Retails sucks. (Fuel station attendant). End of story. It's made me far more confident and increased my conversational ability but man it sucks. I can't understand the viewpoint of customers like this, I just could not be like or act like this.
Some of the stories I could tell, jeez. A few basic rules I've found out from being a Fuel Station Attendant.
Fuel Prices go up, you are the bad guy, your fuel station is the bad guy. (The standard margin for a fuel station over here is four cents in the Liter, everything else is what we are charged when it is put in the tank. Which means everytime it goes up for the remaining fuel we make a little profit(normally 10-20,000L in the tank), and everytime it goes down we run at a loss).
No matter what, it is your fault. The customer put Diesel in his petrol or Petrol in his Diesel, it's your fault for not having big enough signs or warnings. [Even though Diesel has a protector that you have to release before picking it up].
Denying a kid access to R18 stuff because the parent is lazy means you are going to have to cope with about 5 minutes of being lectured at.
No matter how many warnings you give, or how many times you verify that this is what they want, if it goes wrong it's your fault. [My petrol station still has Forecourt attendants that will help, we have to double check the amount and the fuel type. It's still our fault, and we didn't hear properly if there is a mistake made of course].
No matter how busy you are with other things that are potentially dangerous if left unsupervised or for one reason or another can't be left, you MUST drop everything right away to server a customer who is either inept with the fuel pump and can't use or understand it, or too lazy to get out of their car.
When you attempt to get someone's attention while they are in the middle of a conversation or on the cell phone you are instantly the bad guy and will get a 5 minute lecture about being rude, no matter if they are holding up ten ton of people, doing something dangerous/potentially lethal, or illegal.
No matter how many signs you post saying something is out of order, or can't be used, someone will ALWAYS attempt to use it and then proceed to complain that it they can't.
If you are running around doing work, but stop and bend over backwards to allow someone access to the toliets even though they shouldn't have access for one reason or another, they will always complain about the slightest bit of filth even though you have already told them it will be dirty because today has been overtly busy and thus nobody has had time to clean it.
It doesn't matter if they have to walk 5 cm or 500 metres, stuff will never ever go back in the place it was picked up from. Drinks have are an even more special case in that it doesn't matter if they have to walk back to the fridge to pick another drink up/change their current one/put it back, it will normally go one or two spots awry of where it should be. Sometimes it can be 5 or 6 spots.
If the customer leaves a fuel cap off, it is your fault.
If the customer should have an accident and drive into a fuel bowser or other item, then it is the design of the Fuel Station at fault as it was obviously not wide enough, or the length of the hoses should be longer. (Each bay is at least 1 and a half car lengths wide, with most being 2 and a half [the one's on the outside are 1 and a half], the length of the hose is enough to reach the otherside of a car that has parked as far away as possible).
Customers are incapable of reading signs no matter how big or flashy. This is your fault.
---
Actually, I lied. One story simply because it is so fresh in my mind.
Backstory:
My particular brand of Fuel Stations over here do not get to pick when they are filled up, it is determined by the "Brand" who use our Tank Readings to estimate when we should be filled up. A few days ago, there was a GST changeover, which meant the "Brand" would not fill us up that night as we are privately owned, simply using the Branding and complying to the regulations of the "Brand", thus it would cost them and it would be too complex. This coupled with the fact that since the GST rise was coming we had an extra busy day, meant the next day we ran out of 91, 95 and came to within 200L of running out of Diesel.
Story:
This charming customer popped in with his Jeep Wrangler, and entered $65 of 95 on the machine and proceeded to attempt to fill this into his car. The Bowser stopped at $53.28 and would not fill any more. He got my attention and explained to me that his car was next to empty and should take another $50 of fuel at least before ending. I told him that we had been running low on 95 and why, and told him if he would like I could check the dips to see if we had indeed run out. He asked me too, and so I did. We had about 1000L left, which is empty. (As the Bowser's can not draw from the tank if it drops below a certain amount). I explained to him that his car indeed was not full but we were now out of 95 along with 91 and that what he had received was the last of the 95. I told him that if he really wanted to put $65 into his car that there was another (different branded) fuel station about 900M up the road. He then started complaining about how this is not good enough, blaming me and the service station for running out of fuel. I explained to him again that it was not our fault, it was an almost entirely automated service done by the "Brand". He continued to complain blaming me, and said he would not pay for the $53.28 because it was not what he wanted. He asked for $65 and that since he didn't get it, he would not pay. My Manager was currently 200K's away and unreachable so I was left on my own to deal with it. 15 minutes of arguing later, he finally agreed to pay it. I was then left with another 10 minutes of him lecturing at me how it was not good enough and how he was going to complain about this service station and that he would never ever visit here again.
