In the promotions department, we handle tickets for all of the summer shows under Kiss 108, Jamn 94.5, and 101.7 The Bull. People win tickets on air and from online contests multiple times a day every day, and they are instructed to come to the station to pick up their prize at least a day before the actual concert. So, naturally, there are lots of people coming into the station to pick up prizes that they won a week ago, a month ago, or even from that very morning! It is our job as the interns to bring these people paperwork from our office, help them fill it out, and hand them their physical tickets. However, the tough part is when someone shows up to the station claiming they won tickets and then somehow we have no record of them in our files. Throughout a summer interning in this department it was crazy to see how adamant people would get. And how does one deal with this situation? There is always a chance that one contest sheet could have gotten lost somehow in the shuffle- that can never be ruled out, as careful as we are. So, it is basically our word against the customer. In some cases in the service industry, the customer is always right (like waitressing, for example). However, in this specific case, we have a little more discretion. The decision depends on the situation. If someone comes in claiming they won tickets, and we have no proof of it anywhere in our system, I believe it is fair for us to tell them that unfortunately we cannot award them any prize this time around.
However, one day I had a woman come in who had won a pair of headphones. I brought her the appropriate paperwork, enthusiastically congratulated her on her prize, and handed her the headphones. She looked at me like I had five heads, and then slowly said, "...I won Katy Perry tickets." She immediately began having a panic attack, telling anyone who would listen (aka me, the secretary, and some other poor soul in the waiting who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time) how she and her daughter are obsessed with Katy Perry, how she talked to the radio jock for a long time telling him how excited she and her daughter were for the concert, the time and date that she won, and any other information she could muster. I went back downstairs to my boss and explained to her the situation. Luckily for this woman, we do often have extra tickets in case of situations such as this. It was very beneficial for me to observe how my boss tactfully approached the woman, explained to her that we are very careful in our process of entering winners into the system, and how there could have been a misunderstanding. With that being said, she gave her a pair of Katy Perry tickets regardless.
There were times other than this one where people would email or come in asking for all kinds of favors regarding free tickets, or claiming they won something there is no record of. People will go through all kinds of hoops to try and cheat the system and get free things, and it is important to keep that in mind. On the other hand, we are in the service industry, and listeners are an integral part of the radio business. The big lesson learned is that you have to read the situation and judge every situation differently based on the facts and circumstance.
People would do a lot of things to acquire tickets or anything that involves something that they are passionate about or have an obsession with. Your internship sounds cool but also hard. Being in ResStaff, I also have learned that we have to assess the situation when it comes to our customers/residents; some people will try to bribe you for certain things, but it really is up to you to stand your grand and follow the rules. Also, it is really good to be prepared similar to how your boss had extra tickets and readily comforted the customer. Sometimes, the system does have some hiccups but we just have to be prepared. Also, I have learned that asking some questions and repeating the questions in different ways can help determine whether some people are just lying or are telling the truth.
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