Her Knowledge Of Expiry Dates Has Expired

(It is about 45 minutes before we close for the evening so I am ringing up some of the last-minute customers that always come in. I’m dealing with a mother-daughter duo in need of some school supplies. Everything’s fine until the mother hands me an expired coupon.)

Me: “This coupon expired about a week ago.”

Customer: *blinks at me* “Well, aren’t you going to use it?” 

Me: “Well, no. It expired; it won’t even come up in the system.”

(Keep in mind that the most expensive thing she is buying is a calculator that is on sale. Everything else is in the $1 or $2 range. She glares at me as I lean over to toss the no-good coupon.)

Customer: “I can’t believe the customer service here!”

(She snaps at me and throws everything else she wants onto the counter and then tosses another coupon at me. This one is good, so I scan it and stick it in the drawer.)

Customer: *demanding* “Do you take competitor coupons?” *shows me a $5-off coupon*

(I made it so, but I had to do it manually off the calculator which required a manager’s authorization. When I asked for a manager, the customer looked at her daughter, mouth open and eyes rolling back into her head. I wished she was having a seizure. As I finished checking her out, she grumbled and snarled about the “awful customer service” she had here, even though she “buys so much from this place!”)