Our corporate decides to do a “One-Day 40%-Off Sale” for cardholders. I’m not working the sale, but I am working the day before, and unfortunately, everyone wants special treatment.

Customer: “Can I get the 40% off today?”

Me: “No, I’m sorry, but that’s for tomorrow only.”

Customer: “Oh… Well, can you hold [massive cart of stuff] until tomorrow?”

Me: “No, we’re not doing any holds until tomorrow. That wouldn’t be fair to the other customers.”

Customer: “Oh… Well, can you check?”

The very first time this was asked, I asked my manager over the radio for the customer’s sake. The manager said no.

Customer: “Oh… Well, will your manager just give me the 40% off today?”

Me: “No. The sale is tomorrow.”

Customer: “Oh… Well, can you call her up here and ask her?”

Me: “No. She’s not going to break the rules just for you.”

Customer: “But I’m here now! Can’t you just make an exception, so I don’t have to come all the way back here tomorrow?”

I start imagining how nice it would be if I could just strangle the person.

Me: “No.”

Cue angry huffing and storming out. That scenario repeated all day. On the plus side, I did get quite a lot of pleasure at telling customers “no” and not budging for them.

During Black Friday, a woman comes to my register with a large bag full of expensive brand-name clothing with the tags still on and a stack of receipts. Our store officially has a two-week price adjustment period — which has its own function in the register — but customers think they’re clever and will ask us to do a return and repurchase to get around the deadline.

Our registers have no built-in deadline for returns and can find transactions as far back as six years as long as the merchandise number is still in the system. This is also during the period where corporate had the genius idea to “Just Say Yes” to the customer; it took them three years to figure out that this policy does not actually make money.

So, when this woman shoves the stack of receipts at me and asks me to check if any of her twenty items are cheaper today, I just smile politely at her. Even though there is a price scanner not far from my register. Even though I can see she’s repurchased her items for cheaper prices several times within the past six months, and will probably continue to do so until they don’t come up in the system anymore.

I scan her first item, and it’s the same price as what she paid before, but there’s a coupon she can apply to it. I tell her the price and start to explain about the coupon, but she puts her hand up and says she just wants to know which ones are cheaper, nothing else. I continue to check her prices, figuring I can try again at the end.

She mentions a sale item she saw on our website that she’s looking for, and a manager who is ringing at the register behind me turns around to let her know that the website has its own Black Friday deals that are separate from the store. After my manager leaves, the customer proceeds to give me a lecture involving a convoluted argument that our store has to honor any price a customer has seen because that’s what [Other Department Store] does, tacks on the customary, “I’ll need to talk to a manager about this,” and ends with, “I can’t believe you don’t know that.”

I nod, explain to her that it was actually my manager who spoke up, give her back her items with a smile, and say they are all the same price. I could tell her a way she could use her coupons to save another hundred dollars. But if you choose to be an a**hole to someone in the service industry, they’re not inclined to make exceptions to store policy for you. I can’t believe she doesn’t know that.

My sister works as an assistant at an international department store during the school holidays. The store policy is for the staff to greet the customer as they pass you.

Assistant #1: “Good morning, ma’am. Welcome to [Store].”

A few minutes later:

Assistant #2: *In passing* “Good morning, ma’am.” *Walks past*

A few minutes later:

Assistant #3: *In passing* “Good morning, ma’am.”

The customer looks annoyed.

Customer: “Get me your manager!”

[Assistant #3] is puzzled but complies.

Manager: “Good morning, ma’am. How may I help you?”

Customer: “Your staff won’t stop bothering me while I shop!”

Manager: “How have they been bothering you, ma’am?”

Customer: “They’re so pushy and keep trying to make me buy their products! I just want to buy [item]. I’m not going to buy anything else! You can tell them to stop harassing me!”

The manager was able to placate her. Later, he gathered the staff in the back room and asked them about it. They explained that the most they had done was to wish her a good morning, and they could vouch for each other as they were all within hearing range.

I guess some people just don’t want to have a good morning.

I work at customer service doing returns. I’ve encountered a woman multiple times who bought plates online only to have to return them to the store because they were broken in transit.

Me: “Ma’am, can I be perfectly honest here? This is the fifth time I’ve seen you return these plates. I don’t think it is in your best interest to purchase them online again if the delivery people continue to mishandle them.”

Customer: “But I really like the design and the only store that has them in stock is so far away!”

Me: “But have you factored in the gas and mileage you’ve wasted by driving here multiple times? You could just go once and get it out of the way.”

Customer: “No, I’m just going to reorder them again.”

In my head, I said, “See you soon,” and sure enough, I had to return the plates four more times before I think she finally got the hint and just made the drive to purchase them in-store or just went with a different style.

I have just finished shopping and am making my way to the cashier. There are two cashier counters open, but for some reason, everyone is only queuing up for one of them. The other cashier is simply standing there looking at the queue and there is no “closed” sign or anything on her counter.

I move to the open counter and hand my purchases to the cashier, and she starts to ring them up without a word. Seeing this, several customers from the long line immediately switch over to my line.

The woman behind me rudely informs me that I was supposed to queue up. I point out that nobody was queuing here in the first place, and she chooses not to reply. 

I guess this is what happens when you simply follow the crowd without thinking.