Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Sandwich Woes

The reason I asked yesterday's question about the moldy sandwich was because we had this happen with a customer a few weeks ago.

He came in, bought a ham sandwich and a drink. About a few hours later, he came back to the store DEMANDING to see a manager. Naturally, I drew the short straw and had to go help him.

I walked up to a man in his early 30's who looked distressed. His brows were furrowed and he was running his hand through his hair multiple times. The sprinkling of dandruff coming off of his head was lightly coating his black jacket and reminded me of the snow we still have here in Cleveland.

"Excuse me, are you the manager?" he said, rushing up to me.

"Yes," I replied, not wanting to talk any more than I should until I knew what the situation was.

He shoved a partially unwrapped sandwich at my face. "Here, take a bite of this," he said.

I pushed the sandwich away. "Please get that out of my face," I said politely.

"See?" he yelled. "You wouldn't eat it either!" He appeared to be hopping around daintily on his feet.

"What is the problem here, sir?" I just wanted to get this over with and not play games with this guy.

Suddenly he became very calm. Almost too calm. It was like someone flicked the off switch on his back. "I bought this sandwich this morning and I went to eat it at lunch and noticed that the wrapper was open and it's moldy. What are you going to do about it?"

He held out the sandwich once again and I grabbed it by the corner of the wrapper. Peering inside the sandwich, I noticed that it was definitely moldy. "You said you noticed that the package was open when you went to eat it?"

"Yes, I think someone opened it on purpose."

"Well, that's possible, we often get kids coming in and opening things--"

He cut me off. "I asked you once and you didn't answer. What are you going to do about it?"

I could tell this guy was going to be an asshole. A big one. "I will give you a refund on this sandwich."

He stared at me in what looked like disbelief. "Are you serious? That's it?"

"Umm,...what else did you want me to do?"

"I'd like something more than my money back. I mean, that moldy thing almost touched my lips!" As he said this he started gagging and I had to resist the urge to laugh. Watching people gag is probably the funniest thing on the planet.

Once he finished his dry heave dance, he straightened himself up and looked right at me. "What else are you going to give me?"

"I'm not going to 'give' you anything except for your money back, like I already said."

"That's unacceptable.I deserve at least a $50 gift card."

"A $50 gift card? No. A refund is the only thing I can do." By this point I had gone to the register and pulled out $1.99 to give back to him.

"I should be better compensated for this. If I had taken a bite, I could have gone to the hospital! Then you'd have to pay me a lot more than what I'm asking for!"

I didn't really give a shit about this customer by now since he was being a dick about it. "Like I said, sir. This is all I can do."

"Fine, I'll be contacting the news, then," he said. He threw the sandwich on the ground and stormed out.

I think it's funny when people say they'll be contacting the news. I hear this all the time, even in other places that I'm shopping at. Seriously. 99% of the time the news station won't give a fuck what you're complaining about unless you are an old person that is sending your life savings of $64,000 to someone in Nigeria.

And on top of all this the guy wanted a $50 gift card. Listen, I've gotten hair in my food at pretty much every restaurant within 10 miles of me and I'm not asking for anything. I simply tell the manager, get my food taken off the bill, and don't go there again until I forgot why I don't go there. Things happen. To me, hair is A LOT grosser than some mold on a sandwich.

What do you think this guy should have been given?

13 comments:

  1. His money back and maybe a free sandwich? Nothing more than that - there is the gross ugh factor...He could report it to the local health department which could be a problem for you and now that you know this happens perhaps checking on your 'fresh' foods throughout the day might be a good idea...

    ReplyDelete
  2. You did the right thing. I would have given him nothing more than you did. He was being rude and he was out to get something for nothing.

    Have a terrific day. ☺

    ReplyDelete
  3. You handled it perfectly. His demands were ridiculous.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The $1.99 was all I would have given him back. That is outrageous thinking he should get a $50 gift card for a moldy sandwich.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Typical customer......not happy with just getting their money back, they want more. You did right. When stores give in to people like this, it just sets it up for more....from the same person, and every freaking friend, relative and neighbor they have! I work retail, and see (and read it all the time on their Facebook pages) this happening alot. It's never enough giving a refund...they want free product, they want gift cards, you name it. And when they don't get it..they run to the press, they post it all over the internet. Reminds me of a 2-year-old having a temper tantrum!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I agree with Grace, his money back and a free sandwich as a small gesture of goodwill from your shop. But then again, maybe not to this particular A-Hole.

    ReplyDelete
  7. $50 gift card for a moldy sandwich and the possibility that he might've gone to the hospital for it? Idiot. I wish he did contact the news so they'll just laugh him out the building.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What should he have been given? A refund or exchange. Nothing more, nothing less. I've had people demand to be 'compensated for their inconvenience' when we refused to accept an expired Groupon, even when they got their money back from Groupon in the first place! IDk where this idea of 'if I complain about something trivial, I'll get a huge reward for being a douchebagel' came from, but it's gotta stop.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Replacement if he wanted a new sandwich, refund if he didn't. You're dealing with the fact that the product was faulty, not the possibility that he could have gotten sick.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Should've given him a free sandwich and 1.99$ refund.

    ReplyDelete
  11. This guy could be given discount for some limited items.

    Those limited items would be the item you are not able to sell otherwise. :)

    how does that sounds?

    ReplyDelete
  12. That was if customer if being a jerk.

    and if you feel he is being genuine, sincere ( like how polite is s/he, whether is he expecting anything more etc.) then possibly you could offer discount on his next purchase (whatever is it).

    ReplyDelete

 

Design by Custom Blog Designs using stock image by lemn