Rebecca bit her lip and held back a groan of frustration. No matter how many times she repeated it, she just could not seem to get her point across to this guy. It was literally like talking to a brick wall. A brick wall with a temper.
"Mr. Baylor, like I said, I just can't use both of these coupons at the same time."
"Why can't I? Where does it say that?"
She fought the urge to scream. "Right here, Mr. Baylor. It says it right here on the bottom."
"That's a bait and switch! Why would you send two coupons and then not want people to use them?"
Well, maybe they sent it so that you could use it for another vehicle? Or maybe so that you could use it for another day? Did you ever think about THAT, Mr. Baylor, before you came in here and started breaking my stones about it? But she said none of those things. She just smiled weakly and tried to explain it for the fourth time.
Suddenly the door behind her burst open and the service director for the dealership barged out. She felt the color drain from her face as she realized that the situation had just gone from bad to worse. She sat there tight lipped as the director berated her right in front of the customer and then assure him that yes, they would in fact use both coupons and would even add a third coupon to it just for his inconvienance. When he was finally done and the customer walked away, Rebecca felt herself flush with humiliation and anger. Why did things in her job always turn out this?
"Do you want to know what you did wrong?", he asked as he turned to face her.
Not really, she thought, but managed to nod in what she hoped was an interested way.
"In our business, we can't afford to upset anyone. The customer is always right, no matter what. Why wouldn't you want to use both coupons?"
She couldn't hold it back any longer. "Mr. Foulks, I agreed to use one of his coupons, just not both. It stated quite clearly on both coupons that they could not be combined with any other offer. Also, didn't you just have a meeting with us last week about cost efficiency?"
She couldn't explain what happened next. For one minute he looked merely confused and then for a brief instant his eyes seemed to almost...glow. He looked illuminated from the inside with an eerie blue light. Her mouth dropped open with surprise. But as soon as she started to speak it was gone.
Mr. Foulks smiled. It might have been due to what she had just witnessed, but the smile seemed somehow ominous to her. "Never mind what was said in the meeting, Rebecca. From now on, I want every customer satisfied. Is that understood?"
She nodded again, still a bit shaken by what she had seen. When he walked away she took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes, feeling the beginning of a headache coming on. She wondered if she was beginning to lose her mind.
~To be continued