TalesFromRetail

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/babymdma on 2023-10-01 07:02:24.

I work at a retail chain, and Saturdays are our biggest and busiest days of the week. I had a group of older women along with an older man come into my job and I was letting them know what we had in store, super high energy just trying to have fun and the ladies were matching the vibe! I told them to let me know if I could help them with anything and let them check out the merch.

Well I noticed after about 10 minutes they were pulling props out of my wall so I asked them if I could help them find anything to which they didn’t reply. I then said “well, let me know if I can help!” and the guy goes “they just want to shop without you yelling at them.”

I was so dumbfounded, like what do I even say to that? I wanted to say something along the lines of “you should just turn down your hearing aids!” or “yeah I get paid to be this loud!” but y’all know as well as I do that you can’t do that.

He made it a point to cover his ears every time I said goodbye to a customer, no matter how loud, quiet, or far away from him I was, for the rest of the time he was in the store. It didn’t ruin my vibe or day, I just thought it was hilarious because I was definitely NOT being loud considering 1.) how busy it was and 2.) how loud the music was 😂

if it was you how would you have responded? (in your head, of course 😅)

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Oldmanandhisdog on 2023-09-29 09:38:49.

I was working in a liquor store in Florida. A guy came to the register with a soft drink. I guess he thought he was slick and pocketed two bourbon miniatures. They cost 49 cents each. I rang up his drink and 2 liters of the same brand of bourbon - $7.99 each. He yelled asking what that was and I told him it was for the 2 bottles he stole. He said those were just the 49 cent minis. I told him pay what I rang up or we can let the police see what size he had in his pocket. He opted for the police screaming I was trying to rip him off. He ended up arrested, handcuffed, and taken to jail because he was too cheap to pay 98 cents for two shots.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/neo-1989 on 2023-09-28 11:50:06.

I work in a supermarket, and our policy (or maybe our countries co sumer law policy) is to give an item for free if it scans higher than the ticketed price.

As I often am, I was called over my headset to check a price on something that scanned higher for the customer than they expected. Reaching the location in the aisle, I noticed an old price ticket that should have been removed previously, was still there, giving the impression this item was half price. I informed the checkout operator that the price was wrong, and thought that was it.

A couple of minutes later, I hear a call over the PA informing that there was an aggressive customer at the front end. Basically this means as many team as possible should attend, in order to scare a customer that may be physically violent into backing down with a large presence there.

Myself and a manager got there first and this guy was going on about how he hasn't been charged right for his items. He has 4 of the item, and following the same policy that gave him the first one free, he would get all subsequent items for the price advertised on shelf. So he had 1 for free, and 3 at half price. He insisted that it was wrong and it should be more expensive. Myself and the manager clearly explained how the policy worked, and that he was actually better off because he got one for free.

He wasn't having it, and kept arguing about it, and told us to just charge him for them all. As soon as the final one was put through (at half price), his whole tone changed and he calmed down immediately, saying its already cheap enough, he doesn't understand why it should be free, then proceeded to leave.

I should point out this item, even at full price, is under $5 each. So it's not big money, but anything free these days should be considered a win.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/MiddleFingerMonday on 2023-09-23 20:01:47.

I worked in one of those really big home improvement stores and we had a paint department. I worked in paint for awhile and there was nothing worse than the yoga-mom-turned-designer-influencer customer.

One day, this one comes in and orders two gallons of paint, same color. She gave me a chip (that was actually one of our chips, so I didn't have to try and shoot it). I mixed the paint, put the sample on the cover, hit it with the heat gun so she could verify the color and off she goes.

A week later, she returns with the cans, both opened, both well used. She starts yelling at me that I mixed it "too purpley" and it "ruined her shoot." I told her I mixed it according to the code on the chip she gave me. I call the manager over and she starts ranting and insulting my intelligence, saying I must be a loser who can't read to be mixing paint for a living.

I was super pissed when my manager gave her two free cans of paint. He then said, "it's not worth the fight."

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/floragreen9282827 on 2023-09-23 15:03:47.

Hi! So this happened a few years ago. I was working at a small cinema chain in the UK, I’d been there for about 6 months and frozen 2 had just came out, it was half term so we were busy a lot of days. Now all of my co workers had been there for a couple of years so they knew all the discontinued deals, I didn’t lol.

