I'm sick of sneaky customers

**charan** · 07-28-2012, 12:50 PM

So I'm short staffed today and I'm working with a customer already, when a young girl walks in right on top of my shoulder while I'm talking to my client. I ask her to give me a few minutes she says ok but it'll only take a minute. So I excuse myself from my client and she asks me to take the rx off her glasses and also take a PD measurement so she knows what it is, I normally don't do it but since my client is waiting I take her glasses write her rx down to give it to her, so I can get rid of her, but nope I give her the rx and now she wants me to explain what 'these numbers suppose to mean'?Seriously????!!!!, but she's still claiming that she's in a rush and will come back to pick out a pair.

I mean come on people, then I just told her to get her copy of rx from her previous doctor or come back when I'm less busy and she just storms out the office, why are people so rude like this? She wasted mine and my clients time barged in to get her way, when she didn't get it her way she walks out the office like we're in the wrong. I know most of you will say you should explain her why we don't give away rx and pd but in a situation like this being a very professional optician goes out the window.

Rant over!

**Lulubelle** · 07-28-2012, 01:12 PM

She obviously wants to order online. Next time I would just tell the "customer" to contact her OD to get a copy of her rx. You aren't obligated to provide this info, especially not for free!

**MakeOptics** · 07-28-2012, 01:28 PM

She's not a customer so reserve your "professionalism" for someone who deserves it, like the client you are sitting down with. If she was close enough to view your clients info then she was close enough to have commited a foul. Tell her to back up from your personal space and that your actual client deserves privacy during his/her transaction. Be firm and confident.

When I am a customer I don't wait for the person taking care of me to deal with these types of situations because their hands are tied with "acting professional" which has become a catch all for acting scared (I have a more descriptive term for it that I can't use here). Any as a customer myself in situations where someone is encroaching in my space I have found a quick forceful response corrects the offenders attitude. I wish their parents would have raised them better, but that's not the case. Amoung my family in our country we have a saying, "There are no rules between lions and men". Basically when someone acts like a lion don't expect rules to save your behind, act or react accordingly. Interestingly my higher end clients appreciate the fact that I won't let their time be wasted no matter what, and it's not just lip service that I'm giving them when I say that. If the offender continues to interupt a transaction, I will take just enough time to walk their @$$ out the door. I don't want every sale, just the good ones and I'm honestly tired of the bad ones. It's the "soup nazi" approach to optics, but only a few need to get it.

**manoj_verma** · 07-28-2012, 02:07 PM

@Charan Praa Jee........Undoubtly A Net Buyer Praa Jee...........These kind of People are Everywhere.

**Judy Canty** · 07-28-2012, 04:06 PM

I guess I'm still trying to figure out why her time was so much more important to you than that of the patient in front of you. That situation is no different than being interrupted by a phone call. What's the old saying about a bird in the hand?

**Johns** · 07-28-2012, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by Judy Canty

What's the old saying about a bird in the hand?

...more valuable than one in the "net"?

**charan** · 07-28-2012, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by Judy Canty

I guess I'm still trying to figure out why her time was so much more important to you than that of the patient in front of you. That situation is no different than being interrupted by a phone call. What's the old saying about a bird in the hand?

Its wasn't about her time, she was hovering around me, I wanted to give my patient full attention, she was kinda making difficult it for me, I should've made her wait I guess I need to be a bit more firm with impatient people like her.

**Optician1960** · 07-28-2012, 08:01 PM

The only time I would take the responsibility of taking an Rx of a previous pair is if they are buying from me. It is one thing to take a pd, completely another to neutralize an Rx that I did not fabricate. In this day and age, the Rx may have been "compensated" at the lab due to vertex, panto and wrap measurements. How would you know that if you did not fabricate?

**drk** · 07-28-2012, 10:06 PM

Don't mean to be harsh, but you acted like a total patsy. I know you have learned from it.

1. You always have to say "no" to something. You said "no" to your patient so you could say "yes" to this walk-in.
2. You can also say "no" when people ask you to do something that is wrong, such as giving a p.d. and a "prescription" (it was lens powers you gave her).

