“I don’t work here!”

[izzygreen]

Ironically this just happened to me last Thursday.

I was changing the door  tracks on a Henny Penny hot food case in a supermarket when a customer approached and asked for some wings. I looked up wondering if she was talking to me and indeed she was.

I politely told her I don’t work there and she moved on.

I was dressed in my work uniform (blue shirt, name tags company logo etc) who knows what people are thinking these days.

[ectofix]

That happened to me too many times.  My most recent:

 

I’d just stepped behind the counter of a popular coffee venue to repair their undercounter dishwasher they’d called for us to look at.  I hadn’t even begun on it when I heard an “Excuse me.  EXCUSE ME!”  A woman was standing over there where customers pick up their order…and she was looking directly at ME.

 

I was SO relieved.

[guest]

Was doing some service work at a buffet restaurant and the guest wanted to pay and no employees were around.  I told them I didn’t  work there but for cash I could get them in cheap!

[vanman812]

Yeah this happens to me regularly. It’s the uniform, people see a uniform and immediately think “that guy works here” even when the uniform looks nothing like the customers uni’s.

 

I try to do whatever the customer (of my customer) requests. I would have filled that bag of popcorn or showed him where to go. It’s not a big deal, doesn’t really take any time away from my job and when my customer sees me taking care of their customer it makes them happy.

 

When im working at Mcdonalds on a LOV and one of the cats has a timer going off I grab the product, tell the fry cook what I did and kill the timer. I always get a thank you or something. No one has ever been mad that I did them a favor. And it gets that ANNOYING beeping out of my ear lol.

[ectofix]

This is sorta related:

 

I was called to a popular convenience store because 1/2 of their beverage center wouldn’t dispense ice.  The beverage center was in the back wall of the store like this one:

 

 

SO.  The ice in the hopper had to be melted down.  The only access to do this was from the front.   I use water from a pump-up sprayer with water in it for such things.  With that sign raised up…and me on a step-stool doing it…I had to spend well over an hour or so.  THEN – operate it again and make appropriate adjustments to prevent it from happening again.

 

ALL OF THAT…JUST SO I CAN ILLUSTRATE THIS SCENARIO…

 

So there’s ME, up on that step-stool…with repeated refills of my two gallon pump up spray bottle…over and over…spraying water in THERE to melt that ice.  Aggressively attacking this chore to EVENTUALLY crank the ice maker back up again, let the hopper fill back up some…and to establish when it should STOP ice production.   And…blah,blah, BLAH.

 

Understand that I’m standing up there in customer’s view for potential interaction with THEM.  The ice machine on the RIGHT was alright.  No issues with IT.  I’m just working on the one on the LEFT. However, the customers don’t know that.

 

SO…

 

…for that hour or so of standing up there melting that ice and whatever else I had to do, I was INCESSANTLY asked how they could get some ice for their drinks…by about EVERY FLIPPIN’ customer who walked in wanting a drink!

 

Customer: “Is there no ICE?”

ME: “Yes.  You can use that other dispenser”.

 

The next customer: “How can I get some ICE?”

ME: “Use that dispenser over there”.

 

And the next one: “Can I get a drink?”

ME: “Yes, but get your ice from over there”.

 

Next one: “What are you working on?  Are the soda machines broken?”

ME: “No!  Just the ice on this side”.

 

NEXT: “Hi!  Can I just get a little of the orange flavor?”

ME: “By all means”.

 

NEXT: “Excuse me, but does this side work?”

ME: “Yes!  Just get your ice from over there”.

 

And so it went.  Over and over and over and over and OVER AGAIN…for well over an HOUR!  It seemed like a HUNDRED of them stopping by and asking me a variation of the same question!

In some cases I had to stop what I was trying to do, step down and move this big ole step-stool out of the way to allow a customer to get at drink flavors on the left that weren’t on the right.

 

All of this wore me out, simply by seriously testing my patience (not one of my stronger virtues).

 

I OH so wanted to just put up a yellow-tape barricade around my work area, then post a sign directing everyone to the RIGHT-hand ice maker – saying “HEY!  I’m only working on THIS ice maker!  The drinks WORK! Use THAT ice dispenser >>>>!”

[guest]

For some reason, maybe the uniform, people just assume you work for wherever you happen to be. I was once asked about why I, my company, had raised the gas prices. This was while I was filling my truck with gas. They assumed that I worked for the company where I was filling up.

 

Related to the last ectofix post. I had occasion to do some repair work to the entrance doors at the restruant I was at. I would have my ladder blocking one of the doors. The ladder would be blocking one of doors but the other one would be clear. People would almost always stop and look up at me, waiting for me to come down the ladder and move it, so they could ether enter or leave. I would have to tell them that the other glass door was working. A few of them would still wait untill I came down the ladder and opened the door for them. Some of you may ask why I didn’t just prop the other door open, and I would…..untill winter time, when this was not feasible. 

[dewroc6]

I do the same , pull the fryer hit the timer let the person know when they do return, or whatever it is that’s beeping, never had anything but thanks and want a pt job haha      no thanks ! but it’s easy to do and is always appreciated when I do ! 

[dewroc6]

Haha I’ve done the same !!! Yep you can get whatever you like just get the ice from another machine…. but it don’t have the drink I’d like , you can get your drink here just have to get the ice over on that side , lol    

[dewroc6]

Lol yes ! Same here ! Can I come in absolutely, then they wait… like you can come in …. your good . Haha

[guest]

Years ago, I was hanging upside down in an old style Follett Ice Dispenser changing a pump motor.  When I felt a tap on my side.  I pulled my self out of the unit and found a guy standing there with an empty glass.  I asked him if I could help him.  He asked if he could get some ice for his cup.  I told him sorry this machine is under repair he would have to wait in line for the other one,