned that this
is NOT a standing monthly order. The guy ordered once before. The boss
scarcely knew him but was able to remember what it was about.
I wondered about my options at the time. I was very near to throwing
the guy out of the store and asked the boss about that, but he said that
I really couldn't throw someone out unless he was doing something
illegal. I have to admit that there's some sense to this policy, but it
got me thinking. Are there limits to what an employee is expected to
put up with? That's not to say that anything was too terrible. I've
been yelled at before, and I did know that the best way to deal with
they guy was just to grin at him without trying to defend myself.
At my next shift, I learned that the guy had called to complain about
me. The mom and pop pair who are my bosses didn't come to me to tell me
about the complaint. I learned when we were chatting about customers in
general. So it's not like they were unhappy with my work or how I
handled it, but they didn't defend me either. They didn't tell the
customer "look, she asked for a credit number. We TOLD her to do that."
That made me ask if the guy said anything specific that I'd done that
set him off. I know that I didn't remember saying anything awful, but I
also know that it's possible for something to be interpreted different
ways, and I wanted to know if maybe I'd said something that I should be
aware of so I could make sure I didn't get perceived as impolite again.
When I was asking questions along those lines, I learned that this
same guy has been hitting on a co-worker.
This is a young lady I really like. She's young (22), quite pretty,
very nice, the sort of kid who can talk to and make friends with people
who are older (I'm 47) and be lovely and genuine. She has an infectious
laugh and bright smile. I could understand that young men might think
she was flirting, but it's hard to help it when you're that pretty. She
could model. (She has professional dance and acting experience.) It
turns out that the customer has been hitting on her. She said it
started out O.K. with him just talking to her, but most recently he's
been asking her out and making comments of the "if I were younger"
variety, not of the kindly old man gently teases with young woman old
enough to be his granddaughter, but more of the middle aged man makes
young woman uncomfortable variety. She said that the next time he comes
in, she's heading for the bathroom and staying there.
This leads me to the question I'm opening for discussion. What are the
limits? I know what I'd put up with from a boss, but I've never
wondered before about what I'm expected to put up with from a customer.
You read all the time about sexual harrassment from a boss, but what
about from a customer? The boss (a nice guy who can get grouchy but who
has never been mean or unfair, someone who is actually more likely to
get himself into trouble for being a pushover) hasn't given us any
guidelines except the nothing illegal one. Any thoughts?
--Lia