A discussion about retailing, retailers, and merchandising

My favorite of all time...

And it did relate to merchandising

First Things First - a couple of additional thank you's to Easton and Kim. It's always nice to be welcomed.

This story will hopefully tickle your funny bone and it isn't even dirty or nasty, how about that?

So, I'm the Tire and Lube Express manager at the Wal-Mart in Mays Landing, New Jersey. The "Big" store manager is also a "Mark" though I can't remember his last name. Mark and I hadn't gotten off to such a wonderful beginning in the early days after I had been transferred to the store but fortunately, we had been able to get past that and develop a fairly good working relationship. If I didn't have to bother him, if I was able to address a situation without involving him it was appreciated. He was managing a very busy store 15 minutes outside Atlantic City.

One day I received a phone call from Mark from the front of the store. He told me he had a difficult situation involving a lady who had purchased something in my store. She was very upset. I told him I hadn't had an opportunity to speak with her. He knew, she had gone directly to him to begin with. He asked if I would come up front and handle it. Not a problem, so I thought - boy, was I in for a surprise. 

When I arrived at the customer service desk I could feel the thickness in the air. Mark was behind the service desk counter and had this look on his face like "be prepared." Intuitively I knew he hadn't been able to really fill me in over the phone. Almost simultaneously with his introduction of which person I was to speak with this lady opened up with all her ammunition! It was a pricing problem and a return problem to take care of what she thought was an injustice. Okay, been there, done that. This one was different.

Apparently the lady had a need to question, in a lengthy, expletive filled discertation, my parents' ethnicity, my parents' child raising abilities, my sexuality, my ability to function sexually, describing in detail how she'd fix the method I ate, how she'd fix my parents' principles, destroy my employment and career and so on and so on. I knew she had just finished doing the same thing to Mark.

Quite a few people around the area offered their attentive stares as this went on. 15 minutes or so. I never said a thing while she rambled. At the moment it appeared she was out of steam, I asked if she would let me ask her one question. Very disdainfully, she agreed.

I asked her if...

she kissed her kids with that mouth???

Mark almost fainted against the wall, sliding down into a heap behind the counter. I saw him out of the corner of my eye as the lady blasted off again and a few folks laughed heartily.

No, I didn't get fired that day. Mark pleaded with me never to do that again as we had our own good laugh behind closed doors a short while later. But the look of rage on that ladies face is something I will remember. This was one of those moments when I knew for a fact that the customer isn't always right although it could still cost you your job. I just had to do it!