Using disability to try to get want you want.

Freddie_Snowbits

OP, at the point the customer used the profanity, I would have stopped the refund or whatever and advised her that her behaviour was unacceptable.

It is time people were refused service for this, it is not difficult to do do. As Freda worked in retailbfor years, I fully support USDAWs campaign to cut this out.

Note, I was only in my local telco the other night, with a friend who has a drink problem, wanting another bottle of wine. I managed to get rid of said at tills thanks to the staff and friend was unwise to this until I got him safely home, though his initial reaction was amazement.

hippygran

The man who pushed in to use the toilet, and was rude in the cafe was not rude and horrible because he was disabled.

He was just an obnoxious prat who would have been so whether or not he was disabled (if he ran for the bus, then this itself is doubtful!)

My mum-in-law uses her age sometimes for taking the mickey, goes all frail and absent-minded, if she thinks its going to benefit her - and gets away with some amazing stunts, because shes old!

People invariably allow her to get away with very cheeky behaviour, and if any one ever questions her, pulls the 'I am a bit confused today, and muddled' and she gets away with it every time!

I have to walk away, because I know she is sharper than the person she is conning! She's never blatantly rude though, but sometimes gets served quicker, and often gets additional service or help to do things shes quite capable of doing herself!

Bad manners are inexcusable whether you are disabled, or old, or whatever, and I wouldn't be able to stop myself from telling such people so!

Unintentional

Rachel_murray wrote: »

See I can understnad her point of view if her husband is actually disabled and unable to get to the store, however, I understand yours too.
You were correct in not allowing her to sign for it.
Couldn't it have been given to her in cash?
PLUS, it's 4 months old! Was there a warranty on it?

You did right to walk away, well done

Shouldn't of had his card in this first place. And the receipt showed that it wasn't even her husbands card that was used to purchase the scales. It's company policy that for refund you get the money back how you paid for it (Cash for Cash, Card for card, Giftcard to giftcard etc)

It was within warranty, but since we no longer stocked the scales. There was little I could do.

Berryboy

Unintentional wrote: »

Hello MSE. For the first time since working in retail I refused to continue serving a customer and walked away. Here's the story.

This lady who looked late 50's early 60's walked up to customer services with a weighing scale. She said it was faulty and no longer works. She had a reciept. The scales were 4 months old and she paid around £12 for them.

I apologised to her and looked into a replacement scales for her. But unfortunately we no longer did those scales so I asked her what she would like to do. She looked in the catalogue and pointed at another set and claimed that they were the same scales. They were not and they were priced at 19.99. I told her she could put some money towards this set but she said she didn't see a reason why she should have to pay more since the scales were faulty.

When I told her I couldn't swap it for a more expensive scale without her paying the difference she got angry and demanded a refund. So I accepted and started to process a refund for her. This is where the problem started. She paid by card and she gave me her husbands card to refund it on. I told her that a refund requires the cardholders signature so I couldn't Refund it on to that card. She told me he was disabled so she would sign it for him, I told her there was no way I would allow that.

She then yelled at me 'Didn't you !!!!ing hear me? I said he was disabled! how is he supposed to walk here and sign for the refund? Just let me sign it'

At this point I said to her that this was fraud and I wouldn't allow her to sign on behalf of her husband. She then proceeded to call me an idiot and that I was being unsympathetic towards her husband being disabled.

I got angry at this point but kept my cool and told her that if she didn't calm down I would refuse to keep serving her, but she kept going so I told her I'm not being spoke to and treated like that and walked away. She then picked up her scales and shouted at me: 'I hope when you get older, you can't walk then you'll know what it feels like!'

This really annoys me when people use 'I'm disabled' or he/she's disabled to try and do something which you're clearly not allowed to do. Being disabled doesn't give you the right to do everything you want so I really wish people would stop acting like they deserve special treatment just because of it. And before people say I'm being harsh. I work with disabled people every day and yes they need a little extra help with things but I'm more then happy to help them If I'm able to. But being shouted and swore at because I won't let her forge her husbands signature is completely unacceptable and that woman should be ashamed of herself.

Rant over.

What a cow!!

vyle

I find it's very rarely genuinely disabled people who make a fuss, but people who are either trying it on, or (most often) people making a fuss on behalf of somebody else.

There's a customer I used to deal with a lot, who was a serial refund seeker. She'd buy expensive goods, then return them "because my son's autistic."

