Not-So-Smart-Phone, Part 43

I work at a cellular store. An elderly man comes in, all upset.

Customer: “You’ve purposefully cut off my service!”

Me: “Let me pull up your account and look into this for you.”

I pull up his prepay account. He holds out his phone and turns it on for me to see. I’m a bit confused but focus on one thing at a time.

Me: “Sir, it looks like your account is active. It’s not cut off and it seems you just recently started your new month of service.”

Customer: “I’m telling you, my service was purposefully cut off.”

At this moment, I notice that the phone had turned off immediately after the turn-on screen. I take it and try to turn it on and then go to plug it in — basic troubleshooting. 

Me: “Sir, your phone is dead.”

Customer: “That phone is brand new.”

I highly doubt this. The phone is beat to h*** and back, with a chip cracked out of the back piece in the corner. 

Me: “Well, I’ve plugged it in to see if it will charge.”

He asks for a chair, so I obediently grab him one so he can sit. He starts asking about a particular address of another cellular store and asking if it’s a corporate office. I explain it’s just another store, and he just kind of grumps to himself.

I leave the phone plugged in, trying different cords, but for the fifteen minutes he stays there, it only gets to 2%. My manager comes over.

Manager: “Sir, there seems to be something wrong with the phone.”

Customer: *Scoffs* “Ain’t nothing wrong with that phone; it’s brand new.”

Manager: “How long have you had it for?”

Customer: “Three months.”

Seriously? This thing looks like he played drop ball with it.

Customer: “Here, try my cord.”

He pulls out a ragged and tangled braided cord with a few places where the fabric cover has worn off. The thing gets debris and dirt on my hand when I touch it — praise hand sanitizer. I plug it in to confirm it’s charging but the percentage on the phone hasn’t moved past 2%.

Finally, the customer gets up and demands his phone back.

Me: “The phone is dead. Try charging it up for a little while.”

He obviously refuses to admit there is something wrong with his phone and fully believes we maliciously shut it off.

Customer: “You got a card?”

Politely, I hand him our store card.

Customer: “He got a card?”

The man juts a finger in the direction of my manager, who is helping another customer.

Me: “No, sir, it’s the store card.”

Customer: “Write your names on it.”

So, being the polite drone I am after years in retail, I write each of our first names on the card and hand it back. The man takes a step in front of my manager and almost squares up to him across the counter, then angrily flicks his pointer finger underneath his eye like he’s dramatically wiping away an eye booger, and then stomps out of the store.

Manager: “Have a good day, sir.”

Related:
Not-So-Smart-Phone, Part 42
Not-So-Smart-Phone, Part 41
Not-So-Smart-Phone, Part 40
Not-So-Smart-Phone, Part 39
Not-So-Smart-Phone, Part 38