11.25.2006

two for the price of none

there's an older couple that regularly comes into my bux. they both want grande mistos, as well as venti ice waters, and two large cups of milk - but all for under a buck. we baristas call them the moochers.

mr. and mrs. moocher bring in stainless steel mugs that were last scrubbed clean when nixon was in office. they ask for two refills, but only half filled with coffee and the other half steamed milk (which is a 'misto). besides their "refills" they want two venti cups of ice water, two empty venti hot cups and lids - and of course a tray to carry all their booty.

mr. and mrs. moocher insist we charge them the price of a refill (even though this is their first and only coffees of the day) AND they bitch and moan if we don't give them 10 cents off each "refill" since they bring in their own cups. uh, excuse me but a refill means you already have a cup and it is being RE-filled, not filled for the first time. mr. and mrs. moocher don't care. they still feel entitled to only pay 40 cents for their mistos. they also think bux is their personal milk supplier, because they take the empty cups we've given them and fill them full of milk from the condiment bar.

so let's recap: two large ice waters, 16 ounces of hot coffee, 16 ounces of steamed milk, 20 ounces of cold regular milk and 20 ounces of cold non-fat milk for the low, low price of 80 cents. not only that - they have the nerve to suggest we give them all this for free on occasion because they're "such good customers".
i'm happy to admit that i've gone against direct orders from both my manager and assistant manager. i am not complying with the "just say yes" mentality. sure i still give them their ice waters and their mistos at the price of a refill, but i won't give them the empty cups, nor do i give them the cup discounts. even when the inform me that they've always been charged 80 cents, and that manager told them they could have empty cups - i play dumb and say "i'm sorry but we were told we can't do that anymore." apparently i've gotten under their skin because they are frequenting my bux less and less.
and no, i'm not missing them a bit.

partner rant: if you're going to lie, at least make an effort! yesterday you begged to go home early because you wanted to spend a little time with your mother before she flew up north this morning. then tonight you bitched because your mother wants you to take her to the doctor's office on monday. uh, excuse me, but isn't that going to be hard since she's supposed to be in ANOTHER state! when we called you on it, you stuttered and mumbled - finally settling on, "oh, i meant my girlfriend's mother". when we reminded you that you took a week off last month because you had to help plan your girlfriend's mother's funeral, you changed your story again and said "uh, i meant her step-mother". you should carry around a cheat sheet so you can keep better track of your lies.

18 comments:

SkippyMom said...

Typical customer, aren't they? I read about old timers all the time and seems to be too true.

as for the partner....wow. pink slip in his future. just don't send him back my way ;)

Anonymous said...

I guess some people think they're entitled.

Allan said...

the caffeine and the vented spleen...sounds like a fun job.

Anonymous said...

That's why I generally don't lie. It's way too hard to keep track of what I lied about. K

Toccata said...

Nice rant! There's a guy at my favorite bux that is always trying to scam a free cup of coffee. This guy I think is a bit off in the head and I'm sure the workers must cringe everytime he walks through the door.

Loved your line about needing to keep a cheat sheet handy!

Sling said...

I tried convincing the checkout girl at Safeway that I should get a free turkey for being such a good customer..Geez,you kids are hard for us old-timers to con.. ;)

Anonymous said...

Good for those old folks! It's good to see them work the system for all it's worth. I mean you work for a huge corporation, what do you care if they scam the system? It's not like it's money out of your paycheck.

Grumpy Housewife said...

Anonymous, you're obviously a moron. I won't go further than that, but explaining it would take more time than I feel like spending on you.

Brat, good for you! I hate scammers. I don't care how old they are, they're con artists, and they all want something for nothing. The old ones especially, they feel like they're entitled to something for nothing because they're OLD.

IMHO, being old means you have learned the rules of society, just like everyone else should. So, pay up, asshole!

I'm glad that the management is tired of the "just say yes" mentality with these people. Scammers annoy the shit out of me, especially when they start in with the, "I'm old" bullshit. If you're on a fixed income, why are you coming to Bux? That makes no sense to me at all. If you can't afford it, don't try to scam for it. That just makes you an asshole.

(p.s., I dunno if I told you or not, but I'm Ms. K)

Unknown said...

Ok, I've pondered this one for years. What on earth makes people develop such a sense of entitlement when they age?

