Retail Employee Stories Part 7: "I'm Not Supposed To Be Here Today!"

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I love reading this thread. Haven't posted because I couldn't really remember many stories. I remember one now when I was working at a party supply store.

I was ringing up this couple and at the end they handed me a coupon for 20% off a $50 purchase. Their total was something like $49.xx + tax. I explain that they had to make a $50 purchase for the coupon to work and that it excludes tax. (They saw on the register that they owed $50, so they thought they could use the coupon) With a heavy German(i think) accent, they were like "No, take 20% off. We spent $50" I'm like no you didn't. The only reason why you owe $50 is because of sales tax which every retailer in the state is required to charge/pay. The sale is for the $49 in merchandise. They wouldn't have it. They could have easily bought a pack of candy and solved the whole problem. They never questioned why, they just demanded. Eventually a manager overrode the system and gave them the 20% off, which I guess isn't a big deal over >$1. But a lot of people don't read their coupons correctly.
 
Not sure if I posted this on CAG before: I worked at Computer City back in the Summer of '97, it was a store similar to CompUSA owned by the Tandy Corporation. Anyways, a few memorable events:

-A customer had been told that a problem he was having with his monitor was due to a chip in it overheating. The monitor was out of warranty so he was going to have to pay the full service price to have it repaired. As an interim solution to try and avoid getting it fixed he drilled holes about an inch apart all over the case (like swiss cheese), cut out one side of the case and duct-taped a $10 box fan to the side of it to keep it cool. Eventually this wasn't enough to keep it working so he finally brought it in for repair. :applause:

-The evening prior to an ad running for a super cheap computer deal, the managers had the staff pull all the systems but one for the deal and hide them in the back storage room behind and beneath other boxes, and then moved those hidden systems to a hidden location in the inventory system so that Sales people could do searches on the inventory to show customers directly that they were out of stock and try and up-sell them. :headache:

-A lady tried to install extra memory in her computer by herself and broke the retention clips for one of the slots. Her solution to this problem was to wedge a piece of cardboard between the memory in the bad slot and another in a good slot to try and make sure the memory in the bad slot kept contact. :roll:

-I was working as an upgrade technician and a lady came to me to ask for assistance with shopping for a laptop because she didn't want to deal with a sales person who she figured would just try to sell her whatever they were trying to push at the time. After discussing her needs and helping her pick out a laptop she came back the next day with her child and parents and brought them around to the back area where I worked at to meet me, say Thank You, and say how happy she was with her new laptop. :bow:

Other than that I just had to deal with the usual idiots including a mother buying her elementary school aged son Leisure Suit Larry 7, people refusing to bring all the parts for a device in for replacement, people complaining if there was so much as a spec of dust on their system when they picked it up after repairs...
 
Oh man, I work at a pharmacy. Imagine helping a pain in the ass customer with EVERYTHING(ins overides, prior approvals, ect..) for about 2 years and them still not knowing your name. Also, we get calls to our district manager about how we will not fill medications that the patients insurance is denying(too soon, prior approval, ect). When did pharmacies become insurance agencies?
 
[quote name='RolePlayer']I love reading this thread. Haven't posted because I couldn't really remember many stories. I remember one now when I was working at a party supply store.

I was ringing up this couple and at the end they handed me a coupon for 20% off a $50 purchase. Their total was something like $49.xx + tax. I explain that they had to make a $50 purchase for the coupon to work and that it excludes tax. (They saw on the register that they owed $50, so they thought they could use the coupon) With a heavy German(i think) accent, they were like "No, take 20% off. We spent $50" I'm like no you didn't. The only reason why you owe $50 is because of sales tax which every retailer in the state is required to charge/pay. The sale is for the $49 in merchandise. They wouldn't have it. They could have easily bought a pack of candy and solved the whole problem. They never questioned why, they just demanded. Eventually a manager overrode the system and gave them the 20% off, which I guess isn't a big deal over >$1. But a lot of people don't read their coupons correctly.[/QUOTE]

I guess they don't expect most Americans to be such sticklers for the rules? :lol:

[quote name='killa5k7']Oh man, I work at a pharmacy. Imagine helping a pain in the ass customer with EVERYTHING(ins overides, prior approvals, ect..) for about 2 years and them still not knowing your name. Also, we get calls to our district manager about how we will not fill medications that the patients insurance is denying(too soon, prior approval, ect). When did pharmacies become insurance agencies?[/QUOTE]

I work at a psychiatric rehab facility. I run one of the residential houses, which means I'm in charge of making sure my patients have their medications adequately stocked. As you can imagine, somewhere along the lines of the 10 pears of hands the prescription goes through before being refilled, the prescription will usually tend to have some kind of error associated with the refill. This is where having a good relationship with the local pharmacy comes in handy. They usually have no problem giving me loaner amounts of up to a week or so. My patients don't even have to start paying their tabs until they're good and ready. :]
 
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I have a couple of them.

