TalesFromRetail

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Suny_monkey on 2023-08-27 00:19:49.

My store is massive so I’ll never begrudge a customer for getting turned around. But please, for the love of god, just follow the instructions I’m giving you! I just spoke to someone who needed to get to a different department:

Customer: I’m trying to get to Home Organization for a shelf.

Me: Okay! Just follow this wall back into the plant room and take the shortcut next to the bathrooms.

C: Okay. Did we just miss all the shelves, then?

Me: What do you mean?

C: Well, we saw all of these (holding up photo) in the Showroom but there wasn’t anything to grab.

Me: Right. The displays are upstairs, but the takeaway is on this level.

C: Where at?

Me: In Home Organization.

C: How do I get there?

Me: screaming internally Just follow this wall back into the plant room and take the shortcut next to the bathrooms.

Having to repeat the very simple instructions I just gave to customers who weren’t paying attention is one of my biggest pet peeves at this job. At least I’m almost done for the day.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/AdrielBast on 2023-08-26 23:00:52.

So it’s been a while since I posted here. I left the problematic store a year ago, and I’ve started working at a new store about a month ago. Its a convenience store / gas station that’s part of a larger grocery store. It’s been miles better over here. Usually we only get issues from out of towners upset we dont their cards here, but on occasion we get those customers, the argumentative ones.

In this case we have a guy who comes in every other day. He always gets a 4-pack of vuse pods. Ours are priced at $28.99 while our two packs are 18.99. Thing is he always pitch’s a fit, arguing that our 4-pack is supposed to be 18.59, and that “you still haven’t fixed the prices!” When I tell him his total. I generally hold my ground and he either buys it or gets something cheaper while whining about having to do that.

Today I came in and our boss was in doing inventory. I brought this up to him so he grabbed a piece of paper, wrote 28.99 and taped it to the shelf. Problem solved? Nope.

Guy came in a few hours later, demanded his pods, and then flipped out as expected when told the price.

Him: that’s not the right price! You still haven’t f*cking fixed it, it’d been wrong for over a month!

Me: No, that’s the correct price. Our boss confirmed it and put that price tag on himself.

Him: No, that’s wrong it’s always been 18!

Me: I don’t know where you got that our four-pack is cheaper than the 2-pack, but it’s not, and anyone who sold it to you at that price either didn’t know better or didn’t want to keep arguing. I’m sorry but if you want the 4-pack this is the price for it.

Him: that’s f*cking bullshit! I might as well go back to smoking at that price! If you’re going to charge me that much then I’ll go buy from somewhere else!

Me, already putting the pods back on shelf: That’s fine. If you find someplace that sells a 4-pack for $18 then go right ahead, buy where it’s cheaper at.

He stormed off after that, swearing some more, called me a “f*cking bitch”, and was gone. I fully expect to see him again on one of my shifts next week to go over this song and dance again, but it’s way less stressful and anxiety inducing dealing with his type at this store as opposed to the old workplace.

Edit;

He came back today. No swearing or cursing. Just meandered in like a sullen child buying some food and energy drinks. Idk if he was just calmer than yesterday or with there being three police cruisers right out the door kept him in check, but no complaining and arguments. I consider that a good interaction.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/HalfCircleRaida on 2023-08-26 08:27:38.

Hi, I haven't been able to post more stories because I am helping people with some issues but this one literally annoyed me so here is a new one for you fine people.

As stated before in my other stories most of what happens to me are because of the "just looking" crowd or people who only care about the "buy" of buy sell trade, specifically getting cash out of my store.

This time it is about store credit, specifically someone not understanding it. This is actually more of a common occurrence in my area than it should be. When we offer store credit we have gotten responses such as "I don't have a credit card" and "what's that?".

Today, we are only offering store credit for certain games as some of them we have much more than others. I informed him we could only do store credit and he didn't know what it was. I explained to him that we see what he brings and we give him a value depending on what he brings and it matters more what he brings rather than how much he brings. I think that is a pretty good explanation.

He still doesn't understand and starts asking some strange questions. He asks me "do you charge me for bringing in games?". I told him I don't quite understand what he is saying but we don't do fees or anything like that. That one seemed to put him at ease of this weird perpetual confusion... at least temporarily.

I couldn't take all of what he brought but what we could take it came out to around 18 but I bumped it up to 20. I told him we could do 20 in store credit. He started getting games. He took a minute but he came back with games that total around 42 dollars. I scanned his games and then applied his store credit and told him the difference was 22 dollars. The perpetual confusion returned. He said he doesn't understand why he has to pay. I gave him the rundown, one of the games alone was 21 and I don't remember the other two. The Point of Sale has a screen for the customer that shows everything in real time so I showed him all the numbers and how everything was equaling what it was.