So our cinema did deals such as you buy a regular drink & popcorn you can make it into a regular deal to save money. There were different ones, including a kids deal, which was their choice of either popcorn or hotdog, with a drink. This will be important later.

So I was working a late shift on tills, and were super busy, as in line out the door busy. This was for the evening showing of frozen i think. So a woman comes to my till with her son and asks for a kids deal with nachos. I explain, politely, ‘sorry ma’am, kids deals only comes with your choice of x y z, nachos aren’t included’ i proceeded to explain her the different deals she could get with nachos, but obviously they werent as cheap as a kids deal. This lady kicks off, shouting, pointing to her side of the counter, saying ‘the sign here clearly says you can get nachos! You need to give me nachos!!’ I had no idea what sign she was talking about lol, there wasn’t any sign like that when i came on shift, and I couldn’t see it as I was on the other side of the counter. We literally go back and forth like this, me on the verge of tears, her getting increasingly louder and throwing her arms around ‘false advertisement!! I want my nachos!!’ Finally i radio’d my supervisor to help, she had been watching the whole thing on the cameras. She explained i was right, however you used to be able to get the nachos in the deal, but they stopped it, and covered up the sign. The new sign had fallen down, showing the old advertisement 🤦‍♀️ the woman ended up buying a normal nacho deal. But the rub is, if she had been nice, i would’ve just given her nachos and put it through as a kids deal. But she was rude af, so no cheap nachos for her!

After the rush I went upstairs to pretend to adjust a projector and cried lol. Imagine screaming at a teenager on minimum wage over nachos 🙄

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/maxxor6868 on 2023-09-20 22:42:40.

I seen a lot of crazy people but this was one of my favorites. I use to manage a popular sporting goods store. One day a customer bought a tent. The cashier who sold it to her texted me that night saying she was acting relay sketchy and paid with a gift card from the same kind of tent she just return. She would come back a few days later asking for a refund. Sure no big deal I just need her receipt. She doesn't have it. I ask for the credit or debit card. After dodging the question several times she admits she paid with a gift card. Again no big deal I can just put it back on a gift card.

This is where all hell breaks loose. She starts raising her voice saying this is the SECOND tent she purchase from us that "didn't work" (could not explain how) and that because her son had a football practice over the weekend she had to purchase a third tent from another retailer and she wanted me to cash out her purchase to make up for what she spent at the other store. I told her absolutely not. She gets mad and tries to do a third exchange. I told her we can't do that. She was obviously trying to receipt launder. She already bought two tents return them damage and trying again and every time loses her recepit because she hoping the cashier doesn't notice and will give cash or return to a credit card. Our system doesn't work that way and after several exchanges will only offer her gift card and a manager over ride can't get past that.

She tried everything: blame us for selling faulty tents, blame the cashier for not doing the first return right, call corporate demanding me to get fired because I wouldn't "honor a gift card cash value, and even ask me what time I leave the store so she can try again later." She refused to get out of line and started spewing nonsense about a US law from the 60's that apparently magically said that gift cards are legal tender and I had to reimburse her for her troubles.

I explain multiple times that no one force her to purchase a third tent from another retailer and that there was zero option for me to give her cash. She then with a perfectly dead serious expression ask why I couldn't just pull from the register and write it down that I refunded her like on a piece on paper. I calmly told her that is illegal, would get me fired, and that she can't get cash for a gift card and that unless she any other business, we would had to take care of the other customers. She refused to get out of line and started being aggressive to us. I call the cops in front of her and she would stay inside for a little longer until eventually she left fuming. Eventually the cops show up and made sure she left the parking lot to not harass us anymore. She never got her refund but she did leave a really nice review saying I didn't know the laws of this country lol.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/TylPlas26 on 2023-09-20 04:35:44.

This was quite a few years ago. It was me and two other workers working the customer service counter, helping customers. It was getting quite busy. We had a group of people starting to wait around for us to help them next. They didn’t form any line, they were just standing wherever.

Soon, we had about 5 people standing around, waiting for our help. I was finishing up with a customer, a woman maybe in her 50 came up. She had the Karen haircut, glasses, and was standing between me and the next customer that was there first. When I was done, I walked past her, asking the other customer what they needed help with.

