How to piss off a customer 101

This has been eating away at me so I thought I'd get it out now.

Last Sunday I was working stock in Infants & Kids when the jewelry diva brought me her phone so she could take her lunch. I hate covering the jewelry counter with every fiber of my being. There were 2 other co-workers there but she always brings me the phone when it's time for her breaks. Grrrrrr!

Anyhow, almost immediately I get a call that someone needs help up there. This did not make me happy because I only had 1½ hrs left on my shift to finish the stock in Infants/Kids and I had already been pulled away from it to run a lane and to put a skid of shoes out earlier. It was a short 6 hour shift to begin with and being constantly pulled away to do other things makes it impossible to get your work done. But up to the jewelry counter I went.

Before I could even get to the counter this woman, who was dressed in dirty, nasty clothes, was saying something. I'm pretty much deaf so I had no idea what she was saying. I figured she'd repeat it once I had gotten within speaking distance of her. When I did, I asked, "Did you need some help?"

She was immediately pissed and gave me this catbutt-face look. "I would rather be served by the other woman!!!!!"

Me: "What?"

She starts looking around for 'the other woman' and is ranting about something but because she's not facing me, I can't hear what she's saying.

Me: "What on earth did I do? I just asked if you needed help?"

She finally stops turning back and forth and says, "I asked if I had pulled you away from something and you completely ignored me."

*sigh* (Note to self: asking if someone needs helps = ignoring) "Sorry. I didn't hear you."

The wench finally settles down then wastes the next 40 minutes looking at diamond engagement rings for a friend who plans on asking his girl to marry him.

(Note to self: when needing an engagement ring, send a stinky old woman to find one for you.)

She looked at every ring we had. She wanted to know if the prices were going to go up and if so, when. (I have no way of knowing that.) She wrote down the UPC number for each ring, the original price, the sale price, the weight of the diamond, whether it was 10k gold or sterling silver...then left without making a single purchase.

Forty minutes wasted!

Did I mention I hate the jewelry counter? Don't like people much, either.

I hate that place!