Do you have issues with being firm? It's your responsibility to have such strength.

**shannon** · 07-28-2012, 10:33 PM

Take the whole situation and chalk it up to being a good experience, one to learn by. We only gain insight and experience by having days like this, sucks but works to our advantage if we learn how to handle a similiar situation (and there are plenty more "patients" like her out there) next time.

RJ · 07-29-2012, 07:22 PM

If they ask for their PD, they are ordering online. After being harmed by my share of demanding customers as a startup, I have a principle I wish I learned prior to all this. There is a bell shaped curve for everything. For niceness of your customer it's the same thing. Most people are reasonably nice people. But for these demanding customers, if you are nice enough to bend over backwards and more help these folks, they will demand more and there is absolutely no stopping to their demands until you give them a firm "no." This lady got you to give up your real customer to help her for free, which puts you at risk for being blamed for the "wrong reading" if she orders her online and doesn't workout. Then she demanded further of your time with free explanations.

My goal in the business is not to try to please every customer. You can run an extraordinary profitable outfit pleasing 80%, nevermind 90% of your customers. Those at the extreme end of curve will absolutely ruin your day like you did, and now you have to post on this board. It's not worth it, and usually you just dig yourself into deeper holes committing more and more time for very little. I started saying "No" to demanding and rude customers and even referring them to every other competition out there as I don't really want them around and let it show clearly. You know what, most of them sit down, quiet down and play by the rules you have set for your business as they knew they were doing what they were not supposed to. Sometimes you gotta say "No." And it's great I can do that in my own business.

**Diane** · 07-30-2012, 06:45 AM

I'm afraid if I had been the patient in FRONT of you, I would have walked. My time is important.

Diane

**becc971** · 07-30-2012, 08:43 AM

i would like to think that most patients would have realized this girl was a)selfish and b)a jerk and c) would have continued to be irritating if i didnt just let the optician walk away for this "quick" thing, as long as they had been doing a great job before i wouldn't mind letting them leave to get rid of an annoying person who will probably ruin my day :)

however, i''m a big supporter of not awarding jerk (<- nicer term than i would normally use) behavior. i would have pulled the girl aside, shown her a chair and said you are more than welcome to wait for me to be done with this customer and i will be more than happy to help you. *big smile*

if you kill 'em with kindness man ;) i've had to do this more than once with unruly patients/customers (i'm also a bartender) normally they will just leave you alone and go find someone else who is willing to deal with them. shoo fly.

**MakeOptics** · 07-30-2012, 01:54 PM

Originally Posted by Diane

I'm afraid if I had been the patient in FRONT of you, I would have walked. My time is important.

Diane

I would have made sure you understood just how important your time is to me. For your inconvenience I would have made you two spectacles, one out of that clown I was throwing out and then one you could proudly wear on your face.

**Diane** · 07-30-2012, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by PhiTrace

I would have made sure you understood just how important your time is to me. For your inconvenience I would have made you two spectacles, one out of that clown I was throwing out and then one you could proudly wear on your face.

:)

Diane

**sharpstick777** · 07-30-2012, 07:57 PM

Working in the Lab side again I see jobs everyday where the Optician KNOWS the lens frame combination is an issue, but they won't say NO to the patient and they expect the lab to fix their mistake. SV CR-39 in a +10, square grooved rimless, with a notation "thin as possible, groove on front"! ! Yikes, I see that from Licensed Opticians about once per week!

We are customer service oriented people, but saying "NO, I am Sorry..." is an investment that will save both YOU and the CUSTOMER grief in the long run. It is good Customer Service to Say NO when its warranted.

Charan, I learned the hard way myself that I had to set tight boundaries with patients for both our good and theirs, it will reduce your stress for years to come.

Originally Posted by drk

.... I know you have learned from it.

1. You always have to say "no" to something. You said "no" to your patient so you could say "yes" to this walk-in.
2. You can also say "no" when people ask you to do something that is wrong, such as giving a p.d. and a "prescription" (it was lens powers you gave her).