That’s when I heard a loud, sharp, gasp, and look to see Karen looking at me with a open mouth, red in the face. But before she said anything, I quickly said to her “I’m helping the next person in line ma’am.” And the customer I was going to help, he spoke up and said “Yes ma’am. I was here before you. He’s just helping the next person in line.”

The woman said nothing, she just kinda looked meek and just sunk away to wait for help.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/xayasegakix on 2023-09-18 17:57:01.

This incident occurred when I was working in retail one evening. Context: Our business closes at 10 p.m., and we operate in a touristy neighbourhood. However, i presume that opening hours are universal, thus everyone should be able to read numbers.

It was 9.55 p.m., which means that we were about to close. Normally, around 9.45 p.m., people start leaving and we can begin shutting. Since we still need to leave when we finish closing up, we only pulled the store's shutters down until they were sort of floating on the ground. We were doing a debrief before leaving with practically all of the lights out. Then, it sounded like someone was moving the shutters. We all turned our heads to see this middle-aged woman shoving her way inside the business while simultaneously putting up the shutters and practically crawling on all fours.

She finally made it through, got up, and greeted us while staring at us through the dimly lighted shop. Are you guys available? The entire staff at the store is staring at her as though they can't believe what she just did and requested. We all echoed "No?" in response. AFTER THAT, SHE QUESTIONED, "WHEN ARE YOU GUYS CLOSE?" She's obviously a visitor, but what type of establishment requires customers to enter on all fours in low light? "We're close?" She said, "Oh," with disappointment in her voice. She crawled on all fours and forced her way back out, returning the way she had come. We concluded the debrief, shook our heads, and then walked away.

All I can say is that, unless theres a nation where shops literally need consumers to crawl on all fours and push their way through partially closed shutters to make purchases, this is a peculiar experience.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/vibronicpoppy82 on 2023-09-18 15:54:34.

There isn’t much to this interaction, but I feel it’s at least worth sharing.

Thanks to upper management wanting to micromanage whats available in the coolers we have at the convenience store I work at, we had to get rid of some drinks we usually stock. One of the customers who’d occasionally come in noticed there weren’t and half liter sodas she normally gets and said, “You just lost a great customer.”

It had been at least 2 or 3 months since I last saw here, and she’d, at most, spend about $8 of the sodas each time she was here. If she has that attitude when she sees we don’t have the stock she wants, I won’t sweat the loss of a single customer when others come in more frequently and spend more.

The thing is I sympathize with the pain of seeing the desired item not being in stock on shelves, but there’s also a grocery store not even a 2 minute drive from where I work she could’ve gone to for the soda.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/angelofthemorning4 on 2023-09-17 20:53:33.

I work at a clothing store in a mall. On Sundays, our store opens at 12, and we get in about a half hour early to do all the opening duties. It's 11:40, I've just gotten up to the front from doing paperwork in the back and am getting ready to open the registers. I look up and there's a man standing right against the gate, just staring at me.

I told him we opened at noon. He then says, "Can you open early? I need to get three pairs of pants."

I just kind of stared for a couple seconds, wondering if he was actually asking me this. After finally managing to compose myself I tell him, "No, sorry. I still have to finish getting everything ready."

To which he scoffed and turned to his wife and kids, clearly irritated with me. They left and did not come back when we were open. But my dude, it's not my fault you waited for the last minute to get these pants. Lack of planning on your part does not equate an emergency on mine. The mall hours are posted on the doors and our store hours are posted on our store windows. He even LOOKED at the hours, saw we opened at 12, and then continued to look in at me until I said something to him.

I swear some people really think they're the main character in everything they do, and everyone else is just there to help them win.

I kinda hope he calls to complain just because I want to know how he spins the story to make him the wronged one lol.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/SlyDragonCat on 2023-09-17 14:17:57.

I was working the register at the supermarket, the queue was already pretty long. A lady inteded to pay for her shopping with her card, but it was declined. She tried a couple of times, blamed our card reader etc.

I had to call the manager to reassure her that there's nothing we can do if her card is declined and that she could leave her shopping with us and get another card or cash from home.

She told me that that's not an option, she's leaving for the weekend and she needs her stuff now. She cecked for cash and found some, but it wasn't enough for her entire cart, so I told her I could rescind items until the price was equal to the amount of cash she brought.

