Customer Service Woes

So I finished my shift yesterday at the store and I realized that I have been in the customer service business too long. What follows will undoubtedly be an expletive-filled tirade, so those with sensitive eyes and minds may want to go watch funny cats on YouTube....




I would say 95% of customers that come in to the Blockbuster that I work at are kind, personable people. It's that other 5% that drive me out of my mind. If you've worked a week in a customer service stressed industry you'll understand what I'm talking about. It takes only one person to throw your entire day off, and fuck them for doing so. These jackasses have some sort of feeling of entitlement when they come into a store. I had a woman in yesterday, texting away on her Blackberry, who brought two movies up to the counter. I give her my smile and my "How are you doing today?" opening. "Two days!" she says without lifting her head to meet my eyes. She obviously would like her rentals for two nights instead of a week, but how about a "I'm fine. How are you?" or even a "two days, please" would have sufficed. I don't know who this woman is, she hasn't presented her membership card or told me her last name or anything. I let the rude attitude go and ask if she has her card with her. She mutters some name that I can neither hear nor spell even if I did hear it. She still hasn't even looked up from her Crackberry. "I'm sorry, what was that name?" I ask. This finally got her attention as she stopped texting for three seconds to look me right in the eye and, very loudly, say her name as if I was retarded. FUCK YOU!!!! Who the hell do you think you are?? I couldn't give a shit if you are in the worst mood of you're life and having a completely shitty day...I'm a human fucking being that doesn't need to be yelled at because you couldn't take the time to speak clearly. I said that to her...not really. So now I'm seething on the inside. I can't imagine being this rude to someone for absolutely no reason at all. I find her name and process her movies silently as she continues to text away. Before I can give her a total or ask if there was anything else I could get for her, she whips out her debit card and swipes it through the machine. I say "I haven't set that up for you yet. Are you paying by debit or credit?". Swiping the card again she says "Debit". I still haven't totalled up her transaction while she keeps swiping, meaning nothing is happening. Now I take my time to get the machine ready for her purchase. I love doing that. If you totally ignore my existence I will make you wait as long as I can just to piss you off. That may be a bit childish on my part, but it gives me a tiny bit of satisfaction. Anyway, she pays, leaves without saying a word, and leaves me in a bad mood for the rest of the day. Did she even realize how rude she was? Probably not....absolutely not. It's these fucking customers that leave a bad taste in your mouth for days afterwards. What makes them think they can treat people this way? Is it a disease? You've come into my store, where I sell things, and you don't have the common decency to even smile or say "Hi"? When did this become OK?
I think of times that I shop in stores. Because I've worked in customer service for over 20 years, I know somebody, at some point, is going to try to sell me something. I either politely decline or ask for more info. That's all I ask of anybody that may be reading this. It is our jobs to try to sell stuff to you. If we didn't do that our stores would close very quickly and you'd have no place to go to piss people off.