(I am a cashier. Everything is going fine with this particular transaction, until we get to the total.)
Me: “Okay, ma’am, your total is $255.62.”
Customer: “What? That cannot be right! Did you scan everything correctly?”
Me: *swing the screen towards her so she can see* “I don’t see anything overcharged or doubled here. It looks fine, but I can check.”
Customer: “No, you should know what you overcharged! This has to at least be $100 over!”
Me: “Ma’am, you purchased 139 items. That makes them about two dollars each on average, which sounds about right to me.”
Customer: “Did you take off the sales?”
Me: “Yes, ma’am. The computer automatically does it to each item.” *I point to where the computer has subtracted sales from items that were scanned* “I don’t think that it would have missed enough to cause $100 difference.”
Customer: “You must have scanned everything twice!”
Me: “Ma’am, that is almost impossible to do. The computer would have caught on.”
Customer: “Then there is something wrong with your computer! Do it by hand!”
Me: “Um… excuse me?”
Customer: “Ring up my items by hand!”
Me: “Ma’am, you have over a hundred items, and customers are already waiting. I have offered to make sure nothing was overcharged, and I have not seen anything that appears to be wrong.”
Customer: “DO IT BY HAND!” *she is actually screaming by this point*
Me: “Ma’am, that simply is not possible. I can take some items off and bring your—”
Customer: “So, you did overcharge me!”
Me: “No. Not at all. I can return items that you think you may not need. That will bring your total down. If you would like, we can quickly do that.”
Customer: “But I need this stuff!”
Me: “Then I need you to pay the total.”
Customer: “And I need you to take off the extra charges!”
(My manager, by this time, has wandered over. He looks over the list on the computer.)
Manager: “Ma’am, there are no overcharges. Once you pay and have your receipt, you will see that this is correct.”
(The woman, fuming, finally pays and storms out. Five minutes later, she struts up to me, pushes into the cashier’s booth, and shoves her receipt into my face.)
Customer: “LOOK! You did overcharge me! Look!”
Me: “Ma’am, what you are pointing out is a can of beans marked at $1.05.”
Customer: “Yes! And they were on sale!”
Me: *pointing to the “-10” on the receipt, showing that the coupon was taken off* “No, the coupon subtraction is right there. That would only be ten cents, not the hundred dollars you believed earlier. Now, please leave this area, since only cashiers should be behind the register.”
Customer: “You cannot just admit that you overcharged me! You should be fired! You stole from me! You are a thief!”
Manager: “Ma’am, I have contacted the police. I cannot have you in the cashier area, or badgering employees. I am going to have to ask you to leave, or you will be removed!”
Customer: “Good! The police won’t let you get away with stealing! I WANT MY MONEY BACK!”
(She ended up being escorted out by the police, screaming the whole time that our store was a scam. I have never seen anything like that since.)