No matter how I tried to explain this to him his confusion just lingered. He later would say he didn't come with cash so he couldn't pay it. I have probably been explaining this for like 3-5 minutes to him so I will admit I was a bit annoyed by this point. He then said "so you do charge to trade in games". Once again I explained to him how we did it telling him again we give a certain value for what he brings so he could apply it towards what he is bringing. I swear I am breaking down the numbers for him and no matter how I try to explain it he still looks at me confused. I tried to stay professional the whole time, side note he brought 2 people with him and both of them started laughing at him.

Eventually he just said he was hoping he would bring in some games and get other games without paying anything (I wonder in his head what did the "we can do 20 dollars in store credit" mean). I told him that if he removes the most expensive game he would be within budget and I would give him a gift card. His confusion still continued and after like 15 seconds he said yes. The transaction went through and he got the other two games but he still had that confused look as he was leaving.

I legit was left wondering if my explaining ability was that bad.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Sorceress683 on 2023-08-26 00:14:23.

Cashier at a major retailer here. A few weeks back, I had a very strange conversation with an elderly customer (EC). EC approached me with a wad of paper in hand. "Excuse me," she said,>"how do I pay with this?"

It's a return receipt, as far as I can tell. It's really worn out and faded.> "I'm sorry, ma'am, you can't. That's not money. It's a receipt."

EC, >"But they gave this to me when I returned something so I'd like to use it."

Me >"Ma'am, this is just the receipt. They either put the money on your credit card or a gift card" (paper too worn to tell).. "that's what you pay with."

EC >"but I don't have the card. Can I use this?"

Me, just shaking my head, >"Sorry, no."

And EC wandered off, not to be seen again.

TLDR: elderly customer wants to use a receipt to buy things. Got confused about the idea of needing to have a card to use the card.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/lazyandunambitious on 2023-08-23 23:51:33.

I regularly work in the self-checkout area in a big grocery store. Either supervising it or assisting with the re-scans. Here are some of the biggest dumbasses I’ve had in no particular order:

First one came in during the beginning of my shift. The SCO supervisor was already there and I was assigned to assist. I get there and the supervisor was explaining something to a man. Another customer asked me for assistance so I went off to help her.

When I was done the man from before flagged me down. He explained that he has scanned a Pepsi that should cost 39 euro cent but the total reads at 49 cent. I looked at the screen and saw that he had also picked a plastic bag. I showed this to the customer who said that he never scanned it.

Our SCO registers ask if you want to buy a plastic bag and if you want it, you press the “buy” button or “no plastic bag” if you don’t want one. I explain this to him and said that what most likely happened is that he accidentally pressed the “buy” button and showed him how to remove the bag. He carried on to the payment so I left him to it.

The supervisor told me that the same thing had happened earlier and she had explained to him the exact same thing but he didn’t believe her so he went to another register before she was able to stop him.

I later turn around and see that he had moved to a third register, so I went over to him to check what’s going on and ask him to please not hop between registers and instead ask for assistance as only our managers are authorised to annul transactions.

He goes “The Pepsi is supposed to cost 39 cents but here the total is 49 cents”. I looked at the screen and, you guessed it, a plastic bag was there. He immediately runs off to check the price on the shelf while I shout after him that “Sir, it’s the 10 cent plastic bag!”.

When he came back, I explained it to him again and basically held his hand through the entire transaction. Then he said “maybe it’s just me who’s stupid”. Yeah, it is.

Second one was a woman who I think is better of going to a regular register. She wanted help using the SCO. Sure, it’s supposed to be DIY, but I guess it was her first time. She had used a hand scanner so all she really needed to do was scan the code at the register, follow the instructions on the screen and read what it says on the buttons. I showed her the code to scan and she just looked at it.

Me: “Scan the code there.”

Her: ……

Me: “Scan it just like you did with the items.”

Her: ….

Me: “It’s the button there on the scanner. The same as you used to scan the items while you shopped.”

She finally scanned the code and immediately starts pushing the buttons on the POS.

Me: “Sorry Ma’am, there are a few more steps first. If you don’t want to add anything, press the ‘go to payment’ button.” She just stares at the screen.

Me: “It’s the red button there that says ‘go to payment’.” She continues to just stare at the screen.

Me: “It’s this one”, while pointing at it. She continues staring at the screen.

Me: “To go to payment you need to press the button.” She finally pressed it and once again immediately starts hitting the buttons on the POS.

Me: “First we need to choose payment method. You want to pay with card, right? Press the button that says ‘card’.” She again just stares at the screen

Me: “It’s the button there” and points to the big button that clearly says ‘card’.

Finally she could start using the POS. At no point until now had she inserted her card so I have zero idea how she thought the POS would know what card to charge.

Third one came up to a register that was out of service, with a blinking red light over it and a big sign covering the screen that said it was out of service. He raised up the sign, started to scan items, then flagged me down to ask why it doesn’t register anything. I don’t know, read the sign in your hand.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/S_die on 2023-08-23 21:16:58.

