Tragically, I might as well have 'HERE' tattooed on my ass because I am now where the buck stops.
I had to face down an ornery patron the other day and I am certain that I did well, but the whole experience left me wishing that I drank. Just a wee nip to take the edge off.
She was upset because we billed her for a DVD she returned ruined and un-playable. Since I was the person who checked it out to her, I was fully aware of its condition before we lent it out, which was very good since I had just sent the damn thing out for repairs. She refused to pay, accused me of having some sort of personal vendetta against her and threatened to go to my boss.
My boss, incidentally, is the president of the Board of Directors and I invited her to go ahead. I even gave her the woman's e-mail address and name. Kiss my ass lady, I did everything by the book.
I refused to take the bill off of her account, although I did give her some options for ways to repay the bill, which pissed her off even more. Since the bill was for over $10.00, her account is now suspended and she can't check out items or use our computers. She threatened to go to the public library the next town over and I wished her godspeed. Barb, the head librarian in that town won't put up with her shit. Barb can be as sweet as honey, but you cross her and she'll rip you a new one.
I hate confrontations. My face turns red and my hands shake. I prefer to placate and avoid dust-ups, but in this case, the customer was so obviously wrong that there was no way in hell I'd pucker up for her. No way, no sir.
So, I pretended to be my mother, who is the shit. She's normally a quiet, unassuming lady who is polite and good natured. Unless you screw up and cross her, as I have done many, many times. Not professionally, of course, but still. She's scary. I've heard stories.
So, I lowered my voice, neutralized my expression and said very, very firmly that I would not take back her fine and that if she did, indeed, have a problem with the policy and my interpretation of it, then she was welcome to take it up with the Board President. I also asked her to apologize to my staff person, since she had begun her tirade with the girl working the desk, nearly reducing the poor girl to tears. Then, as the icing to my cake of doom, I informed her not to come back to my library unless she could conduct herself in a more civilized manner.
The lady left with her tail between her legs. My staff person said I was awesome. I felt shaky and slightly nauseous. I'm not really cut out for this kind of thing.
