A Taxing ‘Twenty’ Minutes

(I’m a cashier in a wholesale club where shoppers must have membership cards. Some of our customers are business owners or members of non-profit organizations, so they don’t get taxed. This requires having a special card. Scanning one brings up a prompt on the register asking for a manager override to confirm that it’s a tax-exempt transaction. A woman hands me her card and says her purchase is going to be tax-exempt. I scan it.)

Me: “Oh, something’s wrong with the card. It didn’t give me the option to make it tax-exempt.” *I inspect the card and see it’s NOT a business card* “This isn’t—”

Customer: “But I have the paper.”

(She takes a paper out of her purse confirming that she’s part of a non-profit, which is used as proof of eligibility when applying for a business card.)

Me: “Ma’am, that’s just confirming that you qualify for a business card. I can’t take the tax off with that. There’s nothing for a manager to override. It won’t go through. You need to get a business card—”

Customer: “But I don’t have one! Just ring it up regardless; it’s tax exempt!”

Me: “I can’t without a business card. You—”

Customer: “I don’t HAVE one! I just explained it to you!”

Me: “I understand that, but I’m saying there’s no way for me to ring up this purchase without a tax-exempt card. There’s literally nothing I can do to take the tax off, so there’s going to be tax—”

Customer: “But it’s TAX EXEMPT!”

(After a few more failed attempts at explaining that she needs to use the document to get a business card and then come back, she has me call a manager. Since I’m just a cashier, all I can do is set my register’s light to blinking and wait. About ten seconds pass.)

Customer: “Ugh, can’t you just call a manager?!”

Me: “That’s what I’m doing, ma’am; don’t worry. I set the light to blink so a manager should be here soon.”

Customer: “No, I mean CALL him!”

(By the time I figure out what she means and am about to explain that I don’t have a radio, one of my managers arrives.)

Manager: “What seems to be the problem here?”

Me: “She wants this purchase to be tax exempt, but she doesn’t have a business card.”

Customer: “But I have the paper!” *she waves the paper around. My manager looks to me for clarification*

Me: “She wants to… use the paper to make it tax-exempt.”

Manager: “Ma’am, you can’t do that. You need to go to customer service and get a business card. Without a business card there’s nothing I can do here.”

Customer: *she’s suddenly very rigid, like she’s doing all she can to keep her anger in* “You know, she had me wait TWENTY minutes to have you come here and tell me that. I’ve been here for TWENTY minutes!”

Manager: “I’m very sorry, ma’am. I do apologize; I was handling a flatbed and I—”

Customer: “Can YOU just ring me out somewhere so I don’t have to wait on another line for TWENTY minutes? It’s been twenty MINUTES!”

Manager: *sighs* “All right, just… just follow me.”

(He obviously had a long day, and looked way too exhausted to argue anymore. I voided the transaction and handed her back her card before my manager led her away. I saw the time stamped on the top of the voided receipt from when the card was first scanned; it was dated just four minutes before — nowhere near twenty!)