I kicked someone out of the store today

[jmowreader]

One of my plumbing people called me over because "there's this customer being a total asshole and he won't believe anything I say to him; he says only a man can answer his questions." The woman who said this to me is a very good plumber. Liberal dander activated.

Down the aisle I go. "I need one foot of this pipe (pulls out a hunk of polybutylene pipe) but this woman (read the word "woman" with the snottiest tone of voice you can imagine) tells me you won't sell me any of it, and the pipe she will sell me only comes in 100 foot rolls."

Oh gawd...I patiently explained to him that polybutylene pipe had been discontinued because it fails really fast, and there is a better pipe that we carry, but it is only available in 100-foot rolls, just as she told you.

"Oh, YOU'RE going to be like that TOO. Well, all I want is one foot of that pipe."

I'm sorry, it doesn't come any other way but in a 100-foot roll. It's like going to the grocery store to buy bread. You can't get just one slice, you have to get the whole loaf. Well, this pipe is the same way.

"Well, just turn around and I'll cut off a foot of this pipe and go home with it."

Huh? You got to be joking, right? I asked the guy what he just said...he fucking REPEATED himself. Just turn around and I'll cut off the part I need and go home with it.

So I called my loss prevention guy and had him escorted outside.

Christ. Where do we get these people, and can we send them back?

[Redstone]

1. Once again, you've reminded me of how lucky I am

that I don't have a job that requires interaction with the general public.

I don't know how you can stand it.

Redstone

[driver8]

10. Amen to that!!

I have had jobs where I had to deal with the public...thanks, but no thanks!! People can be such effin' assholes sometimes.

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. You ought to submit that story to www.customerssuck.com

what a tool

[MrScorpio]

7. What Heretic said

Post your story there

[Jamastiene]

3. OMG, that sounds like my stepfather.

Up one side and down the other. I know what it's like. I don't blame you. It looks like you had no other choice. What a prick. People like that gripe my ass.

[Shine]

4. People like that show up in our lives every once in a while to

help remind us to practice Compassion and Patience.

Sometimes it sucks that we have to practice so hard.

:)

[Elidor]

5. No, it's we who show up in THEIR lives to teach them how not 2b dumbfucks

It's a simple, if somewhat painful lesson, but we provide it gladly, and therefore we are kindly souls. It's lucky for them we are here to provide this timely service, free of charge. :)

Ohmmmm....

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. Shoulda asked him who he voted for

[LincolnMcGrath]

8. Is the lady in question retired from the trades?

[jmowreader]

11. Sort of...call it "yellow stripe retirement"

She was working on a vent on someone's roof when the roof decided to give way under her feet. After the EMTs came to pull her out, she decided that wasn't going to happen again, and came to work for us. Why not? We pay professionals the going rate for their trade, or in many cases better (read: Louisiana), and you can't fall through a rotten roof when you work for us.

[Floogeldy]

9. That's harsh.

Good gosh, give the guy a foot of pipe for $2.98.

I hate the corporate mentality.

}(

[jmowreader]

13. It's not that simple

We'd be happy as hell to sell you a foot of pipe for $2.98. And if the guy wasn't being a total dickhead, we could have found him SOMETHING.

The original associate first showed him the galvanized nipples. Get a 12-inch galvanized nipple and a couple of rubber boots, clamp it all together, and it will work perfectly well. He didn't want that. He wanted polybutylene pipe.

Google "polybutylene pipe" and the first ten hits you'll get will be lawyers. This should tell you something.

So it's a 100-foot roll of black polyethylene pipe for you. A roll of this pipe costs six dollars.

Now let's say that we really wanted to break open this package and sell him a foot of pipe. Because of our accounting system, that pipe would need a Mama SKU (the whole roll) and a Baby SKU (one foot of it). To get a Baby SKU on anything, you've got to go through Atlanta. We can do it on some things--we used to only sell 2/0-2/0-2/0-4/0 service entrance cable in 500-foot rolls, for instance. A 500-foot roll of that wire weighs about 1200 pounds and the whole company probably sold 300 rolls a year. Now we sell it by the foot and we're the biggest seller of service entrance cable in America.

I didn't pitch the guy's ass out because he was being a dick. Half the customers we get are dicks. I removed him from our place of business because he was advocating theft.

[Clintmax]

12. I know how you feel, JMO!

I have idiot customers like that sometimes too! I've worked in retail for so long and get some of the craziest people in my store! I haven't had to escort anyone out for a long time though, thank goodness! I'm with YOU...I wish we COULD send them back!

[LaraMN]

14. Working in retail SUCKS!

I worked in a high-end clothing department at a department store once, and oh boy, do I have stories..... Some people's behavior is so idiotic I can't even comprehend how they survive amongst the rest of humanity.

[zanne]

15. "loss prevention" guy?

You mean Security, right?

[jmowreader]

17. We call 'em Loss Prevention

But you're right, it's basically the security guy.

[Enraged_Ape]

16. What a jackass

God bless you and everyone else who interacts with the general public with a smile on your face. I worked in a sporting goods store for a couple of summers in high school, and sometimes it was all I could do not to grab a baseball bat or even open the gun case.

[nytemare]

18. Then you should question why he only wants a foot of the pipe.

If he is that much of an asshole.