Cash Back Attack, Part 5

(I am the manager on duty at the store I work for. This particular store charges a $1 fee to get cash back from your debit card, and you are notified of this charge and must agree to it on the pin pad to receive the cash. I am in the break room when my cashier pages me to her register to help with an upset customer.)

Me: “Hello there. What can I do for you today?”

Customer: “I would like to do a return, but your cashier won’t help me!”

Me: “I’m sorry about that. She actually doesn’t have the authority to do returns, but I would be more than happy to help you. What is it that you would like to return?”

Customer: “This!” *she throws $10 onto the counter and crosses her arms*

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am; I don’t understand. You want to return your cash?”

Customer: “That’s right! I just bought all this–” *holds up her bags* “–and got $10 cash back off my card, but didn’t know you charged me to get it. You’re stealing people’s money, so I don’t want the cash back anymore! Take it back, and just put that and the fee back onto my card.”

Me: “I… I’m sorry, ma’am, but I can’t do that.”

Customer: “Here. Take my receipt. It shows that I did, indeed, get the cash back, so you should have no problem putting it back on my card for me.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but we just can’t do returns on cash back. We can only do returns for items. If you want the money to be put back onto your debit card, then you will have to take it to the bank your checking account is with and deposit it there. But unfortunately, the fee will still be there because you still got cash back from us.”

Customer: “How do you think you are going to get away with this? You have some nerve charging me to take out my own money. You need to tell the customer if we are being charged for something! Otherwise, that’s just theft!”

Me: “I agree, that would be theft. However, on the pin pad, after selecting cash back, you were prompted with a message that let you know you would be charged a fee of $1 to get cash back, and you would have had to hit the agree button to receive it.”

Customer: “Well, I didn’t read it, so I didn’t know what I was agreeing to. And since I didn’t know what I was agreeing to, it doesn’t count. I have bills to pay; I can’t just have people taking my money without me knowing first.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but it works like any other contract. If you agree to the terms, then you are bound to them, whether you actually took the time to read them or not. You agreed to pay a $1 convenience fee, and you were given your $10 cash back. Unfortunately, there is nothing else I can do for you.”

Customer: “That is completely ridiculous! This is the worst customer service I have ever received! This is only my second time at [Store], and I will never shop here again. I’m going to tell everyone how [Store] steals from its customers! You will be out of business in no time!”

(She crumpled up her $10 bill, shoved it into her purse, and stormed out of the store. My cashier and I just stared at each other for a minute before getting back to work.)

Related:
Cash Back Attack, Part 4
Cash Back Attack, Part 3
Cash Back Attack, Part 2