Was I out of order here?

[kutuup]

So today, this guy comes up to the counter with four movies, saying that two didn't work. Unlikely but not impossible given that one was a new release and one as a back cat. I looked the disks over and they both had large, deliberate looking gouge marks on them that looked like they had been caused by a knife or something similar. The new release was the worst, it was literally untouched apart from a bunch of clear scrape marks that you could only recreate with a sharp insrument.

So I was reluctant to credit them as faulty since it looked highly likely this guy had damaged them himself. Following policy, I credited them anyway, but apparently that wasn't enough. I said to they guy "All I can do as a regular member of staff is credit you for the rental price of the movies, you don't even have to take the same movies with the credit." He just kept screwing up his face and saying "yeah, but they were for a kid's sleepover, so I think there should be more compensation since it ruined their evening".

First of all, I fucking hate this "compensation culture" thing that has overtaken England lately, so this just made me irritated right off the bat, but I bit my tongue. I had already reinmbursed him for the money he paid for the movies, but he insisted on more free stuff. If I bought a faulty product from a store, and they credited me the amount I had paid to use on anything I wanted, I would consider that fair and the matter would be closed. This guy insisting I give him more free things on top really pissed me off.

So anyway, I stood my ground and said I can't credit anything more than the price he paid for the movies. He just sits there screwing up his face and saying it's not right. So I said he's welcome to speak to the manager if he likes and wrote up a note to her asking him to call him and explain that we can't give him credit beyond what he paid for the movies. All the while him saying "This isn't right, you should be making the customer happy!".

I would have offered him a free rental on top if the damage to the disks wasn't so obviously deliberate. Of course, it might not have been him that did it, but we check all the disks before they go out and we wouldnt have checked out disks in that condidtion.

Thing is, I'm worried because he's an asian guy, he might pull the race card on me and get me in trouble. I would have questioned it no matter what, but I got the feeling he was prepared to pull that card if needs be. I'm 95% certain he damaged those disks on purpose, but I can' prove it.

Was I out of order to refuse to credit more than the value of the rental? I'm worried my manager will call him and he'll be all "That guy refused to help me."

This guy could cost me my job to get some free rentals if he's lying. I hope he has a conscience.

[PickleBundle]

I feel that you did the right thing. You offered him fair compensation. Why should he demand extra? That's ridiculous. If I purchased an item from Amazon and it arrived broken, all I would expect would be an even refund or exchange. I wouldn't say "Well, you should send me two of them now for my trouble".

[Just Breathe 09]

I really wouldnt worry about it, I think he probably thought he was going to get cash back and in that case only a manager could have done that. If your MOD gives any feedback she might suggest just giving him a coupon for his next visit and if they want the money back in cash or on there credit card to come in next time and ask for the manager. Hope that helps!

[bbemp_can]

Yeah, I don't think you have to be worried. I've had more than a few (too many to count) of these kinds of customers. I would have done the same thing as you did.

I'm much rather inclined to do more for customers when they're polite about it as they're the more appreciative ones.

I had one guy tell me he wanted to be reimbursed for the gas it took him to drive back

[Backer Card]

I wouldn't have even given credit for them if they were in that kind of deliberately created condition. And if I had given credit, you can bet damn sure they are getting the same title they had rented.

[Veruka_Salt]

I'm not familiar enough with British etiquette or your SOP, but here in the States I would have credited him for the rentals on his account with the caveat that he rent the same titles -- especially given the suspicious damage to the discs. I certainly would offer him any additional credit for "pain and suffering" which, to me, is ridiculous.

Yes, we need to make the customer happy but within reason. Are we supposed to offer a hand job too? What you did is sufficient and I doubt it'll be an issue. And as for the race card, if he had brought it up you could have simply said, "Oh. You're Asian? How nice. I didn't even notice." What could he possibly say to counter that?

[itirnitii]

You did more than I would have done. Defective product can only be exchanged for another copy of the same movie... if it's out of stock, then and only then, can they have something else.

[deathbydanny]

Actually, that entitlement culture is prevalent here in the States as well. It always... displeased me when some windy assbag would whine that replacing his movies was not good enough, that he is owed because his night was ruined, he had to get back up and come to the store, etc, etc, etc. I've had more than one night ruined by some defective things I've bought before, but it's out of line to expect the company you bought it from to give you back more than your fair share.

[djblade]

"This isn't right, you should be making the customer happy!" <-----hahaha in this economy, go blow yourself. If I were you I would just keep saying "I'm sorry, there isn't anything I can do." over and over until he gets it through his brain.

[Baby Firefly]

Originally Posted by bbemp_can

Yeah, I don't think you have to be worried. I've had more than a few (too many to count) of these kinds of customers. I would have done the same thing as you did.

I'm much rather inclined to do more for customers when they're polite about it as they're the more appreciative ones.

I had one guy tell me he wanted to be reimbursed for the gas it took him to drive back

OMG I had a guy do the same thing! During liquidation. Guy got his season of House, when he got home, one of the discs was wrong. He comes back ranting and raving about it....found him a copy at a store a couple miles away...he says he wants gas money. I just looked at him. He kept it going. Now keep in mind that this was 2 weeks before we were closing forever so the Blockbuster Way was not really a priority to me at this point. I had checked out weeks before. Needless to say, the more belligerent he got, I got a li'l snarky with the fella. He wanted to see my SM. I told him *I* was the manager on duty. He then demanded my DL's # and the corporate #. As I was giving him this info with a smile, my ASM walked in. I told her the issue and she then took the situation over. He was just as belligerent to her and finally she snapped and told him that demanding the gas money was something she would never do because "that was just silly". He told her he'd make sure we all lost our jobs. She told him we were all going to be out of jobs in 2 weeks and he said he was going to do his damnedest to make sure it happened sooner. My ASM is one of the most laid back people I have ever met, so for her to snap says something about this guy. Anyhoo...he didn't get his gas money and we all still had our jobs up until closing. Liquidation customers suck.