Not Going To Happen 'Cause I'm Not Harry Potter (Impossible Patron Requests)

[MissRose]

Just heard a co-worker saying they had a customer demanding credit as their internet line was down for... *drum roll*.... ONE Minute!!

I could see if it was an hour, maybe even 30 minutes but ONE minute....    

[iridaceae]

Just heard a co-worker saying they had a customer demanding credit as their internet line was down for... *drum roll*.... ONE Minute!!

I could see if it was an hour, maybe even 30 minutes but ONE minute....    

When I worked tech support at an ISP we'd get people wanting credit for things that we didn't control...like storms taking out power lines and phone lines or their telephone bill being cut off for non-payment.

[MissRose]

Just heard a co-worker saying they had a customer demanding credit as their internet line was down for... *drum roll*.... ONE Minute!!

I could see if it was an hour, maybe even 30 minutes but ONE minute....    

When I worked tech support at an ISP we'd get people wanting credit for things that we didn't control...like storms taking out power lines and phone lines or their telephone bill being cut off for non-payment.

I've heard similar too.  I think I've heard every possible reason why someone should be compensated, some that were good reasons, others not.

[whiterose]

Somebody wanting me to extend her computer time. Not possible on purpose. Sometimes it does ask you if you want to- IF nobody else is waiting, and not always. I did tell her about it- but I told her that I could not purposely extend it. It did ask her if she wanted more- but she did not agree to because she said "I did not tell her, so I did not know". Hopefully it was just a communication breakdown- but I DID tell her that sometimes it did ask you if you wanted more time, but that I just could not extend the time by hand on purpose by myself.

And of course, people wanting to use the computer, but not bringing any kind of ID that would allow them to apply for a card (if county resident) or get a guest pass (if from out of county).

People wanting our printer to print in color- none of the libraries has a color printer, yet this person wanted me to make it print in color.

[Yarnspinner]

Somebody wanting me to extend her computer time. Not possible on purpose. Sometimes it does ask you if you want to- IF nobody else is waiting, and not always. I did tell her about it- but I told her that I could not purposely extend it. It did ask her if she wanted more- but she did not agree to because she said "I did not tell her, so I did not know". Hopefully it was just a communication breakdown- but I DID tell her that sometimes it did ask you if you wanted more time, but that I just could not extend the time by hand on purpose by myself.

And of course, people wanting to use the computer, but not bringing any kind of ID that would allow them to apply for a card (if county resident) or get a guest pass (if from out of county).

People wanting our printer to print in color- none of the libraries has a color printer, yet this person wanted me to make it print in color.

I will see your lack of color printer and raise you having a color printer and a b&w printer....and getting yelled at by patrons who want everything to be printed in color, but print in b&W because the color printer costs more money.  But...they still want it in color.

Also, dear patrons, you can stand in front of me and stare at me as long as you like, I STILL cannot provide you with a book that hasn't been written yet.  Please call Stehanie Myer and ask HER about it.

[MissRose]

I just had a customer....

Me: Company Name, this is MissRose, how I can help you?

Customer: *explains issue*

Me: I can help you, please do A, B then C so we can give more help

Customer: I cannot see what you are telling me to see

Me: *gives customer alternate way which works*

Customer: I want to know why the other way won't show the same thing as the second way

Me: The only way I can see it is if you allow me to use your user details because I cannot see your computer nor do a remote session to see why your computer won't display our system correctly in your browser

Customer will not give detail to me to replicate issue with finding verification detail codes. I then let him know that we can proceed with the main reason for his call as we got the main details to ensure account ownership.  Customer still will not allow me to help further with main issue then disconnects his call at that point in time.

[Kaymyth]

Sorry, no great story to add. 

I just want to thank Kaymyth for adding the phrases "all head-esplody" and "giant floaty red ball of stupid" to my vocabulary.  Well done!

 

The Giant Floaty Red Ball of Stupid is actually an Alias reference.  It's what I named the MacGuffin machine that all the spy sides were going goofy over that apparently does nothing more than make a giant red ball....float.  Oh, and the ball is full of water.  Or something.  I am uncertain as to why this was so important to international espionage, unless there were plans afoot to threaten governments with giant floating water balloons.

/threadjack

At work, I have finally finished Folding ALL The Things.  I even put the folding machine back on the shelf, instead of shipping it off to be bait in a battlebot arena.  I am proud of my restraint.

The letters will all be stuffed and mailed by Tuesday!  Hooray!  My work is done!

...except for the undeliverables.  Those are already rolling in.  JOY.

[PeterM]

And of course, people wanting to use the computer, but not bringing any kind of ID that would allow them to apply for a card (if county resident) or get a guest pass (if from out of county).

