Are you a student at HCC who is stressed out from work and people in general and don’t know how to deal with it? Here are some helpful hints.
By Honer Sofi
Staff Writer
By Honer Sofi
Staff Writer
I know from experience students at HCC go through stress and pain dealing with customers at work, and just dealing with people in general. I have three jobs and I am a full time student at HCC. Trust me, it’s hard dealing with people all day long, but someone has to do it.
I always start my day off by drinking a medium regular coffee from Dunkin Donuts. That usually prepares me for the day at work. Then I think about how I can get in and out without any complaints from anyone. Anyways, that’s the life you have to deal with when working for a company like Stop & Shop or other jobs that have to deal with customer service and retail. We all have to work to make a living.
So when I am at work I try not to let the upset customer know that I am just as angry as they are. If I do, it escalates into more trouble and headaches. You have to think about the customer too, because they might have had a fight with someone else before they came to you.
What I do is listen to whatever they want to complain about, and try to fix the problem or reason with them. And sometimes I sing, dance, or just make a joke to make them smile. When you see a person smiling and being happy, it helps make your life easier, and theirs.
But if the customer is an ass, then he or she will always be an ass. There is nothing you can do to change them around. I am talking about the people who like to make everyone’s life a living hell. The best thing to do is to control yourself and not to become one of them. These are the customers that come in the store angry at life, the world, and everyone. They never smile or say “hello” or even a “hi” when they walk in the store. Not to mention the way they throw money on the counter and asking for an item with an angry tone. These people can not be changed trust me I tried lots of time. It just doesn’t work.
For example, the other day a customer came to the gas station that I work at and wanted a refund on a prepaid phone card that he bought earlier, even though the policy is no refund on all prepaid cards. So I told him, “Listen man, I can’t just refund a card for $20 without the boss’s permission because I have to pay out of my pocket if I refund the card.”
Then he said “I don’t really give a damn about what happens I need my money right now or else”. Then he said “I am not leaving this store until I get my money”.
At that point I tried to just ignore him. That’s when he threw the phone card in my face, and said, “Listen, if I don’t get my money right now I am goanna hurt somebody in this store”.
At this point I really wanted to fight this customer, but luckily I had someone working with who broke us apart from fighting.
I didn’t argue with him anymore and called the manager to come and handle it ,or else there was going to a fight between me and the customer, if he didn’t come to the store and take care of the customer. This situation could have turned out differently: if I were to argue with him, it probably would have ended in a fistfight. Sometimes you just have to let someone with more power handle the problem, unless you are looking into losing your job, which is not worth it. If you lose your job, the customer wins.
There are several ways to deal with these kinds of people, but I prefer my way: listen to what they have to say even if you know they’re wrong, and always smile. Trust me; it works.
Then there is school, a place where I try to get away from all of these problems. When I am here, I actually have a chance to study and forget about all the headaches of dealing with people and their problems.
By reading my story you all should know how hard it is working part-time or even full-time job for a retail store that deals with customer service, and why school is so important to go to and graduate from. Trust me, from all the experience I had working part-time at Stop & Shop it made me realize that there is nothing more important than school, because that’s the only way you will succeed in life. Or else you will end up working miserably for the rest of your life.
I always start my day off by drinking a medium regular coffee from Dunkin Donuts. That usually prepares me for the day at work. Then I think about how I can get in and out without any complaints from anyone. Anyways, that’s the life you have to deal with when working for a company like Stop & Shop or other jobs that have to deal with customer service and retail. We all have to work to make a living.
So when I am at work I try not to let the upset customer know that I am just as angry as they are. If I do, it escalates into more trouble and headaches. You have to think about the customer too, because they might have had a fight with someone else before they came to you.
What I do is listen to whatever they want to complain about, and try to fix the problem or reason with them. And sometimes I sing, dance, or just make a joke to make them smile. When you see a person smiling and being happy, it helps make your life easier, and theirs.
But if the customer is an ass, then he or she will always be an ass. There is nothing you can do to change them around. I am talking about the people who like to make everyone’s life a living hell. The best thing to do is to control yourself and not to become one of them. These are the customers that come in the store angry at life, the world, and everyone. They never smile or say “hello” or even a “hi” when they walk in the store. Not to mention the way they throw money on the counter and asking for an item with an angry tone. These people can not be changed trust me I tried lots of time. It just doesn’t work.
For example, the other day a customer came to the gas station that I work at and wanted a refund on a prepaid phone card that he bought earlier, even though the policy is no refund on all prepaid cards. So I told him, “Listen man, I can’t just refund a card for $20 without the boss’s permission because I have to pay out of my pocket if I refund the card.”
Then he said “I don’t really give a damn about what happens I need my money right now or else”. Then he said “I am not leaving this store until I get my money”.
At that point I tried to just ignore him. That’s when he threw the phone card in my face, and said, “Listen, if I don’t get my money right now I am goanna hurt somebody in this store”.
At this point I really wanted to fight this customer, but luckily I had someone working with who broke us apart from fighting.
I didn’t argue with him anymore and called the manager to come and handle it ,or else there was going to a fight between me and the customer, if he didn’t come to the store and take care of the customer. This situation could have turned out differently: if I were to argue with him, it probably would have ended in a fistfight. Sometimes you just have to let someone with more power handle the problem, unless you are looking into losing your job, which is not worth it. If you lose your job, the customer wins.
There are several ways to deal with these kinds of people, but I prefer my way: listen to what they have to say even if you know they’re wrong, and always smile. Trust me; it works.
Then there is school, a place where I try to get away from all of these problems. When I am here, I actually have a chance to study and forget about all the headaches of dealing with people and their problems.
By reading my story you all should know how hard it is working part-time or even full-time job for a retail store that deals with customer service, and why school is so important to go to and graduate from. Trust me, from all the experience I had working part-time at Stop & Shop it made me realize that there is nothing more important than school, because that’s the only way you will succeed in life. Or else you will end up working miserably for the rest of your life.
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