TalesFromRetail

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/annnnn5 on 2023-12-16 23:43:18.

I work in a store where the policy is that if an item is missing a price tag, we will find one of the same item to find the price or match it to a similar item. A man came up to the cash with a Christmas gift bag that was missing a tag, so our assistant manager went to check for a matching bag.

Assistant manager: I can sell you this bag for $5.99.

Customer: Why? All the other bags there are $3.99 or $4.99.

Assistant manager: Yes, but this is a branded bag. It's... oh wow, it's (high end luxury brand), I've never seen that brand here before!

Customer: And? So what? I've never heard of that brand in my life! Why should I have to pay more for it?

Assistant manager: I'm sorry, but I can't sell it for less than that. Actually, it should probably be priced much higher than I quoted, but I'll honor that price of course. There are other bags there if you would like to get another one.

Customer: No, I want a red one, it's for Christmas. Oh well, I guess I'll have to go to (store across the street) instead.

While I can somewhat understand this customer's frustration, I found it funny that he thought an item should be cheap just because he isn't personally familiar with the brand. Funny enough, it's a good thing he didn't buy the bag, because we had received gift sets from that brand that were actually supposed to be packaged and sold inside the bag.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/pheonixarise on 2023-12-11 02:43:30.

I’ve been in retail off and on for 8 years. Needless to say, my last day was 22 July 2022, but that’s a story for another time.

The two that I wanted to talk about was when I was first working at this one store that once had a dog as a mascot back in 2005.

The first one was when I was coming into work and I haven’t even clocked in yet. I walked by the customer service desk when I hear, “Him, he’s the one I talked to”. I found out later that it was a lady trying to return an opened DVD and wanted her money back. She claimed that when she called, she talked to me saying that it was ok to return the DVD even if it was open.

I told her that was impossible since I just walked in for my shift. She then got in my face and called me a liar. LP came up and stood between us. It was then I made my exit. I was told later the LP told her to leave or else the police would be called. She left, leaving the DVD behind.

The second one was a couple of months later. A customer came to the register with a small appliance. After the cashier scanned the item, she told the cashier that wasn’t right and that it was 70% off.

The cashier asked for customer service to come over and they took her to the customer service area. After explaining what happened, I was called to customer service to do a price check.

She told me where she got it from. When I went to that end cap, 1) the sign said “up to 70%” and 2) there were no other items like it. I went over to small appliances and found the item with an empty spot on the shelf.

I came back and told customer service what I found. The customer then got angry and yelled that she found it there and it wasn’t her “fault that you can’t do your job putting back stuff that was in the wrong spot.” Then demanded to get the item 70 percent off.

When the customer service member said no, the customer threw the item at her head where she ducked and it shattered behind her.

She then ran out the door as a manger and LP came running because the cashier and I yelled for help.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Gorguf62 on 2023-12-11 02:18:27.

At the grocery store I work at, our policy is to have an ID for all purchases of cigarettes. We can refuse the sale if their ID isn't valid.

On this day, I'm up at the desk when two guys come up to the desk, speaking another language (for the sake of the story, since I'm not entirely sure what language it was, I'm saying Russian). One of them talks into their phone and then hands it over to me. On the phone is Google Translate from Russian to English asking me for cigarettes.

At this point, it's clear to me these guys can't actually carry out a conversation with me without Google Translate. I talk back into the phone asking what kind of cigarettes they want. The guy says back into Translate that he wants tall cigarettes. I ask him what kind of tall cigarettes he wants. What followed was a few moments of non-translated pointing and yelling while I'm trying to figure out what kind they want.

Eventually, I manage to figure out what kind of cigarettes they want. I scan them on the register and ask for their ID. Either they didn't hear me or they didn't understand me because they pulled out their credit card. I ask them again for their ID, this time they understand me, and pull out their drivers license.

There's just one problem: Other than the words "drivers license" the entire thing is in Russian. Unsurprisingly, being able to read Russian is not part of my job description. Since I can't read it, I can't take it.

I tell them I can't take it, to which the guy hands over his phone again and I have to again speak the phone to tell him I can't take it. (by this point, I'm thinking this whole transaction is completely absurd).

Both of them are clearly getting annoyed by the fact I'm not selling to them without ID. The one guy offers a picture of his passport, but I tell him no because I need the physical ID. The guy yells something in Russian, and then speaks into the phone again. This time, he's telling me that he's 34 and I should just give them to him.

Now I'm done trying to do the whole thing via Translate and I just shake my head no. The two give up and walk out, leaving me to tell my coworkers the story. They all found it hilarious.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Conversation-White on 2023-12-10 19:55:20.

This story I was told when I worked for a mid- range fashion store. A store was being refitted and the company was bringing in visual merchandisers as well as asking nearby staff to join in (as I was part time, could do with the money and wanted to progress onto merchandising) so I volunteered.

So this story was from the VMs who regularly worked together for re-fits and setting up new stores - a few weeks before they had worked on fitting a new store whilst staff were being trained.

