Sometimes It Costs To Raise A Stink

We have this one regular who likes to pick on new team members. She goes through the newest cashier if she can, and she always raises a stink until the manager (me) comes by to demolish her. She always leaves grumpy, so why does she keep shopping here? Who knows?

Today, she goes through [Employee]’s till. He has been here for two weeks and is one week fresh on the register. He’s doing great, and so far, he has made every effort to understand the register, and he’s been pretty independent! He scans through her items, asks about the club card, offers a bag, and announces her total.

Customer: *Scoffing* “How can it be that much?”

Employee: *Jovially* “Items can add up when you’re in the zone! Your total is [total].”

Customer: “You must have scanned something twice!”

Not quite having faced a customer like this before, [Employee] calls me over for backup. After listening to her claim, I dutifully check each item’s tag with the register’s item list to satisfy her paranoid claim, all the while explaining to [Employee] how to handle a double-scanned item.

Wow, what a surprise!

Me: “Ma’am, nothing was scanned twice; however, it looks like [Employee] missed an item while scanning! Your new total is up by $15. Cash or card?”

This woman stared at [Employee] and me for at least five full, silent seconds before she started apologizing and saying her English was bad and she didn’t understand what we were saying. I explained what happened a couple of different ways, ensuring there was no conflict of communication, and each time repeated her heightened total.

Eventually, she gave up and paid the higher amount. She sulked on out of the store, claiming we always do this crap with her. Sorry, lady, idiot tax is real!

I did discuss with [Employee] to be a little more careful and steadier at cash going forward, to make sure he doesn’t miss any more items, just in case this has been a recurring problem and not a one-off. I have high hopes for him going forward!