They'd be brought back broken, or with missing accessories, or in horrible condition and she'd expect all her money back because her son was autistic.

I gave her the benefit of the doubt twice. After that, I did explain to her that if her son's autism means he's going to break stuff, she'd be better off buying more durable items. She then got cross and tried it on with someone else.

Any genuinely disabled people I've encountered at work tend to be embarrassed if they need extra help, and rarely ask for it.

Unintentional

vyle wrote: »

I find it's very rarely genuinely disabled people who make a fuss, but people who are either trying it on, or (most often) people making a fuss on behalf of somebody else.

There's a customer I used to deal with a lot, who was a serial refund seeker. She'd buy expensive goods, then return them "because my son's autistic."

They'd be brought back broken, or with missing accessories, or in horrible condition and she'd expect all her money back because her son was autistic.

I gave her the benefit of the doubt twice. After that, I did explain to her that if her son's autism means he's going to break stuff, she'd be better off buying more durable items. She then got cross and tried it on with someone else.

Any genuinely disabled people I've encountered at work tend to be embarrassed if they need extra help, and rarely ask for it.

I've had this once as well. Customer bought back a DSi XL and said it had stopped working, we said we'd send it off for repair since it had a large mark which looked like it had been stabbed with the stylus or a lot of pressure applied to the touchscreen. But he went on and on and on about how his son was autistic and how he can't accept that the DS wouldn't be around anymore. but we stood by our decision and in the end he told us to keep the DS and just bought a new one.

Oopsadaisy

Scum........

Violetta_2

I would be tempted to ask some people when being ignorant qualified as a disability?

AsknAnswer2

hippygran wrote: »

The man who pushed in to use the toilet, and was rude in the cafe was not rude and horrible because he was disabled.

He was just an obnoxious prat who would have been so whether or not he was disabled (if he ran for the bus, then this itself is doubtful!)

I didn't infer that he was rude and horrible because he was disabled. The thread is entitled 'Using disablitity to get what you want'. In other words, it's about 'obnoxious prats'. People who use disability to get their way whether or not they are in actual fact disabled, are obnoxious prats. Unless of course they are using it for an intended purpose.

I don't for a second believe that the man was as disabled as he made out, if he was at all, for the same reasons you pointed out. In producing his stick, waving it about like a mad man and declaring to the world that he was disabled, he was using disability to get what he wanted. The toilet, the seat in the cafe, table service. Using disability to get one's way doesn't necesserily mean that one is disabled. It's the same as using any other form of sob story, they do it to get what they want, whether or not it is true.

barbiedoll

When I worked in a pharmacy, one of our customers was a local woman who always walked with crutches. Watching her walk, it was obvious that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her, she used to swing them when she walked, at no time did she ever use them to support her weight. She was on no medication and she did not claim disability benefits, just income support. She was not disabled in any way, shape or form, the only illness she suffered from was terminal laziness.

However, despite living in a second-floor flat (with no lift), she managed to get hold of a mobility scooter, which she promptly decorated with mirrors, a basket full of cuddly toys and flowery stickers. The pharmacy was a small shop with a single door, yet she used to drive her scooter into the shop and wait by the counter for us to lean over and serve her. None of our elderly customers with scooters ever did this, they all parked outside and walked into our shop, which had a couple of chairs if they needed to sit down whilst they waited for prescriptions.
After she reversed her scooter and almost ran over a small girl behind her, I told her that she could not bring the scooter into the shop any more. The next time that she came, it was raining and she sat outside the shop, called us on her mobile and said that we would have to come outside to see her as she was not allowed in the shop. We left her in the rain before going outside and collecting her prescription (for Gaviscon!) and made her wait 15 minutes for it. The next time she came, she drove in again and I told her again that she could not bring the scooter in the shop and unfortunately, I added "it's not like there's anything wrong with you anyway"

20 minutes later, my area manager called me and said that there had been a complaint made against me! Luckily, he knew me well and knew that I wasn't the archetypal rude shop assistant, quite the opposite. He listened to me ranting about her for a few minutes and accepted that he would have to fire me before I apologised to her and just said, "if she comes in, let one of the others serve her, and DON'T insult her any more!." He also sent some "Disabled? Ask our staff for help" stickers, which the other girls made me stick on the window as my punishment! :rotfl::rotfl:

She was in her late twenties, had never done a day's work in her life and she still has her scooter! :mad::mad: