(I am a cashier at a craft store. At the moment, I am the only person at the front on a register, as the other cashier and the customer service manager have both called in sick. We have several other register-trained associates in the store and all of the other managers on duty are also register-trained in case we get busy and I need to call for backup. It is fairly early in the morning, which is normally our slow time of day, and I know to call for help if I get more than two people in my line. The way our registers at this store are set up somewhat limits my field of vision as we have large displays in front of the registers. I can see enough to see up to three people standing in my line, but once they get far enough back I can no longer see. Also in front of the registers are two separate square-shaped displays with “gotcha” items on them. I am checking a woman out who has a cart overloaded with items, some that are glass and must be wrapped carefully before bagging. As there is no one in line, I am not worried about going at my busy pace and instead just taking my time to provide excellent customer service. When I am almost done with my customer, another lady walks up on my other side.)

Customer: “Is there anyone else running a register at the moment? I don’t feel like standing in line for so long.”

Me: *a bit confused, as I don’t even see a line* “I will be done with this lady shortly, ma’am. I’m sorry if you’ve been waiting; I didn’t notice you were there.”

Customer: “Well, I’ve been waiting for almost three minutes now and I’m at the end of the line. I really don’t want to wait much longer; isn’t there someone you can call to help you?”

(I am even more confused, as I still don’t see a line at all, so I take a moment to lean over the counter so I can see around the display. Sure enough, some random woman decided to start the line at the very back of the displays, which is at least ten to fifteen feet away from my counter area and completely hidden from my field of view. Furthermore, there are at least four people in line behind her, and that’s not including the woman that has come up to ask me about calling for help. I immediately pick up my phone and page for all available register-trained associates to the front. Luckily, there are three of them working at the moment. However, during this time we slip from our slow morning phase into our about-to-get-busy early afternoon phase, and they aren’t able to get to the registers as quickly as I would hope. By the time they get up, there are more customers are coming to the front with their purchases and as everything picks up there are around twenty customers at the front waiting to be checked out. After everything settles down about thirty minutes later, one of the backup cashiers comes over to me.)

Coworker: “What happened? Normally you call pretty quickly if you think you’ll need help but there were already like seven people in line when I came up.”

Me: *tells her what happened* “Honestly, I just don’t know why she thought standing all the way back there was where the line started. I know she can’t see me from that area, so I don’t know how she would think I would be able to see her.”

(Thankfully, the size of the displays has been reduced, but sadly only enough to allow me to see maybe an extra three feet.)

(A customer comes to my register to make a return, so I begin to scan her items until one of her items doesn’t seem to be found on her receipt.)

Me: “Ma’am, it says that this item is not found in the original transaction. Are you sure you bought all of this together?”

Customer: “Yes, I bought it all together and left it in this same bag and have not touched it since.”

Me: “Well, it seems like the cashier that rang you up the other day didn’t charge you for this.”

Customer: “Oh, wow. Fine. Can you still give me the credit for it?”

(I give her a confused look and can’t believe she is actually asking me to give her money for something she didn’t even pay for.)

Me: “No, ma’am, I’m sorry, but this is not in the receipt, so I can’t just give you money back for it.”

Customer: “You guys give store credit if I don’t have a receipt, right?”

Me: “Yes, ma’am.”

Customer: “Okay.” *takes the receipt and puts it away* “There, I don’t have my receipt; now give me credit.”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I know you didn’t pay for it, so I still can’t give you the credit.”

Customer: “What do you mean, you can’t give me the credit?! If I didn’t have my receipt you would have been able to return it, right?!”

Me: “Yes, but you do have your receipt and it shows that you didn’t pay for it; therefore, I cannot give you money or credit for it.”

Customer: “It’s not my fault that your cashier didn’t ring it up for me! I made this purchase and deserve to get this item refunded!”

(She continues to throw a fit about how she was honest about not paying for this item, which she obviously didn’t know about until I pointed it out. A line begins to form so I try to move it along.)

Me: “Okay, ma’am, do you want to speak to my manager?”

