An Ugly Side Of Society Is Testing The Waters

I have just been promoted to assistant store manager of the small pharmacy where I work. This is when companies are coming out with various home tests for [certain respiratory illness], but before insurance companies start paying for them up front. If you want to get reimbursed, you have to keep your receipt and turn it over to your insurance company.

It’s an hour before we close, and I’m closing drawers for the night when my cashier calls me to the front.

Me: “Hi, I’m the assistant store manager. What can I help you with?”

Customer: “No, I want to talk to the store manager!”

Our store manager has taken a week off for her brother’s wedding.

Me: “Ma’am, our store manager is out for another few days, but I am more than willing to help you with whatever you need.”

Customer: *Grumbling* “Fine! I bought these home tests here, but when I called my insurance company, they said I never should have paid for them because insurance pays for them now, so I want my money back!”

I stare pretty stupidly for several seconds, knowing this isn’t going to be a fun conversation.

Me: “Ma’am, I apologize, but due to certain health reasons, the tests are non-refundable.”

Customer: “But I have my receipt! I want my money back!”

Me: *Reading the receipt* “Unfortunately, even if these items were refundable, you purchased these items three months ago. Our return policy is sixty days. But again, it is a serious health violation to try to return these tests.”

Customer: “I DON’T WANT TO RETURN THEM! I JUST WANT MY MONEY BACK!”

Me: *Staring at my cashier in disbelief* “You… want to take home your money… and the tests?”

Customer: “This is why I wanted the store manager!”

Me: “Ma’am, even if she were here, she would tell you the same thing. These tests are non-refundable. The CDC has issued this warning. Please understand that there is literally nothing I can do. The system simply won’t allow me to refund these items, no matter how upset you are.”

Customer: “I WANT TO TALK TO THE STORE MANAGER! WHEN IS SHE COMING BACK IN?! NO ONE EVER TOLD ME THE TESTS WERE NON-REFUNDABLE! I WANT MY MONEY BACK!”

Me: “Ma’am, the only thing I can suggest is possibly calling corporate and asking if there’s any way around this?”

Customer: “I’M NOT CALLING ANYONE! I! WANT! MY! MONEY! BACK!”

Me: “Would you like me to call for you?”

Customer: “YES!”

A phone call is placed. The woman screams at the person on the other end for not having a sign in OUR store saying the tests are non-refundable, and she demands to know what he would do to rectify that. I pull away and speak to the person quietly, asking if there is ANYTHING I can do for this woman.

Corporate Representative: “I’m very sorry, but if she wants her money back, she will need to get reimbursed through her insurance company. However, not all insurance companies cover these tests.”

I hang up after several minutes of pleading to find the woman speaking kindly to my cashier.

Me: “Ma’am, I apologize, but he also said the only way to get your money back is to be reimbursed through your insurance company. We cannot do anything for you here. I’m sorry, but that’s the law.”

Customer: “Why’s it so hard for you to give me my money? I work hard to put money in my FSA [savings account], I have a job, I pay my taxes, and I’m a law-abiding citizen! What makes a little white girl think you can just steal my money like that?!”

She’s Black. At this point, I’ve had ENOUGH. NO ONE accuses me of being racist when race was never part of the conversation in the first place and gets away with it. I’m done playing nice.

I step back and point to the door.

Me: “You can see yourself out.”

Customer: “Oh, you’re mad because someone finally called you out on it!”

Me: *With a strained smile* “No. You probably weren’t aware, but you’ve been yelling at me for the last forty-five minutes, and we close soon. So leave.”

Customer: “WHAT IF I WANT TO BUY SOMETHING ELSE?! HUH?! I’M A PAYING CUSTOMER! YOU CAN’T JUST KICK ME OUT!”

Me: “Ma’am, I do not get paid to get yelled at by customers who think they’re above the law. You can leave now, or I will call the cops and have you forcibly removed from this building.”

Customer: *On the way out* “I’M GONNA CALL CORPORATE AND COMPLAIN! I’LL CALL YOUR BOSS! I’LL FIND YOU ON [SOCIAL MEDIA] AND LET THE WHOLE WORLD KNOW! YOU CAN’T TREAT ME LIKE THIS! I’LL HAVE THEM ALL FIRE YOU! YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY!”

I text my boss after we (barely) manage to close on time that night, telling her what happened.

Me: “[Cashier] was present for the entire thing, so he can back me up.”

Boss: “Don’t worry. Once a customer makes the complaint personal, i.e., ‘I’ll find you on [Social Media],’ corporate trashes it.”

Me: “Well, it makes me feel better to know I won’t be fired for not breaking the law, lol.”

Boss: “Oh, I would’ve kicked her out after ten minutes. You have so much more patience than I do. But… does she not know how to read, or is she just blind?”

Me: “What do you mean?”

Boss: “Well, she said no one ever told her that the tests were non-refundable, but in order to walk into the store, buy the tests, and then walk out, she has to walk past at LEAST three large, bright yellow signs that say, ‘[Illness] home tests are NON-REFUNDABLE and only covered by SOME insurances.’”

I slapped myself on the forehead for not thinking of that.

I was not fired.

Related:
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 31
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 30
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 29
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 28
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 27