Leading By Example

We’re about to close. I’m running customer service, and my coworker running our self-serve checkout comes up to me with a box of shoes and the customer saying she needs help with a price adjustment that seems fishy. He wants a pair of shoes that are on sale for $25 for $5.

Customer: “Well, there’s a tag that says five dollars.”

Me: “We have sample price tags that show what our clearance stickers look like. They say ‘Example’ over them to make it less confusing.”

Customer: “No, it said it was $5.”

Me: “You know what, if you want to take a picture of it and show it to me, I’ll see what I can do.”

He runs off to get the picture, and I work on closing the customer service desk. When he comes back, he shows me the picture. Sure enough, it is an example price that has “Example” pasted over the image, above, and below it.

Me: “Sir, that’s an example tag. The shoes are $25.”

Customer: “You’re not going to honor the price?”

Me: *Laughing and trying not to cry* “No, it’s not a real price, sir.”

Customer: “You sure?”

Me: “Yes.”

Customer: “Why?”

Me: “It’s not. A real. Price. I’m not giving you shoes for a fake sale price. Do you want the shoes?”

Customer: “Sure.”

He dropped $30 and pays easily as if we hadn’t just spent minutes arguing over a sample clearance tag. It looked like there was nothing going on in his head. I’m surprised we came to an agreement. That concluded a very long day.