One of the new workers had gone to their locker and found it open, and money missing from their bag. They reported it and fortunately, the store already had cameras set up and they caught who did it. They pulled the girl into the manager office and asked her if she took the money (think it was £20) and she bluntly said yes, she needed it and would pay it back when she got her first pay. Understandably, manager said this was unacceptable, and she would be escorted out. The girl said, “alright.” and followed the boss to the exit.

The next morning, she was at the side door waiting to come in - they had changed the passcode as per protocol and she couldn’t gain access. Apparently she thought her only punishment was leaving work yesterday! Boss had to explain that stealing was a sackable offence, apparently she disagreed because she had promised to pay the money back.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Quoth666 on 2023-12-10 16:51:05.

Penguin: A flightless aquatic bird or a chocolate bar sold in packs in the U.K.

Peddle: Slang term for sell

Pensioner: A person old enough to be getting a pension, slang for old person

Pinching: Slang term for stealing

Pillock: Slang term for idiot

It was a particularly pleasant day in the place where we peddle provisions and I was placing products in the provided places. A male pensioner proceeded to prod my person, and provide his peeve of his preferred pleasurable provision of packs of Penguins was not provided.

After he pootled pass we proceeded to pursue the peculiarities of the pensioner’s predicament.

Our probe into the non present Penguins, placed pinching as providing the predicament of Penguins non presence.

We persevered with our probe into the non present packs of Penguins and placed the pillock pensioner pinching the precious Penguins!

When the pilfering perpetrator next presented his person to purloin packs of Penguins, we pursued the pillock and persuaded him to pay for his pinched packs of Penguins or his particulars would be passed to the Police for prosecution.

Tl:dr An old guy complains that we don’t have his favourite pack of chocolate bars. On checking stock levels and CCTV as to why we’re out of stock, it’s because he’s stealing them. On his next visit he’s asked to pay for them or the police will be involved.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/theo_ops on 2023-12-07 20:38:08.

Customer walks into our store and complains that the phone he bought isn't working as it should. Our policy is 7-day exchange or refund, then 6 months repair warranty and we will swop or refund if it cannot be repaired or is too costly to repair. Phone was purchased in August, almost 4 months ago.

Manager (M): Sir, we will have to send the item to our technical department for assessment as the 7-day window has passed.

Customer (C): but the phone worked for only 2 days!,

M: why didn't you bring it in earlier then?

C: I haven't had a day off since then.

M: we trade 7 days a week

C: yes I work 7 days a week!

M: why didn't you call us? Our landline number is clearly printed at the top of your till slip

C: but nobody told me I could call!

M stood her ground, C stormed out in a huff with his broken phone.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Alyksandur on 2023-12-07 04:31:12.

 I once worked at a pharmacy chain. To give some idea of how long ago this was, digital photography was in its infancy — a 6 megapixel photo was state-of-the-art — and one-hour photo processing was in its heyday. I worked in the photo department, which doubled as customer service and/or the complaint department. Managers had to do all refunds since it required a key. The problem was that most managers didn’t enjoy having to put up with the typical customer who wanted refunds and would often try to put it off if there was anybody else, customer or otherwise, they could possibly help.

 (I owe that job a certain debt of gratitude, it taught me a lot about how to deflect blame from myself to people higher up the chain of command. …Where it usually belonged.)

 One day, the PA system decided that it was being too quiet when employees used it to page, and suddenly any announcement we made was loud enough to be heard at the fast food drive-thru next door. (I’m guessing a software update of some sort went sideways.) I managed to figure out within a day or so that holding the phone backward but otherwise speaking normally when paging would result in the PA producing a more reasonable volume, as opposed to trying to find the right distance and vocal volume worked. I shared this with my coworkers, and it became the new norm for paging announcements.

 Thus began my reign of terror over the management team.

 Nothing had changed about their lack of enthusiasm in handling refunds, but when they tried to pretend I didn’t exist, I would pull out my trump card: “Do I need to turn this phone around and page it? Because I’ll do it.” It was usually enough to convince them to stop ignoring the angry karen (even though they weren’t called karens back then) and quickly finish up with whatever they were doing.

 One particular manager decided he was going to call my bluff one day. He finished up with the customer he was working with and came by to let me know he was going on break, having waited for the refund customer to be about twenty feet away looking at something. I waited for the door to the employee area close, then went over to the customer — a karen through and through, and I honestly don’t really blame the manager for not wanting to deal with her. I suggested she might want to plug her ears.

 I then followed through on my threat:

 “ＭＩＳＴＥＲ　ＭＡＮＡＧＥＲ　ＴＯ　ＰＨＯＴＯ　ＦＯＲ　Ａ　ＲＥＦＵＮＤ．”

 The entire store went dead silent for a good four or five seconds. Even the muzak was quieted for a moment while the software parsed what I had just done to to the PA.

 The manager came out, did the refund, gave me the dirtiest look you can imagine, and went back to take his break.

 Fast forward a few weeks and the PA still hasn’t been fixed. Other managers, having heard that I was, in fact, not afraid to follow through on my threats of excessive volume, practically materialized from the aether — sometimes several at once — as soon as I made the page that I needed one of them to help a customer.

