When do I Finally Just Say "Get Lost?"

I have a dilemma. It's a conflict of business with conscience.

We've had a guy who comes in the store every week or so who is mentally challenged (Is that the right way to put it?). Basically he's in his mid to late 30's but often behaves like he's 13-16 years old. He has been coming in for a long time now. Often he'll sit on the floor and read comics and graphic novels and page through art books. Usually he even reads parts out loud to everyone in the store. Once in a great while he will buy a single comic book - maybe every month or two he will pick Loony Tunes (DC) and that's about it.

He often brings in comics he has and shows them to us, asking us if we can get the next issue or previous issue. Well, those comics are all pretty old and obscure and have been out of print for over a decade, some for over two decades. We just have been telling him the truth - they are too old and we can't get them.

Well, that went on for a long time - years in fact. Then one day he brings in a web site link he found while in the library that has the pages of one of the comics he wants. He asks if we can print it out for him. To be nice, I reluctantly agree and didn't even charge him for all of the ink and paper I had to use for it (full color BTW). He was happy with that... for a while. Then a couple of months go by and he brings in another link he found while in the library. This time it's for some art pages from one of the artists who did one of the anthropomorphic (animals with human characteristics) comics he had and liked. The pages were in a set, and available from a place in the United Kingdom. I warned him that shipping would be high, but he really really wanted it. Finally, again to be nice, after getting him to pre-pay half the cost up front, I ordered the art pages. We did NOT mark these up at all, so basically it was a favor and we made no money. He said that he was so happy and wouldn't ask us to order anything again. Then we didn't see him for about a month.

The month goes by and he comes in to see if he likes the issue of Loony Tunes that just came out - he doesn't. Then later that day he calls the store for the first time ever and tells me his mom made him clean his room and he accidentally threw away the comic I had printed out for him and wants me to print it again. I made up some excuse and told him I couldn't do it. See, we've only got an ink jet and the ink is pretty expensive. It was fine to do it free one time, but I didn't want to make a habit of it. Then he brings in another comic link of a comic he wants me to print out. Well, this one is rather, ummmmm.... graphic. The animals were--well endowed I guess is the best way to put it, and some were involved in graphic sexual acts. I refused, saying it was offensive. He quickly took the page back and left that one alone.

A couple of weeks go by and he comes in again. Now he wants us to order a graphic novel from that same company in the UK. We say "no." Again, we did it once to be nice, but this isn't really what we're in the business of doing. We buy wholesale and sell it at retail. We don't just order stuff off of random web sites for people because they don't have an Internet connection or credit card. Maybe we would for someone as a favor--once, if they were a really good customer. But it just doesn't make business sense for us to buy stuff for retail and sell it for retail with no profit in it. Time is money. I tried to explain this to him in simple terms. He seemed like he understood. But then he called and talked to Craig, who said something like, "I thought Lisa told you we couldn't." Then I think this guy continued to beg Craig, and he said, "We'll see." So the next day he calls again and I answer the phone. He asks me again if I contacted the company to order the book. I tell him no, reminding him that we already talked about it. So, he says, "well the guy said maybe." I told him I didn't think that was the case, and that we really just needed him to be happy with what we have here in the store. He then has a fit over the phone and tells me that I'm rude, obviously because I'm refusing to give him his way. Then he call back again about 30 minutes later to tell me that he's sorry but if I could print out that comic book I printed before that he threw away he'd be so grateful. I tell him again that I cannot print that for him again, sorry. He says OK.

Then he comes in while I was gone and is banging on the door before we're open, demanding that Craig let him in early. Well, Craig didn't. He let him in at the normal time. He wants to see the new Loony Tunes, which Craig informs him wouldn't be in until the next day (today). Then he asks again for us to please order that book from the U.K. and AGAIN Craig tries to be nice and just says, I don't think so. After the guy begs Craig says, "I'll think about it," or something like that. The guy leaves and then calls a couple of hours later. He wants to know what Craig decided. Craig says something like, "here's the way it's going to be - we are not going to order you things off of the Internet. You need to find someone else to do that." He again gets mad at Craig and calls him rude and says he's never shopping in our store again. Craig lets him know that that's fine. Then maybe 20 minutes later the guy calls again and apologises to Craig, saying that we've got the best store and he will still buy from us (now remember, he doesn't really buy much of anything anyway).

