Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, NO REFUND

I work in a well-known furniture chain. While we have a great refund service, we don’t do refunds on items and furniture sold through our re-use section.

I am at the register and my colleague is at the self-checkout service, keeping an eye on the customers in case they need assistance.

While she is doing her part, a customer approaches her from behind, wanting to get a refund for an item. She tells him she can’t help him and he has to go to the customer service that also handles refunds.

Customer: “I just was there and they didn’t want to take it back.”

She then notices what he wants to return.

Colleague: “I’m sorry, but we don’t do refunds on furniture from our re-use section.”

Customer: “I did not know that. You have to take it back.”

Colleague: “It says so at the section, so it’s not our fault you didn’t see that a refund isn’t possible. I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”

She then turns her back on him, as to say she’s done with talking to him. After all, she can’t help him, even if she wanted to, as we don’t do refunds at the checkout.

He gets angry and kicks his furniture off the cart, which, of course, causes everyone to jump a little. He then starts picking it up, but when he sees that my colleague doesn’t pay him any attention, he throws it onto the floor again. At this point, another colleague calls for a manager to deal with this man.

The man then approaches my colleague he spoke to first and comes off as threatening. My colleague proceeds to tell him that a manager is on their way to help him. He seems angry that my colleague isn’t taking him seriously but settles to wait for the manager.

When the manager arrives, she too tells the man what he has been told by everyone: that he can’t get a refund, that it says so in the section, and it’s not our responsibility that he didn’t read the signs about refund from this section.

It ends with him leaving with his furniture, no refund.

Seems we at the checkout now have to explain to each customer buying something from the re-use section that it’s not refundable, all because some customers can’t bother to read.