First one was when I was in a different store actually. It's a store called Cash and Carry which is kinda like Costco except that there's no fee, it's smaller and more restaurant oriented than household. So anyway, I go in there and pick up the two items I need and stand over by the sign that says "line starts here" obviously for the cashiers. As there were only 2 cashiers and people at both I was waiting patiently and looking around. I saw a gal, Caucasian, walk to the first cashier and waits behind the gal already there with a couple items, she saw me looking at her and I motioned towards the sign that said "line starts here". The guy who's checking out the gal in front of her knows me and saw what the second gal was doing so he looked towards me to see if it's ok to take care of her, I shrug and roll my eyes as I didn't really care. He gets done with her and basically shouts "Next in line please" and I start walking up, as I do so, I can hear him tell her that I was waiting patiently in line and that I only had two items and that I was next and not her. She started getting flustered and said "I can't read, I can't read, I didn't know" and she starts walking towards the entrance door which only opens one way. He says "Ma'am, that's the entrance, the exit's over there" and she just mumbles as she walks towards the door, "I can't read, I can't read".

And people asking me a question directly after I answered just that same question to the same person is bugging me, and it's a constant thing that I've been noticing unfortunately. Therefore I figured I'd stop answering the second question. So after deciding this, a gal comes up to me and asks if we have something. I respond no, and of course, she asks the same question in a negative "So you don't have ****?" and I remain silent for a bit. She looks at me like I'm a dumbass until I slowly respond "correct".

I'm right near the border between Canada and the US, therefore we get a lot of Canadians down for the day or whatever and shop especially as our dollar is about the same right now. Today, I was talking with a gal about bluetooth when an East-Indian man comes up and motions towards a set of phones and this conversation takes place.
SC: These phones are $59.99, before they were $49.99, what happen?
Me: Well, chances are they had an instant rebate on them, kinda like this item here, where it's a certain price, but for a while it's lower until that time is over.
SC: But why it not $49.99?
Me: If it did have an instant rebate, then it must've expired.
SC: I am down from Canada, I can only bring $50 across border otherwise I get taxed.
Me: Alright
SC: So why it not $49.99?
Me: The price went up due to the rebate being over, there's a nice set of phones over here for $39.99
SC: No, I want these phones, what can you do for me?
Me: Well, I can't do anything, that is the price of what it is.
SC: I can only bring $50 across border without being taxed, I can't bring $60 across without being taxed.
Me: I understand that, but I can't do anything for you, that $49.99 expired.
And the part that gets me, is as he's walking away he says "You lost your chance", as if I give a rodents ass! And before someone gets on my case about mentioning their peoples origin, they are the only folk who do this sort of thing, they try to haggle down the price of tv's or computers when it's a set price.
 
I had this one today and I have to put it down before I forget the exact way it went down. Older gal, around 45 or so came up to me and this happened.

Her: I'm looking for that one device, that thing that you can scan slides onto your computer. Do you have it here?
Me: Online, yes. In-store, no.
Her: *Looks hopeful* In-store?
Me: Online, yes. In-store, no.
Her: Oh, so they scan it online?
Me: No, the item is online, we don't have it in-store. ****.com *and then she walks away*
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']I would love to see those coupon scans, just to see how they look.
[/QUOTE]
I actually took a picture of the coupons just to send a picture message to my friend.I just doubled checked to see if I still had them, lo and behold, I do! I have a crap phone so they didn't turn out that great. Hope I did the spoiler thing correctly.

photo0012ii.jpg

photo0013qy.jpg
On the second picture, there is a 4th "coupon" which is for the Sony Blu-Ray remote.
You could hardly read them as it was, very poor quality. They all had the same barcode as well.

I will have to post some stories soon, it would be a lot of fun. :D
 
I worked at Barnes and Noble for 5 yrs as a department lead until I finished grad school. My 'favorite' things that ever happened:

1) Some guy goes into the bathroom (never knew who it was) and took the air freshener off of the wall, put it in the toilet, then shits on it. Then, he takes the plastic flowers by the sink, puts them on top of the pile, and also shits on top of them. Then, he wraps toilet paper all around the toilet and throws the dirty tp on the floor. And since we were a small store, we didn't have cleaning people and the department leads had to clean the bathrooms. So I got to do it.

2) Years later, I am working at a much larger store. I am on the second floor scanning for returns, and a woman comes up to me and says "excuse me, but there is a man downstairs... pleasuring himself." I -- not believing her at all -- walk over to the railing and look down, and sure enough, there he is going at it. I yelled "oh my god, he is!" and took off for downstairs. By the time I got there, he was gone, but I had to put on gloves and 'inspect the scene'. Thankfully there was nothing. Best part -- people were seriously shopping mere feet away from him, and didn't even bat an eye.