She started pushing them towards the register with such force that a bag of potatoes dropped off at the other end. I bend down to pick it up and she had pushed the next one, some flat carton, and it hit me in the shoulder when I came back up and also fell to the floor. I gave her a strange look, picked that one up too, but when I got up to my seat again a bottle hit me in the head that she had rolled over the countertop. I told her to be careful and she told me that's all my fault and that she had been in a hurry before "we refused to take her card" but now it was even worse and she would be late. She then took her stuff and told us she won't come here anymore, as if that would be a punishment.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Roy_Luffy on 2023-09-15 19:55:38.

I worked in a game/toy department. I was switching between the register and customer service two weeks ago.

An older lady came with her grandchildren, wanting to find a gift for the older boy. I gave a few suggestions at her request but she shut down everything. I then let her do her thing and choose for herself. Finally, after shuffling through everything, she went to pay for the article.

She asked for the points on her fidelity account, she had a 2$ discount, but her article was non discountable bc of the brand.

She was not happy. She raised her voice and demanded to know why she had so little saved up. I had to explain that the only way to have points is to buy stuff more often.

The price amounted to 23$. She then asked in a hushed tone if I could make her a favor bc she’s a very good client (she’s not).

Seeing as I wouldn’t budge, she angrily threw the toy, said that I wasn’t very bright and told her grandson that this was too expensive and to choose something else.

The child had a tantrum and threw himself down. After everything calmed down, she came to me with a different one. I scanned the article, it was 25$. I could then apply the 2$. She was smug and told me that NOW she could have her points.

So this lady really made a scene to finally pay for the same amount that was “too expensive“ minutes ago ?!

Well that was a weird day.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/diettwizzlers on 2023-09-15 08:01:13.

i work in a cookie store. this week we have one refrigerated cookie. customer complains the cookie is "too hard" (due to being 35-40°) and has chunks in it (they were strawberries. it's a strawberry cookie). she wanted a new one, i explained every cookie of that flavor we have is the same batch and is also refrigerated. she says i'm lying and she comes here all the time and gets soft refrigerated cookies. i tell her i can't give refund because i'm not manager but i'm the closest one to it in the store right now, offer her a diff flavor, try to work it out. min later she is dialing 911 over the damn cookie 😭 i had to hide in the back to collect myself because i was about to cry, i hate conflict. i was able to call manager and get refund, but she is still going off saying she's gonna report me and saying i was being disrespectful. she called the cops off at least. but like, wtf? and now this is eating away at me. i know i'm not in trouble, both manager and owner are aware and are on my side. but now i can't sleep even tho i just worked 11 hours. i can't believe the audacity and also how she was so okay with being that rude to me and my coworkers. i'm still shaking and nauseous. i hate customers.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/kyoko_the_eevee on 2023-09-13 02:01:23.

So I was on the floor, doing my thing, putting everything back in its place, when an older woman called me from a few aisles over. She looked scandalized.

“Are you listening to this song?” she asked.

Admittedly, the store playlist had become white noise to me even if I’d only been here a few weeks. I shook my head and told her no.

“That man just said the f-word!” she exclaimed.

I wasn’t familiar with the song or the artist, but it seemed like just another sort of love song. Certainly nothing that would have an uncensored “f-word”.

“I didn’t hear it myself, but I’ll be sure to tell my manager,” I said.

“I’m not even a prude or anything, I just don’t like that word!” the customer said.

I smiled, a bit confused that she was bringing something like that up. I hadn’t implied anything of the sort.

“We try to keep our playlist clean because we get a lot of kids here, but maybe something got through. I’ll—”

“I don’t even care about kids! It’s just a bad word!”

I almost laughed. That’s just such a peculiar way of phrasing it.

She then asked for help finding a specific product that we didn’t have in stock. I showed her some similar products, as well as a multipack that contained the product she was looking for, but she wasn’t satisfied.

“I know on your website that you said you had however many [items], and now I don’t see any. Go look in the back!” she said.

I took this time to duck away and tell my manager about the music complaint. She laughed and said she’d never heard that before—and she’d been there for several years.

When I got back to doing my rounds, I saw that same lady complaining to my manager about how they were “hiding” products from her. Not even the mythical “back” has everything, it seems.