We had an online order for pickup this morning. (Lately people haven't been purchasing online, they just come into the store so we get maybe 1 or 2 orders a month.) It was just a few small items that totalled about $14. So this morning when I grabbed the curbside phone (which is a separate phone line from our main store phone), I realized it was dead as it wasn't placed on the dock properly, so I told the cashier to just keep an eye out for when they come. There was a vehicle in the designated parking spot but then they drove away a short time later. Then about 30 to 40min later, I get a call on my store phone asking if we were still doing curbside because she's been trying to get a hold of us, then had to drive home to find the number to our store so she could call and get her purchase. 😶 I mentioned that the other phone was dead. She didn't like that answer and started raising her voice to me, asking how people are supposed to get their online orders. So I asked her why she didn't just walk 30ft to the open doorway and ask the cashier to get her order instead of driving home (15km one way) to get our other phone number? She also didn't like me asking that🤣

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/ElectricElk-224 on 2023-08-23 16:50:47.

Yesterday I watched a woman come out of the dressing room with 4 dresses and put them behind a rack of different clothes. I approached her and offered to take them if she wasn’t interested, so I could put them back in the correct place.

She said to me that she’s pretty sure she wants them, she just didn’t want to carry them with her while she did the rest of her shopping and they were the last ones in her size (from the clearance rack), so she was hiding them for when she came back later. She explained this to me as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do.

Our store usually doesn’t “hold” items, because we found that the vast majority of the time people don’t come back for them. I’m not sure if she knew this or not, but regardless we can’t have customers hiding things in the racks. I explained to her that if she wasn’t going to buy them now I needed to put them back where they belonged.

She huffed at me and muttered the word “ridiculous” under her breath before picking 1 of the 4 dresses to bring to the front for purchase. She left the other 3 where they were and I replaced them as she side eyed me from the line. She didn’t come back for them later, so I’m pretty sure she never intended to get all 4.

I’ve heard of this kind of thing happening before, but am pretty sure its universally frowned upon. I thought it was so weird that she just explained it to me like it was a totally okay and normal thing to do.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Suny_monkey on 2023-08-23 02:11:22.

Two stories in one day! This one just happened so I’m still pretty annoyed about it. standard mobile disclaimer

If you didn’t see my last post, I work at blue Swedish furniture. Most of the items you pick up yourself in our warehouse, but some things live behind our safety gates so we can run forklifts during the day. We only give out locations to customers if they can get the item on their own. Otherwise, the tag will direct them to see a coworker.

So a woman comes up to me to get something from behind the gates.

Customer: I need something from bin 58 but there’s a gate blocking it off.

Me: Can I ask how you have that location?

C: Uhhhhhh because the lady told me that’s where it is. pulls up a picture of our scanners with the info

Me: Oh. She shouldn’t have done that because you can’t go back there. What’s the article number?

Woman reads me the number so I can put in the order for her while her husband walks up. I couldn’t hear his question but she tells him that I yelled at her. I ignore that comment in the interest of not getting into an argument. I printed off the order form and explain, as pleasantly as I can, how to pay for their item and pick it up.

C: starting to walk away Okay. Sorry YOUR coworker did something wrong, NOT me.

Me: Well, yeah. That’s why I asked. So I would know who to talk to.

I’m not sure if she was just having a bad day or if she’s always that unpleasant, but I bet she and her husband get into a lot of fights.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Suny_monkey on 2023-08-22 22:30:08.

On mobile, sorry

Here’s a short one that I deal with on a daily basis. I work at your local (or not so local) Swedish furniture store. We organize our products into Aisle and Bin locations so you know how far down the aisle to go. Different colors of the same product aren’t generally next to each other. I just spoke with some customers who had some trouble finding their item.

Customer: Hi, we have an inventory issue.

Me: Okay. Do you have the article number for your item?

C: reads off combination number

Me: typing in the number That’s going to be a combination of several pieces if the issue is that you don’t see that specific number.

C: Yes, I know it’s a combination. It says you have it in stock but we only saw the red one on the shelf.

Me: Okay. Did you check aisle 11 bin 29?

C: Yes. You only have the red there.

M: knowing they stopped looking when they saw a different color of the item they want without going to the correct location Just to verify, you did check specifically in bin 29?

C and wife both adamantly confirm they looked in the right spot.

M: Well, that is the only location for the color you want so I’ll go double check, but we do only have three left and when the stock is that low there’s always a chance someone else has it in their cart already.

They follow me to the EXACT location that the color they want is in. We have three on the shelf. Turns out, they had stopped looking when they got to the red which was much earlier in the aisle, even though they confirmed with me several times that they checked the location I asked them about. At least they got to go home with their product!

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/_Monjara on 2023-08-22 02:27:36.

