Making Them See Cents

(A frequent customer comes in and fills up her tank every few days and thinks she’s being smart by putting in an extra 2c, because in Australia we round down/up to the nearest 5c/10c. That means she gets 2c worth of free fuel. Normally we don’t bother fighting if she goes over and up to 5c, because it’s not worth the screaming, but today we have our new trainee on. She doesn’t back down easily.)

Trainee: “That’ll be $9.05 today.”

Customer: “What?”

Trainee: “The total is $9.05. Would you like to purchase any in store items for a discount on your fuel today?”

Customer: “No, I don’t want anything. How is that possible? When I left that pump, it said $9.02. I know it did!”

Trainee: “On my system it says $9.03, so it got rounded up to $9.05. Cash or card?”

Customer: “F*** you. I’m going out there to check, and when I come back you better fix this!”

Trainee: “I’m sorry, ma’am, you’re more than welcome to check the price again.”

(The customer at this point storms out of the store and over to her car. I’m trying not to laugh, because this woman once threw a loaf of bread at me for doing the exact same thing. When she storms back in, she throws the 5c at the trainee, who is busy serving another customer while she waited.)

Customer: “F*** all of you! I had $9.02 on that f****** pump when I came inside, and you changed it! You are stealing money off of me! I’m calling the cops!”

Trainee: “You can do that, ma’am, and I’ll be happy to talk to them. Would you like an invoice?”

Customer: “You can f*** off back to your own country! Stealing my f****** money and sending it back to your 12 kids I bet! F*** you! F*** this store. I’m not coming back!”

(The other customer’s mouth is open in surprise. The trainee shrugs and the lady storms out of the store screaming very inappropriate racial slurs.)

Other Customer: “What the h*** was that?”

Trainee: “Couldn’t tell you even if I knew.”

(Our trainee is a white Australian. It’s just that she spends a lot of time in the sun and has a deep tan. We forwarded the footage to the local police station, who then informed us we’re the last service station that hasn’t banned her.)