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 loveual harrbuttment 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