In 5 years, a lot of amazing things happened but those two are probably the worst. (The best? After I got a new job and only worked there part-time, I quit in disgust one day because they sent all the cafe staff home and then made me work in the cafe. I then went out to my car, and it wouldn't start. I didn't have a cell phone, so I had to go inside and pretend I was just angry and 'unquit' just so I could use the phone and call my wife. Good times.)
 
[quote name='Ed_']


I'm sure you have bub, and of course since you haven't experienced it, it must mean it doesn't exist, right? I guarantee you it happens more than you realize. I can't speak for the quality of hotels you have stayed at, perhaps they were lower quality and therefore did not require a deposit. Or perhaps they chose not to take a deposit from you because they thought you were nice. Though no place would admit it, they do forgo a deposit on someone for numerous reasons. Granted, I recognize that not all places require such a deposit, however it DOES happen at more places than you are aware of. It happens in California, Vegas, Florida, Europe, etc.

[/QUOTE]
Are these customers paying cash for their rooms? I have never been charged a deposit on a hotel room in my life from anything starting at places like red roof inn up to the Marriott brands to a Ritz Carlton. I have had to secure a reservation with a credit card and if I failed to show up or cancel before X time I could be charged for the nights stay but never a deposit that I can remember.
 
[quote name='kklems']Are these customers paying cash for their rooms? I have never been charged a deposit on a hotel room in my life from anything starting at places like red roof inn up to the Marriott brands to a Ritz Carlton. I have had to secure a reservation with a credit card and if I failed to show up or cancel before X time I could be charged for the nights stay but never a deposit that I can remember.[/QUOTE]

I know the times I've stayed in the 'nice' hotels for my local anime con, they've pre-authorized my card for the amount of the reservation, plus $100-150 in case I skip out on the mini-bar bill or something. Pretty sure that does count as a 'deposit'... I imagine that excessive damages/people skipping out on their bill forced this hotel to be a lot more aggressive about their deposits than others.

It's one of those 'both are right' kinda things... it sucks for the folks checking in since it is handled differently than you'd normally deal with- but if they confirmed the check-in procedure ahead of time, they'd already know. I always re-read the check-in procedures and billing policies, so I know when to show up and how much taxes are this year (It's good to actually have the right amount of money, after all.)
 
I swear it must be a full moon or something.

We have a jewelry case with rings and bracelets and earrings at waist level with three inner levels of watches. If you were to look at the display at the side, it'd look like an upside T. All sides of each case are normal glass panels. I had to yell at a lady the other day because she propped herself up onto the cases with the rings, bracelets and earrings on it, and when I yelled at her to get down, she said that she was trying to see the watches on the top shelf.

Today:
SC: Do you know where the help desk is?
Me: Yeah, it's right on the other side of here.
SC: Alright, I just need to get a coupon book for these things.
Me: We'd actually ran out. We have had a ton of people leave theirs at home and take the ones that we have here.
SC: Can I get the money off without the coupons?
Me: No, you need the actual coupons. They have a barcode on the back that they need to scan.
SC: Can't they just give it to me?
Me: No, they need the barcode on the back to scan it.
SC: So you expect me to go home and get the book to use the coupons.
Me: Well they need the barcode on the coupon to scan it.
SC: *throws a hissy fit* Well you can just put this stuff back because I'm not doing that.


I'm talking with another coworker by the monitors when a guy walks over and starts talking with us.
SC: I'm really looking for a 24" monitor.
Me: Alright, well we have those two right there, and this other 25" right here.
SC: Ok, but I just really need a 24" monitor.
SC: Hey, what does it mean when it says that speakers aren't included?
Me: *Looks at coworker, then looks back* Well, it means it doesn't have speakers.
SC: But how do I get sound out of it?
Me: It doesn't have speakers, you can't get sound out of it without separate speakers. This 25" one has speakers.
SC: No, I really want a 24" one, why doesn't this one have speakers?
Me: Manufactures choice.


This one happened on the phone.
Me: (Town) (Company) Electronics.
SC: Yeah, I didn't really want electronics, but I had some questions about your garden department.
Me: Well, we don't really have anyone in the garden department, what kinda question do you have?
SC: I'm trying to find out if you have a lawn trimmer.
Me: Well, if you give me a second I'll walk over there and find out. Just out of curiosity, when you were in the phone system, and you dialed the number to get to me, what did the phone system say the department was you were dialing into?
SC: Well.... electronics.
Just stupefies me that they would dial into the electronics department, then immediately say that they didn't want electronics.
 
