Angry Customer Demands To Tie Up His Fridge With T.V Cable, Sears Employee Lets Physics Teach Him A Lesson
The customer is always right, except for when they are oh so wrong. A former Sears employee took to Reddit to share their experience with a nightmare customer who had a very ridiculous request. If you have ever worked in customer service of any kind you know that it is your duty to try and appease the customer in any way you can – however when it gets in the way of your expertise things can go off the rails quickly.
Image credits: Mike Kalasnik (not the actual photo)
User lazespud2 was given the task of securing a fridge to the pick-up truck of one of their customers. As someone who had been trained to do such a task they knew that it would require some of their approved nylon twine to hold it down, but the customer had a different idea. Scroll down below to see how things literally flew off the handle and how this impressive employee made sure they reminded their boss that we can’t always give the people what they want.
People were impressed with the employee for the way they handled the situation
I worked at a garden center one year and loaded patio stones that were 18"x18" into the trunk of a small car. I informed the customer that I could safely only place 5 of them in their trunk before it became too heavy for the car. I watched as the back of the car sunk closer and closer to the top of the tires. I stopped loading and informed the customer that we had reached the limit. They insisted I kept going. So I did. And when they tried to drive away their car wouldn't move. I held my tongue and didn't say "I told you so" but I did politely remove the 6 more slabs I'd added when they sheepishly asked.
If they sheepishly asked, then you were right to hold your tongue because that's an absolute admission they were wrong. I have all the time in the world for people who make a mistake and "admit" it instead of doubling down.
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We had a cookout on a friends 8 acre property and brought a lot of gear for cooking and camping. I tried to get my husband to either lay the gas grill on it’s back or strap it in closer to the cab, not by the tailgate where it would bounce more. I wanted to follow him but he told me to go ahead and leave before hi. 10 minutes later he calls me to come back and help him reload and secure the grill that fell out of the bed. Luckily it was early Sunday am and a country road with not a lot of traffic. Upside, I got a nice new stainless steel grill and husband invested in proper tie downs and bed net and all I have to say if I think he’s loading something wrong is ‘remember the grill?’ and he listens.
i retired from a job where documentation was EVERYTHING--I can't tell you how many times (as a customer) this has saved my a*s! haven't had to deal with being on the seller side of it much, but you can bet that if i have any issues with a customer doing something that i even think will end badly, i document and take pics!
Here in Finland many people do dangerous stuff with wood planks. Many stores that sell planks have instructions how people should transport them by a car but too many people do not care about the safety instructions. So there definitely should be some cameras on the store and a kilometre away from that store so people could see how many of those dangerous plank transports went wrong. :D
"AND A KILOMETRE AWAY" is the best advice ever - customers will absolutely pay attention to that better than anything else. but there will still be those who know best. OTOH, perhaps it's in the store's interest to not provide this info? They then can sell the replacement item to the fools who won't strap it down properly.
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And this is why most stores DON'T load and tie-down. They either deliver it or help you load it and you can secure it yourself.
I am a bit surpriced they let him leave without alerting the police. That fridge could easily had killed a whole family if it had dropped so it caused an accident. The fact that the company wasnt responsiboe for at dangerous situation seemed to be the only goal.
Yes that’s a law in all 50 States (USA) that you must secure your laid before you move a vehicle- especially on a freeway or highway. That the drive is liable for anything that happens when they are hauling anything on or in a vehicle. I wouldn’t want to injury or even kill someone because I thought I knew better than an expert. *smh*
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Perhaps . . . Trust the professionals?? Who do this often?? Who deal with this? THEN complain when it falters?
This! People think that covering your a*s and being diligent make you an annoying douchebag but this is a perfect example of why it's a good idea.
Yep. Plus it’s nice to know that you’re right when something goes wrong when another person has a fit about not getting they way.
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Once passed a little 4-door sedan on an interstate (70 mph speed limit) with an unsecured picnic table on the roof. The driver was literally holding it with his one hand as he drove with the other as if he could keep it in place if it decided to shift. How he managed to get onto the interstate like that is beyond me, but I certainly was not going to be anywhere behind him. Have narrowly avoided countless number of accidents due to unsecured mattresses (all in heavy traffic on interstates). A woman died a year or two ago around here because she was in the bed of a pickup truck "holding down" a mattress that flew out of the vehicle. The stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze me.
I’ve seen the picnic table stunt, actually fly off of a roof and shatter into several pieces.
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I work for a large retail company, they have now made it a rule that unless approved by management we do not secure loads to customers vehicles. It is because of situations like this. A few bad people ruin it for everyone.
I have been in so many of these situations- only one manager has ever stood up to a customer for me. I thank her dearly.
I work at Goodwill in Seattle. We have had back and forth on whether our guys can help people put stuff in their cars, but they have always had to figure out how to tie things down themselves. My favorite was these two college students who loaded five chairs on top of a smart car, with nothing to tie them down. They said they were driving about five minutes and drove away holding onto the chairs. I expected to see chairs all up and down the road, but it seems like they made it.
I can vouch for the "Sears takes back anything" comment. We once had a customer in complaining that his generator wasn't working after one use at a BMX rally. Turned out the rally was in Eastern Washington where sand blows around everywhere. When the mechanic opened the carburetor on the generator, sand came pouring out. I told the customer that he would have to pay for the repair since the problem was not covered under warranty. He marched to the store, told a lame story to the salesman who, without calling us, replaced the customers generator. Sears was never big on interdepartmental communication.
