This store has cardboard holders that you can put mix-and-match beer in. I buy six ginger beers loose, and I have to wait while the cashier goes and gets a holder to put them in for me.
So, the next time, I do that myself to save time, and a different cashier cards me.
Me: “But they’re not alcoholic.”
Cashier: *Snaps* “Why are they in a beer holder, then?”
I just rolled my eyes and handed over my ID.
I’m doing my weekly shopping. As I check out, the total seems rather high to me, so I pay and take the receipt to check it as the cashier goes on to check out the people behind me.
As I find the problem, the cashier has just checked out the last customer in line, so we have little time.
Me: “Sorry, but I think something is wrong with my receipt. You see, here it states ‘Blackberries: 99,99 €’.”
Cashier #1: “Let me see that. Well, that’s rather odd. Did you have any blackberries?”
Well, if I had 100€ worth of blackberries, I think she would have noticed it. But I don’t want to be rude, so I skip the wisecracking.
Me: “No, I don’t have any blackberries. You can check my cart.”
Cashier #1: *Looking a bit stumped* “Well, that’s strange, then.”
Me: “If you don’t know what’s going on, I have a guess. You see this jam? It’s from a local manufacturer and not normally part of [Supermarket]’s stock. It’s labeled with a printout from the groceries section. Is it possible that this has caused the problem?”
Cashier #1: “It might have.”
She scans it again, and it comes out as “Blackberries: 99,99€”.
Cashier #1: “You’re right; that is the problem. So, to get your money back, you have to go to the information desk and show that to my colleague.”
I go to the information desk and explain what happened. [Cashier #2] rolls her eyes and grabs the in-house phone.
Cashier #2: *Without introduction* “Did they not tell you that you are not supposed to scan that jam? You have to enter a code that’s listed with the others.” *Pauses* “Okay, so now you know. Bye.”
Then, she turns back to me.
Cashier #2: “We are sorry about that. Those jars of jam are a little tricky. Here is your money back.”
In the following weeks, I had fun telling everyone about my 100€ jam.
I enter a dollar store. I shop there often, and I notice immediately that while the store is filled with customers, I only spot three employees: two stocking and one on the register. It’s quite clear they are all frazzled.
Right behind me, an older woman and man enter the store, as well. Immediately, the woman starts complaining about how crowded it is and how “there’s such a huge line at checkout” (three people).
The store isn’t that big, so I come across them multiple times. Each time, I hear the woman complain about the crowded store and the long lines. Each time I see the line, it’s max four people long.
When I go check out, I’m the third in line. Behind me, I hear familiar nagging about “the immense waiting time”. I’m not in a great and patient mood, so when she stands behind me and once again complains, I turn around with the sweetest smile I can muster at that moment.
Me: “Oh, feel free to go ahead!”
Customer: “Oh, no, no, no! I am in no hurry! I have all the time! But why isn’t that young man calling for another register, I wonder?”
Me: “Well, I did notice very few employees; they are probably understaffed.”
Customer: “They should hire more people, then. Oh, this takes so long… and they even closed the self-service registers!”
Me: “Eh… there are no self-service registers here. There never were.”
Customer: “Oh, of course, there are! Over… Oh, they must have changed that the past week. Well, no wonder they are understaffed! They made more registers but didn’t hire more people!”
It was then my turn to pay. I think my entire waiting time was not even two minutes? I quickly moved out of the way with my stuff to pack it on the side, not to hinder this “not in a hurry but in a hurry” woman. I should have given her one of the “we are hiring” pamphlets that were near the door.
Related:
Lack Of Register Does Not Register, Part 19
Lack Of Register Does Not Register, Part 18
Lack Of Register Does Not Register, Part 17
Lack Of Register Does Not Register, Part 16
Lack Of Register Does Not Register, Part 15
One day, a customer comes in to pick up her car. I estimate her to be about eighteen years old, and she’s with another girl — I’m guessing her sister — who is probably about sixteen years old. I find her ticket and tell her the total, which is about $6,000. Service is actually closed at this point in the day, and only Sales is still open.
Customer: “Do you take Apple Pay?”
Me: “Yes.”
The customer taps her phone, and the machine prompts her to type in her PIN. For whatever reason, our credit card machine will not let you bypass the PIN when using the tap feature. You have to have the card physically inserted into the machine in order to bypass the PIN. Why? I don’t know. I have gotten a lot of grief from customers about how “other places let me do it,” but I don’t make the rules.
Me: “Type in your PIN.”
Customer: “Can I bypass it?”
Me: “Unfortunately, you can’t bypass the PIN when you tap. You would have to insert the card.”
Customer: “I don’t have the card; I only have what’s on my phone. I don’t carry physical cards around.”
Me: “Then you will have to put in the PIN.”
Customer: “But I don’t want to.”
Me: “The machine won’t let you bypass it because you tapped.”
The customer presses the green button, which causes the machine to beep.
Me: “It’s actually red for credit—”
The customer presses the red button, and the transaction is canceled. I type in the total again, she taps her phone, and again it asks for the PIN. This time, she puts in the PIN. However, a declined message pops up on the screen.
Me: “Unfortunately, that declined.”
Customer: “Why?”
Me: “It doesn’t tell me why, but it’s probably because of your spending limit. You’ll have to call your bank and ask them for a one-time limit increase.”
This happens all the time when customers are putting down payments for a car on their credit cards. The number of people who believe that they do not have a spending limit is way too high. It’s not a big deal, and a quick call to the bank usually resolves the issue.
Customer: “Run it again.”
Me: “It’s going to decline. You need to call your bank.”