 The one I actually did abuse the eardrums of, on the other hand, has not learned his lesson, and is again taking his time in coming to my counter to issue a refund. (One of my regulars, not the same customer. That would have been too poetic.) He lazily strolls right past my counter toward the stockroom, saying he’ll be back in a few. I again offer the threat of turning the phone around, and he again says he’ll be right back while maintaining his nonchalant pace.

 What I didn’t realize was that the district manager was at the store at that time. He overheard me saying that, and I probably turned pale when I saw him come out of an aisle and head my way.

 “What did you say?” he asked, but he sounded more confused or curious than upset.

 “The PA only works right if you hold the phone backward and talk into the back of the mouthpiece when you page,” I explained. “They hear us next door if we page holding the phone normally. I’ve got a customer waiting for a refund.” I gestured toward the aforementioned customer.

 “It’s all good, I can wait a few,” the customer said, waving off the concern.

 The DM wasn’t having it. “Customers come first, and he’s checking on something I asked him about. Call for the refund, and don’t hold the phone backward,” was his order.

 Cue malicious compliance.

 I picked up the phone. “You may want to plug your ears,” I said. The customer thought I was joking, but did so anyway. The DM did not.

 “ＭＩＳＴＥＲ　ＭＡＮＡＧＥＲ　ＴＯ　ＰＨＯＴＯ　ＦＯＲ　Ａ　ＲＥＦＵＮＤ，” I paged.

 Again, silence.

 The manager came out of the stockroom, ready to lay into me about having abused the PA (and his eardrums) again, but held his tongue when he saw the district manager scowling in his direction. He did the refund, the DM apologized for the wait while still glaring daggers at the manager, and said he wanted to talk to him in the stockroom after the customer had left. I was amused to note that the manager didn’t dawdle when heading for the stockroom this time, walking as fast as he could without actually running. The DM took a couple of steps to follow, but paused.

 “How long has the PA been doing that?” he asked me.

 “About a month or so, I think.”

 “I saw the fix ticket for it a ways back but didn’t realize it was this bad. I’ll escalate it, ” he said, and followed the manager into the stockroom.

 The PA was replaced before the end of the week. So was the manager.

 And thus ended my reign of terror over the managers, though it made enough of an impact that they decided not to ignore refund pages after that — just in case I or another photo clerk decided to find more horrifying ways of ensuring their compliance. (…Okay, it was probably the reaming by the DM that did that, but a lowly cashier can dream.)

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Short_Lettuce2144 on 2023-12-06 07:16:43.

At my store, we have a few products that are locked up in a cabinet or in our office that are either high value or a type of medication. One of the ways to buy them is to bring up the display boxes of the product and the cashier will grab the real product.

Customer came in with four of the display boxes asking to return them. No receipt and used a chime card she says. I stood there confused for a minute as I’m looking at the display boxes thinking how dumb she is that she thinks these are real when there’s nothing to scan on them AND they all say DISPLAY ONLY.

I explain to her that these are display only, she did not buy these as there’s no way to scan them without the real product and that I was going to keep them. Immediately throws a fit that I need to return them for her because she clearly bought them. I say no again. She then steps aside and calls 911! Tells me that the police are coming because I didn’t give her her money.

Clearly, cops never showed up. Dumb lady.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/AnIdeaMan on 2023-12-06 06:02:06.

I used to sell cars, long story short we had a customer come in, he wanted a lot of car, he had horrible credit with repos on it.

We got him an offer, for a lot less then he wanted, then...he notices something.

His credit score on his app on his phone says he's at 521.

But his credit score on our paperwork is showing 491.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you understand credit scores you the bureaus have different types of score, and so forth, yea. Also lets be honest...521 is really bad, and 491 is really kinda the same. I try to explain this and he's saying I need to call back every bank and tell them his credit ain't no 491 its really 521. Its kinda silly at this point, and I said "Sir, honestly even if this said 521, you'd have still been declined, you don't make enough, you have too much debt, and you got repos on your credit"

Like bro all those are facts anyway for some reason he starts threatening to sue us.

Manager gets involved, basically explains what I did, that he's looking at a different credit score, and we tried to explain there are different scores for different purposes, and different scoring models, and yea. Anyway, long story short none of it matters he's not getting approved, please leave.

he tells us he's going sue us and my manager pulled out a business card and said "This is the business card for the law firm that represents us, Lisa is their sectary, she's real nice she'll get an attorney assigned to your lawsuit, but if you do that, I can't help you anymore, we gotta wait for the lawyers and judges to decide whats going happen"

The customer grabbed the business card and left.

That was the last we ever heard of that customer.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Deep_Signal_4063 on 2023-12-05 20:03:57.

I'm on mobile so obligatory apology for formatting and such.

I work at a fabric store. For those of you not familiar with fabric shopping, the fabric is displayed on big rolls and when a customer wants some they bring the roll up to the cutting counter and we cut whatever amount they need (it's measured in yards).

I had this wonderful interaction just a few minutes ago. I'll be me, and customer will be C.