Hey, it’s me again—the one who had to explain to mother and daughter that $6.99 twice equals $13.98 about 5 times.

Anyways, this one’s short, but it was annoying. Older lady with long white hair, Catzilla shirt and hospital bracelet comes in and starts leaving all her crap on the counter. EVERYTHING HAS A PRICE TAG

Me: Total is x amount.

Lady: How much does every single thing cost? Seems like a lot”

Me: The soil was $12.99 and the other one was—

Her: THEY’RE BOTH $12.99???

Me: No, the other one was $8.99

Her: How do you know that? You just punched in the buttons.

Me: Because we see the items so much that we know most prices by heart.

Her: Are you sure?

Me: (very annoyed) Everything has price tag, do you see this thing right here? That’s the price.

Her: Well, if I could read, I’d be DANGEROUS!

Me: Ok… shocked

She pays and then says “Happy gardening!” With a big freaking smile…

I just don’t know anymore. Wdym if you could read? How did you get a license? How do you have money and credit cards in your purse? How do you have a car? How do you read traffic signs? How are you alive and old? HELP!!!

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Taevan93 on 2023-08-20 05:40:06.

Obligatory mobile disclaimer

I work at a grocery store at the meat and seafood service counter; about a week ago a woman comes up looking for smoked pork neck bones:

Me: Sorry we don’t carry those anymore. We only have smoked ham hocks.

Her: Why not?

Me: They weren’t selling as well as the ham hocks, so they were removed.

Her: Is there some sort of discrimination going on against people who eat neck bone? (Not verbatim, but she really did ask me this)

Me: (Proceeds to explain again why they were removed)

Her: (stares at me for 5 seconds, then walks away)

She’s not the first to stare me down, but when customers do, I try to put on my best poker face and just stare back.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Rysaliia on 2023-08-18 21:30:52.

Mandatory on mobile disclaimer

So I am working in an arts and crafts store situated at a mall. We offer a bit of everything, as I like to say, including wrapping paper and the sorts. While we are very customer friendly and help people flesh out their diy projects we don’t do any demonstrations of products and no gift wrapping service as it would be too time consuming.

Every so often there will come a customer from another store (the toy store is next to us) with a toy present.

Enough preface, this particular story happened last week.

A customer walks in with a big Bobby car box under his arm asking whether we do gift wrapping. I decline saying “sorry we don’t have the time, staff or means of charging you for this service so we don’t offer it.” Thinking, if I give him the explanation before he asks the unavoidable “what if I pay for it?” I might just do that, but no such luck.

He goes “what if I pay for it?” Me: “again we don’t offer this service. We are a retailer not a service point and thus there’s no means for me to calculate a price for a service we are not meant to perform :)” C: “I can buy something from the store and then give you extra for the gift wrap” Me: “we do not offer this service. However if you want, you can buy a roll of wrapping paper and we will lend you some scissors and tape and a table to wrap it yourself.” C: “oh but I am Bad at wrapping presents, you are better skilled than me”

At this point I just repeated my previous statement, turned and left. Why is it so hard to accept a no. The thing that tops it off for me though is: just because I work in arts and crafts why does everyone assume I’d do a good job wrapping presents? They’d be up for a surprise

Edit: changed a word

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Artist_Gamerblam on 2023-08-18 07:49:21.

Context

So I work for an arts and crafts store as a cashier and on occasions people may leave or drop their Phones or Cards and either another customer or coworker will bring them up to me and we usually keep them behind the registers till the end of the day (then they go into some place in the office)

Onto the Story

So this kid comes up saying someone left their phone, I just say “Thanks”, take it, and write “Someone left behind” on a sticky note to put on the phone and it lays face down behind the registers.

So an Old Lady comes in and asks if we found a phone, I show it to her and she says it’s hers and I give it to her.

You think that would be the end of it, I did, but no I wouldn’t be writing here if that was the case.

My Manager answered a Phone Call and just so happens to be the same Old Lady again.

My Manager asked me if I ever touched or got into the phone, I said “No” and basically explained to her what I did.

She’s still talking to the old lady and I hear her say “Well I’m talking to him now”

I don’t know what else was being said over the phone as my Manager mostly listened to the lady’s rant with just Mhhms and such

The call ends and my Manager says that the old lady’s friend said something along the lines of “Glad you found your phone” or “Did you find your phone?”

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/HalfCircleRaida on 2023-08-18 06:37:55.

Hi. Got another story for all of you fine people. As usual this story as most of mine will involve people who focus on the "buy" part of "buy sell trade" with zero interest in store credit.

I didn't get to be part of the initial stages of this as I was taking care of something in the back. When I came out a co-worker looked uncomfortable dealing with a woman who had a Wii. In my area Wiis are literally a dime a dozen and we didn't need anymore. I told her that we have plenty and we were not interested in it for cash but we could do store credit. She started throwing a fit saying she needs money and she used to come all the time (no idea who she was) and she drove 50 minutes to sell specifically to us.

