A Tale Of Faulty Thieves

(A family, wife, husband and teenage daughter, bring items to my till, and I start to scan them.)

Father: “We’re not done yet!”

Me: “Oh…”

(They leave their items at my counter and continue to look around. Any time they see something they want, they bring it to my counter and then leave again. It is not busy, so I just scan and bag the items as they drop them off. They finally come with the last item, totaling their bill to over $200.)

Father: “Is everything done?”

Me: “Well, it’s not paid for.”

Father: “I know that! Is it all scanned!?”

Me: “Yes.”

Father: *to his wife and daughter* “Okay, you guys can take this stuff out to the car then.”

Me: “Oh, actually, you have to pay first before you leave the store with the items.”

Father: “EXCUSE ME!?”

Me: “You can’t leave the store with unpaid merchandise.”

Father: “You calling me a thief!?”

Me: “No, I’m just telling you that you have to pay first.”

Father: “I don’t have to pay before I take your items! I’m a customer!” *to his daughter* “Take the stuff to the car!”

Me: “Please don’t.”

(The daughter is now confused and throws her arms up in the air in frustration.)

Father: “Don’t you tell my daughter what to do!”

Me: “Um, she can’t leave the store without unpaid merchandise.”

Father: “You think my card is going to decline!?”

Me: “I don’t know, but you still have to pay first.”

(The father rams his card into the machine and stomps his fingers on the keypad. It declines.)

Me: “It didn’t go through.”

Father: “This is ridiculous!” *he rams his card up the machine again*

Me: “You have to wait until the machine is ready.”

(He rips his card out of the machine and then rams it up the machine again, and hits the buttons extremely hard. It approves and he starts to storm off without his receipt. Then he comes storming back and rips the receipt out of my hand and points to me.)

Father: “YOU WERE CALLING ME A THIEF!”

Me: “No, I wasn’t. No one lets customers leave a store with unpaid merchandise!”

Father: “I am a paying customer! You should be fired for accusing me of stealing! This is the worst customer service I have ever had!” *storms off again*