I’m looking for an item online for a curbside pickup. It’s an item I’ve been looking for for over three months. Unfortunately, it is out of stock in my local area, and the closest place where it is available is about forty-five miles or an hour’s drive away.

I call [Store #1] and ask if it can be shipped to a home address. They tell me they are unable to do so, but they can transfer it to a closer store, [Store #2]. They say they have set the item aside and tell me to call [Store #2] to initiate the transfer. 

I call [Store #2] next. 

Me: “Hello, I have an unusual request. Is a manager available, please?”

I know this phrase usually causes fear or eye-rolling, but I also know it’s a little more complicated, so I try to be polite.

Employee #1: “I’m the manager on duty. What can I do for you?”

Me: “Great! I was looking to have [item] transferred to your store from [Store #1]. I just got off the phone with them and they are holding it so you can start the transfer.”

Employee #1: “Okay. Do you have the product information?”

Me: “Absolutely!”

I provide the item number, description, and quantity needed.

Employee #1: “Awesome. I’m going to put you on a brief hold.”

A few minutes go by and she comes back on the line. 

Employee #1: “All right, so it looks like we don’t have any in stock, and the warehouse doesn’t have any in stock. [Store #1] has eight in stock so we cannot transfer the item to [Store #1].”

I facepalm; this is exactly the OPPOSITE of what I am trying to do.

Me: “Thank you for checking; however, I was calling to have the item from [Store #1] transferred to your location. I have confirmed inventory and availability with the other store. I just need your store to call [Store #1] to start the transfer.”

Employee #1: “Oh, well, they have to do the paperwork and it needs to be paid for before it’s transferred over.”

Me: “That’s understandable and doable. Which one of you do I pay?”

Employee #1: “Uh, you would pay them… old on a minute.”

I hear the sounds of the phone being passed to another person.

Employee #2: “Hello?”

Me: “Hello, I was just trying to have an item delivered to your…”

Employee #2: “Yes, I got all that. But we can’t send them the item. We don’t have any.”

I facepalm again, annoyed but trying to be polite.

Me: “I got that. But it’s the other way around. I want the item to be sent to you.”

Employee #2: “But they have to do the paperwork. And it has to be paid for. And, shoot, they are out of state and not in our district, which means taxes are different. Can you drive there to pick it up? I mean, gas is cheaper than the shipping would be.”

Me: “It’s forty-five miles one way from my house, so I was trying to avoid a ninety-mile round trip drive. But I really need this item, so I will do that. Thank you.”

I call [Store #1] and speak with the same person I spoke to originally.

Me: “All right, so I called [Store #2] and they were so confused. So I’m going to have to come and get it.”

Employee #1: “I bet! I’ve got it pulled for you. Do a curbside pickup which will reserve the fabric for you! And there’s a 50%-off coupon on our app, if you have it. Otherwise, 20%-off curbside.”

Me: “Oh, you are awesome! I work, so it might be Wednesday before I can get it.”

Employee #1: “Awesome! I’ll put a note on it!”

I’m picking up cigarettes at a drive-thru tobacco shop which I haven’t gone to before.

Me: “Two packs of [cigarettes], please.”

The cashier takes my ID and credit card and returns to the window with the card, cigarettes, and a receipt.

Cashier: “Oh, s***.”

The cashier goes back into the store, returning with a handful of cash.

Cashier: “I accidentally charged your card $70 instead of $11, so here’s the difference.”

She hands me my card and cigarettes, along with a $50 bill and assorted smaller bills, and leaves the window.

I take everything, confused and appalled, and linger in the drive-thru to check the $50 against the light. I used my credit card instead of my debit card, so thankfully, this didn’t overdraw my account.

Cashier: *Returns to the window* “It’s not fake. We check all our bills.”

Me: “Can I please have my receipt?”

True to her word, she had charged me more than $70. The receipt only recorded the total charge, not the cost of each item. I got the heck out of there and deposited the $50 at the ATM next door. Apparently, it was real.

I live in an area that is home to a lot of different nationalities, so not everybody speaks the language that well. This is just a student job and we are not allowed to do everything.

A woman comes up and buys a bunch of things, including a pair of expensive earrings in black. Near closing time, she comes back with those earrings.

Me: “Hello, how may I help you?”

Customer: *In very broken Dutch* “I bought these earrings here today and I would like to exchange them for the red pair.”

Me: “Okay, do you have your receipt?”

Customer: “No, but I just want the red pair instead of the black pair.”

Me: “Yes, but I need the receipt for that.”

Customer: “But I just want the red pair instead of the black pair.”