This last one was odd as where she claimed to be coming from had at least 4 stores that are very similar to mine not to mention some rather large chains that would also take Wiis. All of them much closer to where she claimed to be coming from. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and gave her a cash offer even though we really didn't need anymore. When I told her the cash offer she started getting combative asking why we can't match the store credit offer in cash (we offer more store credit). I told her that in cash I am firm but if she wanted to consider store credit I could go up a bit higher. Eventually she just said ok to the cash offer.

Now here is the part that makes me go "WTF". We legally have to ask for an ID and take information of anyone selling to us. If one day we can't answer where uniquely serial numbered items were obtained we could get in a s*** ton of trouble. I asked her if I could see her ID and she suddenly started fuming. She said she didn't have it (remember she claimed to have drove 50 minutes from a much bigger town specifically to sell to us). I told her we legally need to take information and she angrily replies we are legally trying to F her over. She takes her stuff back angrily and on her way out she complains about how much she has bought from the store, even though we don't recognize her. Just before she exits she angrily says "I hope this place F'ing fails". I felt like being a jerk and replying "I hope you don't get pulled over".

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Royalty1765 on 2023-08-18 06:31:18.

so this was about maybe abt less than a month (I think 3 weeks) into my job as a cashier and I was doing my job like I'm supposed to. (I don't remember much abt what she looks like but I now try to avoid ppl that look similar by turning my light off and going to do some other things that were supposed to do I only do that when it's not busy)

A woman had come into my line and I had greeted her and asked how her day was. I proceeded to scan her items and asked her if she was a part of our rewards program. She told me yes and I asked her to please put in her phone number, and after she did I then hit total and told her the amount. she paid for it and while she was paying for it I was bagging her items. now our policy is 5 items to a bag so that's what I was trying to do. move forward to when I almost done bagging the lady saw me put an item into the bag that she thought didn't belong in there. instantly she started berating me like I was someone lower than her? she told me that I didn't know how to bag right and that they should train me better. she told me that household items shouldn't go with food but all the things that I had put in that bag were metal cans of cat food, and the household item was also a can of air spray so I didn't see a problem with putting it in there so I was confused? she just kept going at me until I finally finished putting everything in a bag. at that point I ripped the receipt off the printer, smiled at her, thanked her and wished her good night.

idk after that I felt horrible I felt like I was going to cry (and I quite literally was abt to) but another person came into my line. in the end I put a smile on my face (albeit it was extremely hard to put it on and keep it there) and greeted the next lady with as much happiness I could muster and finished my shift like that.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/bourbonfare on 2023-08-18 06:19:25.

This happened yesterday but even after a day off I'm still not over it.

I work as a supervisor at a large grocery store that offers price matching. So, if Heinz Beans are on sale for $1 at another store within the geographical area, and you can show us their flyer, then we will give you that price for a maximum of two items. The policy also states we reserve the right not to match an item. More and more people are price matching now with the high cost of groceries of course.

Last night I had to be on a till as we did not want to cover a sick call. A woman and her daughter come through with about 20 items and she announces that they will be doing some price matching. The first item they wanted to price match are No Name chips. Well we do not sell no name brand so she wanted our in-store brand. Also, that flyer says buy 3 for $3.99 and our policy specifically excludes multi-buy offers. I told her this and she says, "Well I talked to your store manager and he said it's okay."

Now I know that my store manager has okayed the No Name/in-store brand swap in the past, he is very customer-focused and I respect that -- but I know for sure that the limit is two of an item. This woman has not two, not three, but seven bags of chips. Again I tell her the limit is two and she says, "Well I talked to your store manager and he said it's okay."

So I went to the customer service desk to find the price matching policy and it's gone. Resigned, I give her the price match for her seven bags of chips. As I am doing this, she comments that I must be new here. This really set me off because I have worked in the company for five years and I am literally in charge. She responds, "Well every other cashier here has given me these price matches."

The next thing she wants to price match are the in-store brand of frozen fruit from another store. Again, she has four bags instead of two. I reminded her that the limit is two and she said, "Well there are two of us here, so if you want we can do it on a separate transaction." She said this in a "fight me" kind of tone. So after I scanned the items she says, "Do you have a problem with this?" I asked her what she meant and she said I was throwing her items around. This is completely untrue.

I will spare you the details of the rest of the interaction as it's more of the same, but she also managed to violate the part about the competitor being in the nearby area as she also found a flyer from an obscure store to price match. Later on, she also made these three comments in a condescending tone:

1. You should be grateful that we are giving you our business.
2. You shouldn't take it out on customers if you're having a bad day.
3. I will be making a call because your service is very poor. (or words to that effect)

Look I get it, groceries are expensive and I also price match on occasion as well. What I am not okay with, is the fact that she clearly already knows what our policy is, and is now intentionally abusing and violating the policy just because my store manager is a nice guy. She is not even TRYING to be reasonable, and is intent on getting her way at any cost. I almost felt bad for the daughter who was just silently showing me the flyer offers on the phone.

