Complaints

That was the first thing I heard about when I went to work today. No comment about my improvement on getting to work earlier. Just that my manager received TWO complaints. About me. That was the bombshell. I've been at my current job for over two years and this is the first time that I've actually had a complaint written against me. Sure, I've had a customer make some ridiculous criticism or complaint here or there, but I was always able to take it in stride. This one took longer. I'm not sure why I got so upset over it. Maybe it was the way my boss said it to me. Or it was my first actual complaint.

So what was the complaint about? This customer came in to do a return and exchange. I did the return and exchange, however this one was a little more complicated than your usual return. Not only was it bought in another state, it was bought with a discount that was already expired. When I tried to make a joke, the customer took it the wrong way. Apparently, she tried to let go of this but couldn't as she "stewed" over it and decided to write a long complaint about me. I've been with the company for a while now, so I don't think I could be considered an ignorant employee. Someone who may have made a mistake on that day, yes. Ignorant, no. I talked with several coworkers and friends about this, and they were surprised by what was said in the complaint. Because for the most part, they said it didn't sound like me. She quoted phrases that I don't normally use when talking with a customer. And she said I had a smug demeanor. When have I ever been smug? Here's the definition of the word smug: "contentedly confident of one's ability, superiority, or correctness; complacent." The best part of this? Our store isn't even the closest store to her! We're like over an hour away, in good traffic. And if you know how our freeways are like, we're probably at least an hour and half away. that probably means I probably won't see her again.

The second one, came via phone call. My a.m. (assistant manager) was on break and the l.s. (lead sales) got the call. Apparently they were on the phone for a bit and my a.m. asked the l.s. what was the call about. The customer described me to the l.s., who then gave her my name. The customer said l.s. and I were there that night. She made a comment about the sweepstakes. And whatever answer I gave her, I must've given her a look of irritation. She said I wasn't rude in my answer, but she didn't appreciate that I looked irritated.

Okay, so next time I think I can handle something, I won't. I'll hand it over to the manager on duty. Because there's NO way I want another incident like the one above. Anyone interested in knowing more details about the complaint, let me know. But for now, that's all I'm going to write about because I know I have to be careful about what I put on here. That's why I try to keep things general and partially vague.