Me: Hi, how many yards can I cut for you? C: can you show me what one yard looks like? Me: Sure! (Measures and shows it to her without cutting) C: hmmm, I think that's a little too small, can you add a little more? Me: sure, how does a yard and a quarter look? C: that looks great, I'll take it. Me: okay, your total is $2.49. C: But I thought it was $1.99?? Me: It's $1.99 per yard, but you got a yard and a quarter, so your total comes to $2.49. C: I thought you added that for free! Me:..... no, sorry, you have to pay for the amount that you take.... C: ugh, fine.

Seriously, do these people go to the grocery store and ask for a pound and a half of ham but then say they just want to pay for a pound? I'm shocked at the amount of times per day I have to tell people some variation of "yes, you have to pay for what's there."

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/wakeangel2001 on 2023-12-02 06:04:07.

I work as a greeter in a popular jeans store, and this happened early in my shift. I was thinking about a reddit story I had just heard about a really dumb person, and when a couple guests came in I went into customer service mode and loudly said "Hello idiots!" As soon as those words left my lips I thought I was royally screwed, but I lucked out since the guests were tourists. They didn't speak english and so didn't pick up on what I had said to them, they just waived and headed to the escalator to get to the store's lower level. I wanted to bash my head against the door frame until I forgot that entire interaction, that's gonna be a thing that makes me cringe every time I think about it for the rest of my life...

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Theeldritchwriter on 2023-12-01 18:07:11.

Sometimes you think there’s a limit to how dumb a person can be. And then the universe decides to prove you wrong.

Yesterday was already a fairly rough shift. Very busy store with only me working, middle schoolers not so slyly trying to steal, people screaming at me because the sudden cold snap has the outdoor card readers for the pumps not working right, or because we just don’t accept the kind of card they’re using. So by the end of the shift, I was very much done with people.

Then in comes this particular brand of trouble. He came in, dumped his backpack and takeout bags on the counter without a word while he browsed the shelves, I had to relocate his belongings because the register counter is not a storage spot, I got other customers whose items I need to ring up and need said space for to ring up. So right off the bat, off to a bad start as he snapped at me from across the store not to touch his stuff. Like sorry dude, maybe don’t dump all your things where they’ll block me from doing my job.

Anyway after a few minutes he came back with an armload of soda. I rang it up, bagged it, asked if there was anything else I could get for him. He wanted a few packs of smokes. Okay, rang them up, asked for his ID

Guy: I don’t have an ID

I: I’m sorry, sir. An ID is required for tobacco purchases.

He went TF off on me for that. Screaming about how he’s “always” in here (I certainly didn’t recognize him as a regular from any of my shifts, so that hits already questionable) and he never gets ID’d and how he shouldn’t need to show one cause he’s here every day, and then how a former manager, J, never cards him. I told him that J hasn’t worked in this store in almost a year (had surgery last year, just came back in October to do light work in our grocery store branch in a whole separate building. So basically she has not had anything to do with this store in a year) and he argued that that didn’t matter.

The whole thing reeked of BS in my opinion.

I was fed up at that point. All my patience for the day used up long ago. Not my fault you don’t have an ID, that’s on you. I’m not going to bend the rules because you think you should be given special treatment.

So I canceled the cigarette purchase, put the packs back on the shelf, told him that for the sodas the price is X.

That served to be gasoline on the fire of his rage. He screamed even more about how he wanted the cigarettes too. I told him no ID no smokes. I’ll happily sell the soda, but if he wants to buy cigarettes he needs to present a valid Id.

So the dude straight up turned to the poor guy behind him who was just waiting in line to pay for his gas, and asked if he could use his license like this guy legit told him, with me standing right there, that he’ll pay the guy 20$ if he’ll lend his ID. And then switched tunes to ask the guy to buy the smokes for him when the guy refused to respond or get involved. Which like, bad deal for the other guy cause the smokes would have come out to more than 20.

But also, what

This guy seriously was thinking he could just ask some rando to borrow his ID? Like, how does anyone think that would work?

This is very much a not legal thing to do, and the fact he’s doing it right in front of me as if it’ll work is baffling, so I told him he needs to leave. I’ll return the sodas to the shelves but he needs to grab his bags and leave.

He tried to argue, I threatened to get police involved if he didn’t leave, and he grabbed his stuff yelling about how he’ll just go to a different store as he left.

Good riddance I say.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Meauxterbeauxt on 2023-12-01 13:22:36.

I worked at a print/ship establishment. Each month we would get marketing packets with various stickers to put on display items advertising the sales for that month. We had a regular who, while overall nice, was also very vocal and opinionated, making for interesting customer service encounters. While I was helping the customer in front of her in line, she notices the sticker on our canvas print sample and expresses her excitement that they were 50% off. Unfortunately, it was one of the many little stickers that our marketing packets are very specific in telling when and where to place them, but are not as good at telling you to take them off. So I apologized and told her that the sale ended 3 days ago and I forgot to remove the sticker. She insisted that she wanted a print for half price. I, again, apologized and told her that sale ended and I couldn't give her a print for that price. She squared up and said, "Your display specifically says right here that these prints are 50% off. I'm looking right at it. If you don't honor your own words, it's false advertising and I'll have to report you." I smiled and in my best customer service voice replied, "Yes ma'am. I agree that the writing is important. That's why you'll also see right under the number 50 on that sticker it says the sale ended 3 days ago." Thankfully, that's when her other side kicked in and she smiled, knowing I won that one. I did tell her that we tended to repeat those sales every couple of months and called her when the next one came up and she bought 3 prints.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Prestigious_Dirt6167 on 2023-12-01 02:29:17.

