frustrating people

[want_so_bad 0]

i work at a tire store. i am so freakin frustrated with people lately.

take this morning...yet again another STUPID person....

this lady comes in all huffy puffy, just real irritated. she states "YOU put tires on my car monday and one is FLAT today. this is NOT acceptable". EXCUSE ME? first you stupid bat, I did not put the damn tires on for you! second, unless you have not moved your car from our parking lot since monday, YOU probably ran over something in the how ever many miles you have driven since then! give me a freakin break.

people do this all the time. some even better. i have had a guy call and yell at me that he got his tires here 3 years ago and he has a flat and what are we gonna do about it? well you dumb ass, since flat repairs are free when you buy your tires here, we are gonna fix it for you. 3 years! 3 years!

i understand the stress and inconvienence of a flat tire, i really do. but come on now people.

another of our favorites here in the office....someone comes in w/ a flat tire. we fix it, find a nail/screw/rock or whatever in it. we tell them this and they respond with "well, i dont know how that would have got there"...umm, you ran it over? no wait, the flat tire fairy floated down and decided to stick one of her sharp little nails in YOUR tire, just so you had to come see us. she is on our payroll! derr.....

major cases of "here's your sign" going on around here!

[Marimaru 7]

In the age of "find someone to blame" along with not taking responsibility for

ones own actions, people seem to have forgotten that 'shit happens'.

Sorry you're so frustrated :biggrin:

[Kat817 19]

We buy our tires from a large chain tire place, but the prices, and service have always been top notch! The guys are quick, and the counter help friendly and helpful. I have seen them hold their cool in times I would have told people to take a flying leap!

I utilize the services offered with my tires, I take them in regularly to be rotated. So between all of our vehicles and the rotations, as well as carting both of our parents in to get tires, and kids in to get tires through the years....I see these people fairly often.

So last time I was in, I was having tires rotated on my car, and I ask what they charge to do rotations on tires not bought there. They give me a hard time about buying tires elsewhere---I explained that nope.....when we were given this van, the engine was blown, but the tires were good, and we were wanting to fix it up for my inlaws to drive and wanted to rotate the tires. He said it wouldn't be much, so I took it in the next day, and they did not charge me.

I agree you put up with lots of obnoxious acting people, I have witnessed them!

I for one, appreciate the ones I deal with.....and will do my best to remember this post and tell them so!!

Kat

[travelgirl 3]

My DH has worked in a tire store (first as a gas station attendant, pumping gas) from the time he was 14 years old. He's 38 now. The bunch of guys he works with are just as Kat said, knowledgable, experienced, friendly, helpful....That's what they're paid for. The boss puts a lot of emphasis on that since we're in a very small town, and when you make someone mad, oh, boy, do you ever PAY.....

The place he's at does service calls in our county, and in 8 surrounding counties, because of REPUTATION and word of mouth.

So when I hear of people being such jerks to them, like the lady you had to deal with this morning, it really fires me up. They don't make enough money to take that $hit. Give 'em a break!

[Mrs Husker 3]

This has nothing to do with tires, but the people I have to deal with with my job can be a real pain in the ass. I work for our states outdoor education program. Part of that job is hunter education. I get calls for people who are going to another state on a once in a lifetime elk hunt that just found out that they need to take a hunter ed course. The best part is that they are leaving that weekend. Well, first, it ain’t going to happen and second, if this was me and I was going on a "once in a life time" hunting trip that I paid out the nose for, I think I would have check the rule and regs to see what was required long before now. I really feel bad for these people until they start bitching and cussing at me like its my fault that they are a dumb ass. And the ruder and nastier they get, the happier I get that they can’t go.

[want_so_bad 0]

kat-- i know that when i find a place that i get great service and great value, i appreciate it so much! especially now-a-days when you go Walmart and the checker puts your cleaner in with your produce (omg, a HUGE pet peeve of mine) or puts canned goods in on top of your eggs! drives me nuts that people just dont seem to care much anymore.

travel-- we too are in a very small town and, to toot our own horn, are the best tire place in town! we have a great reputation that is well deserved. we are the same way with service calls too! we go hundreds of miles away to do service calls for people because or our reputation and word of mouth. its great. and i think that is why it gets so frustrating when people get crappy about things, ya know? my favorite is when companies call for a service call and get mad about the amount of time they will have to wait for our truck or the amount. they get all shitty, say they will call someone else. great, fine, but i bet you call me back! and they do, and then they are more pissed because i have taken another call and they are further down on the list.

husker-- i know about those last minute things! we will have people come in that have a low profile tire, or an off size and get all mad because we dont keep it in stock! and they act like we are nuts for not having what they need that second. we do really great special ordering things in for people. usually we can have it the same week they come in. or they come in and want their brakes done yesterday and we wont have an opening until the next day and they rush out muttering and all mad. lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine!

my boss really built a great business. he has worked very hard to get the reputation we have. and we all just grin and bear it when people come in. we will bitch to each other, and i vent here..... but its always smiles and yes ma'ma/sir.

