Posts Tagged ‘why’

When can I Return a Non-Returnable?

July 11, 2011

A woman comes to the cash register carrying three tops, all of which are on sale.
“Can I return sale items?”
This is a popular question and rather reasonable. So I look through her three shirts, and one says, “Final Sale.” I tell her, “This one is final sale, so you can’t return it.”
“I know that!” She snaps at me, “I’m talking about the other shirts!” She states this in a tone of my ignorance and the fact I obviously don’t grasp her firm understanding of logic.

Let me pose this question, “If a final sale item is not returnable, and a regular sale item is not returnable, what differentiates the two items?” Because this is the ridiculousness of her question, if she ‘knows’ final sale is final. So I ask you, “What does she think non-final-sale sale items are?” Perhaps they are non-returnable sale, unlike final sale, which are also non-returnable. Wait, that doesn’t make any sense!

I lift the two normal ‘sale’ items, and say, “You can return these.” I wanted to say, “I’m sorry, you can’t return sale items, but you can never, ever return final sale items.”

Customer Types: Don’t Kill the Messenger, The Dumb, Rhetorical, The Riddler

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Why ask why?

December 5, 2009

This is an example of one of the common, yet irritating customer types that love to ask questions, with no interest in the answers. Seriously, don’t ask questions which you don’t want the answers to takes a whole new meaning with these people.

“Hello, how are you doing? Did you see we have other cuts of denim on this side?”
“Oh, do you have my size,” she tells me her size.
“We just updated the sizing, so your size is a little different.” And I tell her the new sizing.
“Why did they do that?”
“Because it’s more clear than it…” […used to be.]
“So you have the short size?”
“Not for a size that small.”
“Why, I see the short for larger sizes?”
“Well, the largest and smallest…” [..sizes are only available online.]
“Okay, okay. Do you have more colors?”
“Yes, we have this lighter…” […color right in front of you.]
“Okay, okay.” And I am casually waved away.

Customer type: Rhetorical (Why ask why?), Don’t Kill the Messenger