Me: “Yes, madam, I understand, but I need the receipt for that.”

Customer: “But it’s the same pair, just another color!”

She is getting mad and there is a line forming behind her.

Me: “Yes, madam, and again, like I said, I need the receipt. I need to scan the items in again because the codes on the back are different according to color.”

Customer: “But I just want to exchange it for the red pair.”

Me: “Yes, madam, I understand, but again, I need the receipt for that.”

Customer: “But I’ve been here this morning!”

Me: “Yes, madam, I know; I helped you this morning, too. But without the receipt, I cannot exchange the items.”

Customer: “But I don’t have the receipt anymore!”

Me: “Well, madam, that is too bad, but without the receipt, I am not allowed to exchange it.”

Customer: “But it’s the same pair, just another color!”

This kept going on for around fifteen minutes. I started getting annoyed and told her to go and take the earrings to my coworker, who is a full-time employee. After serving the other customers, I heard angry voices from the back of the store. After a while, the woman walked out of the store, gave me a nasty look, and left without the earrings.

I’ve been wanting to get a new haircut for months but have been unable to find one I like. As such, my hair is a bit shorter than shoulder-length and looks very ragged. I usually go to another hairdresser, but I am so excited to finally get a haircut I like that I just go to one that accepts walk-ins. The haircut that I want is basically a sidecut with about ear-length hair on the other side and a shorter layer on top. I am so excited that I am grinning the whole time.

Hairdresser: *After washing my hair* “So, do you already have a haircut in mind, sweetie?” 

Me: “Yeah, I’ve got pictures!”

I show her pictures of the haircut from several angles

Hairdresser: “Okay, then.”

She sections my hair on one side off.

Hairdresser: “This part will be trimmed; is that okay?”

Me: “Yes.”

She holds scissors to my hair.

Hairdresser: “Are you sure?”

Me: “Yes.” 

The hairdresser cuts and trims my hair, and then sections of another layer of hair.

Hairdresser: “If we leave it like that, the hair will keep falling down and that won’t be fun; would you like to trim this, too?”

Me: “Oh, if it’s like that, then, yeah!”

The hairdresser trims off the other hair section but leaves it longer towards the top.

Me: “Sorry, could you please make it the same length in the whole area?”

Hairdresser: “Are you sure?”

Me: *Confused* “Yes?”

The hairdresser trims the whole side and starts cutting the other side to a bit longer than chin-length.

Me: “Umm, could you please cut it a few centimetres shorter?”

Hairdresser: *Pauses* “Are you sure? If it’s gone, then it’s gone!” 

Me: “Yeah! Hair grows, after all!”

Hairdresser: “Huh?”

Me: “Hair grows back?”

Hairdresser: “Ah, yes.” 

She cuts my hair to chin-length.

Me: “Ah, umm, to about here, please?” *Shows length*

Hairdresser: *Dismissive* “Oh, I’ll just trim the bottom out a bit, and then it’ll jump up when it’s dry.”

I’m thinking, “She’s the professional.”

Me: “Okay!”

Hairdresser: *Finishes cutting* “Do you like it?” 

She hands me a mirror.

Me: “Yeah, thanks so much!”

Hairdresser: “Do you want me to blow-dry your hair?”

I declined, paid, and left. When my hair was dry, it hadn’t gotten as short as I wanted it, but I didn’t want to complain as I probably should’ve let her blow-dry it to make sure it would be that short.

I still don’t quite understand her reluctance to actually cut my hair as short as I wanted it. I can understand that you would ask people who go in without a plan and then decide on a whim to cut their hair short to make sure they really want it, but I brought pictures, was smiling the whole time, had obviously short hair before, and even reassured her that hair grows!

On top of that, it seemed like she was a senior employee, by her age and by the way she ordered the other hairdressers around, rather than an insecure newbie. I ended up getting my father to cut it shorter and I will definitely go to my usual salon next time.

This was my first experience in retail where I learned what many customers would be like.

Seasons are changing, so we put a lot of shirts we have to get rid of in the front and mark them 50% off. I am working the register when a woman comes up to buy her things. I ring her up and can see a look on her face like something is wrong.

Customer: “Why is this so much?”

Me: “Pardon me?”

Customer: “This should only be $10, not $20.”

I think that maybe her item is on sale, so I ask if she could point out the sign because I’m not aware of it. It is a small store and we don’t have to walk anywhere.

Customer: “This sign here.”

Me: “This sign says that all shirts are 50% off.”

Customer: “Yes, so why is this full price?”

Me: “This is a hat.”