TL;DR: Customer claims to have heard an uncensored swear in our store playlist and accuses us of hiding products. It was too bizarre to be angry at.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Suny_monkey on 2023-09-09 22:09:35.

Well, it happened again. I was giving my patented “take the shortcut by the bathrooms” speech and my customer wasn’t listening. As always, I’m completely understanding if someone is not familiar with my massive store, but at least follow my instructions if you’re going to ask for them.

Customer: Hi. I’m looking for this item holds up photo but it just tells me it’s in Workspaces.

Me: Well, Workspaces is upstairs, but let me double check the location for you. typing Okay. It looks like we still have these on this level over in Home Organization. You’re just going to follow this wall indicates wall at back of store through the plants and take the shortcut next to the bathrooms.

C: Okay. So just back this way? points to front of store

Me: No, follow this wall again gestures toward back wall through the plant room and there’s a shortcut next to the bathroom.

C: Okay. Thank you. turns and walks to front of store

Me: stares after her Can’t win ‘em all.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/It_Me_Iacomus on 2023-09-09 04:38:15.

I work for a suit rental company. We ship out garments to arrive with plenty enough time for customers to contact us with fit issues, color discrepancies, satisfaction issues, etc. If an issue is communicated, we can get the customer taken care. While we appreciate communication as soon as possible, we have even assisted customers with issues with tight timelines including overnighting orders/replacements if necessary.

I had a wedding couple contact us a week after their event demanding a refund for everyone in their party due to one of the members receiving the wrong suit. The member of the party that got the wrong color did not contact us. In fact, he apparently didn’t try anything on until the day of the event. The couple complained about wrinkled garments, fit issues with many party members, and of course the wrong colored suit being sent.

Originally the wedding couple had the color that the groomsmen received selected, but changed their mind during the process and selected a different color. There may have been some technical issues on our side regarding that change…but again none of this was communicated and done by the wedding couple online.

The couple continued to cuss me out, stating that we ruined their wedding pictures, and the pictures would just be a reminder of how our company “f’d up their wedding”. They also mentioned “dudes aren’t going to check stuff before hand. This isn’t our problem”….Due to the level of communication we received (none) I was unable to offer a full refund for them. They demanded to receive more communication from above me, but I couldn’t promise anything. They threatened to ruin my life/the company’s if I didn’t assist them. I tried to reassure them that any communication would have resulted in us helping them…but it just kept going back and forth.

Anyone else work in the wedding industry? Let me know how many weddings you’ve ruined or how you’ve ruined someone’s wedding 🫠

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/baconlayer on 2023-09-07 04:43:18.

This happened years ago, so some of the processes will be foreign to the younger readers.

I worked for a neighborhood consumer electronics store. This was back in the days when we wrote out customer receipts (even though we sold TONS of computers and associated hardware/software - I digress). We had a crew working in our town that had stolen a serialized receipt book and they were returning stolen merch for cash refunds. Our local regional manager let all the stores know the receipt serial number range to look out for on returns.

I was working the store with my manager one day. A very large and sweaty woman comes in with a stolen receipt and something she wants a refund for. I kept her occupied for a few minutes while my manager slipped to the back and called the police.

A few minutes later a squad car parks right in front of our door. The lady sees the co getting out of his car and she makes a bee-line for the front door. He tries to detain her but it just ends up being a sweaty wrestling match while she is trying desperately to get into her car like it's home base and she's free if she gets in. We see the cop having trouble so I jump on the phone and dial 911. I told dispatch that the cop was struggling with someone in front of our store.

In a matter of seconds, tons of cops are diverging on our shopping center. They get to the struggling pair at the perfect moment for the perp to empty her bladder down the cop's leg. He was drenched!

I felt so bad for our cop because ALL of the other cops were now laughing their butts off at their brother in yellowish blue.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/BTrandem on 2023-09-07 00:41:55.