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Guy at the counter has a certain nervous twitch to him and takes the item on and off the counter several times. I ask him if he needs any help. He says I want this game real bad but I need to get my prescription filled. I suggest holding off his gaming urge and getting the pills. He contemplates this a while before deciding to get the game. His rationale is that "i get paid friday and I can just stay focused on playing the game". This was a Monday and he's already twitchy. The kicker, the game was the first Iron Man on PS2. :roll:
 
Anyone cashiers here have to deal with senior citizens who don't know quite how to check out? Some old guy was holding up a grocery store line today and the lady cashier was getting really fed up with him and even started raising her voice.

I really have no idea what the issue was, but it may have had something to do with him wanting to see the balance on his (gift?) card before making his purchase. I heard the cashier telling him she couldn't find out what was on his card but the receipt would tell him how much was left. He kept fiddling around with the card scanner.
 
Anyone cashiers here have to deal with senior citizens who don't know quite how to check out? Some old guy was holding up a grocery store line today and the lady cashier was getting really fed up with him and even started raising her voice.

I really have no idea what the issue was, but it may have had something to do with him wanting to see the balance on his (gift?) card before making his purchase. I heard the cashier telling him she couldn't find out what was on his card but the receipt would tell him how much was left. He kept fiddling around with the card scanner.

On the other hand, I think getting cash back was also being discussed, which wouldn't be a gift card but rather a debit card. Unless there's like some sort of store card that you can put money on and take money off.

What was funny is that there were senior citizens in line behind him and they were getting impatient.
 
I have one, im a host/busser at a mexican resturaunt in california.


One day this lady orders a togo, she comes and picks it up and goes home, then I see her about an hour later so I went up to the front of the store to see what was up.
Her: "My food didn't "
come with tortillas!!!! And I had to drive all the way back out here"
Me: OK mam just let me check your box real quick to verify that theres no tortillas in there and Ill get you a whole side of tortillas free of charge:
Her: well it didn't have a tortilla in it and it's in my car all the way out in the parking lot
Me: Thats alright, but I do need to see it. "So we proceed to walk out to the parking lot"
Her: I checked the box, its not in there
Me: "Opened the box and see!!! a tortilla folded right next to the beans and rice"
Her: Oh I must have only opened the box halfway, usually they give you the tortillas unfolded!!!
Me: When you eat here they do because they use tortilla boxes, but since it was a to-go order they folded it to fit in the box without covering your food.


fryking waste of my life, just like the 20 times ppl have complained to me "Your bathroom is out of paper towels" only to find out they didn't spin the wheel on the rightside. I have no patience for stupid people.
 
Ok, so anyone who's done a cash return before knows there's usually a bit of paperwork involved- name, address, etc. I had a lady return some things yesterday, and I gave her the lil' form to fill out (with a quick penstroke along the side showing the specific lines to fill in).

Me: Just fill in the top part of this for me.
Her:................... where I fill in?
Me: Just these top 5 lines, next to the mark here.
Her: *signs 1st line, hands forms back*
Me: No, I actually need all 5 lines filled out. *gathers the cash up while she writes*
Her:... So, 4 or 5?

At this point, I check the form- lots of people miss a line here or there, I can tell her what she still needs. What do I find? She's signed her name 4 more times, once on each line.
....

Me:... no, each line is different- name, address, city/state/zip...
Her: Huh? *gets into her purse and pulls out glasses, then fills in the form*

Why she thought I needed 5 copies of her signature is beyond me.

Also- why do people keep expecting me to give them extra discounts for logical reasoning? Corporate policy allows 1 coupon per customer, per day. Not per transaction, not per visit, per DAY. It sucks, I know. Yet everyday, I get someone who asks me "but if I just left and came back, how would you know I'd already used a coupon?" with this wink-wink-nudge-nudge look on their face. What do you expect me to say?! "Yes, your reasoning is sound, let me break policy and risk my job by letting you use 3 coupons for a total savings of a buck and a half?" Of course I'm going to say no, I HAVE to- it's part of my job. I mean, if you come up to the counter and say "you know, I could steal this and leave while you're not looking", I'm not going to let you take it without paying. I need some CAGs to come and teach these ladies the rules- if you've found a way around the system (the stupider parts of it, anyway), you don't point it out to the employees, you just do it!
 
Had a lady call the other day:

lady: Where y'all located on Sylvania?
me: About a block west of Lewis.
lady: Oh, y'all on Lewis now. What happened to the one on Sylvania?
me: No, we're still on Sylvania, about a block west of Lewis.
lady: Next to the furniture place?
me: Yes, right where we've always been.
lady: Well I'm here now and I don't see anyone in there.
me: :whistle2:s There's five of us in here working right now.
lady: I'm looking in the window and I don't see anyone.

