Who were some of your worst, rudest, and/or most ignorant customers?

[RSS]

Well, we call them clients not customers ... but I had one that I'll dish. I designed a house for a society woman following her divorce. She didn't get as much of a settlement from the divorce as one might have espected ... but I don't think her builder realized this. When the project was finished, she was left owing the builder several hundred thousand dollars.

The builder asked me if I would interceed. When I called our client to inquire why she was not paying the final invoice which I had approved, she responded, "I can pay the builder or buy furniture, but not both. I'm buying furniture."

The builder sued her. When in court I testified to the above, the client rose to her feet and shouted out, "I should have sued you too." The judge resonded, "You cannot sue someone for testifying to the truth. Now sit down and silence yourself or I'll hold you in contempt." She couldn't resist and was eventually held in contempt. She also lost the case.

This client later did try to sue me for designing a house outside her budget. After I sent her lawyer the specificatiions I had provided for the project ... juxtaposed against the finishes that were subsequantly selected by the client ... the suit was dropped.

 

[lasbar]

Originally Posted by RSS

I know a few who still are.

inbred cavemen to be precise...

I have recently discovered one of my ancestors had a "De" , French equivalent of the German "Von" in front of my current name...

Funnuly enough , the "De" was dropped around the 1790 mark...

I had a further look into it and I think they were merchants or weavers...

I now sleep better..

 

[Yorsch]

I had some stories, but of them were already mentioned here.

About the return policy debates I wanted to share my experience.
I had worked in different stores, but the 3 major scenarios remained in my memory.

1. This was Transit (Spring) Aldo spin-off of cheaper footwear.
People would come in with no receipt/over 30 days/worn/etc. asking for return.
We as employees would follow the policy: No can't do.
Fight/Yelling/Blah blah - we end up wining
Upset customer returns home. Calls/emails head-office.
Head-office doesn't wanna deal with it. Reply something like - Yeah, sure. Whatever you want.
Happy customer returns to store with bragging rights, but this time we gotta serve him.
This is the moment i Guess when all SAs hate their own Company, that doesn't stand behind it's employees, and policies.

2. This was low-mid end suite store($150-500 for suit) with mostly Middle Eastern management and employment.

Here negotiations were easier, since my manager was from Jordan, and very short-tempered, it pretty much always ended up with "Get the F**k outta my store"

This was nice for change.

3. This was peak of my SA career. I just got into very Hind-end menswear store.
The first day, my manager tells me.
"This is company policy.
This is the set of rules we have to follow.
....But, they are not written in stone.
Customer is always right, so we have to bend the rules to keep them happy.
But if there is problem, call me, you don't ever have to deal with it."

I was impressed that company had no return policy. I mean like no limit on return, as long as it is not worn. You can return it after a year!!!
I was shocked.

Very good story come to my memory.


I had this gentlemen coming in. He was looking around, and in the end he decided to buy 3 different suites, bunch of shirts, coat, etc... total more than 7k.
AFTER, he buys it, he approaches me and takes out his belt out of the pants, and complains that the leather broke. However he was not a dick or an ass. He asked nicely, IF there is that can be done.
Following my managers advice I come to him with an issue.
We look up in CRM system his profile. Profile confirms that he did bought the very same belt...4 years ago!!!!
My manager didn't mentioned a word to customer, and just gave him brand new belt. And that's when a customer just asked If, it was possible.

That is when I fell in love with that company.

The company that cares so much for customer. And was not all that pretentious care, but it was truly sincere care, that inspired me to sincerely care for customer, regardless of the companies I worked for afterward.

 

[Achilles_]

Bump

 

[gauche.story]

I had a customer that wanted to return his software, because he wasn't able to copy/paste the emailed code into the registration window.

It had 12 characters.

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Originally Posted by RSS

Well, we call them clients not customers ... but I had one that I'll dish. I designed a house for a society woman following her divorce. She didn't get as much of a settlement from the divorce as one might have espected ... but I don't think her builder realized this. When the project was finished, she was left owing the builder several hundred thousand dollars.