I used to work at a liquor store, the company specialized mainly in wine. I was a beer guy and had a good time with it. One night im chatting with my coworker shutting down a sampling station when a couple guys come up and ask if we have 4Locos. Now this company was unique in which it wanted to keep away from malt liquor beverages. I never got a clear answer why but anyway. We tell the customer we do not carry the 4Loco brand of beverages. His friend next to him then asks "Do you have the grape 4Locos"? I look at my co worker then back at him and say "no 4Loco products sorry but we have other beverages." They say no and decide to move on. It became an inside joke between my co worker and i to ask each other for 4Locos and then ask about the grape flavor. The best random encounter shared together.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/chosenamewhendrunk on 2023-09-05 15:10:55.

A customer comes through with a basket full of groceries, we're chatting as I scan and bag them. Get to the end and it comes to $32.40.

Me: That'll be $32.40, cash or card?

C: I'm going to give you $50.00.

Me: Ok, (hold out my hand)

C: Can I have my change?

Me: As soon as you pay me you can...

C: No, I've been short-changed too many times. I need my change before I give you any cash.

Me: I need you to give me the cash before I can open the till to get your change (At this point I still have not actually seen the $50.00)

C: You don't even know how much change I need do you?

The customer grabs the bag of groceries off the counter...I suspect where this is going and I open the intercom to the office...

Me: WHEN you give me $50.00, THEN you will receive $17.60 in change.

C: If you know how much it is you can give me the change first

Boss to customer (always shows up quick when money is involved): I'm sorry you need to pay first.

C: Fine, I'll just put it on card...

Me: .................

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/No-Writer8414 on 2023-09-04 08:09:35.

Years ago I worked at the biggest gas station in the state of Connecticut, had the job for almost 10 years. I got all sorts of stories. One that I always remember was This old man.

Now if you used your credit/debit card at the pump 3 times in 48 hours it wouldn't work at the pump any longer for security reasons, but it would work inside. (In case someone stole your card and was on a spree) I guess. It was always old people that would stick their card in unaware it was accepted 3 times in a row and didn't realize the pump was ready, cuz it wouldn't let you select your grade of gas until you picked the nozzle up. This always confused people.

Anyways This guy comes in, he's probably in his 90's, walking with a cane, and he looks PISSED. He asks why his card isn't working. I attempt to explain to him. Always the same response. "But I haven't used it 3 times in 48 hours!" I respond "Yes you just inserted it 3 times in a row and this will lock you out" At this point I say "how much gas do you want" he says "I want to fill it" All older people want to fill there tanks. Which is fine. So I explain how he can leave the card with me and I can let him fill his tank. He's freaking out at this point because he says he can't be walking back and forth cuz "he's handicapped" I say "it's not my fault sir" he says "YES IT IS YOU WORK HERE!!" He then asks for the manager. I tell him I am the manager, even though I'm not. Then he storms to the back of the store looking for a manager. My assistant manager was actually stocking the cooler, But even if he did find him, Bill wouldn't have given him the time of day. I yell out "you can't be walking back and forth like this you're handicapped!" This guy got so angry he didn't even know what to do with himself.

He ended up leaving after totally losing it. I don't even remember what he said, he was just so angry. Out of the hundreds of thousands of customers I rang out, I remember him the most for some reason. (I averaged 400 transactions a day) Retail sucks. . .

I would have maybe felt bad for this guy because I could tell he was having difficulty walking, but man was he a jerk so that went right out the window. I have a brother with a mobile disability and he approved.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Gorguf62 on 2023-09-03 16:12:36.

I'm working the service desk at a grocery store. At my store, we do Western Union money services at the desk where someone can send or receive money to/from somewhere else.

I'm in the middle of doing one WU transaction when the guy for this story comes in and gets in line. Before I even start helping him, the guy threw a tantrum over the fact that another customer was waiting by the lottery machine instead of waiting behind him (the guy by lottery said he knew the WU guy was first) so I'm thinking to myself "this is gonna be a fun one."

I finish the transaction I'm in the middle of and the guy comes up to the desk. He's says he's here to pick up WU and hands me a piece of paper with the money transfer number (the number used to look up WU transactions, and the amount he's picking up.

He's picking up $7500.00

I turn to my front end manager who's also standing behind the desk and ask him if I'm even allowed to do that kind of a transaction since I've never had one that big before. He texts our bookkeeper to find out and also opens the register where we keep the bulk of the money and starts counting to see if there's enough in there (I had already done a number of big WU transactions earlier in the day). I take the paper with the transfer number and type it into the computer.

There are no transactions under that number.

