No ID, No Idea, Part 38
(I work in a supermarket as a deli manager, but as we are a small store, some of our staff are trained in different departments, including registers. There’s a customer waiting to buy smokes, so a girl calls for assistance.)
Me: “Hi, sorry for the wait. What can I get you?”
Customer: “Can I get [Brand] and a lighter?”
(Legislation says we have to card anyone under 25.)
Me: “Sure. Do you have any ID?”
Customer: “It’s my birthday today.”
Me: “Well, happy birthday, but I still need to see some ID.”
Customer: “I don’t have ID, but today is my 21st birthday.”
Me: “I’m sorry, but if you can’t produce ID, I can’t sell you these.”
Customer: “This is ridiculous! I buy [Brand] here all the time. It’s my birthday and I want my smokes!”
Me: “Sir, I have never served you before, so I can’t verify your age. Unless you provide ID, I can’t legally sell you these.”
(He points to the girl who is serving on another register.)
Customer: “She’s served me before! Come here and sell me these smokes because this b**** won’t.”
Coworker: “I’ve never seen you in my life, and I certainly won’t serve you after that comment.”
Customer: “Just sell me my f****** smokes!”
Me: “Sir, as you can’t provide ID and are becoming aggressive, I need to ask you to leave.”
Customer: “This is bulls***! That lady over there has served me, too! I’m 21!”
(He points to my worker in the deli. I turn to him and smile, because she isn’t trained on registers.)
Me: “I can assure you, that worker over there has never served smokes to anyone in the six years this store has been open.”
(The customer realizes he’s just screwed himself.)
Customer: “This is bulls***. You can all go to f****** h***. I’ll go to [Branch].”
(I was shaking at this point, as he was getting right up in my face. What he didn’t see was mall security coming up behind him. After protesting that we were many different expletives, he got kicked out. I had to write up an incident report, but before that, I rang two other branches closest to us and warned them. He only tried one branch, but still didn’t have ID and was refused service again.)
Related:
No ID, No Idea, Part 37
No ID, No Idea, Part 36
No ID, No Idea, Part 35
Question of the Week
Have you ever served a bad customer who got what they deserved?
