Last night, my wife and I fancied some ice cream. So, I went out to the local Morrisons to buy some. The parking charge is usually 60p per hour, but after 6pm, it's a flat rate of £1. (Yes, I know this is boring, but stick with me.) A sign on the wall tells you that as long as you spend £5, you get 60p refunded or the full £1 if it's after 6pm. All good, so far. I spend £5.11 and hand in my ticket to get the £1 refund.
The old bag (for, she was a real old bag) gives me 60p back. "It's £1 after 6pm", I tell her. "You only get a maximum of 60p refund whatever you pay" she snaps back at me. "That's not what the sign says", I reply. "You're wrong", she says to me aggressively. So, I start to leave, thinking I really can't be bothered about 40p.
Then, as I pass the customer service desk, I think "stuff it, I don't see why I should lose 40p" and "I don't like the old bag's attitude". So, I stop at the customer service where a lady says that I am right and that I am not making a fuss and she is very sorry for the inconvenience.
I soon begin to regret it. They can't make parking refunds at customer service, but I can't get it back at the till either. The supervisor is called. I think about leaving and giving up. The supervisor arrives and repeats that customer service can't give refunds. "It's time to go", I think. Then, the supervisor says that we could ring up something or other, give me 40p and when they cash up tonight they can amend the customer service till records and the till I had checked out at. The old bag is now asked why she got it wrong as she scowls at me. It is beginning to sound like a lot of work for them just for 40p.
Then, there is a complication. The supervisor's code won't work, so the supervisor's supervisor (or whoever) is called. It is promptly resolved and the old bag is chastised again. She really hates me now. Finally, the supervisor's supervisor hands me 40p.
I don't know why I did it, but I promptly stuck the 40p in the charity pot and walked out. Disappointingly, I wasn't man enough to make eye contact with the customer service lady, the supervisor or the supervisor's supervisor. I can feel the old bag's eyes burning holes in the back of my head as I leave.
If anyone working for CAFC is reading this, be careful when I buy my ticket tonight. I'm nothing but trouble.
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Comments
Seeing as it was acknowledged quite early on that the end result will be you receiving your 40pence back, there is absolutely no reason at all why they couldn't give you the 40p, let you get on your way and then waste their own time working out how to reconcile their tills. Don't understand why you're required to stand around and watch them trying to figure it out, always seems to be the way though.
They are bullies pure and simple and should not be allowed to get away with it.
It's the principle that is important not the 40p and sticking it in the charity box makes that point emphatically.
Well done you.
or the little old lady in your case,
Jokes aside good for you. I'd have done the same and felt no guilt at all. Maybe she should be better at her job and drop the attitude then it wouldnt have happened.
If it is some crabby jumped up bag of gravel trying to make me look stupid, then it's a case of the gloves are off and being stubborn to make them hate me even more.
Cant stand people with terrible attitudes.
She's always right.
While I empathise with you in terms of the service (or lack of it) provided by the "old bag", I'd also empathise with their staff. The lack of training, proper supervision, guidance and mentoring can be terrible at big retailers. Maybe she had been told that they only pay a maximum of 60p? Maybe she'd never worked beyond 6pm and not been asked for a full £1 refund before. The customer service people should have been better informed too. And their supervisors. And their supervisors' supervisors...
It's not good enough to get poor service. But it's also not good enough to expose your staff to situations they are not trained to deal with.
I know of one person working for a big supermarket who last week was asked to clean the floor at the entrance of the store. When asked where the vacuum cleaner was, she was told there isn't one and to use a dustpan and brush. She then asked the supervisor "Seeing as we took £1.25m at the tills last week, do you think we could splash out £50 on a vacuum cleaner?". "I've asked", came the reply, "but when I filled the form out and sent it to head office, I didn't get a reply".