Some of the stories I could tell, jeez. A few basic rules I've found out from being a Fuel Station Attendant.
Fuel Prices go up, you are the bad guy, your fuel station is the bad guy. (The standard margin for a fuel station over here is four cents in the Liter, everything else is what we are charged when it is put in the tank. Which means everytime it goes up for the remaining fuel we make a little profit(normally 10-20,000L in the tank), and everytime it goes down we run at a loss).
No matter what, it is your fault. The customer put Diesel in his petrol or Petrol in his Diesel, it's your fault for not having big enough signs or warnings. [Even though Diesel has a protector that you have to release before picking it up].
Denying a kid access to R18 stuff because the parent is lazy means you are going to have to cope with about 5 minutes of being lectured at.
No matter how many warnings you give, or how many times you verify that this is what they want, if it goes wrong it's your fault. [My petrol station still has Forecourt attendants that will help, we have to double check the amount and the fuel type. It's still our fault, and we didn't hear properly if there is a mistake made of course].
No matter how busy you are with other things that are potentially dangerous if left unsupervised or for one reason or another can't be left, you MUST drop everything right away to server a customer who is either inept with the fuel pump and can't use or understand it, or too lazy to get out of their car.
When you attempt to get someone's attention while they are in the middle of a conversation or on the cell phone you are instantly the bad guy and will get a 5 minute lecture about being rude, no matter if they are holding up ten ton of people, doing something dangerous/potentially lethal, or illegal.
No matter how many signs you post saying something is out of order, or can't be used, someone will ALWAYS attempt to use it and then proceed to complain that it they can't.
If you are running around doing work, but stop and bend over backwards to allow someone access to the toliets even though they shouldn't have access for one reason or another, they will always complain about the slightest bit of filth even though you have already told them it will be dirty because today has been overtly busy and thus nobody has had time to clean it.
It doesn't matter if they have to walk 5 cm or 500 metres, stuff will never ever go back in the place it was picked up from. Drinks have are an even more special case in that it doesn't matter if they have to walk back to the fridge to pick another drink up/change their current one/put it back, it will normally go one or two spots awry of where it should be. Sometimes it can be 5 or 6 spots.
If the customer leaves a fuel cap off, it is your fault.
If the customer should have an accident and drive into a fuel bowser or other item, then it is the design of the Fuel Station at fault as it was obviously not wide enough, or the length of the hoses should be longer. (Each bay is at least 1 and a half car lengths wide, with most being 2 and a half [the one's on the outside are 1 and a half], the length of the hose is enough to reach the otherside of a car that has parked as far away as possible).
Customers are incapable of reading signs no matter how big or flashy. This is your fault.
---
Actually, I lied. One story simply because it is so fresh in my mind.
Backstory:
My particular brand of Fuel Stations over here do not get to pick when they are filled up, it is determined by the "Brand" who use our Tank Readings to estimate when we should be filled up. A few days ago, there was a GST changeover, which meant the "Brand" would not fill us up that night as we are privately owned, simply using the Branding and complying to the regulations of the "Brand", thus it would cost them and it would be too complex. This coupled with the fact that since the GST rise was coming we had an extra busy day, meant the next day we ran out of 91, 95 and came to within 200L of running out of Diesel.
Story:
This charming customer popped in with his Jeep Wrangler, and entered $65 of 95 on the machine and proceeded to attempt to fill this into his car. The Bowser stopped at $53.28 and would not fill any more. He got my attention and explained to me that his car was next to empty and should take another $50 of fuel at least before ending. I told him that we had been running low on 95 and why, and told him if he would like I could check the dips to see if we had indeed run out. He asked me too, and so I did. We had about 1000L left, which is empty. (As the Bowser's can not draw from the tank if it drops below a certain amount). I explained to him that his car indeed was not full but we were now out of 95 along with 91 and that what he had received was the last of the 95. I told him that if he really wanted to put $65 into his car that there was another (different branded) fuel station about 900M up the road. He then started complaining about how this is not good enough, blaming me and the service station for running out of fuel. I explained to him again that it was not our fault, it was an almost entirely automated service done by the "Brand". He continued to complain blaming me, and said he would not pay for the $53.28 because it was not what he wanted. He asked for $65 and that since he didn't get it, he would not pay. My Manager was currently 200K's away and unreachable so I was left on my own to deal with it. 15 minutes of arguing later, he finally agreed to pay it. I was then left with another 10 minutes of him lecturing at me how it was not good enough and how he was going to complain about this service station and that he would never ever visit here again.
