So I had a really funny experience today. I went to a Hot Topic and happened to run into someone I knew, who was working as a cashier. I didn't know they worked there and it had been a while, so we caught up while they were scanning my items (I had quite a few things picked out). I started complaining about my current job, a place they had helped out at once. For context, I do not work at a Hot Topic. But a customer there left this review complaining about me?
"My last visit was ok but the cashiers, though friendly, were very slow. One in particular (outwardly birth gender is female with short unisex haircut, short in stature and slightly chubby) was having a full on Conversation with the customer with whom I was behind who happened to work at another HT store. The conversation was about work conditions at the other HT store and a manager who refused to properly address a store employee by his/her/their preferred personal pronoun and how that manager wasn't doing a good job representing the HT company and that the customer (employee at other HT) was planning to quit. I felt they should've had the conversation AFTER me and the others waiting in line were assisted... then the 2 HT employees could "bash" or "complain" privately versus in front of non-HT employee customers. Also, it didn't seem as if the 2 having the convo knew each other... just struck up convo due to likely using some employee number during transaction"
EVERY PART Of THIS REVIEW IS SO FUNNY TO ME........ me and my friend only chatted for as long as the transaction lasted... in fact, I was very quick about grabbing my bag and excusing myself since I noticed other people were in line. Plus, it's based on a bunch of very incorrect assumptions. We do know each other, we're quite good friends, and I have never worked at a hot topic. I was just gossiping while they scanned my items. So they basically just sent in a review to complain about a customer. The judgmental tone is hilarious too.
What do you guys think about this story? Any retail or fast food workers have others??
"My last visit was ok but the cashiers, though friendly, were very slow. One in particular (outwardly birth gender is female with short unisex haircut, short in stature and slightly chubby) was having a full on Conversation with the customer with whom I was behind who happened to work at another HT store. The conversation was about work conditions at the other HT store and a manager who refused to properly address a store employee by his/her/their preferred personal pronoun and how that manager wasn't doing a good job representing the HT company and that the customer (employee at other HT) was planning to quit. I felt they should've had the conversation AFTER me and the others waiting in line were assisted... then the 2 HT employees could "bash" or "complain" privately versus in front of non-HT employee customers. Also, it didn't seem as if the 2 having the convo knew each other... just struck up convo due to likely using some employee number during transaction"
EVERY PART Of THIS REVIEW IS SO FUNNY TO ME........ me and my friend only chatted for as long as the transaction lasted... in fact, I was very quick about grabbing my bag and excusing myself since I noticed other people were in line. Plus, it's based on a bunch of very incorrect assumptions. We do know each other, we're quite good friends, and I have never worked at a hot topic. I was just gossiping while they scanned my items. So they basically just sent in a review to complain about a customer. The judgmental tone is hilarious too.
What do you guys think about this story? Any retail or fast food workers have others??
You might be able to contest the review with the company where it's posted, and tell them exactly that. I'd never really even considered that that was a thing until, yeah, being a customer's primary complaint in a "review" that was so bad it was downright funny.
In my case, I did work for the company (a small, local business) in question, and I was on shift alongside the owners' eldest son. And the hilarity actually started while the reviewing customers were still in the store, because lordy they went full "Karen." Quick warning, this includes some just plain bigotry. Also, for some context, I still presented as a woman at that point in time, and I commonly amused myself by wearing totally ridiculous lipstick colors (which suited the colorful and cheery vibe of the place just fine).
Anyway, since the owners knew were the review was, they sent a message to the platform about it. And since there wasn't really anything useful about the business in it, just some personal attacks against a couple employees, the review was removed.
In my case, I did work for the company (a small, local business) in question, and I was on shift alongside the owners' eldest son. And the hilarity actually started while the reviewing customers were still in the store, because lordy they went full "Karen." Quick warning, this includes some just plain bigotry. Also, for some context, I still presented as a woman at that point in time, and I commonly amused myself by wearing totally ridiculous lipstick colors (which suited the colorful and cheery vibe of the place just fine).
What happened in the shop
I can't remember for sure what the problem was (this was a number of years ago), but I think it was that the customer didn't like how we made the thing they (at this point, just one person) ordered compared to how other places made it. It was the most expensive item on our menu (and to be clear, I think that was, like, about $5, so it's not like we overcooked some fancy steak dinner or something), and according to the customer, I guess we use less of the key ingredient (the part that's expensive) than other places. I explained that that was the limit the owners had set (and they were pretty adamant about it), and that I could remake the drink once but that it'd almost certainly come out the same because of that limit. Person was clearly annoyed as they left, but seemed like that little bump in the day was done.
