When working in retail you often come across customers that leave you scratching your head after leaving the store. I work at Sunglass Hut in the Arden mall and today I had a customer who by far tops the charts in the category of unusual. So the man comes in and after browsing the store turns to me and asks why I'm not selling to him. I told him i don't like to bombard customers as they walk in the store because some people just like to look around and i dot want to make them feel trapped. He then puts on a pair and says "sell these to me." A little confused i politely say "excuse me?" He then says he wants me to describe the features of the glasses and make him want to buy it. So i do my job and start pointing out the features of the glasses that compliment his face and some that don't, they were a little to big, showing off my product knowledge. He then puts the pair down and grabs another and says the same thing, "sell these to me." at this point I'm just completely thrown off but still i continue to describe why the glasses he's holding are $184. He then grabs another pair and says the same thing, "sell these to me." After about 2 more pairs of glasses, finally i say " okay sir its clear your playing some type of game so if you want to know all the details about these glasses, grab the iPhone thats in your pocket and google them." he then raises his voice and says, "your seller aren't you, so sell these to me." I quickly responded by describing my job title," actually sir my job title is a style consultant, I'm not a seller. I don't shove product down your throat, i tell you what looks good on you. Im very good at what i do and in no way have i been dishonest to any customer just to make a "sale" and thats why I'm the youngest assistant manager in this region. Now if you want to get get "sold" to try Solstice which is upstairs."
He immediately walked out of the store without another word.
Weird huh?
If you read these please be honest and tell me if i displayed bad customer service because in my opinion I didn't. But if you feel different please don't be shy to express that, In no way will offense be taken. Thanks for reading
Your post totally made me laugh! Your customer didn't even seem interest in buying anything he probably just wanted the attention. I don't think you did anything wrong. When I go to stores I don't like the employees following me around and bothering me. I just wanna look around. I don't think you did anything wrong.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting dilemma, and I don't have an answer. I wouldn't have lasted as long as you before losing my temper and refusing to play along, but that's one reason why I'm not in customer service. I guess it depends on what good customer service is - does it mean always being polite and thinking "the customer is always right"? If so, then you probably were out of line, but then again, if it didn't seem like he was going to spend any money and he was doing this more as a prank, then there's no reason to take it. So, good for you, I guess... I'd be curious what the rest of your group thinks.
ReplyDelete[and on another topic, couldn't you come up with a better title for this post?]
Hey Joel, I'm liking the new layout! As for your post, I don't think I would've handled the situation the same. It must take a lot of patience working in retail and you don't know who you're going to encounter. I feel that you handled the situation responsibly and that it's up to the customer to treat others the way they want to be treated. I like how you spoke up as if there was something going on. Not many people choose to speak up when they are in that situation.
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