Where I work, only managers can do refunds; the system won’t allow it without their individual PINs. So, whenever a customer changes their mind or we make a mistake, we have to call a manager and wait for them to enter their PIN and do the necessary steps. At the end of the transaction, a small receipt is printed saying that it’s for a refund. Because this takes a lot of time, we normally wait until the end of the rush to do the “official” refund with the managers so the inventory is correct, and we just do the necessary math in our head to give the customer what they want in the moment.

Then, one day, I get one of the few times where I have to call the manager in the middle of the rush because we have to do the “official” refund right now. He comes over and does his thing, the refund receipt prints… and he hands it to me and tells me that he, the customer, and I all have to sign it.

Me: “Wait, what? Since when?”

Manager: *Conspiratorially* “I’ll tell you later.”

I’m intrigued, so after the rush, I call him over and ask about it.

Manager: “Well… I’m not sure if I’m allowed to tell you, but… one of the other cinemas in our chain had a little… legal problem.”

Me: “Like what?”

Manager: “Like… the ushers picking up old, used movie tickets and some of the managers ‘refunding’ them at the end of the day, and then both of them splitting the money… kind of legal problem.”

Me: “What? But every transaction is logged under our own individual accounts. You need your PINs for everything. And there are weekly and monthly reports about every transaction we do, and the bosses look at them regularly.”

Manager: “Yep.”

Me: “And the managers — who know all this — didn‘t think they’d get caught?”

Manager: “Apparently not. Most of them are students, too. Their criminal record is f***ed for the next few decades. No one will ever employ them.”

And that’s why, from then on, we had to wait for the managers every single time a customer changed their mind, no matter how long it took and how stressful the rush was: because some stupid people thought they could beat the system and failed.

Related:
Refunder Blunder, Part 61
Refunder Blunder, Part 60
Refunder Blunder, Part 59
Refunder Blunder, Part 58
Refunder Blunder, Part 57

My parents have a repairman at our house fixing something. I live with my parents and am helping my dad out in the yard. The repairman finishes the job and drives away.

Dad and I finish the yardwork and head inside. Dad hops in the shower first to clean off all of the dirt, and then it’s my turn. The bathroom is heavily steamy when I come out, and I open the bathroom window.

That’s when I hear it: a clatter.

I put my glasses on and inspect the window sill. A small, triangular piece of broken plastic is in the track of the window.

I’m concerned, initially thinking some part of the window broke, but no. The window is intact. I can’t find a single spot where anything could have gotten damaged. Then, I get a cold feeling of dread.

I come out and talk to Mom.

Me: “Mom, did the repairman ask to use the bathroom?”

Mom looks a little surprised.

Mom: “Well, yes. I told him to go ahead. They’re people, too, and need to do their business. Why?”

I show her the bit of plastic, which I left where it was without touching it.

Mom: “What’s this? Is the window broken?”

Me: “No, I think that’s the piece of plastic he stuck in the window to prevent the window from latching when we closed it.”

Mom went very still for a moment and then shared a horrified look with Dad. The local newspapers had been detailing a rash of home burglaries where the burglar gained access through a window, usually the bathroom.

Long story short, a police officer talked to all of us, got the “repairman’s” name from our paperwork, took the plastic, and left. I’m not sure about the details of the investigation, but the burglaries did stop afterward.

Two customers come in together.

Customer #1: “I’ll buy lunch today.”

Customer #2: “Okay.”

[Customer #2] proceeds to talk to my coworker, since they are mutual friends. [Customer #1] brings up their items and I ring them up.

Me: “Your total is $20.37.”

He hands me a twenty-dollar bill.

Me: “It’s $20.37.”

He looks at me, opens his wallet, and then pats his pocket.

Customer #1: “That’s all I got.”

Me: “It’s fine. I can cover the rest.”

Customer #1: “Thanks! You’re a lifesaver!”

Then, we get to talking about how he’s new around here, moved from opposite sides of the country, from a large city to a tiny town, etc. It probably lasts ten minutes, and it’s a good conversation.

[Customer #2] comes up, and suddenly, [Customer #1] looks at me.

Customer #1: “Don’t I get change?”

Me: *Dumbfounded* “Uhh, no. I covered the rest.”

Customer #1: “But I gave you a fifty!”

I open my till to look and, lo and behold, there are no fifties in my drawer. I lift up my drawer and search, have my coworker search, and offer to count out my till and empty out my pockets, which [Customer #1] is quick to say no to.

Customer #1: “You must have gotten caught up in the conversation and misplaced it. It sucks that I lost thirty bucks.”

Me: “I have no idea what to tell you. There are no fifties in my drawer. If I give you thirty, I’ll be thirty short.”

It finally ends when [Customer #2] comments:

Customer #2: “It must have been a twenty if there are no fifties in there.”

I counted my till at the end of my shift, and it was balanced. People are weird.

I work as a supervisor at a certain large coffee chain. This afternoon, I have about thirty minutes left in my shift. A kid — no more than twelve or thirteen — comes in with his family and walks up to the counter.

Kid: “I was in the drive-thru of your store yesterday afternoon and ordered three large coffees, but we only got one.”

Automatically, red flags go off. How do you drive off with only a third of your order and then not call or come back until the next day?

Me: “Do you have a receipt?”

Kid: “No.”

Of course not.

The kid is very pushy and persistent, so a coworker and I look up all the orders in that price range four hours before and after he says he visited.

Me: “Look, we can’t find any order even close to what you said you ordered, but I’ll still offer you two small drinks.”

This is a company policy of sorts.

Kid: “We should get three larges!”

After we refuse him several times, he gives in. Apparently, he thinks the drinks should be ready instantly, too. There are about eight drinks ahead of his, but every thirty seconds or so, he comes back to the counter.

Kid: “Are my drinks ready?”

He pointed several times to drinks waiting to be handed off in the drive-thru (the counter was right behind me) to ask me if they were his.

When his drinks did come out, he and his family remained in our lobby and proceeded to rearrange the furniture and converse loudly, tearing up napkins to drop on the floor for the remainder of my shift. I made a point to pass on the story to the supervisor who was coming on as I was leaving, just so she wouldn’t give him any more free drinks.

My husband and I had a hard year a while back. We lost our house in a flood and then had a car wreck ten days later. The wreck almost killed my husband. He had multiple surgeries and blood transfusions and stayed in a hospital for months.

When my husband finally got out of the hospital and got his wound vac taken off, he was able to drive again as long as his arm was wrapped up.

The new car we had purchased ended up with a broken window after a few months, so we went to the dealership to try and price the window replacement.

A car salesman saw my husband’s arm wrapped up and asked us our story. Once he heard everything, he offered my husband a deal: come to his church that Sunday with him and he would pay for the window replacement. My husband tried to say no. but the man insisted. claiming he was doing God’s work.

That Sunday, we got our baby ready and headed to the church. When the man saw us, he wasn’t happy. He spoke with my husband and wrote down some stuff on a slip of paper.

He told us to bring the car to the dealership the next Tuesday and he would make sure our car would be fixed. That Tuesday, we did as he said and took the car to the dealership.

Once we got there, the dealership informed us that the man had quit just the day before. They didn’t know why and they couldn’t help us.

So much for doing the Lord’s work, I guess.