Making A Rough Spot Rougher

In the store where I work, for returns, you either have to have your receipt or the item you’re returning with the price tag still on it and your driver’s license.

One day, a man comes in with a shirt to return. The man appears to be homeless; his clothes are unkempt and disheveled and he just looks very scruffy and gruff. The shirt he hands me still has the tag on it, but it is wet… and it doesn’t feel like water.

I can tell he’s in a rough spot, and even though the company would not normally accept an item that’s not resellable, I decide to go ahead and return it to try to show some compassion and kindness.

Me: “Since you don’t have a receipt, can I see your driver’s license?”

Man: *Snapping* “I don’t have a driver’s license! You can just return it anyway.”

Me: *Politely* “I can’t return it without a receipt or driver’s license. I physically cannot do the return process without either.”

Man: “Just return it for store credit!”

Me: “I’m sorry, but without a driver’s license, there’s nothing I can do.”

I still feel bad for him, though, and want to offer a solution.

Me: “Look, just have a friend come in and return it for you with their driver’s license. They can give you the store credit for it. I just can’t return it without a license.”

He promptly turns to the customer next to him and orders:

Man: “Give me your driver’s license!”

Naturally, the customer is baffled. The man starts yelling at her to give him her license and, obviously, she says no. Then, he turns to me and starts calling me names. Eventually, seeing that he’s getting nowhere, he leaves.

I tried so hard to be polite, and I am very shaken by his demands of not only me but the customer at the register next to him, but there are more customers in line, so I don’t even have time to process what the heck just happened.

Fortunately, my next customer witnessed everything and says something along the lines of:

Next Customer: “You handled that like a saint!”