Oh, The Customers Are So Frightful, But The 4K Fire Is So Delightful

I work in the Connection Center/Electronics department of a big general retail store. Christmas time is upon us, and the nice old crazies have really started to pop out. Too many times have I had to tell a customer that the twenty-four-inch LCD TV in the [Electronics Chain] article could not be used to match a fifty-five-inch OLED. This isn’t the main point, though.

In our part of the store, we have a nice Sony set up with a 4K Blu-ray playing. Now this particular Blu-ray is of one thing: a fireplace burning. Why our department was trying to sell Sony products with the power of a 4K high-definition video of a fireplace, I really don’t know; my only conclusion is that it is because of the season and it possibly makes the department more homely.

This old couple comes along, and they start to walk by this TV. They stop, look at it up and down, and then proceed to pull off the gloves they are wearing. They then raise their hands up toward the TV and begin to “warm” their hands.

Another person notices what they are doing, walks over, and falls for it, as well. Then come the questions.

Customer: “How hot of a temperature can the TV get to?”

Me: “Uh… you mean like its operating temperature, or—”

Customer: “No! How hot does the fire get? Also, is there a risk of a flame hopping out and starting a fire?”

I didn’t have the mental energy and referred him to my manager.