Who Would Know?

     Customer service is not like it used to be. Once in awhile you will see stories about very good or very bad customer service. On the whole from what I see the art of helping people is quickly dying out. Some of that is due to the use of automation and technology. Some of it is due to the fact that people in customer service can get pretty surly at times. Part of the reason customer service people get irritable is due to situations like once I encountered earlier this week.
  A woman had come to the counter asking if we sold bronchial tablets. We do. We keep them behind the counter as they are subject to the same laws that govern the sales of pseudoephedrine containing products. We had a short discussion on how much she could buy at one time and what the monthly limits are. She decided she wanted to buy one box. I asked her for her ID or driver's license.
  I took the card and scanned it. Her information popped onto my screen and a warning box appeared. Her ID was expired. I checked the card. Sure enough, the expiration date had passed nearly a week ago.
  "Your ID has expired," I said.
  "I know," she replied, "It expired a week before my birthday."
  "I can't sell you this product with an expired ID, " I told her.
   "Why not? It's just an ID, " she answered.
   "That's the law," I explained, "I cannot sell this product to you if you have an expired ID."
   "It's an ID, what's the big deal," she said.
   "I cannot sell you this when you have an expired ID," I repeated.
   "Can't you just change the date? It's only an ID," she said.
  "Not if I want to keep my job," I replied.
  "Who would know?" she answered.
   I was becoming more irritated with her during this exchange. Her last question sparked my temper like a lightening bolt on dry timber. I didn't know if anyone would know. It was a moot point. I was not going to sell it to her. The fact that she was suggesting that I break the law for her convenience had escalated my irritation to full blown thermonuclear anger. I took a breath.
  In a firm voice I said, "I'm not going to sell you this product."
  "What am I going to do?" she whined, "I need this today." She emphasized the word 'need'.
  I think this was  supposed to cause me to relent and do what she wanted me to. I fought back the urge to say a few things and stayed silent.
  When it became clear that I wasn't  going to do what she wanted, she flounced away from the counter. I fought back another urge to leave a parting shot and remained at the counter until she was out of sight.
  I walked back to my work station seething with rage. What nerve. I wanted to say to her, "Let me get this straight. You want me to risk my job, a career of 20 plus years, my professional reputation and the financial security of my family just because you are too lazy to go the DMV and renew your ID?! Seriously?! Get out of my pharmacy and never come back. Don't let the door hit you as you leave." I just couldn't believe that someone would do something like that. I would never, ever ask someone to do something illegal. It would never occur to me to ask someone to jeopardize themselves in that way. Yet this woman did just that without even thinking. In fact she seemed a little put out that I would not accommodate her.
  I gave myself a mental pat on the back. I had handled the situation well. I did not wring her neck, I did not grab her shoulders and shake her until her eyes rattled. I didn't tell her to go to the DMV, renew her ID and then try to purchase the product. I wanted to physically kick her out of the store.
  This is the reason why you will sometimes hear me say that I don't like people much. In fact anyone who is in retail eventually gets this attitude. In my profession especially there are rules and regulations that I must follow. While a few of them may seem silly and inconvenient it doesn't change the fact. They are rules and must be followed. Arguing with me about them is a waste of time.
   I'm lucky that situations like this don't happen too often anymore. I've learned to handle them better as years have passed.
  If we as a whole are getting worse customer service than we used to it could be that customer service is becoming a lost art. It could also be because we are becoming a nation of bad customers.