Customers Are Totally Self Serving

Our liquor store also stocks some basic groceries. The most expensive spirits are kept behind the counter but the main floor has several freestanding displays of wine, several fridges with selections of beer and soft drinks, and shelves full of other goods.

A customer comes in, walks straight up to me at the counter, and asks for a six-pack of a particular beer. The request catches me by surprise because I have recently restocked.

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry. Are the shelves empty?”

Customer: “I don’t know. I didn’t look.”

Me: “No problem, they are on the shelf right next to you. Let me grab a pack.”

I walk around the counter, take the beer off the shelf, and start to walk back with it.

Customer: “Actually, can you get me one from the fridge?”

I walk over to the fridge and swap out the pack in my hand for one there. The customer then says, “Thanks,” in a very sarcastic tone, so I admittedly lose a little bit of my patience.

Me: “No problem, sir, but for future reference, this is a normal retail shop and we are self-service.”

Customer: “Well, you don’t have a sign saying that!”

Me: “With respect, sir, I have literally never seen any shop that felt that it had to put up a sign explaining that customers need to select and carry their own goods to the counter for payment.”

Customer: “Well, I don’t think your head office would like to hear that you’re refusing to help me, would they?”

Me: “Sir, I have the goods you requested in my hands, and I am literally in the process of helping you. I am just telling you this to avoid any future confusion.”

He scoffed and walked out. I get that invisible disabilities exist and that some people might need more help than it looks like, but his comments about the lack of a sign make me fairly confident that he was just entitled.