#i hate angry customers
Customer walks up to the register holding a novelty coin purse (clearance item), two kitchen towels and a matching oven mitt (full priced items); she’s an older woman - probably in her 70s, short white hair, maybe only 5′2″ in height. I ask her if she found everything she was looking for; she replies that she did. I ring up her order, give her the total, she hands me her credit card, I charge her for the purchase, print out and hand her the receipt to sign along with her copy.
The woman then looks at me and asks, “Were those items 20% off?”
“No, Ma’am. They are full priced items.“
“But the sign says they’re 20% off.”
I realize that my associates had missed one of the Memorial Day weekend sale signs and explain, “I’m sorry, Ma’am. That sale ended yesterday. Someone must have missed taking down that sign.”
She immediately snaps at me, “You have to give me that sale price! The sign says the items are 20% off!”
I snap back, “The sign says the sale price applies through Friday the 22nd through Monday the 25th. It’s Tuesday; the sale no longer applies.”
“Thesign says…”
“The sign says the sale only applies through yesterday.”
“Thelawsays you have to give me the sale price because the sign is still there.”
I know there’s nothing in our state law that says I have to give you this sale price because we left up a sign. This isn’t false advertising because the sign says the dates the sales are applicable through… in size 20 font directly under the “Memorial Day Sale” header. It’s not my fault you didn’t read the sign. I just stand there for a second looking at her like, really? You’re really doing this? I already charged you for the sale. You just paid me $30 and change. You’re really arguing with me over six dollars?
We’re bickering back and forth for a couple more seconds with the “the sign says…,” and the “the sign says you need to stfu because you’re just making shit up now” when she simultaneously blurts out, “Just cancel the entire order,” waving angrily at me adding, “Is your manager here? I want to speak to your manager.” Manager’s not in, and I’m not about to bother my good supervisor with this foolishness (and our lazy supervisor who’s straightening the sleepwear section won’t do jack shit for the situation anyway), so I inform the customer, “I have to fully return your order at the price I charged you and then conduct the price adjustment by charging you again. Do you agree to these terms?”
The woman again stupidly looks at me demanding to speak to my manager, to which I retaliate with, “I’m giving you the price adjustment. Do you still want the items or not?!” She says yes, I finalize the transaction, explain to her that I need her to sign “this receipt for the original purchase, this receipt for the return, and then this receipt for the price adjustment order to show that you authorized these transactions.” I staple the stack of customer receipts, hand them off to her and bid her a nice afternoon.
I turn around to see my coworker standing behind me like, “What was that all about?”
“Lady was a bitch. We left up a sale sign from yesterday. She thinks the law was on her side with this one.”
Coworker says I probably could have gotten away with not giving the customer the price adjustment… because really, what’s she gonna do? I’m starting my new job in a week, so what’s she gonna do? Have me fired? Hahahaha… oh… I hate retail.
