About fifteen minutes ago, a drunk came through the lobby of my hotel, wanting a room. It started out as a regular check-in until I misspoke. I asked him a second time why he was going to be staying with us.
Yes, he told me right up as he was coming through the front door that his alternator was out on his car. But when you are in this kind of service business, sometimes things become automatic. So, when I got to the part of his check-in where we normally ask why they are staying with us, of course I asked. Immediately, I realized I made a mistake and was about to joke about it, like I normally do. But he flew off the handle, yelling at me.
"Shit! You don't listen worth a damn, do you?!? Did you go to college?"
"No, I didn't," I said.
"Yeah, well it shows."
What I'm thinking is that I've done pretty damn well for myself, having not gone to college, you redneck- drunken- fucking-jerk-spazoid-inbred-mongrel.
Then, I had to ask him what state his license plates were registered. He starts waving his driver's license in my face, quite belligerently, shouting "Can't you see? Can't you see? You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Fact of the matter is that I see lots of Idaho licenses from people that have plates from Montana, Washington State, even Oregon.
At this point in time, I'm ready to kick him out. I'm not paid to be abused, belittled, and insulted. There is a point where my ability to endure someone else's shortcomings collides with my sense of self-esteem. Oh, I know that my bosses would say that it's just part of the job and that I need to be nice to the guest, but the guest just crossed a line with me. When I was a bartender, I've 86'd people for this kind of behavior. Fuck the guest.
I have a friend who has been checking groceries at a major supermarket for many, many, years. Admittedly, his stories are much more sordid, nauseating, and unbelievable than what happened to me tonight. When I hear him talking about his own experiences, all it does is cement in my mind how I feel about customers/guests/clients. They aren't always right and it's wrong to allow them to behave badly towards the service agents that are trying to assist them. Service agents should never put up with it. I say call them out on their bad behavior. If they want to act like 4-year olds having a tantrum, I say show them the corner and send them to time out. If that doesn't work, show them the door.
I told you. I'm pissed.
Be nice to your desk clerks, waiters, taxi drivers, etc. Most of us really are trying to do a good job for you.
Did drunkster mention his alma mater? You can always borrow mine. Sorry you had to deal with his crap.
ReplyDeleteYour customer may not realize this, but he's not entitled to anything, anywhere, anytime. Especially now. It's called Tucson. I saw this because so far, there's little to report about the Safeway Shooter. In the absence of anything of substance, reporters are grabbing at straws. Uniformly, they recount how "creepy" and "scary" Jared Loughner was. Is this post-9-11, everyone is a terrorist creepy, or did he forget to bathe? What this means to anyone doing customer service is that you don't have to bother defusing or rebooting your customer interactions. If the customer is a drunken ass, they can sober up, or you can shit can them for acting suspiciously. Does this sound mean? I guess so. You're more seasoned at this than I am, but I'm almost ready to give in and just characterize irrational and unpleasant people as Al Qaeda or American Renaissance and get it over with. Branded!
Did you give him a room?
Yes, I rented him a room but I was very close to kicking him out the door.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid for the same reasons you gave, but in reverse. I'm afraid that anyone out there will use that as an excuse to harass people they don't like.