Some people, man. Had a customer today, somehow simultaneously looked like he could be 18 and 30, wanted to buy some chew. I did the usual “I need an ID for all tobacco purchases” and he just looked so flabbergasted, then tried to run his card. So I repeated that I need an ID.

Him: Well thats new. My birthday is (redacted)

It most certainly was not new, and I told him we need a physical ID, and even added (because he looked very lost) that it’s because if the ID is expired or not his own we’re not allowed to sell. So he tossed what might have been a brick on the counter for the size and noise it made. It was a work badge in some very heavy duty case.

A work badge.

I kind of just stared at it for a few seconds while my brain buffered because I’ve never had someone think that a work badge was a valid id for tobacco. I picked it up and flipped it over because maybe his license was on the back. It wasn’t.

Me: We need your ID, is it in the case?

Him: my birthday is (redacted) and there’s my id.

Me: that’s a work badge. I have one too. we can’t take these. I need your Id, one with the birthdate and expiration date.

Him: it’s my id. It has my picture on it. My birthday is (blank)

Me: a work badge is not a valid form of ID in this situation. We need a state issued id that has your picture, and the dates on it.

Him: this is a state issued id (I’m not sure why he thought it was state issued, maybe he worked in one of the state departments, it’s not like it said DSS or BHR on it). My birthday is (blank)

This back and forth went on way longer than it should have. I even listed the kinds of IDs that can be used in tobacco and alcohol purchases. He kept insisting his birthday was so and so and that because the badge had his picture it was valid. Eventually he got the idea and just stormed off.

I’m still just baffled because I told him, several times why his badge didn’t work and the kind of ID that we would need. I even told him a drivers license we can take, he said he doesn’t have one because he has his work badge. His work badge, something that can easily enough be forged and such, apparently will suffice in place of a drivers license in his opinion.

It’s just amazing how hard headed people will choose to be.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/SushiThief on 2023-11-30 07:19:41.

I used to work for the Toybox and they decided to have a special sale on the Woo video game system.

I'll never forget walking into work and seeing the sale sign, just a few weeks before Black Friday, that said:

GET THE WOO FOR $99.99

I immediately wanted to call in sick because I knew my day was about to be destroyed, but a manager had already seen me, so it was no use.

You see, with that sale, you could indeed get the Woo (which retailed at $249.99 at the time) for $99.99, but like all deals... you had to read the fine print.

To get the Woo for $99.99, you had to purchase $150 of other items to make that deal happen. These other items were:

• (1) 20 pack of Toybox AA batteries.
• (1) Lame looking Olympics game with popular characters for 2 different franchises.
• (1) Specific gaming ottoman for the Woo.
• (4) items of your choice made by Gear Ape for the Woo system.

It would ring up as $99 for the Woo, and $150 for the other items, meaning you ended up spending the regular cost of the Woo of $249.99

Did many people actually read all those details?

FUCK NO!

I barely made it to the electronics section where I worked before I heard my phone ringing, which as expected was someone asking, "Are you guys really selling the Woo for $99?!?!" These were the easier part of my day because I got to let the customer down gently and because they'd already questioned the legitimacy of the sale. You see, Toybox had sent emails out about the deal with the subject line "GET THE WOO FOR $99.99" with the details inside the email.

Then came the Karens, male and female alike. Person after person who'd thrown on their shoes and rushed to the store to get their hands on a $99 Woo, only to bitch at me when I told them there was more to the sale and they needed to read the entire email. I'll never forget one particular grandkaren though.

Her: (walks right up to me, and ignores my greeting) "I want the Woo for $99.99!"

Me: (internal groan) "There's more detail to the sale than that, you also have to purchase these other items to...."

Her: (cutting me off) "I don't care about any of that and don't want it, I just want the Woo for $99.99!"

Me: "I'm afraid I can't do that. The entire detail of the sale was in the email and all the advertising."

Her: "I just told you I don't care about all that. The email said the Woo was $99.99 and you need to sell it to me like that."

Me: "I'm sorry, but that's not how the sale works."

Her: "Then that's false advertising. YOU are false advertising."

Me: "It's not false advertising. All the detail is there in black and white."

Her: "Not it's not! It's false advertising, and I want to see a manager!"

This of course, was not the last time I had to call a manager over that day to deal with someone who starting whining about false advertising. My manager did set her straight though, and of course she didn't get a $99 Woo.

That sale was only 3 days long, but it was absolutely miserable. I got called names by rude customers, got bitched at, and told myself I'd quit on the spot if they ever did another advertisement like that again. Yes, there was an occasional parent who thought it was a good deal, but mostly it was just people who didn't know how to read.

Also, for those of you about to come in and say "Well, I'd just buy the bundle and return all the other stuff, then keep my $99 Woo", you can't do that. Anything sold as a bundle/deal in my Toybox store also had to be returned as a bundle to keep people from doing just that.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Admirable_Cheetah_64 on 2023-11-29 16:38:08.