The builder asked me if I would interceed. When I called our client to inquire why she was not paying the final invoice which I had approved, she responded, "I can pay the builder or buy furniture, but not both. I'm buying furniture."

The builder sued her. When in court I testified to the above, the client rose to her feet and shouted out, "I should have sued you too." The judge resonded, "You cannot sue someone for testifying to the truth. Now sit down and silence yourself or I'll hold you in contempt." She couldn't resist and was eventually held in contempt. She also lost the case.

This client later did try to sue me for designing a house outside her budget. After I sent her lawyer the specificatiions I had provided for the project ... juxtaposed against the finishes that were subsequantly selected by the client ... the suit was dropped.

Wow, that is ridiculous. More to be pittied than scourned really. I makes me giggle that people like this actually exist.

 

[caseyfud]

Originally Posted by Yorsch

Hind-end menswear store.

Do they sell underwear only or something?

 

[Makoto Chan]

Post-Christmas-shopping-frenzy bump

 

[Pawz]

I read this entire thread and it wasn't funny. I want my time back. Also, I want to exchange this squirrel for a blue one and I'd like a free metronome to go with. Thank you!

 

[Achilles_]

I've been looking for this!

 

[JayJay]

A customer in Prada was arguing with several of the store's managers because they wouldn't allow him to return a pair shoes he bought earlier that day, but wore out of the store before realizing they were too tight. They were arguing when I got there and still arguing about 20 minutes later when I left. The fact that the soles were scuffed and the shoes were creased didn't seem to register with the customer. Moreover, evidently the SA had told the guy that the shoes were a final sale item.

 

[Achilles_]

Bump

 

[MZhammer]

When I worked at Nordstrom we had a gentleman come in from Saudi Arabia who entered the store about 10 minutes before close. As per our policy, we did not ask the gentleman to exit but continued to assist him until he was satisfied, keeping all associates in the store.

He looked at suits for about an hour and got four of them (Canali and Zegna) marked for tailoring. When we proceed to checkout he began to try and negotiate on price. He said he wanted free tailoring and 30% off the price or he would not take them. I nicely explained that we did not negotiate prices and the price listed was the best I could offer at the moment. He demanded to see my manager and was appalled that it was not customary to haggle on price. He left cursing us for waiting his time.

In total the event took us about an hour and a half past close and every store employee in the mens department had to stay until he left...


The second example that comes to mind really affected me most because it happened during my first week as a SA. This time a man came into our store and explained he had a blind date set up and needed a whole new outfit and cost was no object, it needed to be perfect. We spent what seemed like forever picking out a whole outfit from shoes to the SC and everything in between. He thanked me and said he would be in again due to the superb service he had received. We got it all tailored and he picked it up in time for his date.

True to his word, he returned two days later and sought me out. He explained how well the date went and how the woman was a bombshell etc etc... Then said he needed to return everything because it wasn't his style.

There were mustard stains on the shirt, the shoes were worn, and the SC and pants had been altered. I felt cheated out of the commission and felt like it was wrong for him to return them so I called my manager to assist him. My manager politely apologized we got his style wrong an returned the garments. On his way out the customer had the balls to thank me again for the help...

 

[Achilles_]



When I worked at Nordstrom we had a gentleman come in from Saudi Arabia who entered the store about 10 minutes before close. As per our policy, we did not ask the gentleman to exit but continued to assist him until he was satisfied, keeping all associates in the store.
He looked at suits for about an hour and got four of them (Canali and Zegna) marked for tailoring. When we proceed to checkout he began to try and negotiate on price. He said he wanted free tailoring and 30% off the price or he would not take them. I nicely explained that we did not negotiate prices and the price listed was the best I could offer at the moment. He demanded to see my manager and was appalled that it was not customary to haggle on price. He left cursing us for waiting his time.
In total the event took us about an hour and a half past close and every store employee in the mens department had to stay until he left...

That's a rather large area as I remember, last time I was there it was crawling with people trying to help me!

 

[MZhammer]



That's a rather large area as I remember, last time I was there it was crawling with people trying to help me!

Yea there are about 4 sales people per men's department and there are 5 departments in the store. (rail, sportswear, furnishing, clothing and shoes)