I've worked in retail for 14 years in September. I have always been pleasant and professional with all the people I interact with. At least I try, but I have never EVER yelled at a customer...until today.

Around 3:30pmEST a woman comes into the store and approaches me at the Service Desk. She explains to me that outside in the 92*F weather, is a dog locked in a car. The window is cracked about half an inch and that's it. I politely ask the customer to go and take the license plate of the car down so I can make a page over the intercom about the dog. She and a fellow co-worker go back outside and return with the number. I announce over the intercom that the owner of the black BMW needs to report to the service desk immediately. About 2 minutes later, a man with long grey hair and sunglasses approaches my desk and says what's wrong with the BMW. I said there is a dog locked in the car. To which he replies the dog is fine, the windows are cracked. At this point, I start to see red. Ok the windows are cracked...you've been in the store for 10 minutes, this means the current temp in your car is 108*F.

The gentleman tries to excuse his actions by saying when he left his car it was 60*F, bc the AC was on. Needless to say he did not leave the AC on when he came into the store. Meaning, the second he turned that AC off the car went back to the 92*F it was outside. Anyone who uses an AC knows that! Anyway, he proceeds to argue with me about this for about 2 minutes. I'm telling him his car is too hot for a dog to be in there with no water and cracked windows. That it takes 30 seconds for the car to return to the outside temp and a few minutes after for his car to reach unbearable temperatures. Finally I have had enough and I told him if he didn't go out to his car and attend to his dog now I was calling the police. Then much like a mother who was telling her child to go to his room, I pointed my finger to the out door and told him to go to his car...now! He listened to that.

The customers and associates who were around the desk atm, applauded my efforts. I had worked myself into a tizzy...but it was worth it. I thought. Few minutes later, the gentleman was back on a line waiting to check out. I timed his checkout, and he's lucky it was under two minutes or I would have called the cops on him. I spoke to my manager later that night, and he told me the only thing I could have done differently was to say a customer was going to call the police on him and not me personally. I left the conversation feeling assured I wouldn't get in trouble for this.

I don't understand how people can leave animals and small children in their cars when its hot out. How do you feel when you get into your car in the afternoon and its a bazzilion degrees inside. Would you want to sit in there for more then a minute? Would you be able to? People just don't think!!!!!