I am standing in line at a fast food restaurant. The restaurant is very empty; the only people immediately visible to me are the cashier and one customer in front of me in line. It’s a far cry from busy.

The customer in front of me places her order and then goes to sit at a nearby table.

Then, my turn comes up to order. I just so happen to be ordering the exact same thing as the previous customer, right down to the drink and side. I, too, find a table and seat myself.

After a few minutes, the cashier walks into the kitchen, and comes back out with a tray of food. She then calls out the order.

Cashier: “Sir, your order is ready!”

I am literally the only male in the restaurant. The other customer is a woman. Going by the process of elimination, I walk over to the counter to pick up my order. The other customer comes following.

Customer: “Hey! What’s the big idea?!”

Cashier: “I’m sorry, ma’am?”

Customer: “I ordered before he did! Why is he getting his food first?!”

The cashier stammers for a bit and then comes up with this gem.

Cashier: “His order is different from yours.”

Customer: “No, it isn’t! He ordered the exact same thing as I did!”

At this point, I’m actually willing to relinquish my order to placate this customer. Even though it’s technically not my business, I have to admit that it’s a little weird that I’m getting my food before she is. Before I can intervene, the cashier decides to roll the dice yet again with her damage control.

Cashier: “Actually, ma’am, he ordered the spicy version of the combo. You got the regular.”

Customer: “Oh. Okay.” 

Crisis averted, just like that. That was unbelievable, for two reasons. First, there is no spicy option for this particular combo; our orders were literally the exact same. Secondly, the fact that the cashier was able to come up with such a bald-faced lie in spite of all the evidence (one look at the menu and you’d know there was no spicy option) and having it work was just amazing.

I stop at a new coffee shop in my area to check it out. The place seems decently busy, and from all appearances, everything seems to be flowing smoothly. The shop appears to use buzzer devices for orders that can’t be finished while the customer is at the counter.

I get to the counter and put in my order, and I get my buzzer. I then find a small table to set up and wait for the buzzer to go off. And wait… and wait… and wait.

After fifteen minutes and watching several customers who ordered after me get their orders and find tables or leave, I go back up to the counter with my buzzer in my hand to ask about my order.

Cashier: “Welcome to [Shop]. What can I get for you today?”

Me: “I actually put in my order fifteen minutes ago, but I haven’t gotten it yet.”

Cashier: “What was your order?”

I tell her what my order was.

Cashier: “Oh, that? We threw it away when you didn’t respond to the buzzer.”

Me: “The buzzer never went off, though.”

Cashier: *Starting to get snippy* “We rang the buzzer. Did you put it in your backpack or a pocket or something? Maybe you just didn’t hear it or see the light flashing.”

Me: “No, I put it on the table right next to my laptop. It never went off. Anyway, can I please get my order remade?”

Cashier: *Entering my order into the computer* “Okay, that’ll be [cost].”

Me: “Wait, no. I’m not going to pay again. I’ve been here this whole time, and the buzzer never went off. This is not my fault.”

Cashier: “I can’t give you free food. If you don’t know what the buzzer sounds like, I can show you so you’re ready this time.”

With that, the cashier checks the number on my buzzer — which is still in my hand — and hits a button on a console behind the counter. When the buzzer fails to go off, she pulls a deer-in-the-headlights face and hits the button a few more times.

Cashier: “What did you do to the buzzer?”

Me: “Nothing at all. It’s either been in my hand or sitting on the table the whole time.”

I handed the buzzer to her, and after a few looks, she opened the battery compartment, replaced the batteries, and hit the button again. Lo and behold, the buzzer worked now!

The cashier immediately apologized and promised to put my order in as a rush and at no cost (beyond what I had paid the first time). I still asked for a manager because of her attitude in blaming me rather than looking into any other possible explanations.

In the end, my order was good, but I still haven’t been to that coffee shop again yet.

I was in line at the checkout and the line was moving fast. The retail worker there went through the line with quite a speed.

Worker: “Twenty-one Euro and thirty-eight cents!”

Next:

Worker: “Forty-two Euro forty-eight!”

Next:

Worker: “Seventeen, eighteen!”

I had a cart full of odds and ends to refill in my household, but when it came to my sum:

Worker: “Total of four— I mean, forty… and… no… zero cents?”

He looked at me in confusion for a second and we both started laughing.

I shop at a membership warehouse store about once a week, buying for my household as well as a relative who doesn’t have a membership.

A few months ago, I was buying mostly cases of water and energy drinks, plus a few smaller things, and I was told that if I didn’t need a box, I could just leave the small things in the cart, too. Checkout was easier for everyone.

Since then, I’ve been leaving everything in the cart and making sure that the barcodes are all facing up and clearly visible. I never buy more than about ten items at a time, so there aren’t overlapping piles. The cashiers have ALWAYS thanked me for making their job easier.

Until last week.

I had two large items and five smaller ones, all with the barcodes visible.

Cashier: “Put your smaller items on the conveyor, please.”

Me: “I have all of the UPC codes facing you.”

Cashier: “I can’t scan them in the cart. I can put them on the conveyor for you if you like.”

Assuming that her scanner wasn’t working, I went ahead and put my smaller items on the conveyor. I considered putting the larger items up, too, but decided to let her assistant do that, if necessary.

It wasn’t necessary. She pulled out her scanner and zapped the two large items in the cart.

Me: “Is this a new policy? I usually leave things in the cart.”

Cashier: “It’s been the policy since [global health crisis].”

Obviously, if they were going to change a policy for [health crisis], it would be to encourage people to leave things in the cart in order to minimize the number of people touching items.

I would have dropped it if she hadn’t clearly lied to me.

Me: “Oh, I didn’t realize that. I’ve been leaving them in the cart every week for several months.”

Cashier: “They’ve just started enforcing it.”

Me: “Well, we have to obey policy. It’s just a shame because it was so much faster and easier for everyone involved.”

Cashier: *Quietly* “I don’t want to get written up again for missing something.”

When I went back yesterday, I asked the cashier — a different one — if I could leave everything in the cart. They said, “Of course. It’s so much easier for everyone.”

I went to the mall with my sister. We stopped at the food court for lunch and decided to go to a new place with a small kiosk. We each picked a premade sandwich with a $5 sticker on it, and we got two $2 water bottles. 

Cashier: “Hi there. Is this all together?”

Me: “Yes.”

Cashier: “Okay.”

She punched the amounts in by hand since there were no barcodes.

Cashier: “And your total is $21.20.”

Me: “Sorry? Two sandwiches and two waters? I counted about $15 with tax.”

Cashier: “No. Two $7 sandwiches and two $3 bottles of water — that’s $20, plus 6% tax.”

Me: *Holding up the sandwiches* “They’re $5 sandwiches, and the sign on the cooler says waters are $2.”

Cashier: “Someone must have labeled them wrong.”

Me: “Okay, well, can you fix it? Or can we talk to someone?”

Cashier: “That’s your total. I’m not changing it, and I’m not wasting the manager’s time. Do you want it or not?”

My sister and I walked away without another word.

I went online that evening and found the place online. I found several reviews saying they had experienced the same thing. Every review pointing out these shady practices had a snarky reply from someone claiming to be the owner, basically blaming the customer for an attitude, accusing them of switching stickers, or something else.

I went back about three months after that and saw that the kiosk was empty. I guess sometimes shady businesses get what they deserve.