joshuapalmatier

There seems to be something going around about the stupidity of some customers and I figured why not relate some of my customer service experiences? Or at least one. You see, while I was a grad student, both at Penn State seeking my masters degree, and then at Binghamton U while going for the PhD, I worked in bookstores. (SURPRISE!) Not the same one obviously, but the commute would have killed me. The first was at a Little Professor Bookstore, where I was the SF specialist. Which has no relevance for the story.

( Story, not told as well as actual real life )

I'm not getting across the sheer annoyance factor of her asking me if I have it yet when I've barely had enough time to bring up the computer screen to start the search, but that's the gist of the conversation. And it happened repeatedly during the conversation. I'd type in half of her guess at the title and she'd already be asking me if I had it. And the search! It wasn't a slow computer, but searches take time and she must have asked me 5 times if I'd come up with anything before it had a chance to finish. I have to say, I escalated from nice employee to jaw-clenched swearing in the space of five minutes, fairly fast for me, especially while I'm working. I did manage to refrain from calling the woman a bitch to her face, although I'm not sure that would have been better or worse at that point.

She didn't call back while I was working, thankfully. I know it took me a good twenty minutes to calm down.

What about you guys? Any customer service horror stories to tell? (I know