Fast forward to tonight when my store manager emailed the management team including myself, that they had received a complaint about price matching, and reminded us to be positive and friendly with price matches. You could not find a more accommodating person in our store with price matching, I literally had another customer yesterday where I already knew the price he wanted to price match his Flour to because I'm in tune with our competitors' flyers. But I am not okay with being walked all over and intimidated by someone who is just here to take advantage of us. The way she treated me was disgraceful and the only reason why I gave her the price matches was because if I refused her, she would just go to the other cashier (young) and intimidate her too. As for my store manager, the fact that he takes the customers' side even in the most egregious situations tells me that I will not be working for him again.

PS. I am going on leave in two weeks.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/F0urSidedHexag0n on 2023-08-18 05:07:55.

This happened about a week ago and is one of the things that got me to get Reddit just to tell this.

Store is close to closing and I'm running register.

Woman has 2 canned vegetables and a soda. Each are a dollar ($1.09 with tax). I ring up the cans and she asks if they're 2 for $2 which I confirm they are. Nothing unusual as the deal is promoted next to the tag for all of our generic brand canned vegetables. I then continue and ring the soda up.

Me: "Alright ma'am your total is $3.26."

Woman: "How is it 3 dollars if the two cans are $1 each?"

Me: "You also have a soda ma'am which is a dollar, so that makes it $3. $3.26 with tax."

Woman then repeats herself, so I do the same.

Woman: "OK I'm just going to stop sorry I'm right."

Woman then pays, I say "Have a good night.", and I continue on wjth my night albeit a little confused how someone didn't understand 1+1+1=3.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/HalfCircleRaida on 2023-08-16 06:00:50.

Hi, I am not a frequent poster but I will try my best. I work at a video game store that is a buy sell and trade. Often times we get people who only pay attention to the "buy" part for one reason or another. One day a person game with a steering wheel for the Playstation 2, he made a huge show about how much it means to him and how sad it is that he has to let it go.

I let him know that he doesn't *have* to sell it but he insisted he needed to, wouldn't want to say why. He said he and his son constantly used it and a bunch of other stories related to it. When I checked it some of the wires used to connect the item to the console and to connect the wheel to the pedals were badly exposed (not sure if I am explaining right but it was the wheel and the pedals were separate but attached via one of the included cables). I had to decline the item. The person started insisting I buy it at a very low price but I told him I am not interested in it in any context as it isn't in a condition we can sell it.

Now here is the part I found funny. Not long before this a sort of in door swap meet opened, let me mention before I continue that the person brought it in a box with the parts detached. About an hour later I get a question by the owner of the shop and go to the in door swap meet. When I went I noticed a similar looking box on top of one of the outside trash cans (it is one of those that have a very small opening so the box didn't fit inside. He just literally left it on top of the trash can). When I went in they told me the person made a fuss because he wanted them to give them money for the steering wheel and them sell it while they sell spots for sellers to sell their stuff and they do not buy from the public to sell items. He literally out of rage just left his precious steering wheel because he couldn't find anyone who would give him money for it.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/HaIfhearted on 2023-08-15 06:34:15.

Background: I work in a thrift store. We get stuff donated and have to come up with prices for every item that we want to sell.

I also help work registers when we're busy.

I had been working our tools and sporting goods section earlier in the day, and was up at the registers when we had a guy I'm gonna call DA (dumba) bring up a tent that I had priced at $12.99. It was in basically new condition and still nicely folded up in its original bag.

Now for the story:

DA: I want to buy this tent, heres the price tag that was on it its $6.99

----just fyi the tag was not attached to the tent, he was holding a seperate tag he had pulled off of something else

Me: no sir, this tent was 12.99

DA: no, the price is 6.99

Me (already tired of his crap): no, I had priced this tent at 12.99 just an hour ago

DA: no, this tent is 6.99 this is the price I found it at

Me: no dude, I actually priced this tent at 12.99 just earlier I was working in the back and I remember this tent

DA (still trying to sell me his story for some reason): no, its 6.99 see this is the tag thats what it was at

Me: no, the price is 12.99. That's final

DA: fine

He finally bought the tent at my price, but like seriously bro cut the crap.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/knighthawk82 on 2023-08-13 07:55:02.

When i worked for a gas station in 2004 I was hired at the same time as 2 others, me (22 white male) and two others (21 mexican f and 20 mexican m). Six months in it is time for promotions and they offer it to the younger male.