Not too long after, person returns with a second person. First person was there to return the drink for a refund, and even though my coworker handled that (figured the person would be even more sour if they had to deal with me again, and being the owner's son, coworker sort-of had a little more wiggle room on making decisions; if I remember right, it was actually normally against the shop's policy to do refunds, being food items), the way the person was fussing was, frankly, pretty childish. Like, I honestly agree that in that case, the customer was at least right in that the drink would be a lot better with more of the key thing, so I wanted to sympathize, but how they were handling it just made it so hard.
But it was the second person who was just... hilarious. While first person is returning the drink, second person is walking around the shop, phone in hand in a way that indicated they were recording, and narrating as they went about any little problem they could find. And when I say "any little problem," I mean I had to hurry to the back to keep from busting out laughing in front of these upset customers when I heard this super snippy, "purple lipstick is out of fashion!" Just part of second person's narration to their phone. After they left, my coworker came back and started laughing right along with me and wondering why they didn't just go to the places that made the thing the way they wanted it (one place they named was literally in the same shopping center, a short walk away).
Not too long after, person returns with a second person. First person was there to return the drink for a refund, and even though my coworker handled that (figured the person would be even more sour if they had to deal with me again, and being the owner's son, coworker sort-of had a little more wiggle room on making decisions; if I remember right, it was actually normally against the shop's policy to do refunds, being food items), the way the person was fussing was, frankly, pretty childish. Like, I honestly agree that in that case, the customer was at least right in that the drink would be a lot better with more of the key thing, so I wanted to sympathize, but how they were handling it just made it so hard.
But it was the second person who was just... hilarious. While first person is returning the drink, second person is walking around the shop, phone in hand in a way that indicated they were recording, and narrating as they went about any little problem they could find. And when I say "any little problem," I mean I had to hurry to the back to keep from busting out laughing in front of these upset customers when I heard this super snippy, "purple lipstick is out of fashion!" Just part of second person's narration to their phone. After they left, my coworker came back and started laughing right along with me and wondering why they didn't just go to the places that made the thing the way they wanted it (one place they named was literally in the same shopping center, a short walk away).
The review
Word got around to the other employees, since this was already more extreme than most of us ever had to deal with. This also spread to at least one former employee who promptly went Mama Bear. We knew some sort of review would be appearing somewhere, and she actually tracked it down, shared the link with us, and proceeded to check the pair out a bit. The platform apparently considered them to be pretty great reviewers, but a lot of those reviews were pretty nasty. The one left for our shop, once again, was just comically bad. They apparently hadn't figured the drink was enough to complain about, but apparently also hadn't really been able to find anything else worth complaining about except for me and my coworker. It wasn't even really complaints about bad service - it was straight-up personal attacks.
I think my coworker got attacked about basically personal hygiene (he often had slight stubble and tended to go awhile between haircuts, and that's it), seeming lazy (he's anything but; he's just perpetually exhausted from the many things he juggles and tends to be subtle in expression even when not dealing with customer tantrums), and I'm pretty sure they managed to imply it was a problem that he was Asian.
And me? Aside from being the horrible person who made them a horrible drink, my purple lipstick did, indeed, show up in the review, as did my faint moustache. Y'know, clearly totally relevant things to a business review. I think there were some other personal attacks, too, but that's all I can really remember. Some items might have stung on their own, but all together, it was just... funny. It was too much to take any of it seriously.
I think my coworker got attacked about basically personal hygiene (he often had slight stubble and tended to go awhile between haircuts, and that's it), seeming lazy (he's anything but; he's just perpetually exhausted from the many things he juggles and tends to be subtle in expression even when not dealing with customer tantrums), and I'm pretty sure they managed to imply it was a problem that he was Asian.
And me? Aside from being the horrible person who made them a horrible drink, my purple lipstick did, indeed, show up in the review, as did my faint moustache. Y'know, clearly totally relevant things to a business review. I think there were some other personal attacks, too, but that's all I can really remember. Some items might have stung on their own, but all together, it was just... funny. It was too much to take any of it seriously.
Anyway, since the owners knew were the review was, they sent a message to the platform about it. And since there wasn't really anything useful about the business in it, just some personal attacks against a couple employees, the review was removed.
Zelphyr wrote:
You might be able to contest the review with the company where it's posted, and tell them exactly that. I'd never really even considered that that was a thing until, yeah, being a customer's primary complaint in a "review" that was so bad it was downright funny.
Well, it just so happens that this was left on their survey, so it's only visible to employees so it's fine. Another funny detail is that the General Manager was right next to us through the entire interaction, so I doubt they'll get in any trouble for this
You are on: Forums » Smalltalk » Entitled Customer Stories
Moderators: Mina, Keke, Cass, Auberon, Claine, Ilmarinen, Ben, Darth_Angelus