Anyone who has worked in any retail setting knows the situation: no one reads the signs! No matter how big or how obvious, no one seems to read them no matter how hard you try! Then, if they do, it’s only partially. This is a story about the latter.

We had a rather hefty Boxing Day Sale, and it was one day only, but everything was on sale. It was put in our ads, store signs, and social media that it was ONE day only on the 26th.

This takes place the day after when the sale is very much over. The day is far quieter, and an older lady comes in. My coworker helps her out while I am catching up on emails from the holiday rush. She comes up to me holding a wallet.

Coworker: “Is this still on sale?”

Me: “No, the sale was one day only. Outside of our other discount stuff, that wallet isn’t on sale.”

Coworker: “Ah, okay, thought so. This lady says there’s a sign that says it is.”

Now, my memory isn’t the best, but before opening, I made sure to take down every sale sign we had, including the bonus discount sale signs — doubly sure because I’ve worked this job too long. I even triple-check right after the conversation, but alas! No signs. The only sign we have outside saying anything is on discount is our whiteboard sign on an A-frame that stands on the sidewalk. I know for a fact that those discounts don’t include what this lady is talking about because I wrote the sign!

Of course, due to this development, she no longer wants the item. Fair enough. Mistakes happen. Just let it go, right?

Nah. Then this story wouldn’t be here.

Now, if I had missed a sign? It would have still said specifically for Boxing Day. Heck, I’ve honoured old sale signs that could be a little confusing, even if the sale is over. I’ve been on both sides of the counter, but this simply isn’t the case this time. The old lady comes on by my till with a snobby attitude and I-know-more-than-you tone.

Old Lady: “That wallet wasn’t on sale, but your sign says differently.”

I know for a fact it doesn’t, but rather than tell her no, I say this:

Me: “The sign has all of our discounts specified clearly on it out there.”

Then, instead of immediately leaving, the woman went to the door and stood there holding it open, reading the discount sign again. That wouldn’t have been an issue if it hadn’t been -15C (5F) outside! I could tell she was trying to get me on the wrong end, but my discounts were clearly laid out with the percentage off, an arrow pointing to exactly what was discounted, and a clear descriptor. The best part? We had signs inside around those very same sections of the store!

Then, she left as if she hadn’t been craning her neck around the door and letting our precious heat out, defeated by reading comprehension.

I wished her a great day before the door shut!

I’m buying a souvenir at a zoo gift shop in Atlanta, Georgia. I’m visiting from the other side of the country, and I’m wearing a coat with my favorite sports team’s logo on it: a college football team. I notice that the cashier has a lanyard from a different college football team — one that has a bitter rivalry with mine. There’s nothing friendly about this rivalry; many people on both sides are convinced the other team is made up of the worst people in college football.

My team happens to have won our last three meetings, which took place in the span of less than twelve months, so I don’t say anything. I don’t want to rub in it; gloating internally is fine. (Because, you know, the fact that I wore my team colors on game days certainly affected the outcome more than what the players did, right?)

As the cashier finishes the transaction:

Cashier: “And we can just skip this survey—” *pushes a button on the card reader* “—and it’s ready for payment.”

Me: *Facetiously, pointing to the logo on my coat* “Do you think I’d give you a bad survey just because of who I cheer for?”

Cashier: *Laughing* “I promise I skip it for everyone!”

Me: “Nah, I wouldn’t do that to you, especially after the last few games. But if this were a while back when you beat us twelve years in a row, I might be tempted…”

I’m a cashier at a modern art museum’s gift shop, during a slow-as-glue day, when a bloke comes over.

Bloke: “Oi, you have a mug in Lazio colors! Where are the ones with Roma colors?”

Lazio and Roma are rival sports clubs.

I must note that the mug, aside from a woman-shaped handle, is just one with two bands of azure with a white one in the middle, no other decorations, and no writing.

Me: “I— Uh… Well, they aren’t available at the moment, I’m afraid.” 

Bloke: “What do you mean? Is this place full of Lazio supporters?”

Oh, great, a hooligan. Not feeling up to getting into a spot of bother…

Me: “Oh, no, far from it. They just sold out. You might find them on this museum’s website.”

Bloke: “Why would I? If you aren’t displaying them here and instead show ones with those colors, you aren’t going to display Roma’s colors and tell me to visit, innit? Whatever, leaving now.”

And he did peacefully.

Football team-based museum visit choices, based on what mugs are in the gift shop. That’s a new one.

I work at a gift shop that closes at 5:00 pm, the same time the park it’s in closes, but because it’s going to rain tonight, we have to move our outdoor fixtures inside.

We have the main doors open so we can get the fixtures through. As I’m holding the door, a lady who is leaving the park gets past me and heads over to the sign on our front door.

I can see that she sees it says “closed”, and she… just… f****** flips it to say “open”! I just watch her do this in shocked silence, and when she turns around, we make eye contact and just stare at each other for a second.

Me: “Why did you do that?”

Customer: “Well, aren’t you open?”

Okay, maybe she just thought we had made a mistake with the signs and made the heroic effort to fix it for us — still annoying, but people are stupid.

Me: “Ma’am, we are closed. We’re just keeping the doors open to bring the outside product inside.

Customer: “Well, you should be open, you know. You should be getting all the sales you can right now!”

Me: “Well, we’re—”

Customer: “So, I’m just going to browse over there.”

Me: “Uh… no, ma’am. We’re closed.”

Customer: “But I just flipped the sign for you!”

Me: “Yes, but that doesn’t mean we’re suddenly open.”

Customer: “Yes, it does!”

Me: “No, it doesn’t.”

Customer: “If the sign says ‘open’, you’re open!”

I walked around to the sign, swung it to “closed”, and then just stared at the customer. She just grunted and walked back out, mumbling, “But the sign…”

I’m a cashier at an Alaskan gift shop. We sell a wide variety of souvenirs ranging from embarrassing cheap crap to very expensive high-end items. Prices range from less than a dollar to tens of thousands of dollars.

Some of these items are $20.00 or slightly more and are also sold a block away from us at a JCPenney store located in the town’s mall.

One afternoon, a gentleman comes in wanting to return an Alaska jade necklace.

Customer: “I bought it from your store yesterday.”

Me: *Already knowing the answer* “Do you have your receipt?”

Customer: “Sorry, I misplaced it, but I paid $100 for the necklace. Could you refund me my $100, please?”

Me: “No. It would not be possible for me to refund you $100 on a necklace that still has the JCPenney $20.00 sticker on it. You didn’t steal it from us! You stole it from JCPenney!”

Related:
Refunder Blunder, Part 70
Refunder Blunder, Part 69
Refunder Blunder, Part 68
Refunder Blunder, Part 67
Refunder Blunder, Part 66