I look at the paper and ask for clarity on a couple of the numbers since the handwriting wasn't that great. I try again, and once again, no transactions come up. As I'm doing that, my manager says there's not enough in the drawer.

The guy starts arguing with both of us, saying to me the number he was given came from WU and he's had it for three days and saying to my manager that WU told him he could pick up the money here. I tell him if the number is not in the system, there is nothing I can do about it and he has to call WU. My manager tells him that while we do WU services, that doesn't mean we're going to have big amounts of cash just lying around. The guy eventually gave up and left.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/TeaNice2446 on 2023-09-01 17:30:09.

So I work for a fairly well known wine and liquor retail chain, and without fail, any Friday night past 9pm there’s always atleast one story.

A few friday’s back I’m keeping watch over the tequila aisle, 2 girls in their early 20’s come running over looking for Espolon, I show them to it and they run to the wine department with a bottle, only to come back a few minutes later from the directions of the restroom with no bottle. After following them a few minutes to ensure they weren’t lifting product, I saw them return to the wine department where a older man was with their cart (mid 40’s) with the afore mentioned tequila in the cart, so I decided to step out for a smoke. After coming back in and walking half way through the rum isle I’m stopped by shouting, it was the 2 girls and guy with the cart from before, shouting at me about not having a bottle of rum, after looking it up, it was a 20th anniversary bottle discontinued and sold out of 9 years ago… after I tell this man, he proceeded to calmly ask if you had another one from the same company in a wooden crate like box… nothing in inventory so I look it up… it’s the 30th anniversary, which isn’t out until October. After hearing this he collapsed to the ground and began sobbing like a small child while the 2 girls with him just comforted him and asked if I could check the back… again, 1 bottle we haven’t sold in nearly a decade, the other hasn’t been released for months at this point. I walked away. He continued his tantrums until we closed little over an hour later.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/PrankyButSaintly on 2023-09-01 07:33:22.

I was working in the self checkout area at my local retail chain store tonight when I encountered a woman who got very worked up over a single bag of ice. After she finished checking out, she went over to the freezers to retrieve her ice bag (she had already rung it up from the produce menu and paid for it at the register) and saw that the freezers were empty. So she loudly called out to me "I paid for my ice! Where is it?" I doubled checked the freezers and replied "Unfortunately it appears that we're out of ice. There might be more in the other freezer though. Did you wanna check there?"

She then tells me that she doesn't wanna walk all the way across the store just to check and asks me if I can do so. I agree to, and sure enough, the freezer down by the other entrance is also empty. When I get back to her and inform her of this, she does not take it well. "Well I paid for it! What am I supposed to do?!" I replied "At the moment, the best I can offer is for you to get a refund from customer service. I do apologize for the inconvenience."

In a tone reminiscent of a spoiled child, she retorts "I don't WANT a f---ing refund! I want my ice!" At this point I'm thinking to myself "What the heck else does she expect me to do? Magically produce it for her? Does she think I'm Elsa or something?" So I just tell her "I'll see what I can do. Lemme go grab a manager."

She then literally stomps, yells "Forget it then!" and storms out of the building. All with no ice and no refund on the non-existent ice.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/steveitsteve on 2023-08-29 03:07:20.

Original Title: Father came into a sporting goods store and talked for his son the entire time, only allowing his son to get the most "expensive" equipment. His son ended up coming back with his older brother to apologize for his father and talk to me about baseball.

I worked at a sporting goods store about a year and a half ago. It was a fun job I only worked a few hours per week their since I had another retail job at the time. I mostly worked in the baseball section since baseball is my favorite sport. I had a good time overall, until I had to quit when I went off the college.

One day a dad and son (14 if i remember right) came into the store and where checking out all new gear for the season. I ask his son his position, what level he plays at and what hand he throws with. The dad answers for him, kinda snobbishly "he plays elite travel ball as a right handed short stop." I thought nothing of it at first. I played travel ball and know the bats allowed, and also know the type of parents that get their kids into it.

So I take him to the gloves first, he grabs a "lower" priced infield glove, maybe 170 or so. Its the glove I use, so I recommend it to him, it really is a great glove. Than the dad sees the $300 A2000, and says "we will take this one" before his son even tried it on. I could tell his son was not thrilled, and this was probably not his first rodeo with his dad making choices for him.