Edited March 19, 2008 by want_so_bad

[travelgirl 3]

LOL, You're not in north central Kansas, are you??? Surely it can't be the same tire store where my DH works, but it sure sounds like the same place! HA!

[Wheetsin 714]

One thing I try really hard to avoid, even when I'm super mad, is taking it out on "whomever" I'm talking to. And I try hard to refrain from saying things like, "you guys" or "you" and try to be more neutral... perhaps using the company name or saying "your company." I never used to give a shite about it, they were all employees... then once upon a time I was asked to spend some time on the phones as a customer service agent (I was contracted to redesigning part of the job and the company I was working with felt it was important that I "know" the job... debatable, but I was making REALLY GOOD money for a customer service agent!!) Holy cow, I can't tell you how miserable it was. Having a phone job is beside the point. People screamed at me, it was always "you did this" (umm no, I'm not even in your state), etc. It's insane how people act about things like that.

Your story reminds me of one of the times someone managed to drag me into Wal-Mart. I was with a work friend who was refunding something during our lunch break. The person ahead of her was this lady with seriously like 8 kids. It was the dead of winter, and the lady had these grimy, broken down sandals she was trying to refund because one of the straps had broken. The lady was insisting she had just bought them "about a month ago". The workers kept telling her they weren't even in the system, and their store wouldn't have stocked sandals in January. THe lady got really personal with it -- "YOU sold me these sandals, and YOU have a guarantee to refund faulty merchandise..." It was so ridiculous, and pathetic. Just go spend $5 on some new Wal-Mart shoes, would you? Here, take my $5 because it's worth it not to have to listen to you being pathetic and stupid.

Edited March 20, 2008 by Wheetsin

[Kat817 19]

I think tire shops are a perfect example of catching people off guard.

When they end up with a ruined tire, or have let them go til they are bare...and suddenly are faced with the fact that it is going to be several hundred dollars they hadn't budgeted for---or they are grounded....they freak out and you get the brunt of it!

These are expenses that always seem to hit at the worst of times--but how that ends up being the shop employees fault I have no idea!

My DH worked as a mechanic in a station (back when they had mechanics on duty and they pumped your gas for you!), while he was putting himself through college. He said people would try to blame him for doing something to their cars.....oh and the fact that it is dry of oil----yeah he must have snuck over to their house a few days ago and drained it! He said the same thing, they would come in and cuss and freak out because a tire they just had fixed last week was flat again. Well back when they plugged the tire, it could happen on occasion, but more often it was another nail or screw---and they would insist that they did not drive where there were things like that, and since it was just like the one you took out last week, I just don't believe it! He would call me so frustrated!!!!

One thing is for sure---- working these jobs-----does give us insight into how to, and how not to treat people trying to do their job!!!

Kat

[travelgirl 3]

How about the farmer who waits until the wheat's ready to harvest and he needs to get in the field TODAY to even look at the tires on the combine. And then call and get all pissy about having to wait for a service call because there are 11 other farmers that did the same thing, only they managed to call first.

Summer's comin'!

[Kat817 19]

Oh! It isn't just tires, I have family that owns a couple of John Deere places---they do it with everything!! And every part imaginable no matter how old the machinery should be in stock!!! I work with them on occasion when I end up in TX----that is sooooo true!

Kat

[mikey155734 0]

It does seem that people can be so dumb! I have worked in customer service for 15 years, and I think I have heard it all. People become frustrated over the SIMPLEST things, and the dumbest things! And they don't want to take responsibility!!! I don't know what is happening to this world ! People should think about how they would feel if they were treated the way they treat others themselves. I remember a call I had once where a lady thought she could return a phone she bought 3 years earlier and receive a refund! I mean, really?! How dumb can people get! It seems when you think you have heard it all, something even dumber comes up!!!

[travelgirl 3]

And the whole world should cater to them. And RIGHT NOW. (Not dogging farmers here, just the ones who act like the world owes them something, especially when their own lack of planning causes the problem that they're trying to blame on someone else.)

[Kat817 19]

It is that way with a lot of things---not just farmers. We went in to the local feed store yesterday and bought some bags to make sand bags with---spring run off is about to start and the mountains above us are sitting at 170% of average snow pack....back in '05 we flooded pretty bad at 130%. So we went and got the bags, and plan on filling a few each evening....and trying to be prepared.

When we get to the feedstore, he has pallets of these bags---stacked about 8 high. They are in bundles of 100---so the pallets are not heavy, but he has tons of them. And he says to us when we bought them and commented on him being prepared....that yep everyone thinks that til he sells the last one....then people come out of the woodwork, wanting them, and complaining that he never stocks what they need!!!

Kat

[travelgirl 3]

Yep, that sounds just about right.