Unfiltered Story #248425

(I work at a store whose return policy does not allow returns without a receipt. Some customers seem to either not understand or not accept that they need to have their receipt. I am helping a customer who was hoping to do a return, but doesn’t have the receipt. I notice that it’s a box of hair colour whose factory seal has been broken.)

Me: “Which location did you buy this at?”

Customer: [another location in this city]

Me: “Okay. All I can recommend is that you take this there, or give them a call, and see if there’s anything they can do. But I doubt that they’ll take it without a receipt either. Even if you did have the receipt, they might still not take it, since the seal is broken.”

Customer: “It could’ve been like that when I bought it.”

(I don’t argue that point, since that could very well be the case.)

Me: “That’s possible, but unfortunately it still means that they might not take it back, since generally products aren’t returnable after the factory seal has been broken. But even if the seal weren’t broken, they probably still won’t take it back without a receipt.”

Customer: *after a pause* “Well, what if I had said I bought it here?”

(She seems to be trying to make a point, and I have to resist the urge to laugh, because I just finished telling her that the location she bought it at probably wouldn’t take it back anyway, for two separate reasons. Not to mention that without the receipt, she could claim to have bought it anywhere, and I come close to saying as much:)

Me: *almost laughing* “Well, that’s part of why we don’t do returns without a receipt.”

(Knowing full well that he’ll say the same thing I did, I offer to see if there’s anything my supervisor can do, and I page the assistant manager. When she explains the situation to him, he tells her pretty much the same thing I did — that she can take it back to the store she got it, but it will be up to their discretion whether to give a refund or not. She finally accepts our verdict and leaves. I really don’t get why some people can’t grasp the concept that we can’t give a refund to anyone who claims to have bought a product here.)