Refuses To Register The Move To Register

(While I do help around the store from time to time, most of my job is teaching small groups or one-on-one lessons. I’m in a private lesson when my manager barges in, looking panicked.)

Manager: “[My Name], we need you out here.”

Me: “Umm… I can’t really leave unless it’s an emergency.”

Manager: “Now!” *she leaves*

Me: “I, uh, I guess I’ll be back. I’m sorry. Help yourself to the coffee or snacks or—“

Customer: *obviously angry* “I paid for your time and you’re going to leave?”

Me: “Again, I’m sorry, but it sounds like there’s something serious happening. I’ll comp your next visit if you’d like.”

Customer: “Forget it. I want my money back for this one.”

Me: “Unfortunately, we’re almost through our hour so I can’t do that, but I can give you the next visit for free, or a voucher for anything in the store for that value.”

Customer: *stands up* “We’ll see what corporate has to say about this.” *leaves*

(Annoyed, I go out to see what my manager wanted. She’s on one of our five registers, furiously waving me over. The lines are ridiculously long, even though all five registers are open. When I get there, she steps out and asks about something on the screen. I step in to get a better look.)

Manager: “Why is it doing that?” *points at an item that has been reduced by half*

Me: “I guess there was a deal on that item. Maybe a buy one, get one half off?”

Manager: “Oh. Okay.” *starts to walk away*

Register Customer: “Where is she going?”

Me: *to the customer* “I don’t know…” *to my manager* “Are you not going to finish this?”

Manager: “Oh, no, I don’t run the registers unless there’s no other option.” *smiles* “But now you’re here so I can go and do my job!”

Me: *stunned silence*

Manager: “Go on, then!” *goes in her office and closes the door*

Register Customer: “Wow… Who is that?”

Me: “Oh, that’s the store manager.”

Register Customer: “Huh…”

(When the line is gone, I go to her office to talk about what just happened.)

Me: *knock knock* “Hey, [Manager], I need to talk to you.”

Manager: *opens the door* “I need to talk to you, too. Please sit down.”

Me: “Okay…”

Manager: *sternly* “I just got off the phone with corporate. A customer complained that you were very unprofessional today. She is demanding her money back for her session, plus compensation.”

Me: “You mean the one I was with when you came in, acting like the store was on fire?”

Manager: “I don’t know who you were with, then.”

Me: “I was with [Customer]. You told me to go with you, despite knowing I was already involved in something.”

Manager: “Well, I’m going to need you to read over this and sign it.” *slides a paper toward me*

Me: *reads it over* “Are… are you writing me up?”

Manager: “You left a customer before finishing their session.”

Me: “You realize that was your doing, not mine.”

Manager: *shakes her head* “The customer comes first. My hands are tied.”

Me: “Which customer? The one in line at the register, or the one I’m already with when the line starts to grow?”

Manager: “Please don’t be difficult, [My Name]. Just sign.”

Me: “Fine.” *signs* “I’m going on break now.”

(While on my break, I call corporate myself and dispute the write-up, telling them what the customer conveniently forgot — that the manager had told me to come out without telling me why. I also add the part about the manager seemingly only needing me to come out so she wouldn’t have to run the register and how she left without finishing the transaction. When I get back from break, the manager calls me into her office again.)

Manager: *sullen* “I heard you talked to corporate.”

Me: “I did.”

Manager: “They are reversing your write-up because the customer did not give the full story.”

Me: “Good!”

Manager: “In the future, if you have a problem with me or the way I run my store, you can come to me instead of whining to corporate.”

Me: “If a customer complained about you when you weren’t at fault, wouldn’t you want your name cleared?”

Manager: “Yes, but—“

Me: “So I wasn’t doing anything wrong. And, per our non-retaliation policy, I don’t think you should say I was ‘whining’ about anything.”

Manager: *blushing* “Go back to your job, please.”

(The next time I saw the customer from the register, she told me she had called corporate, as well, and reported that the manager walked away in the middle of the transaction, leaving me to deal with it. I don’t know if anything came from that, but my manager hasn’t asked me to leave sessions to help anywhere else since that incident.)