Hey, me again. I just saved a lot of money on my phone bill. NO, this isn't a geico or cell carrier ad, I just realized that I really don't need 1,000 messages per month. Most months I top out at 30. Actually, I just saved five dollars, but still...that adds up. I now have the 400 message plan, the smallest one they have.
Meh. OH MY GOODNESS. Let's just say we had a BAD customer last night. She was totally irrational over a ward directory. ONE PAGE in this directory was messed up. She had proofed it (approved it) with the wrong page before it was printed, she said she was "drunk with anger" over having waited there for "five hours" for the proof and thus did not notice. Now, I agree that our machine takes a while processing jobs with a bunch of photos in them, but:
1) She was NOT there for five hours. She came on Saturday, when we are open from 12 to 6. Kara (my coworker) worked from 1 to 4, and saw neither hide nor hair of her. This means she was there for one or two hours, tops.
2) SHE PROOFED IT. That's the bottom line. She neither told the technician there was a larger page in there, nor noticed the problem when she looked at it. How was anyone supposed to know there was a problem? After she proofed it, even if they had noticed the problem they would have assumed that's the way she wanted it.
3) We offered to replace the directories with the map correct, but she would not have it. Apparently, she had a ward party she was late to that she wanted to hand them out at. She had waited till the LAST MINUTE to pick these up. How smart is that?
Anyway, while we were trying to placate her, she was making remarks about the competence of the employees, etc. EXCUSE me, but we can hear you. We're right here, and we're people too. We're SORRY your job turned out wrong, it's not our fault, and you wouldn't let us fix it. GRR. She said, "I'm never coming here again." Seriously, Kara and I looked at each other. We were both going to burst out laughing. She looked at us and repeated, "Never." May I just say: GOOD. We really don't need customers like you. We would love it if customers like you NEVER came in. I wish I could have just said, "Thank you. Please be sure that you don't."
So then her guy friend (who has been in the shop before) came in. She ran on at the mouth at him, so he went to the computers. Then he comes back and tells me, "I just sent the ward map to the Docutech (our LARGE VOLUME printer). Print four." Well, we already had a ward directory processing on that machine, but I was afraid to contradict him. So I interrupted the job and set the map to printing. We waited...and I went to the CougarPrints manager to start another job as we waited. We waited...long story short, it wasn't printing. So, I asked him to send it to the 65 which would print automatically. Well, apparently the 65 was having an error where it wasn't showing up on the network.
SO... We asked him to send it to the 55 on the color side. It was slow, and only printed one of his map. Honestly, I think it was a problem with his file. So he waits. Meanwhile, the girl is talking and talking and talking with her friend, attacking the character and efficiency of the employees. She was saying (about me) "All she does is: (moves her hand in a typing motion)." Well, EXCUSE ME if we have other people to serve! There are other people in the universe besides you! Anyway, so the guy goes to her and shows her the map. Instead of looking it over to make sure it looks all right, she shrieks, "ONE?! WE WAITED IN HERE ALL THIS TIME FOR ONE?!" They had been there for 45 minutes, and had only been trying to print the map for ten.
SO we finally get this printed off, and he says to the girl, "I'm going to write a letter about this." She says, "Yeah, and I'll sign it." Like she expects that to strike fear into our hearts. Then she says, "ALL of their machines broke down? Sheesh, these people need to be trained." Well, we're not superbeings. Things break down. There's nothing we can do about it. Training has nothing to do with it. Then the guy comes up to me and says, "What's the name of the manager," once again like he expects it to strike fear into my heart. Smiling, I told him the manager's name. I really don't mind if he writes to Fred. In face, Kara and I wrote to Fred detailing the customers' complaints (I am quite proud of the fact that we were able to do it in an impartial manner).
This took up ALL our time from 7 to 8. So we had to stay late to finish up other jobs. GRR!
Moral of the story:
1) Don't be OCD.
2) Check your jobs THOROUGLY before approving them. The staff aren't psychic.
3) Allow yourself time when scheduling pick up for any random mistakes to be corrected (just in case).
4) If there is a mistake, BE KIND and PATIENT. Remember that these people are human. They deserve to be treated with respect. They will be more willing to fix your error and give you a discount if you are kind than if you treat them like dirt. Remember that they are there to serve you, and take pride in a job well done. They will be more than willing to fix the problem, and will do it as quickly as they can.
5) WATCH YOUR MOUTH. Just because they are behind the counter does not mean they cannot hear you. It also makes you look bad to the other patrons of the establishment. We had people coming in and out who were giving us VERY sympathetic looks. This girl going on and on about her problem wasn't gaining her a bit of sympathy, it just made her look bad.
I think that's it. If you made it this far, CONGRATULATIONS! Buy yourself some balloons and stop over at the shop for some hole-punch confetti. Go on, you deserve it!
((I need bubble wrap.))
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