Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Black (10/15/09)
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TITLE: Not that color, this color? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Ryan Nichols
10/22/09 -
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Those words ring in my ear sometimes a hundred times a day. I wonder sometimes if people are just nervous when approaching a complete stranger. But this is my job as a Customer Service Representative.
“Yes of course sir” I replied. “How may I help you?”
“Well you see, I am looking for a specific kind of shirt?” he answered.
“It has to fit my companies new dress code policy” he said in a somewhat sarcastic tone while doing the infamous quotations with his fingers.
I could see clearly that this customer was not too thrilled about clothes shopping. Sweat cascading from his brow and he could not stop fidgeting. I see customers like this on a regular basis. Not uncommon in a retail environment.
“Size and color?” I asked
“Blue” he responded. “But not just any blue, it has to be a special blue” again using with quotations.
“Well” I replied. “We have an array of blue shirts in our Men’s department. I will gladly show you to them.”
The customer confirmed and nodded.
As we approached the Men’s department, the customer nervously informs me that he is colorblind.
“No problem” I assured him. “Now what color are they requiring?”
Digging into his pocket, the customer shows off a picture of the exact color required to fit company standards.
I gazed at it for a few seconds “I don’t see this exact color on our sales floor, but we may have this in our backroom” I said in an assuring yet nervous tone.
Anxiously he responds, “Now it has to be this color! It cannot be any color but this one!”
“I understand” I answered. At this moment I am hoping this is all going to end well, this customer is on edge and unpredictable.
Sifting through our shipment of Men’s apparel, I managed to find a suitable match for this customer’s need. Grinning like a Cheshire cat and relieved to know that this is all going to end soon, I handed the shirt over.
“This is not the color I asked for!!” he shouted. The color of this shirt is not the same as on the picture!”
“I believe this is the same color sir” I said politely.
He looks at me with disdain “Your just trying to get me out of here aren’t you?”
“No sir” I answered. “I am trying to provide you with the best option”.
Sweating profusely and red in the face the customer angrily remarks “I run into people like you all the time”. You think you can just throw any color at me because I am colorblind don’t you?”
“I would never do that to you” I replied with a lump in my throat.
“The color I see here is black!!” he rumbled. “I may be colorblind, but I know black when I see it!”
“I assure you sir that the color you see is the blue you desired” I exclaimed. “Would you care to speak with my supervisor?” At this time I just wanted out of there.
“YES!!” he shouted.
“I will call him immediately” I said. Scurrying to the nearest available phone, I paged my supervisor to Men’s. It felt like an eternity for my supervisor Adam to respond. Finally Adam graces us with his presence and I explain to him the situation.
“Sounds like he got up on the wrong side this morning huh?” Adam remarked.
Adam approaches the angry customer with a smile and asks, “How may I help you sir?”
“Well your employee is trying to sell me the wrong color shirt” he explains. Pointing at the picture he says, “I need this color blue and your employee is trying to pawn off this black shirt instead. I am feeling rather patronized right now because I am colorblind.”
Adam carefully looks at both colors and assures the customer that the colors are identical.
With confidence Adam says,“ I bet my life on it”. That alone gave the customer the assurance he needed to accept the item. Cooler heads prevailed and the customer left with a smile.
I inquired of Adam after the customer’s departure and I quietly asked “How could you tell it wasn’t black, aren’t you colorblind?”
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A little bit of editing and a few more punctuation marks would make this entry really stand out. Nicely done!
The colorblind guy's actions didn't seem realistic to me. He asked for help, he knew of his problem--why was he so combative?
As Leah said--polish it up a bit. Your writing is good, and shows lots of potential.