I used to work in store where we would ask customers if they had an account number at the check out. The number would be put in manually before putting the shopping through and the customer would get back one penny on every pound they spent.

One day a family who I hadn't seen before came in and while the mum and kids wandered off to start shopping. The dad came over to the side of my till while I was serving customers, announced his account number and then ran off to join his family without saying anything else. OK, that was weird, I went on serving.

About 10 minutes later the family are queued for my till. When it comes to the point where I should ask for their number the dad grins at me and I realise what's going on. Fortunately, I have a bizarrely good memory for numbers and, without skipping a beat, I reel off the one he gave me when he came in the store. The kids both gasp and their eyes go wide. They look at their dad in awe.

As I'm putting through the shopping, I hear the dad say:

See? I told you they were psychic.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Polyths on 2023-11-29 00:54:47.

So I work at a hunting and fishing store in Canada, and so we’ve been using up our plastic bags before we move to paper. Because of this, there are times where I don’t have any bags to give customers. In the summer, this proved to be a big issue. In the summer we sell a ton on tiny fishing weights, jigs, and other tiny things. So as inconvenient as it is, there were at times no bags to give to customers even if they bought a lot of stuff. One day I was on till, and an older man came through with a lot of fishing stuff, and spent a couple hundred dollars, he asked for a bag and I explained that we didn’t have any. This man gets so upset that he starts yelling at me and ended up taking a garbage bag from an empty garbage bin at a nearby till. Many months later this man came back, and must’ve not remembered me, because he ended up proudly retelling this story to me as a rung him through.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/herequeerandgreat on 2023-11-27 02:11:36.

a few months ago, i was doing a cart run in the parking lot of the store that i work at. this is something that i do fairly regularly and, on this particular day, i had a whole bunch of carts. i soon found myself nearing the entrance when i heard someone shout "HEY"!

i turned and, a few feet away, there was some random dude with a cart. he then proceeded to launch his cart towards me with the expectation that i would make his cart part of my lineup. the cart hit the line with a deafening crash.

it's not the fact that he wanted me to include his cart in my line that was the problem. i have had numerous customers ask if i could take their cart, to which i almost always respond yes unless i truly have so many that to take another would make things more difficult. however, this dude didn't even ask and instead sent his cart barreling my way at a high speed. he seemed to be under the impression that his cart would not render my line difficult to control. nevermind the fact that i had a line of nine to ten carts which was already somewhat difficult to control but nothing unmanageable.

and then, there's the whole thing about launching his cart at me. rest assured folks, a shopping cart can cause great deals of harm if not handled correctly. i once got jabbed in the back of my foot by a shopping cart and it caused me great deals of pain. if that is what a simple jab can do, what do you think having a cart launched at you at a very fast speed is gonna do? best case scenario, it hurts like hell. worst case scenario, a bone ends up getting broken. thankfully, he aimed at my line but it was still really dangerous. the impact could have caused the line to break up which could have caused damage or harm.

but the worst thing about the whole situation is that, as he was doing all of this, he was smiling. not a malicious smile but a good natured smile. this man legit did not see anything wrong with what he had just done. well, if i were the manager and i had witnessed that whole situation, i would have stormed out of the store and explained to him, using some not very nice language, exactly why what he had done was wrong before promptly issuing him a lifelong ban from the store.

all i can really say is that that customer is damn lucky that that cart didn't hit me. like i said, a shopping cart hitting you at a fast speed can cause some really bad harm. not to mention, that could technically count as assault and you better believe i would be pressing charges.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/middleoflidl on 2023-11-24 03:18:02.

I always get weird customers and I always get their life stories. I think I give off some pheromone that attracts the crazies because no one else at my work has to deal with this crap. My boss says I'm too patient with customers and too willing to listen to them. She's probably right.

This week alone I have received two business cards from Jehovah's witnesses, additionally I had a rather friendly man who told me he was an actor and asked if I recognized him. I said no and he gave me his business card. Later research on my part showed he was a pedestrian in an obscure regional soap opera. Big time actor clearly.

I've decided I'm going to collect a little rollodex of all the business cards I accumulate. Anyway, off topic.

This latest lady really tickled my biscuit. She was about fifty and was looking for a pair of sandals. It's winter in Scotland so that's my first clue that this woman has some squeaky hinges.

She's friendly. She accumulates a little pile of gaudy toe posts that I just know she's not going to put back. We get talking. You know the usual, how is the weather outside and did you know the government puts wire meshes into people and I've already lost two friends this year to this remarkably wicked injustice. I keep a straight face. Somehow.

I'm ringing her up and she asks me if I believe in aliens. I watched the Bob Lazar documentary so I muse that its possible. She sees an opportunity and I see the next twenty minutes of my life being sucked away.

She tells me she's an alien from a planet behind the sun and she was taught to fly spaceships at three years old. She also runs an animal sanctuary in her house and has fifty bats. She brings out her phone and my boss and colleagues watch me try to keep a straight face but they can't quite hear what nonsense she's spouting.

She shows me a photo. At first I think it's one of her fabled bats. It's a dark shadowy blob. I comment that it's a big looking bat and she tells me no, that's my true form.