I was using the phone in the back. I lean out and see her sitting in her car right outside our windows. Apparently she's never noticed that it's difficult to see inside any building on a bright, sunny day.

lady: There's no one here.
me: I don't know what you want me to say ma'am, but I have customers to take care of.

...and I hung up. She walks in a few moments later and comments that the place looked deserted.
 
Another

guy: Hey do you guys serve Margaritas here?
me: yes we serve wine margaritas
guy: how much are tequila margaritas?
me: we can't serve tequila margaritas, we can only serve beer or wine, no hard alcohol
guy: what kind of a mexican restaurant is this!!!! don't even have real margaritas

the kicker...... were located LITERALLY right next to a bar.
 
[quote name='BlackwaterMerk']Another

guy: Hey do you guys serve Margaritas here?
me: yes we serve wine margaritas
guy: how much are tequila margaritas?
me: we can't serve tequila margaritas, we can only serve beer or wine, no hard alcohol
guy: what kind of a mexican restaurant is this!!!! don't even have real margaritas

the kicker...... were located LITERALLY right next to a bar.[/QUOTE]

Wine margaritas? What kind of BS is that?
 
[quote name='Allnatural']Had a lady call the other day:

lady: Where y'all located on Sylvania?
me: About a block west of Lewis.
lady: Oh, y'all on Lewis now. What happened to the one on Sylvania?
me: No, we're still on Sylvania, about a block west of Lewis.
lady: Next to the furniture place?
me: Yes, right where we've always been.
lady: Well I'm here now and I don't see anyone in there.
me: :whistle2:s There's five of us in here working right now.
lady: I'm looking in the window and I don't see anyone.

I was using the phone in the back. I lean out and see her sitting in her car right outside our windows. Apparently she's never noticed that it's difficult to see inside any building on a bright, sunny day.

lady: There's no one here.
me: I don't know what you want me to say ma'am, but I have customers to take care of.

...and I hung up. She walks in a few moments later and comments that the place looked deserted.[/QUOTE]
You wouldn't by chance work in Toledo, OH would you?
 
While working at Home Depot a number of years ago as a Cart Wrangler, part of our job was helping people load their purchases into their car if they asked for assistance. Well if it was a large item we could give them twine/rope to tie it but we couldn't do it ourselves for liability reasons.

Well one person had bought like a 50 gallon water heat, we wheeled it out for her and she asked us to wait while she pulled her vehicle around so we didn't have to bring it all the way out there (wonderful). What does she pull up in you ask? A 1996 Ford Thunderbird.
1996.ford.thunderbird.3654-300x189.jpg


Me and the other guy I was working with really have to do all we can not to laugh. We manage to get it part way in the trunk, but really it only fit like 25% in the car. She was quite upset when we told her we couldn't tie it in there for her, as it was obviously barely hanging in there. We didn't see her again, so we imagined she did make it back home ok. We had bets going as to whether she'd make it out of the parking lot past the speed bumps but we never stuck around to watch.


Another time a guy bought a John Deere riding lawnmower. We wheeled it out for him and he pulled up to the front in his daughter's Ford Ranger. I'm looking at this lawnmower and that truck and I'm like "I don't think this is going to work." He assures me he measured before buying it and it just fit in the bed of the truck. I'm just like whatever, and we get the wood planks to push it in the bed. Yea, we get it partially in the bed and come to a complete stop. The guy forgot to account for the wheel wells taking up part of the bed. We really can't help him any further, he either has to pay for delivery, go get a different vehicle (which he doesn't have right now), or rent one of our trucks for like $25 for all the time he'll likely need to get his mower home and come back. He starts getting pissed that we won't delivery it for free or give him a rental truck since he already bought it. I tell him I don't really see how he expects us to help him, and get a manager. I think they finally convinced him to rent a truck, but it took at least 20 mins. Dumb-ass.
 
As a summer job between my first two years of college I worked at a Flying J buffet as a prep-cook (had to also keep the buffet and salad bar stocked). Typically there would be 2 prep cooks working, but we were running a special with steak on the buffet so one of the prep-cooks had to be out there to cut the steak for the customers. Turns out on this particular day I get stuck with a girl who's pregnant. I'm in the back busting my ass trying to do all our normal work and keep the buffet stocked and looking good, and everytime I go out there I see her either talking with the cashier or sitting on a bench doing nothing. I go out there one more time and I see her doing scratch off lottery tickets with the cashier, and I've had it at this point. I go in the back and confront the on duty (assistant) manager about it, and this is what he says:

"When you get pregnant, you can sit around too when you need a break."


I about punched him in the face right there, but really needed the money for college. But yea, I really shouldn't have been in work that day.


