Unfiltered Story #228864

(I answer the phone)

Me: “Thank you for calling [Store], this is [My Name], how can I help you?”

Caller: “Yeah hi, I was wondering, do you just have the one store manager?”

Me: “Yes, just the one. Her name is [Store Manager].”

Caller: “Is she in today?”

Me: “She is not, would you like me to check her schedule for you?”

Caller: “That’d be great, thanks.”

(We have a binder with everyone’s schedules printed out, in case customers call asking for a specific person. It’s usually kept in the storage space under register 1, but when I look there I don’t see it. I check under the other registers, but still can’t find it, so I flag down a nearby coworker.)

Me: “Hey [Coworker], do you know where the binder is with everyone’s schedules?”

Coworker: *checks under the registers, then heads toward the back room to keep looking* “Who’s calling?”

Me: *to Caller* “Who am I speaking to?”

Caller: “I’m calling on behalf of [Name]”

(I relay the name to my coworker, and she heads to the back room to search for the binder. Realizing this may take a few minutes, I put the caller on hold so I can help other customers while my coworker looks.
Finally, several minutes later, Coworker comes back out with the binder and hands it to me.)

Me: “picking the phone back up* ” Alright ma’am, I have [Store Manager]’s schedule here, and it looks like the next day she’ll be in is this Thursday, 8:30 am to 4 pm.”

Caller: “OK, thank you. I need to talk to her because I’m looking at my client’s receipts here, and something’s not adding up. It says ‘FP BOGO 50%’, but the actual discount is more like 23%. Do you know what that means?”

(I immediately recognize the abbreviation as being “full price buy one get one 50% off”, as in, buy two full-priced items, get one 50% off. I also immediately recognize where the confusion is coming from.)

Me: “Yes ma’am. So with buy-one-get-one sales, instead of just ringing up one item as 50% off, our system rings up a proprotionate discount from both qualifying items. So your total discount is equal to 50% off one item, but it just won’t show up that way on the receipt. Does that make sense?”

Caller: “Ah OK, yes that makes sense. Thank you!”

Me: “You are so welcome, and have a nice day!”

(I had to refrain from facepalming as I hung up the phone. If the caller had lead with that question, I could’ve just explained it to her and saved both mine and my coworker’s time looking for the store manager’s schedule. I understand wanting to talk to someone will authority to make sure you get all your discounts but yeesh…every employee has at least a basic understanding of how our sales and discounts work.)