Seeking the steel gauntlet under the velvet glove

It would be nice if rental customers would be a little less selective in their hearing. Of course, they are still customers so I really should know better. It's just that, especially the long-term frequent, renting folks become comfortably familiar. Generally, it allows us to be more flexible and accommodating, because they've shown they're good people.

But then you get someone like Gary. He's a steady renter. He doesn't always bring his movies back on time, but he's always prompt on paying his late fees in full. He's friendly and has a pleasant attitude. This tends to put him on the plus side of the ledger.

On the other hand, Gary likes to rent multiple movies. He likes to come in again later and rent more, sometimes dropping off a few of the movies he rented earlier. Usually, we don't allow people to have more than one rental batch out at a time. We relaxed things for him because he's a good customer. Now we're regretting it. It becomes a logistical nightmare to keep track of when there are somewhere in the region of three rental slips active for the guy, all of which have are a mix of still checked out and returned movies.

I've talked to him about it, letting him know that he needs to have everything turned in before checking more DVDs out. He listened and said he understood, promising to bring everything back before he looked to rent anything new.

Weeks later and he still has multiple slips active. Whether it's because he promptly dismissed what I had to say moments after leaving the store or my staff have been soft-hearted with this personable and earnest seeming man, this is a problem that is going to bite someone on the ass at some point. Somewhere, a movie is going to be missed and he's going to be charged. Unless he's seriously atypical, getting dinged for the replacement of a movie is going to introduce a strain on the business relationship. One that is completely preventable.

I hate when events unfold in such a way I have to get cranky with people. Intelligent discourse should be effective. Forcing consequences is highly irritating.