On my 2nd to last day there the dishwasher walked out when we were swamped. I stayed and worked dishes and prep though. :(
 
Also while working at Circuit City on a black friday in 2005, this large black woman shows up (with her entourage) at like 2pm and asks where they can get an Ipod Shuffle (it's a doorbuster mind you), and I'm like "We ran out of those more than 6 hours ago." She doesn't understand the concept of doorbusters apparently though as she proceeds to point at the add and demand I give her one. I'm like "We.have.none." She then wants a rain check, which we can't do. Then she wants us to give her a freaking full featured Ipod for the shuffle price since we are out of the Shuffle. I mean really people?

I wanted to kill myself that day.
 
[quote name='tsmvengy']Wine margaritas? What kind of BS is that?[/QUOTE]
it's a family restaurant not a chain, we don't have a bar or the right alcohol license to serve hard alcohol so we can only do wine margaritas, wine, and beer. And theres a BAR right next door. To me going to a restaurant and throwing a fit because they don't have hard alcohol is like going to a bar and throwing a fit because their food sucks. Just silly to me.
 
[quote name='BlackwaterMerk']Another

guy: Hey do you guys serve Margaritas here?
me: yes we serve wine margaritas
guy: how much are tequila margaritas?
me: we can't serve tequila margaritas, we can only serve beer or wine, no hard alcohol
guy: what kind of a mexican restaurant is this!!!! don't even have real margaritas

the kicker...... were located LITERALLY right next to a bar.[/QUOTE]

Is it possible the bar next door stopped serving him?
 
A woman wandering around the Target I work at asked me where the escalator was to the second floor.

There is only one floor. :shock:

The most common situation I experience at work: The item someone is looking for is behind a wall that's directly in front of them. I say this and point with a motion to the wall and they have this confused look :drool: like they've never seen this structure before. :wall:
 
here the one i got :

i work at a convience store. this guy come in and buy 1 can of soda .65 and 1 bag of chip $1 that a total of $1.65. he counted .65 and say that for the soda . than he added .35 and say that a dollar for chip. i told him 1.65 but he keep on doing the same thing . so i grab the change handed it to him and tell him get the fuck out .. by the way he is in his 30's 40's gosh how can someone survive and not no how to count
 
[quote name='NipPicker']gosh how can someone survive and not no how to count[/QUOTE]

the same way that people can survive and not know how to spell.
 
If anyone remembers my old blog, I started a new one. Many reasons, but overall this one is better. Enjoy.

fuckmytable.wordpress.com

(It's the f-word!)
 
[quote name='NipPicker']here the one i got :

i work at a convience store. this guy come in and buy 1 can of soda .65 and 1 bag of chip $1 that a total of $1.65. he counted .65 and say that for the soda . than he added .35 and say that a dollar for chip. i told him 1.65 but he keep on doing the same thing . so i grab the change handed it to him and tell him get the fuck out .. by the way he is in his 30's 40's gosh how can someone survive and not no how to count[/QUOTE]
He's either an idiot or a scammer. We'd get people that would pull change scams at my previous job. Occasionally we'd get mid-transaction scams like that, but usually it was post-transaction, such as:

Me: Here's your change, $11.56.
*customer refuses to take money*
Cu: Can I have 2 $5s instead of a $10?
Me: Sure. *removes $10 and person immediately takes the $5s"
Cu: Um... why am I only getting $1.56 back? *points to counter*
Me: That's $11.56 total.
Cu: No, that's only $1.56.
Me: You just took $10 directly from me, and have $1.56 left on the counter.
Cu: You short-changed me! I want to see the manager!
Me: I am the manager. You have two choices: you can take the $1.56 on the counter with the $10 you just took for $11.56 total and be on your way, or you can insist I short-changed you and I'll ban you from the store with no imaginary $10 bonus.
Cu: ... oh yeah, that was the right change. *grabs remaining money and quickly exits*

Later that month I caught someone trying to pull the same thing on another cashier who wasn't that smart. The cashier almost handed over the extra money when I stopped him and took over the transaction; that customer was not happy.
 
Ah yes, the quick-change artist. These are the rules were I work: if you aren't a manager/supervisor, you are NOT to break money for people. EVER. Once it's in their hands, you're done. If pressured over it, shut your drawer and call a manager.

The end result? Assuming the customer does try to pull something, the manager will actually take the till to the cash office and verify the amount in it- if the drawer isn't over by the amount the customer claims they don't have, they don't get anything.

We don't get many quick-change artists at my store. :lol:
 
When I got hired at BlockBuster back in 99 it was the same day that an Assistant Manager got fired for theft. That night we had closed shift and went home. Turns out after closing this guy came back, you can see him on camera outside, drops his pants and briefs and takes a crap in the "drop box". I found out about this because I came in the morning to finalize my schedule and the one girl was cleaning the crap from the drop box and VHS tapes. Smelt like "crap" in the store too!