"I object to this promotion. Aside from the fact this man is living with you and dating your daughter, which seems like enough of a company perk as is. He is consistantly leaving second shift early because it is 'a slow day' but i can count four things constantly being rolled over to third shift to take care of because 'there is only one guy on shift' mist namely the trash nit being taken out before sunset. For that alone i request she (f21) be given the promotion of everything else is equal, ive never had to take care of rollover unless the other person on shift with her called out.

Oh, and, silly me, I forgot. He is twenty! He cannot even sell the alcohol in the store, how in the world can he sign for it in receiving? That is a massive policy violation. For the safety of the company I cannot stress enough he needs to at least wait for his birthday for anothe opportunity to be promoted."

Oh so should you get the promotion instead of him because you are so much older and white?

"Honestly, no. I think (f21) is far more capable than me or him. If we are using just the last six months as the example. But she has shared she has a kid so she could use the bonus more than me or him who have no kids. And I resent the implied raceism."

Later that week the (m20) got promoted and I took a week while on graveyard shift to look up everything I could before I filed grievances with branch and distric supervisors. subsequently I made notice I was afraid I going to be retaliated upon through scheduling and extra workload tossed on my third shift.

Just like clockwork they (Manager) decided to stagger my work from all graveyard to 'stair stacking'. Grave, then evening then morning, all with only 8 hours away so I couldnt get full sleep and entirely different work duties each shift. I told my coworkers what wabohappening, so I only had to run the register for the full shifts as much as possible and they took care of all the side work because i was advocating for a third person to be promoted and not just for myself. One bonus is that I got a picture on my phone of the (m20) signing for a budwiser delivery. As expected.

I filed for retaliation, and one of the big bosses came down on an inspection and called me in. I explained that i voiced my objection due to conflict of interest, legal incapability, inability to meet work demands, and lastly nepotismM; that another canidate was more qualified than me or him for the advanced position.

Manager barked off that my only objection at the meeting was nepotism, to which I asked if this new schedule was meant to train managers. The manager said 'yes'. I asked why I was given a managers training schedule if i wasent training for a manager position. This should have been given to the newly promoted (m20) or to (F21) because she deserves to be manager.

'Well he can't work graveyard.'

"THEN HE CAN'T BE MANAGER AND DOESEN'T NEED TO BE PROMOTED AT ALL!"

I looked to the higher up. "This is clearly retaliation. I am claiming a hostile workplace and ask to be let go with one year pay so i can go back to school or i am filing suit and we can add a zero when you settle out of court. Here is a picture of a twenty year old receiving alcohol, and here is time and date and signature of the recepit so you can check the slips."

They cut me a check for $15,000 ($8/hr ×40 ×4 ×12) and banned me from working at their brand of gas station ever again. Manager got fired and so did kid.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/DolliDahlia on 2023-08-13 07:12:18.

A little context. I’m a cashier, there were 3 older women who went up to my lane. I greeted them as usual and immediately they said that the chips they wanted were on sale.

I said “ok, let me go ahead and scan it so I can see” but of course some of the chips were not on sale. I informed them that the chips were not on sale and the yelling starts.

They yelled at me saying that the chips were definitely on sale, that I’m not understanding them (they were Caribbean) and that they are delusional and saw the sign. I asked one of my coworkers to go check the sale for me. Which of course, 1 brand of the chips they wanted were in fact NOT on sale.

They started yelling at me to just take the chips off then, and I asked “why are you having an attitude at me? I haven’t done anything” that may have not been the best thing for me to say, but I was tired of being yelled at for over 30 minutes about some chips when I tried being cooperative and understanding.

The older lady really didn’t take that well. And started yelling about how I was disrespectful, and didn’t know anything. She said I was disrespectful because she can just see it on my face and that I have an attitude because I look like it.

All 3 of them started to yell at me about how I’m disrespectful and I couldn’t take it anymore and started to cry. One of my coworkers rushed me to the break room so that they can deal with them and give me time to take a breather.

An hour goes by, they are still there arguing at the manager about some chips and one of the ladies tries to get into the break room I was in. One of my coworkers (who was there to comfort me) told her that she can’t be in here, this is the employee break room.

She ignored my coworker and started telling me not to mind the older lady as she is old and she says stuff because she’s old, instead that I needed to gain courage and be a man. She wasn’t there to apologize, she was telling me that the older lady did nothing wrong and that I’m just sensitive.

Another coworker rushed her out, and not long after the other lady tries to come in, she says she wants to “give me a hug” but my coworker immediately escorts all three women out.

This has seriously mortified me, as I don’t even understand what was happening before everything went to hell. My manager did let me know it’s absolutely not my fault so I’m happy about that.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Proof-Ad462 on 2023-08-12 22:06:21.