Then she shows me a picture of the badger she feeds in her garden. Her granddaughter is an alien too, she says, and regularly tells her completely sane granny that "they don't belong on this planet." I'm inclined to agree.

She gives me her business card and tells me the truths all going to come out soon.

So I guess this is a heads up. Aliens are here and unfortunately we're going to have to serve them. I'd prefer to be zapped into another dimension or turned into meat slurry personally, but at least I'll still be getting minimum wage when the toddlers start landing in saucers.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Chaos-and-Spite1389 on 2023-11-23 23:14:46.

So, today (Thanksgiving) our store was one of the few places in our area that was open. The main grocery store was closed, the convenience stores were closed, just us and some pharmacies. Because of this, we were extremely busy with people who had forgotten stuff they needed.

At one point, we had a group of three teenagers and one older guy, maybe an uncle, come in and start awkwardly standing around the front registers. Teenagers almost always cause problems here so rather than approaching I make eye contact with one of them and she immediately turns away and starts whispering to her friend. I assume they don’t need help and go back to working in my aisle.

A few minutes later, my manager was having a conversation to me and the girl I made eye contact with comes up to me. She starts yelling: “excuse me! I need help getting my pictures off this!” She holds up a disposable camera and I explain to her that I just need to find an envelope that she can fill out to send for processing. I start digging around behind the counter and hear her telling her friends that she doesn’t think I’m right.

That’s when the guy she came in with tells me they think I’m wrong. He says that she claims that if I help her, she can connect her camera to her phone with Bluetooth and download the pictures on her phone. I explain that there is no way to do such a thing. I also tell him that we usually mail it out of state for film processing and then the pictures are digitally sent back to us to print. He asks how long that takes and I inform him that it usually takes a few weeks. Behind him the girl starts throwing a fit that it won’t be done today and stomps off.

The funniest part of all this to me is that fact that they actually thought disposable cameras have Bluetooth.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/screech2thevoid on 2023-11-15 06:11:27.

This happened about a week ago and it's now one of my favorite customer interactions:

I'm on registers and a kid and his dad come up, the kid looks about 12. The dad tells me he doesn't want to keep the hangers, I throw them into a bin in the desk. The kid turns to his dad and says "can I ask her a question?". The dad, without hesitation, says no. He doesn't seem annoyed, more like he was trying to spare me. The kid says "PLEASE, I promise it's a normal question".

I'm intrigued and say "well now I really want to know what the question is, don't love that it comes with a disclaimer though haha" and the dad says fine, he can ask his question. Kid just wanted to know what we do with the hangers if they don't keep them, he ended up asking me a few more questions while we were wrapping up and he was very sweet and polite. His dad says he's full of questions and days later I'm still curious what questions got him to the point of needing a normal question disclaimer.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/NaeMiaw on 2023-11-10 14:49:51.

My aunt has worked as a cashier in a supermarket for at 30 years, and one of her stories particularly stuck to me.

One day, as she was scanning products for a woman at her register, the alarm that reacts to security tags going through went off. The customer seemed surprised, as she was still discharging her cart on the conveyor belt, but she stepped away from the alarm, raising her hands to show she had not items.

My aunt was very confused, and looking at the alarm devices, nothing seemed to be going through, but the alarm was still going off. As she got up to check more closely, she finally solved the mystery: a toddler was pushing a pressure cooker on the floor, through the alarm system, encouraged discreetly by her mom.

The unashamed woman ended up paying for the pressure cooker to avoid the cops being called, and was never seen in the store again.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Deep_Lemon_323 on 2023-11-09 00:23:02.

I started work at a small retail store a few months ago. I learned so much, but one day, I had to get a rude customer who wouldn't even listen to me as I knew what to do.

A lady approached my manual checkout with a hanging plant basket that we sell at $24.99. You can scan the barcode on the plant or use a three-digit code on a piece of paper at our checkouts for greenhouse items. I used the code as either one will come up with the same price. It has rung up to $24.99, but here is the catch: we have a tax for greenhouse stuff. It added the tax of $1.50, so it has rung up to $26.49, as we always do when it is time to check out. We said, "Your total is (price)." I did that, and the lady gave me an angry look. Saying That isn't right, it should be $24.99!?" I calmly explained to the lady that we have a tax for greenhouses and pointed to the 2nd monitor mounted to our lampost that there was a tax, but the lady wasn't buying.

Now, with our Rules and regulations, we can't stand there and argue with the customer. We have to leave it to the manager on shift. I went to the customer service desk as the lady followed with the plant in hand, thinking I was grabbing the book or flyer we have for the greenhouse. However, I already knew the prices by now; my manager for the shift was sitting doing the lottery. I called out as I walked over. I explained that hanging baskets are $24.99. He confirmed it. The lady that followed behind said to him that the plants were $24.99 and were wrong on my checkout. He needed clarification and went to my checkout. I explained to my manager that it was $24.99 plus tax, and the manager was like yeah, your total is $26.49 I even asked him if I was right, and he said yeah, the lady left with the plant all paid to give me a look that I was in the wrong and that I scammed them, I don't get people sometimes 🤷🏻‍♂️

ah yes, customer service, you either like them or hate them

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Darkviney on 2023-11-06 07:10:33.