Another time was people trying to plot and scheme their way out of late fee's. At the time I was an AM2, and some girl comes in(girl I mean like 19, my age). She says the tape she rented doesn't work. I'm like ok, np let me just scan it in....oh wait this tape is 2 weeks over due. She says she was out of town and it doesn't work and shouldn't have to pay a late fee.

So I pop the tape into the VHS player and low and behold it works. To make sure I fast forward etc and it works. I turn around, I say nothing and she starts crying and screams " GREAT NOW YOU THINK I"M STUPID" and runs out. Not even 10 minutes later her BF calls and is threatening me for making her cry. He said he was going to come down to the store and beat me up. And he did, come to the store..and I laughed my arse off at him. Little guy, all hulked out threatening me. I told him what happened, showed him the tape and he was dumb-founded. He paid the fee though.

We used to get wrong returns all the time, two times were porns. There was a movie called "The Temptations" and evidently there was a porn with the same name. Someone didn't do their job checking the tapes and it was rented out to a family that watched it with the neighborhood parents and kids(basically movie night). The mother called in frantic and panicking that all the kids saw boobs, and private parts. Suffice to say I gave her a $50 credit to compensate for the wrong doing.

During inventories we used to watch movies etc in the store. One night we popped in an invalid return(was all guys on shift) and it was called "Big Guns". Suffice to say we thought it was Guns as in Knockers...no. We actually tore the VHS player from the cabinet and threw it out onto the street jumping on it. Some sick, sick stuff.
 
Wow. I followed the link posted on notalwaysright.com to one of these forums (I think the fourth or so) and read all the way to these current ones. I registered just to say that I love these stories and have learned to be a better customer through them. Mostly 'cause I don't want you all spitting in my food, but still. :) Thank you for all your longsuffering with those of us who've never worked retail and never will (thank God) and please continue with the stories. I love this.
 
Just had someone call that the return they made on their Visa card hasn't been credited back to their account yet. Problem is the return was made yesterday, it's not even been a full business day. Do people think it's automatic?
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']Just had someone call that the return they made on their Visa card hasn't been credited back to their account yet. Problem is the return was made yesterday, it's not even been a full business day. Do people think it's automatic?[/QUOTE]
In short: Yes.
 
[quote name='dorino']In short: Yes.[/QUOTE]
It's even more fun when people expect instant credit on debit card transactions. Since so many people keep so little in their accounts, we get frequent complaints because they end up overdrawing later.

I do enjoy telling them "tough shit" though. :)
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']Just had someone call that the return they made on their Visa card hasn't been credited back to their account yet. Problem is the return was made yesterday, it's not even been a full business day. Do people think it's automatic?[/QUOTE]

Having worked customer service in a call center, the short answer is yes. Some people expect it to show up automatically right then. Even when being told it could take up 2-3 business days to fully process.
 
[quote name='shadow024']I actually took a picture of the coupons just to send a picture message to my friend.I just doubled checked to see if I still had them, lo and behold, I do! I have a crap phone so they didn't turn out that great. Hope I did the spoiler thing correctly.

photo0012ii.jpg

photo0013qy.jpg
On the second picture, there is a 4th "coupon" which is for the Sony Blu-Ray remote.
You could hardly read them as it was, very poor quality. They all had the same barcode as well.

I will have to post some stories soon, it would be a lot of fun. :D[/QUOTE]
You know, it's very easy to make fake coupons that will actually scan... :/

Why they used the same barcode is beyond me, it's pretty damn easy to make a new one that matches the product.

Also no one will fall for those. PS3s are not free.
 
[quote name='MSUHitman']Just had someone call that the return they made on their Visa card hasn't been credited back to their account yet. Problem is the return was made yesterday, it's not even been a full business day. Do people think it's automatic?[/QUOTE]

In these people's defense, it's not like it doesn't come OUT of their acount automatically. :)
 
[quote name='Allnatural']It's even more fun when people expect instant credit on debit card transactions. Since so many people keep so little in their accounts, we get frequent complaints because they end up overdrawing later.

I do enjoy telling them "tough shit" though. :)[/QUOTE]

Some guy got charged a whole $9 in late fees once when I worked at BBV... He came in the same day he got charged and said he needed to be refunded IMMEDIATELY to pay his mortgage. I'm not kidding. NINE DOLLARS to pay off his mortgage payment for the month. I was just staring at him the entire time when he told me he was short $9 on his payment.

[quote name='dorino']
Also no one will fall for those. PS3s are not free.[/QUOTE]

You sure about that?
 