The sheer number of people who regularly leave the house with no ID at all never ceases to boggle my mind. We had a woman today who forgot her purse, so unfortunately we couldn't check out to her. Unfortunate, but a simple mistake and understandable. She was bummed but understood.

The people who regularly come in with no card or ID do not understand. Even though we explain it every time, sometimes once a week. They act astounded that we won't let them walk away with up to $1000 worth of DVDs without something at least vaguely approximating ID. Heck, if they'd bother to memorize their card number they could use the self-check with no card or ID and check out whatever they want. If they're going to check out at the desk, though, we need a library card or picture ID. Inconsistent and more than a little silly, sure, but them's the rules. The same as they were the last time you were in. And the time before that. And before that, and so on.

Yes, they do let you just give your name at the branch across the river. Yes, it is a much nicer library. Yes, it does have a great selection of movies. Why don't you go there and stop bothering me?

Sorry. Been a long week. Come to think of it, I've probably posted this entire rant in this thread before. Possibly verbatim.

[iridaceae]

And of course, people wanting to use the computer, but not bringing any kind of ID that would allow them to apply for a card (if county resident) or get a guest pass (if from out of county).

The sheer number of people who regularly leave the house with no ID at all never ceases to boggle my mind. We had a woman today who forgot her purse, so unfortunately we couldn't check out to her. Unfortunate, but a simple mistake and understandable. She was bummed but understood.

We have people check in regualrly who are astounded that we require a photo ID and a credit card or if you're paying cash the total amount up front plus a large deposit which gets mailed back to you at check-in.

They act as if we are the only hotel in the universe which does this.  "No, I'll just pay when I check out". Yeah, no form of payment, no checking in.  That's life in the US in the 21st century.   Even then we had to have someone arrested the other day because they ran up a huge bill and then were all "oh, we don't have the money; you don't mind, do you?" when their credit card declined at check out. Well, yes we did and when they indicated they weren't going to pay we called the police on them.  Who arrested them.

[Redsoil]

^  In stark contrast to a hotel I stayed at whilst travelling about on my bike.

Country town.  I walked into a pub, requesting a room for the night.  "No problems - take your pick!"  Gave my name (but no ID or other details).  Offered to pay upfront - "Don't worry about that Love, we'll fix it up tomorrow."  Good-o, then.  Wandered up the stairs, where all doors were open, and all keys in doors.  Picked the nicest room, went back down to the bike to grab my gear.  On the way back through, mentioned I was in room 10 to the barperson.  "Oh, that's a good room!  You'll like that one."

So, the next morning, I headed down to fix up the bill around 10am.  One very bleary looking older bloke cleaning up after what had obviously been a big night.  Explained I was checking out, and wanted to pay for room no. 10, one person, one night.

Him:  "Oh!"  Blank look ensued.  "I don't know what to charge you, and the boss is still drunk!  We had a pretty big one last night." 

Me:     "Well is there a book with prices anywhere, or someone you could ask?"

Him:    "Nah, don't worry about it mate.  Just ring the boss later send us a cheque in the mail when you get home."

Me:      "Are you sure?  There's no-one else you can check with?"

Him:   "Nah, mate - she'll be right!" 

So I did.  Phoned through when I got home, explained the circumstances.  The "Boss" seemed mildly surprised that I'd worried about it!  "Well, if you really want to you can send us a cheque through.  Call it thrity bucks, and that'll do.  We'll see you next time you come through - come and have a drink with us!"

[Ambrosia Hino]

^  In stark contrast to a hotel I stayed at whilst travelling about on my bike.

Country town.  I walked into a pub, requesting a room for the night.  "No problems - take your pick!"  Gave my name (but no ID or other details).  Offered to pay upfront - "Don't worry about that Love, we'll fix it up tomorrow."  Good-o, then.  Wandered up the stairs, where all doors were open, and all keys in doors.  Picked the nicest room, went back down to the bike to grab my gear.  On the way back through, mentioned I was in room 10 to the barperson.  "Oh, that's a good room!  You'll like that one."

So, the next morning, I headed down to fix up the bill around 10am.  One very bleary looking older bloke cleaning up after what had obviously been a big night.  Explained I was checking out, and wanted to pay for room no. 10, one person, one night.

Him:  "Oh!"  Blank look ensued.  "I don't know what to charge you, and the boss is still drunk!  We had a pretty big one last night." 

Me:     "Well is there a book with prices anywhere, or someone you could ask?"

Him:    "Nah, don't worry about it mate.  Just ring the boss later send us a cheque in the mail when you get home."

Me:      "Are you sure?  There's no-one else you can check with?"

Him:   "Nah, mate - she'll be right!" 

So I did.  Phoned through when I got home, explained the circumstances.  The "Boss" seemed mildly surprised that I'd worried about it!  "Well, if you really want to you can send us a cheque through.  Call it thrity bucks, and that'll do.  We'll see you next time you come through - come and have a drink with us!"

