Putting The Matter To Bed

(I am picking my puppy up from a groomer located in a pet store. Since he was good while being groomed, I decide to walk down an aisle to grab a treat for him. As we’re walking, he pees on a display of very expensive dog beds. I scold him, get paper towels from a dispenser, and clean up the mess as best I can. On my way out, I search for an employee.)

Me: “Excuse me, I just wanted to let you know that my dog peed on one of the dog beds back there. I was wondering if I needed to purchase the bed now, or if you have some way of cleaning it?”

Manager: *gruffly* “Show me where it is.”

(I lead her back to the bed and show her which one, which has quite the large mark on it.)

Me: “Again, I’m really sorry. I can pay for it if you can’t salvage it.”

Manager: “Look, I’ve worked this job for nearly twenty years. We have people come in with their pets every day. Most of the time, people don’t clean up after their pets, let alone tell us. I’ve never once had someone offer to pay for damages they’ve caused. I’m going to mark this bed off as defective. You go up front and tell [Other Employee] that I told you that you can have those treats on us today. I wish we had more people like you come in the store.”

(I was stunned at how kind she was about the situation, but I paid for my treats, anyway. I always go back to that store now, and now that my pup is older we don’t have any accidents. But he does love all the free treats he gets from all of the employees!)