A Cent-less Waste Of Time

A customer asks me to make a total of thirteen copies for her. After sales tax, her total comes out to $1.41. I tell her the total, and the woman starts digging change out of her purse.

Customer: “Hold on, I know I have it in here. Ha! My purse is going to be so much lighter now!”

As this is common, I smile and patiently wait for the customer to count her change.

Customer: “Well, here’s what I have on me. I still owe you 40 cents.”

The customer yells across the store at her daughter.

Customer: “Hey, [Daughter]! You got any change?”

Daughter: “I’ll run out to the car and look!”

By now, there’s a line forming behind this woman. I inform them that we won’t be much longer and apologize for the wait. The customer is still digging through her purse.

Customer: “I guess this wasn’t the purse with all my change in it!”

After a few minutes, the daughter returns.

Daughter: “There wasn’t anything in the car.”

The customer produces several pennies.

Customer: “Oh, look! Seventeen more cents! Now I just owe you 23 cents!”

She rummages around in her purse some more, while her daughter complains about how expensive our copies are. I’m trying not to look irritated, and I call for another associate to assist the folks in line behind these two.

Customer: “Man! I didn’t bring enough cash! I’m going to have to give you two of these copies back.”

She hands me two pages, I deduct the appropriate amount at the register, and I notice she’s still one cent short. But rather than go through this ordeal again, I run the transaction through and get a penny later. The customer and her daughter leave, and I overhear them talking on their way out.

Customer: “Well, I can just come back tomorrow and print more stuff! I didn’t want to have to use my debit card for $1.41!”