Today he comes in just as Craig is leaving to go pick up the April store newsletter from the printer. First he wants me to order the U.K. book again, and I say as nicely as I can, "We have already told you the rule - you have to be happy with what we have here or go somewhere else." He walks off mad and another customer comes up to the counter. The guy keeps trying to push the customer out of the way and get my attention again. I have to tell him three times to wait his turn. I finish with the customer and he's right there shoving a comic book in my face. He shows me an old Lost in Space comic book and says "Here's what you can do for me. You can get me the next issue of this. See how it ends? I need to know what happens." I explain to him again that that's an old comic book and I can't get it anymore. But that maybe there would be some Lost in Space comics in our dollar bin. Well, then he wants me to dig through it and see. Let me remind you, it is Wednesday and I'm working alone at the moment. I tell him he can look, but I don't have the time. There are several other customers in the store by now. He looks for about 5 seconds and then asks me again if I can get it for him. I remind him AGAIN that he has to buy what I have in the store. He shouts several times, "That's not good enough! That's just not good enough." He grabs the new Loony Tunes and buys it. He tells me that he has "more sophisticated taste than the average person," so I should buy him the comics he wants because our selection is just not good enough for him. I found that kind of funny since he would shout about how we have such great stuff when he was here, and he'd spend an hour or more reading our comics and graphic novels every week or two. I tell him I'm sorry but that's the rule and he quickly leaves.

A couple of hours later, when the store is packed with people, he calls and I answer the phone. He tells me again that my selection is not good enough and that he's not going to shop at my store anymore. I politely say, "ok. I'm sorry to hear that." He tries to continue the conversation as I hang up the phone. About 30 minutes later, again while we've got shoppers in here, he calls back and tells me he changed his mind and will shop in the store again because we have a good selection. I say, "OK. thanks," and hang up the phone because I'm in the middle of talking to a customer. He calls about as quick as he could dial and Craig answers. He then tells Craig that he found some other comic book stores and begins to read the phone book to Craig over the phone, listing the stores and their listed locations in alphabetical order. Craig says, "that's great. go ahead and visit those stores." (there were only 2 of them and one is too far for him to get to via bus, which, aside from his feet, is his only method of transportation) The guy keeps taking to Craig for a good couple of minutes, reading the ad of the store that's too far for him to get to by bus anyway. He says, "they have graphic novels. I am going to suggest that you carry graphic novels." Craig says something like, "We do have them. You sit on our floor reading them for hours." The guy then agrees and then asks Craig what the hours are at the comic store downtown. Craig tells him he doesn't know and suggests that he give them a call. He wants to keep talking but finally Craig tells him that he doesn't have the time to talk anymore because we have a store full of customers. Again the guy tells Craig that he's rude and hangs up.

As time has gone on this guy has become more and more difficult and a disruption. We don't want to be mean or rude, and we understand that his mental capacity isn't the same as ours so we tried to be nice and patient, but our patience is starting to run out. I know that he won't be able to get to one of the two comic book stores he found in the phone book, and the other won't put up with him at all and definitely won't buy him something off of the Internet. So, I have no doubt he'll be back here again in a few weeks or a month. I hope he isn't, to be honest, but I think he will be. What do we do? Do we tell him we don't want him to come back? Do we keep letting him come in and disrupt the store, having fits when we won't give him his way? Do we let him continue to call us two and three times a day when we're busy, just so he can try to manipulate us into getting him what he wants? Really, I want to be nice, and I feel kind of bad being so stern with him because of his mental condition. But should I? Is there a point where we just have to lay down rules and stick to them?