Scammers make it harder on EVERYONE, and the stupid "just say yes" attitude is one that has been perpetuated and made more popular by the average Big Box (wally world!!) retailer, who has thus created a new, and completely intolerable breed of customers who feel they are entitled to EVERYTHING!!!

I totally get that they live on limited funds. That's not an affliction of just those who are elderly. It's a common affliction of the middle aged-lower middle class as well. The difference seems to be in how the two approach the problem. The old folks want everyone to hand them everything just because they are old. Most of us who are in the other category will just plain not go and buy crap they can't afford!!! We can't afford a daily trip to Bux. So what'd I do? I invested in a decent home machine to make espresso and steam milk. I do it myself. It's not hard at all, and cup for cup, it's far cheaper. Sure, I'd love to be able to just walk into the cafe and have it made for me, but that's not in my budget, and I am not going to make an ASS out of myself trying to scam them for it!

Good for you for not saying "yes" to them. Reality is that the customer is always right...unless they are wrong. Customers are not always right, and that "rule" is outdated. Too many scammers have ruined that "rule."

Tracy
http://detourfromsanity.blogspot.com
http://members.families.com/tw1080/blog

Anonymous said...

Ugh to moochers. Especially the 'such good customers line' it gets me every time. Regular customer does not mean good customer -- especially if you're costing more then you put in.

Anonymous said...

I truly don't understand how these people fit into the "customer is always right" thing...what they're doing is stealing and Bux is letting them do it by giving them their refills when they aren't refilling anything.

Does this mean I can walk into any Bux with an old cup and get a refill? Not that I would, but I think it's kind of wierd.

Anonymous said...

so so cheap... go to mcdonalds if you wanna pull those sorts of scams...

eh, i'm just loving the red cups and the christmassy feel in the stores... and the peppermint chocolate brownies... mmm... tasty

but the toffee nut latte is way too sweet... ugh... but i want the starbucks diary! and i need to collect stickers!! terrible...

Anonymous said...

The "Just say YES" mentality should be reserved for customers that are profitable. If the customer is not profitable, there's no point in keeping that customer happy. No point in losing money on a customer transaction.

SkippyMom said...

TAG Brat...you're it! Come see me! Because I honestly want to see the rest [that's a side note]

I had to add one more thing to this regarding Christmas - I too am digging the cups and the feeling, but does anyone else bux have the SWEETIE looking iced snowmen gingerbread thingys? They are JUST TOO CUTE!

Anonymous said...

Yes, moochers are not definitely just the elderly although I do find they seem to have a larger incidence of entitlement behavior. I think it might be a combination of 'respect your elders' and senior discounts overload plus a willfull ignoring of inflation. So now the saying needs to be 'respect your elders... unless they're annoying idiots.'

Grumpy Housewife said...

Glen, their behavior is because not only are they self-centered bastards, but because they've gotten away with it their whole lives.

Moochers of any age are bad, but old moochers are the worst. They've had plenty of time to perfect their scams, and plenty of time to perfect their self-centered whining.

I used to work in retail. My husband is a restaurant manager. The moochers we both hated/hate to see? The OLD moochers. Why? They're so goddamned MEAN. They're mean as snakes, and think that because we've been taught to respect our elders, we'll just fall into line and give them everything they want for free. Uhh, hell no. No, I don't respond to rude, I don't respond to mean, and I have no problems telling anyone who is being mean and rude, and expecting to run a scam to fuck off. I don't care HOW old they are.

There's a reason why I will not work retail ever again, even if I'm living in a box under a freeway overpass. And it's "customers" like that.

Cup said...

When I worked at the bookstore, we had a customer who bought a romance paperback maybe two years ago. Every Sunday, she'd come in to exchange the paperback for another one. Because she was careful not to break the spine or show any sign of wear and tear, we had to exchange the book. Every damn Sunday. So, basically, she paige $5.99 for two years of weekly romance novels.

BTW, love the lame liar!

Anonymous said...

Here's a thought:
how about next time The Moochers come in and ask for their refill ask them (with a great big fake smile on your face) Oh you've been in the store already? I'm so sorry to have missed you when I came in for my shift! Who made your first cup of coffee I should have made it. : ) See what happens when you ask them who made their first cup of coffee.

I find sometimes being the almost-but-not-quite-sarcastic friendliness goes a long way to making the customer feel uncomfortable and backing off their obnoxious behaviour.