Wow, I'm amazed they stay in business that way! That they do, shows that there are still people (like Redsoil) that have integrity

[Cami]

We have people check in regualrly who are astounded that we require a photo ID and a credit card or if you're paying cash the total amount up front plus a large deposit which gets mailed back to you at check-in.

They act as if we are the only hotel in the universe which does this.  "No, I'll just pay when I check out". Yeah, no form of payment, no checking in.  That's life in the US in the 21st century.   Even then we had to have someone arrested the other day because they ran up a huge bill and then were all "oh, we don't have the money; you don't mind, do you?" when their credit card declined at check out. Well, yes we did and when they indicated they weren't going to pay we called the police on them.  Who arrested them.

I know these people. I work with them.  I wish I did not.
 
Part of my job involves making travel arrangements for our volunteers and ancillary staff. We have a number of them who refuse to have credit cards (thank you so VERY much, Dave Ramsey).  These same people also do not give me enough advance warning of their travels to set up direct bills with the hotels, which necessitates having a credit card. (Moreover, even with direct bill, some hotels insist upon having a credit card in the guest's hand at check-in.)  It's all pretty standard. In addition, they have been warned and warned again verbally and in writing of hotel rules and the lead time necessary to set up direct bills.

Nonetheless, every single time they travel, problems plague me from start to finish. Long story short, finally this group of people traveled together and learned the hard way in a hotel in New Jersey.  (Or they started to learn the hard way until one of my coworkers made a fatal mistake of being compassionate to their idiocy.)

I had set up a direct bill but had warned each and every one of them that this particular hotel (the one THEY insisted upon staying in) had a rule that at least one member of the party had to have a credit card shown upon check-in. They  kept insisting I was wrong because Dave Ramsey told them they don't need credit cards to travel. (To which I retorted, "Dave Ramsey doesn't run this hotel.")

 They flew to NJ, got to the hotel and lo and behold.... They were not allowed to check in. Since it was after hours, I could not be reached at the office and they could not reach me at home because I'd gone away for the weekend, they were in deep doo-doo.  They ended up calling everyone at work at home and finally found someone with a work credit card who (foolishly) felt bad for them and gave the hotel her cc number with the proviso that they were not to use it.

You know what happens next, don't you? They ran up huge room service charges on her credit card and never paid her back.

[Daffodil]

Occasionally we get customers who are shocked - SHOCKED! that we need to see government issued photo ID to renew their phone contract or to see the ID and either a credit card or SIN to start a new contract, as a credit check needs to be run, and we need to verify their information.

I don't care how against sharing this info, you are, but it's either that or you stick to prepaid phones. No exceptions. I don't care how sad your story is. If we become lax about the credit check policies, we'll have people getting phones and running up the bills and never paying them. If we get lax about the ID, we have identity theft.

We had one guy came in who had his ex gf open up an account in his name at a private dealership (we're corporate, but there's a couple private dealers in the area who seem more lax..) and she ran up the bill and wouldn't pay it, and he can't get fraud protection or whatever it's called, to help him ! They just tell him to the pay the bill, and that's it. I felt terrible for him 

[camlan]

My parents were staunchly anti-credit card. Didn't have them; didn't need them. Until some point in the mid-1980s when it just got too difficult to travel without one. In order to stay at a hotel without a credit card back then, you had to mail a hefty deposit check weeks in advance, so that the hotel could deposit it and make sure that it would clear (banking systems were much slower back then). Same thing with rental cars.

And setting all this up would take lots of expensive long-distance phone calls, and finding the one person at the hotel or rental company who knew how to set up a completely cash transaction. And then more time explaining to the person at the desk when we arrived that everything was set up for a cash transaction when the person at the desk a) didn't know they could do cash and b) had no idea how to handle a cash transaction. I can remember being just so embarrassed by my parents--just get a credit card already! But they were also trying to prove the point that you didn't need credit cards to travel. There was one time we arrived at a hotel about 8 pm and they couldn't figure out what to do. I thought we were going to spend the night driving around in the rental car, because the people behind the desk at the hotel were positive that there was no way the manager would have agreed to a cash transaction.

Dave Ramsey is correct in that you shouldn't need a credit card to navigate everyday life. But there are time when having one makes things a lot easier. And if you have the money to pay for the hotel bill, you can charge the hotel and then just pay off the bill in full when you get it.

Even my ultra-frugal parents figured that out, after they finally realized that having one credit card did not instantly plunge the family into financial ruin.

[Giggity]

Part of my job involves making travel arrangements for our volunteers and ancillary staff. We have a number of them who refuse to have credit cards (thank you so VERY much, Dave Ramsey).

Gotta be honest, under most circumstances I wouldn't use my personal credit card for work expenses either. That's why company credit cards exist.