Got a good one today. Customer calls the store looking for a vbelt. Doesnt know any details because they wore off over time. Demands to speak to manger because "the staff are all idiots" I take the call. After he explains I ask to put him on hold so I get to a desk to help look stuff up. Get to a computer and take him off hold. Ask him how can I help. He responds"how the hell are you going to help me when you dont even know what Im looking for." I tell him thats why I put him on hold so I could use a computer. He calls me a smart ass. At that point given I know he was rude with the associate first I asked him why is he being rude when all we are trying to do is help him. He calls us all stupid. I told him we cant help him if hes going to be beligerant. He then asks my name and threatens to come in and punch me in the face. I tell him not to even bother coming in no one is going to help you. He hangs up life goes on.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Competitive_Mochi on 2023-08-12 19:16:22.

This happened a few years ago when I used to work for a shipping/retail center. The company would also rent out computers for customers who want to use them. I remember it was rush hour, and I just finished helping out a guest do an international shipment and guided them through proper documentation when a lady was about to walk out after using a computer without paying was called by the manager. She looked at me and pointed the blame at me, telling me that it was my fault for not informing her about the charge (By the way, there’s a considerable poster in front of each computer saying the procedure and how much it cost). I can’t even talk since she started screaming and saying I offer the worst service and I’m pretty pathetic. The manager offered to waive the fee, but she started saying she wasn’t broke and was only upset because she wasn’t informed about the cost (3 other staffs were at the back talking). Before she left, I was told again that I had given the worst service ever.

I eventually became in charge of that center and I made sure all my staffs are treated correctly and are respected. One of my staff had the same experience I had, and I told the customer about the proper procedure of waiting for a staff to help them rather than taking initiative into something they don’t understand. I was hated for sure but, at least all my staff understand that I appreciated and care for them.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Ok_Eggplant7509 on 2023-08-12 17:18:02.

Posted this in the wrong sub so I’m reporting here!

Yesterday

This customer that came up had like 5 pillows so I jokingly said “is one for me?” And she chuckled and so did I. I started ringing her up and I said “oh wow, great deals today! The pillows are 9.99 and the [item, specified for price check] is 24.99! They are on special sale.” She said “the pillows are 9.99?!” I said yea and she said “oh okay hold on!” Then she brought me one and said “I’ll buy you one too!”

I rung it up and she payed in all her rewards points and was really happy that she could get me a pillow. She told me she got so much rewards points bc she bought some fine jewelry and was exited to use what she could!

Needless to say, I, and my other co workers were laughing and celebrating the nice gesture she made, and I got a free pillow! 😂

Customers have offered to buy me things before and I’ve always declined. This time I accepted and I’m happy I did!

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Hungry-Ad-7120 on 2023-08-12 03:54:39.

I really didn’t mean to laugh, but I just didn’t see how this guy thought what he said would be a threat. I was at the register in the lumber area with another cashier and was ringing people out. One guy comes up with a small tool of some kind, that’s like $80.

Me: -rings up everything- Sir, your total is $100.xx

Guy: -silently hands over change which I take and hand him his receipt-

Me: -goes back to reading my book since he was the last customer in line-

Guy: -comes back a minute later- Miss, there’s a mistake.

Me: -closes book- Let me see, did I ring up something twice?

Guy: No, this tool was supposed to be $20, not $80.

Now, we do have sales and sometimes the discounted price doesn’t go though. But $60 price difference is a pretty big leap as I check the receipt and then type the item number into my phone and the computer. Both comeback with the $80 price tag and it’s a brand I know for a fact is higher end.

Me: Sir, it’s coming up as the same price on my phone and here.

Guy: I need to return it then, I can’t spend that much on a tool!

Me: Okay, just go up to customer service and they’ll process the return for you. Just tell them it’s not what you wanted.

Guy: -now getting irate- I don’t have time to do that! I have a job to get to and I can’t come back!

Me: -let’s put a snort of laughter as I hand him back the receipt- You will if you want your $80 back.

Guy: -glares at me furiously as his face turns red- Why don’t you do the return?

Me: Sir, I’d do it in a heartbeat for you if the computer would let me, but it won’t. It doesn’t have the program the customer service desk uses to process returns.

Guy: Give me the money then!

Me: No, I’m not pulling money out of my drawer and just handing it to you.

Guy: -spluttering with anger now- I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!

Me: I’m not getting fired for you, I have bills to pay.

Guy: CALL YOUR MANAGER!!!

Me: Okay. -picks up phone and starts dialing-

Guy: You can’t just TAKE my money!

Me: Sir, I told you the total before you even handed me the money. If you’re on a budget and the price doesn’t sound right, you should stop there and ask to check. YOU handed me the money and didn’t ask until AFTER the transaction.

Guy: I want my money back!

Me: You can complain to the manager all you want, but you still have to go down to customer service to get your refund.

Guy: -grips his fists angrily and storms off-

I just hung up the phone at that point since no one was answering. When I asked my supervisor if the guy did a return she said no one fitting his description came up. I guess he was just trying to get a deal.