I was reading through this subreddit the nicer stories reminded me of some experiences I had back in college. I was working for just above minimum wage at a little tourist attraction my college ran. I was the only person willing to work in the gift shop, which was in a little outdoor trailer. It was honestly the easiest work so I have no clue why no one else wanted to be in there, but I digress.

Not much about the group in this first story stuck with me, but I do remember the older lady (maybe in her 50's or 60's) who is the main person of this story. She walks in with some other people in her group and looks around, looking more and more indecisive as she looks at our collections of rocks, toys, and souvenir items. She comes up to the register and picks up a souvenir magnet, then asks what I would recommend for her to get for the rest of the family, consisting of a few adults and a slightly larger number of children. By this time, I had been the sole stocker of this gift shop for 6 months and knew our stock and where it was like the back of my hand. I had also picked up how to be an amazing salesperson at some point, so I start recommending several toys for the kids, books and postcards for the adults, and a few collectibles for everyone. The lady thanks me and starts picking up probably 10 paper plane mystery bags, 2-3 snake plushies, a handful of collectible rocks, maybe 15 postcards, and a few other items. The rest of her group also brings up anywhere from 1-3 items per person, and the total ended up being over $100. One of the group members remarked that they thought they were only spending $50, and the main lady said something about getting things for the whole family, sending postcards to her friends, and supporting the attraction. She paid for everything and even added some souvenir bags onto the purchase when I asked if she would like plastic bags or to pay a little extra for the souvenir bags. The group thanked me and left, and the whole situation just made me feel good about my ability to sell way more than someone originally intended to buy.

The second story involves a set of parents and their children, a little girl and a little boy. The little boy loved the bouncy rubber balls we were selling and asked his dad for one, while the girl was looking at some plush snakes but seeming a little disappointed in the options. I decided to point out the 5' 6" plush snakes on the top shelf. The girl looked at the giant fuzzy snakes, then turned to her dad with the most excited look I had ever seen. The dad looked at me with an exasperated smile and asked "Why did you have to point those out?" as the little boy also started looking excited about the snakes. The family bought the snakes and the children immediately put them around their necks like scarves and bounced happily out of the shop. Another triumph for my salesmanship.

This last story is not about how good I was at upselling. On a very slow day, an elderly man walked in and bought a few things. He paid in cash and the change ended up being a few cents over $5. As I started to hand him the change, he put up his hand and said "You need it more than I do," then smiled. We were allowed to accept tips as long as the customer told us to keep the change, but most people would only have received change under $1 when they said this. That kind old man let me have $5. I almost cried as I thanked him. I know $5 isn't a lot, but I was a broke college student at the time.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/catl0vingnerd on 2023-11-06 00:48:04.

This happened a few days ago. I work in a grocery store. I have lots more stories, but here's some simple, more lighthearted interactions to start!

I was working with a newer cashier. A lady came in, a bit angry, saying she lost her phone. She said she was at my newer coworker's till, and told him to check it. He checked the drawer below the register, which we put tags and other stuff in, but it wasn't there. I chimed in to say it must be at customer service. I assume another coworker saw the phone and put it at customer service before anyone could see it, because we don't want personal items to get stolen.

When we see that someone has accidentally left behind their phone, wallet, or something like that, we immediately put it in a drawer behind the customer service desk, safe until it is claimed. So whenever someone comes in to find a lost item, that's where we check first. This employee was on the newer side, so I don't blame him for not knowing this.

I speed-walk to the customer service desk, and the lady sounds like she's close to tears.

"I can't believe I lost my *fucking* phone." she says angrily, huffing. I totally understand, because losing your phone can be stressful. I quickly pull a large iPhone out of the drawer where we keep lost items, and hold it up to ask if this is hers.

She sighs in relief and says that's her phone, thank God I found it, because it was "right there" and "that *idiot* didn't check here". I was confused as she stormed out, not knowing who she was calling an idiot.

After a minute, I realized she'd called my coworker an idiot for not giving it back to her right away. Yes, I understand it's frustrating to lose things, and she didn't know he was new, but it totally caught me off guard. Like, chill, please don't call employees names when they're simply trying to help you.

Also, no one knows how to use a debit machine for some reason.

Most of these people are just oddly aggressive. A shocking amount of people are so impatient. I've seen people shove their card in, then pull it out while the screen is still loading, saying "it's not working!". I've seen people slap the "tap" area with their card and immediately put it back in their wallet and try to leave, but the machine is a bit slow so that never works.

Also, just a reminder, when you use your card to tap, hold it on the icon of a hand tapping a card. I don't know if this is something people just miss, or if it's not widespread knowledge? Lots of people wave it around wildly, sliding it up and down, or side to side. Or do it at the bottom of the machine. This leads to the machine declining their first attempt to tap, and most people say "oh my card isn't working!". No ma'am, it's working, you just need to hold your card still please. I always say "Oh all these card readers are a bit different/picky", and the customer agrees.

Maybe I'm just on autopilot mode and don't realize people who get super nervous paying for items.