Experienced A Brush With A ‘Bah Humbug’

(It’s two weeks before Christmas. I’m the second cashier today. I head up to my register and call over the next person in line. A woman and her friend come up. Note that earlier, one of my coworkers told me that some of the make up brushes need a new sign because the brushes went up in price. My coworker was going to try and print a new sign, but she couldn’t, so the wrong signs were left up.)

Me: “Hello! Did you find everything you were looking for today?”

Lady: “Yes.”

(I start to ring up her items, which included mostly make up brushes. As I’m ringing them up, the lady starts talking to me.)

Lady: “Those brushes with the two dollar tags, the sign said they were a dollar.”

Me: “Oh! I’m sorry about that. Those brushes went up in price. My coworker was trying to change the sign for them earlier but couldn’t. I’m not sure why she didn’t take the signs down for them.”

Lady: “Well, the sign says they’re for one dollar.”

Me: “Yes, but they went up in price. She was supposed to change the signs, but left the wrong ones…”

Lady: “Are you going to honor the sign or not?”

Me: *trying not to get angry* “Sure. If you’d like me to do that, I will.”

(I go to change the prices of the two make up brushes. However, if the price is changed by more than 20%, we have to get a manager to put in their number and password. I’m trying to do 50% off on the brushes, which means I need a manager. Unfortunately, there’s a problem…)

Me: “I’m really sorry, but I need a manager’s number to be able to do this. The main manager is on lunch right now—”

Lady: *interrupting me* “Then call her. She’ll come up. You have to honor the sign!”

(I look outside to see if the manager’s car is in the parking lot, meaning she’s probably in the store. But her car is gone.)

Me: “It looks like the manager isn’t in the store or the parking lot. Our other manager is way in the back, so he won’t be able to hear me if I…”

Lady: “Then go get him!”

Lady’s Friend: “Just forget about the make up brushes!”

Lady: “No. I’m making her do her job. She obviously doesn’t know what good customer service is.”

Me: *trying not to be hurt by her comments* “I’m going to go get the manager. I’ll be right back.”

(I run to the very back corner of the store, where the manager is bringing in a shipment of furniture. Thankfully, he’s nearly done. I quickly explain why I need him, and he writes his info for me to use. I run back up to the front.)

Me: “Sorry about that. He was accepting a load of furniture, and he wouldn’t have heard me if I paged him. He gave me his number, so now I can change the prices.”

(I successfully change the prices of the two make up brushes. But she’s not finished yet!)

Lady: “This one was hanging with the other ones on the dollar sign.”

(She holds up another make up brush that looks nothing like the other ones she has. The price tag on it does not say a dollar, either.)

Me: “I’m sorry, but if it was hanging with those other brushes then it was obviously not in the right place…”

Lady: “I don’t care. That’s not my fault.”

(By now, I’m fed up and just want to get her out of the store.)

Me: “Okay. I’ll change the price of that one, too.”

(I go to do so when, suddenly, the computer system won’t let me. I get errors three times in a row.)

Me: “The register is not letting me change the price of this item now for some reason. Let’s ring up the rest of the items, then we can try and ring this one up separately. Maybe it will work then.”

(As I’m trying to get her to pay, the lady starts making comments about how she thinks another item may have been in the wrong spot, as well. I tell her the price of that item and leave it at that. She pays, so I try doing a new transaction for the last make up brush. But even under a new transaction, the system is still not letting me change the price.)

Lady: “Well, maybe it doesn’t like your number. Try using the manager’s number.”

(I decide to call the manager up at this point. When he shows up, I explain how the system is malfunctioning. He suggests we print a new ticket for the item with the ticket printer on this register and change the price that way. I do so, and it works.)

Me: *hands the lady her receipt* “Thank you! Have a good day!”

(Once she was gone, I asked the manager if I could take my break early so I could go calm down. Thank goodness he let me because I was shaking with frustration! Talk about a lady with a “bah humbug” spirit! My coworkers were sympathetic and ranted with me about rude customers for the rest of my shift. At least my coworkers are pleasant people!)