Airport bag drop area. There are several machines to print bag check tag. Behind that, a staffed counter for bag check (very typical setup).
I go to the machine. I scan passport- nothing. Flip it over- nothing happens. I try my phones boarding pass QR- still nothing.
I look up and there is only like 2 people in line so I queue up.
My turn, I approach agent: “hey I wasnt able to get anything to scan really (not mad, level inflection, friendly, just sort of an opening line for me).
Agent: “why not”?
Me: “uhh. I dont know? I tried to scan my stuff and nothing really happened”
Agent: “there are agents standing over there by the machines to help- why didnt you ask one of them for help?”
[Wasn’t aware of this! Didn’t see anyone] I look over to the machines: “do you want me to go ask them for help now?”
Agent: “well, if youre going to be an asshole…”
My question to him was genuine. I wasnt sure if I was in the correct area or what. I was on the clock and on business and how i represent my employer is extremely important to me so I have to correct the record if possible. Happy for input.
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Airport bag drop area. There are several machines to print bag check tag. Behind that, a staffed counter for bag check (very typical setup).
I go to the machine. I scan passport- nothing. Flip it over- nothing happens. I try my phones boarding pass QR- still nothing.
I look up and there is only like 2 people in line so I queue up.
My turn, I approach agent: “hey I wasnt able to get anything to scan really (not mad, level inflection, friendly, just sort of an opening line for me.
Agent: “why not”?
Me: “uhh. I dont know? I tried to scan my stuff and nothing really happened”
Agent: “there are agents standing over there by the machines to help- why didnt you ask one of them for help”
[Wasn’t aware of this! Didn’t see anyone] I look over to the machines: “do you want me to go ask them for help now?”
Agent: “well, if youre going to be an asshole…”
My question to him was genuine. I wasnt sure if I was in the correct area or what. I was on the clock and on business and how i represent my employer is extremely important to me so I have to correct the record if possible. Happy for input.
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> There i bekieve i may be the asshole on misinterpreting my words there i did it
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Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
Whatever happened likely wasn’t even about you. It sounds like the employee was having a shit day and took it out on you. Obviously NTA.
NTA, I find bag check people to be a particularly unhelpful species of airport staff.
NTA
Those airline clerks can also check bags, their job is literally customer service. Theres a reason they have a scale and a conveyor belt for luggage.
The guys near the machine could’ve all been with someone that’s why you didn’t see them. They tend to keep like 1 person over dozens of machines.
NTA I worked on the check in desks for an airline for four years and I would have been yanked into the office for a “talk” so fast if I had that kind of attitude with a passenger, even if you’d yelled at him that’s not an appropriate response to what is essentially a customer enquiry.
NTA-I would have escalated and said “I wasn’t but since you insist I want your boss because you are being a (insert cuss word).”
Sometimes entitled self-absorbed people have jobs and we can meet them. Being an employee doesn’t mean they turn their dickishness off.
NTA this is no reflection on you at all. He’s probably been verbally beat up so much he just always comes in hot now.
NTA.
They were clearly having a bad day. What you did was completely reasonable.
LOL NTA.
Once I applied for a job at a university. The rules at the time were you apply to the university as a whole and wait for a position to come up then select that position you want. So I applied to it and waited and waited for someone to contact me about a position. I waited for months.
Then I called the HR office to make sure my application was complete, no problems I didn’t know about. But the lady on the other end of the line was really upset with my tone which was as mild as I could make it.
“Hey I’m just calling to make sure my application is ok and nothing else is needed.”
“Ma’am you’ll have to calm down.”
Like what?
“Ok. I’m just asking if my applica–“
“MA’AM YOU DON’T HAVE TO RAISE YOUR VOICE TO ME”
“Can you just check my application?”
“I’m going to get a supervisor!”
Great. Maybe they will answer my question.
And the supervisor did. Took her 15 seconds. I have no idea what all that fuss was about. My applicaiton was complete, I got a job there about a month later.
One time somebody was like that with me for absolutely no reason. So I just asked, “have I done something wrong“? She immediately changed her attitude and apologized and told me she was having a terrible day. You never know what’s going on with people. You could just ask.
The 2 main rules of business are 1 the customer is always right #2 if the customer is wrong see rule #1!!!!
YNTA. Airline Employee definitely yes.
NTA. They were having a bad day, just forget about it.
NTA. But I’m finding this really hard to believe. How can an employee call you an asshole? Unless it’s my last day at this job and someone was behaving like a disgusting human, I wouldn’t dare call a customer an asshole.