"And then loss prevention took some Polaroid photos of the completely tied up job." You can't buy Polaroid film anymore. Don't waste it on this guy's dumb decisions.
I worked at Best Buy for years and completely feel this struggle. Ugh.
No one with more than two braincells could take over five minutes to read that, it must be lonely up there. And they seem to have more of a life than the guy trolling every post on this site.
Load More Replies... I worked at a garden center one year and loaded patio stones that were 18"x18" into the trunk of a small car. I informed the customer that I could safely only place 5 of them in their trunk before it became too heavy for the car. I watched as the back of the car sunk closer and closer to the top of the tires. I stopped loading and informed the customer that we had reached the limit. They insisted I kept going. So I did. And when they tried to drive away their car wouldn't move. I held my tongue and didn't say "I told you so" but I did politely remove the 6 more slabs I'd added when they sheepishly asked.
If they sheepishly asked, then you were right to hold your tongue because that's an absolute admission they were wrong. I have all the time in the world for people who make a mistake and "admit" it instead of doubling down.
Load More Replies... We had a cookout on a friends 8 acre property and brought a lot of gear for cooking and camping. I tried to get my husband to either lay the gas grill on it’s back or strap it in closer to the cab, not by the tailgate where it would bounce more. I wanted to follow him but he told me to go ahead and leave before hi. 10 minutes later he calls me to come back and help him reload and secure the grill that fell out of the bed. Luckily it was early Sunday am and a country road with not a lot of traffic. Upside, I got a nice new stainless steel grill and husband invested in proper tie downs and bed net and all I have to say if I think he’s loading something wrong is ‘remember the grill?’ and he listens.
i retired from a job where documentation was EVERYTHING--I can't tell you how many times (as a customer) this has saved my a*s! haven't had to deal with being on the seller side of it much, but you can bet that if i have any issues with a customer doing something that i even think will end badly, i document and take pics!
Here in Finland many people do dangerous stuff with wood planks. Many stores that sell planks have instructions how people should transport them by a car but too many people do not care about the safety instructions. So there definitely should be some cameras on the store and a kilometre away from that store so people could see how many of those dangerous plank transports went wrong. :D
"AND A KILOMETRE AWAY" is the best advice ever - customers will absolutely pay attention to that better than anything else. but there will still be those who know best. OTOH, perhaps it's in the store's interest to not provide this info? They then can sell the replacement item to the fools who won't strap it down properly.
Load More Replies... And this is why most stores DON'T load and tie-down. They either deliver it or help you load it and you can secure it yourself.
I am a bit surpriced they let him leave without alerting the police. That fridge could easily had killed a whole family if it had dropped so it caused an accident. The fact that the company wasnt responsiboe for at dangerous situation seemed to be the only goal.
Yes that’s a law in all 50 States (USA) that you must secure your laid before you move a vehicle- especially on a freeway or highway. That the drive is liable for anything that happens when they are hauling anything on or in a vehicle. I wouldn’t want to injury or even kill someone because I thought I knew better than an expert. *smh*
Load More Replies... Perhaps . . . Trust the professionals?? Who do this often?? Who deal with this? THEN complain when it falters?
This! People think that covering your a*s and being diligent make you an annoying douchebag but this is a perfect example of why it's a good idea.
Yep. Plus it’s nice to know that you’re right when something goes wrong when another person has a fit about not getting they way.
Load More Replies... Once passed a little 4-door sedan on an interstate (70 mph speed limit) with an unsecured picnic table on the roof. The driver was literally holding it with his one hand as he drove with the other as if he could keep it in place if it decided to shift. How he managed to get onto the interstate like that is beyond me, but I certainly was not going to be anywhere behind him. Have narrowly avoided countless number of accidents due to unsecured mattresses (all in heavy traffic on interstates). A woman died a year or two ago around here because she was in the bed of a pickup truck "holding down" a mattress that flew out of the vehicle. The stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze me.
I’ve seen the picnic table stunt, actually fly off of a roof and shatter into several pieces.
Load More Replies... I work for a large retail company, they have now made it a rule that unless approved by management we do not secure loads to customers vehicles. It is because of situations like this. A few bad people ruin it for everyone.
I have been in so many of these situations- only one manager has ever stood up to a customer for me. I thank her dearly.
I work at Goodwill in Seattle. We have had back and forth on whether our guys can help people put stuff in their cars, but they have always had to figure out how to tie things down themselves. My favorite was these two college students who loaded five chairs on top of a smart car, with nothing to tie them down. They said they were driving about five minutes and drove away holding onto the chairs. I expected to see chairs all up and down the road, but it seems like they made it.
I can vouch for the "Sears takes back anything" comment. We once had a customer in complaining that his generator wasn't working after one use at a BMX rally. Turned out the rally was in Eastern Washington where sand blows around everywhere. When the mechanic opened the carburetor on the generator, sand came pouring out. I told the customer that he would have to pay for the repair since the problem was not covered under warranty. He marched to the store, told a lame story to the salesman who, without calling us, replaced the customers generator. Sears was never big on interdepartmental communication.
"And then loss prevention took some Polaroid photos of the completely tied up job." You can't buy Polaroid film anymore. Don't waste it on this guy's dumb decisions.
I worked at Best Buy for years and completely feel this struggle. Ugh.
No one with more than two braincells could take over five minutes to read that, it must be lonely up there. And they seem to have more of a life than the guy trolling every post on this site.
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