Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Right, you do that
This doesn't have anything to do with my current job, but it feels like the same kind of customer experience. A few years ago, while I was in school, I had a job working at a party place for young kids, whose ages were generally in the single digits. For the most part, it was a pretty fun job; I enjoyed working with the kids, and since it was mostly used for birthday parties, the atmosphere was frenetic and fun. There were two main aspects to the job, working the floor and working the counter.
The former meant you watched the kids on the various attractions, to make sure that they were being safe and relatively respectful of each other (most six year olds fall in line pretty easily, and they're usually really cute about it). The latter meant serving pizza, taking payments, and answering the phone. I did both at various times, and on one particular Friday night, I was at the counter.
It was the Friday in March break, which meant that it was nearing the end of an insanely busy period for us. As a way of giving the staff a break, the owner had slightly shortened our hours on Friday and Saturday night. Normally we closed around 9, but on these days, we were closing at 6. It was posted on the door in two places, and had been for almost three weeks before March break.
At about 5pm, a couple came in with their two kids. They were regulars. Things were fine, until about ten to six, when I flicked the lights twice to indicate that we were approaching closing time. The mother then marched up to the counter, looking rather upset.
Her: "Why are you closing? We always stay till 9!"
Me: "Well, tonight we're closing at 6. That's been posted on the front door for a couple of weeks."
Her: "But we always stay till 9!"
Me: "I understand that, but unfortunately tonight, our hours are a bit shorter in the evening."
Her: "Well, we're staying till 9!"
Me: "OK. Well, since we're closing at six, we'll be turning off the machines and lights in about fifteen minutes, and I'll be locking the doors and arming the alarm around 6:30."
Her: "We're still going to stay till 9!"
Me: "Sure. When the police arrive because the alarm goes off, you can let them know that you're going to be here till 9."
The former meant you watched the kids on the various attractions, to make sure that they were being safe and relatively respectful of each other (most six year olds fall in line pretty easily, and they're usually really cute about it). The latter meant serving pizza, taking payments, and answering the phone. I did both at various times, and on one particular Friday night, I was at the counter.
It was the Friday in March break, which meant that it was nearing the end of an insanely busy period for us. As a way of giving the staff a break, the owner had slightly shortened our hours on Friday and Saturday night. Normally we closed around 9, but on these days, we were closing at 6. It was posted on the door in two places, and had been for almost three weeks before March break.
At about 5pm, a couple came in with their two kids. They were regulars. Things were fine, until about ten to six, when I flicked the lights twice to indicate that we were approaching closing time. The mother then marched up to the counter, looking rather upset.
Her: "Why are you closing? We always stay till 9!"
Me: "Well, tonight we're closing at 6. That's been posted on the front door for a couple of weeks."
Her: "But we always stay till 9!"
Me: "I understand that, but unfortunately tonight, our hours are a bit shorter in the evening."
Her: "Well, we're staying till 9!"
Me: "OK. Well, since we're closing at six, we'll be turning off the machines and lights in about fifteen minutes, and I'll be locking the doors and arming the alarm around 6:30."
Her: "We're still going to stay till 9!"
Me: "Sure. When the police arrive because the alarm goes off, you can let them know that you're going to be here till 9."
# posted by Terry @ 7:40 AM 