Customer: “I have the money. Run it again.”
I put the total in the machine. She taps her phone and puts in the PIN, and it declines.
Me: “You need to call your bank. It’s probably the spending limit.”
Customer: “No. Run it again.”
Me: “It’s going to keep declining. You need to call your bank.”
Customer: “Just run it again.”
Me: “You have to call your bank.”
Customer: “Run it again.”
At this point, I stop caring. If she wants to lock her card doing this, then that’s on her. She makes me run her card about five more times. Every time, I tell her to call the bank, but she refuses.
After about fifteen minutes of this, she finally calls the bank. She does this at the window, so I can hear everything she says. After confirming her information, I hear her say, “I’m not in Florida.” This catches my attention because our brand is based out of Florida. We are actually the only dealership in the group that is not in Florida. However, the chief financial officer wants us to use the main Florida address for our banking information so they can keep an eye on us. This has caused some fraud alerts for customers in the past, but the banks are usually good once they realize the situation, and thankfully, it doesn’t happen that often.
Me: “We’re based in Florida, so if it’s showing [address], then that’s correct.”
The customer relays this information to her bank, and eventually, they tell her to try it again. She hangs up, and we try the card again, but it still declines.
Customer: “Run it again.”
Me: “You need to call your bank back.”
Rinse and repeat a few times. Yes, I try running it once or twice, but it declines every time.
Customer: “Can I just wire you the money?”
I page a manager to come over since that has to be a manager’s decision. A sales manager comes over. The sales managers are always reluctant to approve anything regarding parts or service because those aren’t their departments, and they don’t like approving wire transfers for their own department. Sure enough, the sales manager tells her that he will not authorize a wire transfer. After a few more rounds of “Call your bank” and “No, I don’t want to” with the manager, she calls her bank back and talks to them for a while. The sales manager sticks around.
Customer: “They say it’s your bank causing the issue.”
Sales Manager: “We use [Major Bank Brand #1]. What bank do you use?”
Customer: “[Major Bank Brand #2]. Your bank is the problem.”
Sales Manager: “People come in all the time and pay for stuff with cards from them, and we’ve never had this issue before.”
Customer: “Well, they said it’s your bank that’s causing the problem.”
I think it’s because she made me run her card a hundred times and it’s now locked, but I keep my mouth shut.
Sales Manager: “Do you have another card you can use? Because we can’t release the vehicle until it’s paid for.”
Customer: “No. I can’t just wire you the money?”
Sales Manager: “Unfortunately not. Do you know someone else with a card and you can wire them the money?”
The customer calls her dad, who gives us his card number over the phone. Thankfully, it works. I give her the keys and send her on her way. This whole transaction has taken over forty-five minutes.
Sales Manager: “I’ve never heard of major issues like this from [Major Bank Brand #2].”
Me: “I bank with [Major Bank Brand #2], and I’ve used my card here before. It’s probably because she made me run her card a million times without calling the bank.”
Sales Manager: “Yep, that’ll do it.”
This isn’t the first customer to not believe me when I say they need to call their bank, but she took the longest to admit defeat. I don’t understand why customers don’t believe me. We want your money; what do I gain by lying to you about something like this?
I’m a cashier for a grocery chain. It’s a Saturday, and it’s crazy busy as always. A family comes through my line with a big order. No problem; I see tons of those. Except, there is a problem. Midway through the order, their little boy, who can’t be more than two, starts whamp, whamp, whamping on the credit card keypad like it’s his own personal LeapFrog toy.
Normally, when a kiddo starts playing with the keys, their parents notice and try to discourage them by wheeling the cart forward out of reach or telling them not to touch it. This mom does nothing.
I try to dissuade the little guy (and Mom) by turning the machine around and saying calmly:
Me: “No, buddy. It’s not a toy.”
Because it’s not. Kiddo, naturally, gets annoyed and starts fussing. He then turns the machine back around and starts playing again. Now, you would think if Mom heard me say, “It’s not a toy,” she’d get the hint and maybe not let her boy continue to mash the buttons like a crazy man.
But Mom, again, does nothing.
This continues not one but TWO more times, with Kiddo getting more fussy each time. Mom finally reacts — not to her son, but instead to tell me:
Mom: “Well, this is the first time anyone’s ever told us that.”
Really?!
My first thought: “Darn, that kid is probably spoiled rotten. He’s going to be really disappointed when he grows up and finds out he can’t get everything he wants.”
My second thought: “Sooo, you just let your kid play with electronics that don’t belong to him? Okay, then…”
I keep ringing them up. By this point, the kiddo is actually upset, which I do feel bad about. I don’t want to ruin his little morning, but I decide to stand by my decision. That decision is that the credit card machine — which is not a toy — is still not a toy, even if Mom, apparently, doesn’t give a flip what I think.
I do my best to be nice and use a calm, crooning voice to tell the kiddo, “I’m sorry, buddy,” and so on and so forth because, again, he’s just doing what toddlers do. But as I am finishing up, Mom chats with the kiddo and shoots me look as she says passive-aggressively:
Mom: “It’s okay, sweetie. We just won’t come to this line anymore.”
I admit, part of me didn’t mind this.
Mom called and complained, and I got reprimanded. I do not know her version of the story, but my manager advised me to be careful not to “discipline” other people’s children.
Related:
Some People Have Never Been Told “No” And It Shows, Part 11
Some People Have Never Been Told “No” And It Shows, Part 10
Some People Have Never Been Told “No” And It Shows, Part 9
Some People Have Never Been Told “No” And It Shows, Part 8
Some People Have Never Been Told “No” And It Shows, Part 7