Than we move over to bats, now this is where things get a bit interesting, I ask his son his height and the dad again answers. I recommend a bat size and they browse for a bit. His son follows my recommendations and picks out one that he likes, again not the most expensive but it does look cool. Honestly at his age, the bat does not make much of a difference since regulations are tight on what is allowed in the league anyways. His dad than picks up a bat 2 inches two big for his son. he should be swinging a 31 inch, he might be able to get away with a 32 if hes strong, but a 33 (what the dad picked up) is too big for his son until he hits his growth spurt. I explained this to the dad, he did not care he just wanted the "most expensive bat."

It was kinda clear to me that it was not even about his son at this point, it was about the dad gearing him up to appear better than the other kids. I still am trying to explain to his dad, from my own personal experience being a smaller kid that a large bat is not the best idea for him. His dad says "I know whats best." His son looked upset, I felt so bad for him. I could tell he was passionate about baseball, he was not in it to look cool, but genuinely did research on what is best for his use case. The products he gravitated towards are all great for him.

The last thing before they got cleats (out of my department) is batting gloves. His son asks me what gloves I like to use, so I go to tell him before the father cuts me off and says "these ones look good." Guess what they had the highest price tag as well. They are great gloves, but its not worth the extra price in my opinion.

They walk away to get the cleats and ring out with me. Their total was hundreds more than it had to be, and the son did not even get to pick out what he wanted. He came in a few weeks later with his older brother to get another bat, since the one his dad picked for him was too big for him. Him and his brother where both very grateful for my help, and apologized for their father.

I talked to him a bit about baseball, and he really was just in it for fun. He told me his dad puts a lot of pressure on him and spends tons of money for him to get a spot a expensive travel team, but he just wants to go out their and have fun with his friends. He also told me that the pressure has made him think about quitting. he said "I love baseball I really do, but my dad wants me to be the best and im not that, I just want to have fun with my team." I gave him a pat on the shoulder and told him hes the best player he can be, looked to his older brother who told him the same thing.

Not going to lie, I got a bit emotional after they left. That moment has stuck with me for over a year now and it really does suck how much parents dump money into their kids sports instead of just letting them play and have fun. In my time working their I have seen lots of parents similar to his father, only wanting the most expensive products while not even critically questioning if those products are the best ones to buy for the use case.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Prestigious_Dirt6167 on 2023-08-27 22:21:48.

For some context: store I work in only has one person per shift cause it’s so small and typically pretty slow. We have a 1 hour overlap of shifts where there’s 2 ppl for a while, but that’s not important. We have a fountain drink machine over by a wall, one we have to put the ice in ourselves. Which is the focus of the story.

So it had been dead at the time, no customers inside or outside, time to get work done, so I got the ladder out and several bags of ice and was working to fill the machine. As is my luck, three bags in, I had half a dozen cars pull in at once, so I have to stop what I’m doing and return to the register. As I do one guy comes in, he takes one look at the ladder and ice and goes “want me to help with that?”

I don’t know him, and I’m not going to put a customer to work for legal reasons that is I could lose my job if he gets hurt doing my work. So I told him “thank you but it’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, please don’t worry about it.”

That should have ended it. But no. He walks to the machine reaches up to start plucking at rim of the top of the fountain machine. I don’t even know what he was trying to do, grab a handful of ice straight from the machine? “I’ve done this before. It won’t be an issue.”

As if that should matter? I don’t care if you’ve done this a thousand times. I said no and that means you don’t do that. I told him no, for a third time. He’s clearly notlistening to me and so I’m hurrying from the register to the machine while he talks about how with him being so tall it’s fairly easy for him to fill these and not an issue for him.

I reached the area and maybe I was a bit sharp but by that point he was picking up and moving the stepladder that had both the bag of ice and a box cutter on it, so I told him “I said it’s fine, don’t touch any of it.”

He backed off, hands up and just went “sheesh fine. You don’t need to be so snappy, I was just trying to help.”

Yeah, well, I said no, multiple times. Had you listened the first time I wouldn’t be snapping at you.

He got his things he came to buy then kept hanging around the counter to talk with other customers, holding up the line, and then got offended when I told him he needs to take his conversations away from the register, as if I’m the rude one.