I used to work at a newspaper, and during the Olympics (which NBC likes to tape delay and repackage as a primetime TV event rather than a live sporting event), some lady calls up to complain that our TV listings are wrong. She goes out of her way to mention that the rival newspaper and USA Today have the EXACT SAME LISTING as us, and wanted to know why WE had it wrong. I told her to ask NBC, and she said it's not NBC's fault -- it's ours!

Needless to say, working at a newspaper is awful if you have to answer phones because there are a lot of stupid people that treat the phone number like it's Google or talk radio or their therapist. I wonder if TV stations and radio stations have it as bad.
 
[quote name='sonderiaom']
Just stupefies me that they would dial into the electronics department, then immediately say that they didn't want electronics.[/QUOTE]

To be honest, I've done that when you dial electronics and sit on hold for 20 mins. Dial something like clothing or garden, get an immediate answer and ask for electronics and explain your situation and how you weren't getting any response.
 
Finally got through all of these posts.....it took me a bit longer than expected because of the laughter-induced comas I had to manage from time to time. I can say that I've definitely re-evaluated some of my actions as a customer.

As for some stories, let's see what I can dredge up...

I used to work as a lifeguard at a family pool of a suburban, mostly white town. We taught swim lessons too, both public and private. For private lessons, parents would give us notes telling us the age of the kid(s), swimming ability, desired number of lessons, and contact info. A guard who was interested would pick up the note and call the parent. People noticed a lot of improvement in the kids of my public lessons (which is mostly because they were 8-10 years old so they're at the point where they just improve a ton with practice) and I garnered a reputation for being a good instructor (important for the next story).

Our private lessons, at the time, were $15 cash (under the table; last I heard it was 20 but gets taxed) for a 30 minute lesson ($30/hour). I had one crazy parent who wouldn't leave me alone about giving lessons to her kids, 8 and 10 years old, I think. Her kids were in my public lesson so she wanted two weeks worth of private lessons for the both of them. So that'd be 10 lessons = $150 for 5 hours of work spread over two weeks.

Here's the problem:
She pestered me for about an hour WHILE I WAS IN THE CHAIR WATCHING THE POOL about setting up the lessons, asking about why I can't give lessons while I'm on the clock. The following is paraphrased

Her: Can you give lessons while you're not in the chair?
Me: I can only give lessons on my time off, when I'm not working. Even if I'm off in the rotation, I'm still on the clock and we're not allowed to give lessons during work.
Her: But you're not even working or doing anything. You're just sitting there with the other guards. You SHOULD be able to give lessons during that time.
Me: I'm sorry but I can't. If I were needed for something during that time, I'd have to do that and it wouldn't be fair to your kids.

At this point she keeps repeating her argument and I was exasperated enough to direct her to my manager, which was a mistake since my manager came to me later to tell me to handle things like that for myself. She was a great manager and it was pointless to pawn off the woman on her except to make sure I didn't lose it. Eventually I got her to schedule lessons on my off time and did them all. I forget if I charged her more for the double lesson or not since they became semi-privater and thus only devoted half of my attention to each. Either way, it was a nice infusion of cash to my wallet.

We had another patron yell at us (not at me directly though; I was in the nearby chair watching the pool) for letting kids swim in the lanes during lap swim. In the evenings, we have designated time for lap swimming only, otherwise the diving board is open and everyone can basically swim everywhere. This was a guy in his mid 30's, probably 5'6" and in decent shape, SCREAMING and swearing about how a 10 year old girl ran into him while he was swimming laps and how we weren't watching the pool enough to make sure the lanes are clear and this and that. The other manager at the time was terrified and eventually calmed him down and assured him that we'd keep an eye out.

But here's the kicker:

We don't have lane lines, so we just hope people can stay in their lanes, which they do. This guy managed to swim out of his lane, into the little girls lane that she was doing laps in, and RAN INTO HER, not the other way around. Despite being low paying (7.74/hour) and really boring most of the time, lifeguarding there was such a sweet gig and we almost never had problems with anyone except bratty kids and summer campers who ran around or splashed too much.

I actually have a nice story from that job too. There was an older lady who was swimming laps and came to us saying that she had lost an earring the pool. She was afraid that it would get sucked into the filter and lost and asked if someone could help look for it. We figured it was at the bottom of the deep end so I said I'd look since I had about 20 or so more minutes until my turn in the guard rotation. Donning the bright green goggles, I scoured the briny deep for about 10 minutes before recovering the earring and bringing it back to her. She thanked me profusely and left. I finished my shift before closing with a smile on my face, thinking her thanks were good enough...or so I thought.

The next day, I came in and a coworker gave me a subway gift card and told me that the lady returned after I had left, saying that there were $20 on the card. Sweet!

I've got at least a few more stories from that job, plus many from working as an EMT (and funnily enough, many aren't about the patients), but I'll get to that later. I really hope this thread isn't dead.
 
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