Practical Penumbra

Stupid Customer Story Number 5321

As is usually the case when I am upstairs in the projection booth threading a picture, yesterday one of the clerks came to get me because the cashier was having difficulties with a customer. (I am never needed to deal with difficult customers when I am in my office behind the concession stand, conveniently located to the problem. Rather the customers wait until I am busy upstairs, changing lenses or starting a show--this is somewhat akin to the telephone's tendency to ring when I am on the stairs, equidistant from my office and the phone on the far side of the projection booth).

The woman in question did not want to pay $1 admission to the 3 o'clock show. She was insisting that she had called earlier and that she had spoken to a female who had told her that we charge 50¢ before 4. Since the cashier and I were the only two females working, that narrowed down the possibilities. Because the cashier had not answered the telephone at all yesterday, obviously I was the one who had spoken to the customer.

Now, let me make this plain. Despite my puckish sense of humor, I am not in the habit of deliberately telling potential customers the wrong prices, show times, or directions to the theater. And I recalled speaking to the woman because she was the only customer who had called to that point. She had asked me when our price was $1.50 and I had told her "after 5 on Friday and Saturday." Somehow, this translated in her brain to 50¢ before 4. She even wrote it on a piece of cardboard torn from a Sprite can 24 pack, because she waved it in my face: "4/50¢" written plain as day above our information line phone number. This proved, apparently, that the manager does not know her own theater's prices and maliciously tells customers the wrong information (We charge 8 ¢ all day Thursday! Free condoms to the first 50 customers to say 'I heart cheese"!) merely to get a good laugh, or some other sadistic enjoyment from their inconvenience or discomfiture, because managers, as we all know, love having irate customers yell at them....

Of course she demanded the owner's name and phone number, which we happily supplied.

The last laugh is on her, though--because 90% of all customer complaints are related to the fact that people cannot understand that "between 4 and 5, tickets are 50¢" means BETWEEN, not before, the owner has done away with the 50¢ price except for all day on Wednesday.

I expect we will get people demanding 50¢ admission on Tuesday because they thought it was Wednesday....

Posted by Susie at July 31, 2004 11:11 AM