Being Married To Mr. Cheapskate

I’m working in a department store. We are closing tonight at 9:30 pm. Just before 9:00 pm, the manager of another store calls to have me hold a dress in a size they don’t have in stock. I put it aside for the customer to come and pick up before closing. The store the manager called from is only ten minutes from my store. She also warned me that these particular customers may be difficult.

The customer walks in with her husband and asks for the dress on hold and I give it to her. 

Customer’s Husband: “The manager at the other store said you were going to give us a discount on this dress. She said a further 20% off at least.”

Me: “Well, this dress has already been marked down a further 20% from the sale price, so the marked price is what it is currently retailing for.”

Customer’s Husband: “No, no! The other manager said we would get another discount on top to make up for the fact that we had to travel so far to come and pick it up.”

The store they came from is only ten minutes away and the dress costs $80 down from $300.

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but that does not sound like something she would have said. It also goes against company policy, as prices are set by head office and I have no power to alter them unless in the case of severe damage to the item. Nonetheless, I’ll call her now to confirm.”

Sure enough, the customer’s husband wasn’t told anything about a further discount. He proceeds to argue with me and the manager of the other store over the phone. At this point, it is about five minutes to closing.

Me: “Sir, it is now five minutes to closing. As we have both spent the last twenty minutes explaining, we cannot alter the price of this dress. Our registers will close in five minutes, so if you would like to take this dress, it needs to be now. Otherwise, you will have to come back tomorrow.”

Customer: *To her husband* “Please stop; you are embarrassing me. I’ll buy the dress and you let this poor girl go home. The place is closing.”

Customer’s Husband: “The only way I will take this dress is if you reimburse me for the cost of my petrol to get here. I will also accept store credit or a gift for the inconvenience.”

Me: “No. I live in this area, and I know the store you came from is only ten minutes away. Either way, I cannot simply give away products for free or issue a store credit if you aren’t returning anything.”

Customer’s Husband: “Well, that doesn’t matter! I live half an hour away! At least pay me for half of the petrol needed to get here!”

Me: “You chose to come to this store to pick this dress up. I did not ask you to come here. If you don’t want to purchase today, we also sell online, but I must ask you to make a decision within the next minute.”

Security is near my section while the customer’s husband rants and raves on about gifts he believes he should get for making the “trip” to our store and has the audacity to say that I should be lucky he would consider spending good money here.

Customer: “I am so sorry for wasting your time. I will pay for the dress myself.”

She shoots her husband the ugliest look I’ve ever seen.

Me: “Thank you, madam. Follow me to the registers and I’ll put this through quickly before I am locked out of the system.”

I put the sale through. All the while, her husband kept asking me to reimburse him for his petrol out of my own pocket as an act of goodwill, which he claimed would make him a regular customer of our store. I couldn’t say “no” quick enough. The wife left embarrassed and sorry, and the husband left sulking and cranky.