I have a popular coffee chain’s app that I use to order through due to the health crisis. Said coffee chain offers reward points, up to 400 points, which can be used for a free drink of your choice or other purchases. At this point, I have nearly 400 points due to not really using my points much, maybe once every two weeks to get myself a free drink. I order my usual drink through the app, only to find afterward that nearly half of my points are now missing from my app. I contact their customer support:

Me: “Hi there. I ordered my drink today through the app using my balance, but half of my points were removed without reason. I didn’t use them whatsoever, so why were they removed?”

Representative: “I see that you received 23.8 points for your purchase today.”

Me: “But I didn’t use any of my points, and I had nearly 400.”

Representative: “It does look like 150 points were used to get a free blended beverage two days ago.”

Me: “I know, but that was a part of the promotion for 150 points, and my points balance never changed afterward. The price for a free drink is the same as the promotion points.”

Representative: “I’m not seeing any purchases using them today, either. Your Points Balance is 291. Thank you.”

Me: “Exactly. What I’m trying to ask is why they went down. They were at 380 today, before I ordered, and then after I ordered, they were at 291!”

Representative: “If you have a screenshot showing the 380, I could look into this further for you.”

Me: “How am I supposed to take a screenshot of something that happened that I have no control of, that I wouldn’t know would happen? It’s not like I’m a crazy person who takes pictures of their points to show off to everyone. All I know is that before I ordered, I had 380, and now I’ve lost at least 100 points for no reason. It’s not like I could know I would lose the points, so why would I take a picture of my points?”

Representative: “We aren’t seeing any points being removed. That is why a screenshot would prove that more points were there before the purchase was made.”

Me: “Okay, I want some logic here. Why would I take a screenshot before a problem occurred? I didn’t know the problem would occur! If I had the power of foresight, I would use it for more than getting my hard-earned points back!”

I didn’t hear anything for half an hour, and then the chat was terminated. I still don’t have an explanation as to where my points went, nor how I am supposed to take a screenshot of something in the past.

I’m on a business trip with a colleague. I’m not very experienced with travelling, while he has been all over Europe due to work or pleasure.

Soon after we leave the car rental, the tire pressure alert on our rented car goes off. We stop at the first gas station on the road. The attendant, a young, mild-mannered man, comes out of the shack to greet us.

Attendant: “Hello. Do you need petrol or diesel?”

Colleague: “Hello. Neither. Our tank is full, but is it possible to check the tire pressure?”

Attendant: “No problem.”

He goes inside the shack, returns with the pressure gauge hose, fits it to the column, and starts checking the tires. I’m embarrassed that he’s doing all this for free, since pressure checking is complimentary and we’re not buying gas. During our entire exchange, the attendant is polite and smiling.

Attendant: “All in order. Anything else?”

Me: “Yeah, is it possible to get two coffees at the bar?”

I figure that if I pay for the coffees, I can at least leave a tip for the work on the tires. We get inside the bar and the attendant prepares two coffees using a small espresso machine, of the kind you find in households.

Me: “How much for the coffees?”

Attendant: “Nothing. Coffee is free.”

Me: “Oh, come on. Do you at least have a tip jar?”

Attendant: “No, really. There’s no need. It’s on the house. It’s fine.”

Stranger and stranger. I’m puzzled by this, but my colleague seems fine with it and I don’t want to drag this for long, as we still have a day’s work ahead of us.

Colleague: “Well, all right, then. Thank you very much and goodbye.”

Attendant: “Have a good day.”

We leave in silence. I’m still mulling the whole thing over.

Me: “Do you also think he had just murdered the real attendant and was just waiting for us to leave so he could run away with the cash?”

Colleague: “I don’t know, but this is the creepiest R&R stop ever.”

Our store has closed early on Christmas Eve. We are trying to get rid of the last-minute shoppers. The phone keeps ringing, on and on, with people asking if we’re still open. It has been ringing off the hook all day with questions about our holiday hours, which have been posted on the door for three weeks and are in the answering service the customer has gone through before they are transferred to the Customer Service desk.

Finally, I become exasperated. It is at the end of an eight-hour shift, thirty minutes after the store is closed, and I am exhausted and just want to go home to my four kids. I seize the phone, drop my voice into a more masculine register — I’m a woman — and snarl viciously into the phone. My coworkers are desperately trying not to laugh, as this is NOT our script for answering the phone.

Me: “[Store] security, can I help you?!”

Customer: “Oh, sorry to bother you!” *Hangs up*

I continued answering the phone this way, with the same results, until we left. It got us out the door much faster after that!

I’ve been Christmas shopping at a mall for several hours, and then I find out that my winter scarf has fallen off somewhere. I backtrack as well as I’m able, but I realize that it may take some time for it to resurface, and perhaps I’m better off coming back tomorrow. The next day, I come back and check in with one or two of the stores I was in, and then I decide to try the mall information booth.

Me: “Hi. I was here shopping yesterday and I lost a scarf. Could you check your lost and found?”

Mall Information Guy: *Unhelpfully* “No, nobody’s turned anything in.”

There’s a pause.

Me: “Um, okay. Well, I had to drive over half an hour to get here. Could you at least look, please?”

[Mall Information Guy] reluctantly pulled out a bin, and oh, look! Lo and behold, there sat my scarf, right on top. How lazy do you have to be to not even check the lost and found when someone asks? Unless he was hoping nobody claimed it and wanted to keep it for himself?

It’s around the holiday season, and my regional manager and I are standing near the back of the store talking about some plans for the store. We happen to be near a display of Star Wars toys, and I notice a plastic lightsaber that’s new. They are the type that when you flick it, the coloured plastic shoots out to turn the lightsaber “on.” I grab one off the shelf to try it out, but nothing happens. It’s a blue lightsaber, meant for a Jedi.

Regional Manager: “Let me try.”

It works with one swing.

Me: “I’ve always leaned more toward the dark side anyway.”

I took one of the red lightsabers off the hook and tried it out. It worked perfectly. I tried the blue lightsaber again later. It still didn’t work for me.

This story is part of the Star Wars Day: May The Fourth roundup!

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