Sign Of A Changing Disposition

(My good friend and neighbour has invited me out to coffee and lunch, her treat. We go to a place in the mall I hadn’t known about before, and both order the $5.99 beef dip and fries. We get to the till…)

Cashier: “That will be $17.86.”

Me: “Wait, what? How does that work?”

Cashier: “These meals are $7.99.”

Me: “No, they’re not. It said $5.99!”

Cashier: “It’s $5.99 for the beef dip, and $2 for fries.”

Me: “The sign didn’t say anything about fries being extra. It just said ‘Beef dip and fries: $5.99!'”

Cashier: “The beef dip is $5.99, but with the fries it’s $7.99.”

Me: “Your sign says $5.99.”

Cashier: “Well, it’s $7.99.”

(While we have been arguing, my friend has paid for the meals, and we gather our trays to leave.)

Me: “You should really change your sign, then. That’s false advertising. We wouldn’t have ordered this if we’d known it would be more.”

Cashier: *annoyed shrug* “I don’t have any control over the signs.”

(When we reach our table I say to my friend how we should go up to the person who served the food, who was directly next to the sign, and figure out what was going on. She realizes she didn’t get a receipt from him, and asks me to get it for her, since she plans on pushing for her $4 back. When I get to the counter, another woman is checking out who had ordered the same thing as us, and I catch the tail end of their conversation.)

Customer: “Well, it had better be special, because that’s why I ordered it!”

Cashier: “Oh, you mean the beef chili.”

Customer: “No, the beef dip.”

Cashier: “The beef chili is on special today.”

Me: “No. The sign says ‘beef chili or beef dip, and fries, $5.99.'”

Cashier: “What? Why didn’t they tell me?”

(At this point, the cashier leaves the till to check with the kitchen, muttering about not being told. When he comes back…)

Cashier: “They didn’t tell me! They never tell me anything! I’m sorry. That is $6.71.”

(The customer pays and leaves, so I step up.)

Me: “My friend actually did want her receipt, so could you either print her off a new one or find it in the pile there?”

Cashier: *searches through a couple of discarded receipts* “I’m sorry. I’m not sure I’ll be able to. It’ll take forever. Could I offer you a… a slice of pie, as an apology?”

Me: “I’ll have to check with my friend. I think she might just want her $4 back.”

Cashier: “Well, I can’t process a refund without a receipt. I’m very sorry. I’ll search for it when I’ve got a moment.”

(I return to our table and relay the encounter to my friend. We continue with our meal, figuring we would go back to check about that receipt when we were done. About halfway through, the cashier approaches us.)

Cashier: “Hi. I’m very sorry. I can’t find your receipt. But here, I’ll give you this card for 2 free dinners. I’ll write my name on it so they know it’s from me.”

Friend: “Thank you. That’s very nice.”

Me: “Oh, thank you.”

Cashier: “You’re welcome. Again, I’m very sorry about that.”

(The cashier leaves, and my friend turns to me.)

Friend: “Wow, that was personality change, huh? He was so apathetic and uncaring when we paid, but now he’s really nice and apologetic.”

Me: “Well, I guess maybe because now he knows we weren’t just trying to scam free food.”

(So, despite the original frustration, we actually ended up on top, and have a dinner date scheduled for next week.)