Customer: “No! Whatever! I’ll just return this at some other store without the receipt!”

(I gave her back the money for things she’d ACTUALLY paid for and she finally left.)

(I’m working on the register when an older gentleman approaches me with a bag in hand. He sets it on the counter and produces a skein of yarn, saying he originally purchased too many and needs to return it.)

Me: “Okay. Do you have your original receipt?”

Customer: “No, I don’t have that. I paid cash for it.”

Me: “We can still do the return, I just can’t guarantee you’ll get back the full amount since there’s no way to tell if you used a coupon or got it on sale. It would also be for store credit.”

Customer: “Or you can just keep it.”

Me: *confused* “Keep it? I don’t…”

Customer: “Just take it.”

Me: “I… I’ve never had someone ask to do this before. I think I still need to process it through the computer.”

(I call for my manager over the radio, since I would need her, anyway, to get a merchandise return card, which are kept in a locked drawer. By this point, the customer is halfway to the door and the yarn is still in front of me.)

Customer: “No, it’s all right. You just keep it. I don’t need it.”

(He exited the store, and about five seconds after he disappeared, my manager showed up. I explained what had just happened, and she was just as puzzled as I was.)

(I’m checking out an older gentleman who pays for his purchase with a debit card with a chip attached, but the machine doesn’t read the card.)

Me: “Sir, could you put the card back in? You took it out too soon.”

Older Gentleman: “Story of my life!”

(I held it together until he left. It was a good thing it was slow, as after he left I laughed really hard!)

(Recently our registers started printing out coupons and promotions along with the receipts. Once a customer hits a certain dollar amount, they get an extra coupon. We are currently giving a coupon for 50% off a regular-priced item for customers spending over $20. We are in the middle of the expiration dates listed on the coupon, so it is “live” and can be used immediately. However, the fine print specifically states that it cannot be used on a previous purchase. I’ve had several people want to immediately return what they just purchased to and then repurchase with the coupon they just received, but this transaction goes above and beyond. A woman approaches the register with a store bag full of yarn. Seeing all of the signs of a return, I greet her:)

Me: “Are you making a return today?”

Customer: “Yes, I purchased these yesterday and I got a coupon for half off, so I wanted to apply it to my purchase.”

Me: “I’m sorry, those coupons are good for future purchases and cannot be used on previous purchases.”

Customer: “Well, I didn’t have the coupon until I bought the yarn. It printed with the receipt, so I couldn’t have used it with my purchase!”

(I’m thinking, “EXACTLY!” but lately corporate has been very pro-customer and we have basically been told to never say no and to make the customer happy no matter what. So, even though it is against policy, I know that once I ask my manager, I’ll be told to go ahead and break it, return the item, and then apply the coupon. Still, I have to do a token refusal so the customer feels like they are getting their way.)

Me: “Well, let me see your receipt and I’ll ask my manager what we can do.”

Customer: “I actually don’t have my receipt; can’t you just look it up? I bought it yesterday, and my name is [Customer].”

Me: “Ma’am, I have no way of looking up a transaction by a customer’s name; we simply don’t take that information. And I wouldn’t be able to process a return without a receipt and do what you’re asking; all returns without receipt are automatically priced at the lowest price it could have been purchased at in the past 90 days, which would likely be half-off, so you would end up not getting any money back by repurchasing and applying a half-off coupon. It would zero out.”

Customer: “I just don’t understand why you can’t just give me the difference.”

Me: “Ma’am, if you show me your coupon I can show you what the conditions of the coupon are.”

Customer: “Well, I don’t have the coupon with me; it printed with the receipt, so it’s wherever that is!”

Me: “I want to make sure I understand what you’re asking. You want me to return an item you purchased, to apply a coupon you only got because you purchased the item, and you want me to do this without a receipt showing the purchase or the coupon you want me to apply?”

Customer: “Yes! That’s not hard, is it?”

Related:
The Couponator 12: The Special Competition
The Couponator 11: Barcode Of Duty
The Couponator 10: Expiration Day