This is back in the 1970s when I am a young teen. At the time, local calls within the city are very cheap, but long-distance calls that require a 0x prefix are not. Basically, a call beginning with 0 is expensive; one that does not is 20c for unlimited talk time. There are two exceptions to this: 000, which is the emergency number, and the recently introduced free call 008 numbers.

Our home phone number begins with an 8. For simplicity, let’s say it’s 88-7777. Numbers were short back then.

The phone rings. I am alone in the house, so I pick it up. I do not sound like an adult, and I am definitely not using a business voice or business language.

Me: “Hello.”

Caller: “Is that [Insurance Company]?”

Me: “No, you’ve rung a private residence.”

A few minutes later, it rings again. 

Caller: “Is that [Insurance Company]?”

Me: “No, it’s still a home number. What number were you dialing?”

Caller: “00887777.”

Me: “That’s our number if you take off the two zeros at the beginning. We are not an insurance office.”

I hang up, but seconds later:

Caller: *Now angry* “I want to speak to [Insurance Company]!”

Remember, I am a kid, and I have never worked in an office.

Me: “I think your phone system is ignoring leading zeros to stop you dialing interstate or international numbers.”

Caller: “I don’t understand why you won’t let me speak to [Insurance Company]!”

Me: “You are ringing our home. I cannot help you. You will need to contact your switchboard to place this call. Goodbye.”

Seconds later…

Caller: “Put me through to [Insurance Company]!”

Me: “I have no way of doing that. Talk to your switch. If you don’t stop calling, I will have to report you to Telecom as a nuisance caller.”

I can’t remember if it stopped then or if there were more calls. I don’t think I had to resort to making an official complaint, but it was close

My state is in its fourth lockdown. I have been out of work since the start of the health crisis. I get a call about a job that I applied for a couple of months ago that I didn’t get but was next in line for. Great — they want me to start tomorrow. One problem: I don’t have all the clothes and shoes I need as I am very short on money and have been applying in several fields. So, I place a click and collect order for a superstore. The website says if placed by 12:00 pm, the order will be ready by 4:00 pm on the same day. I place my order at 11:30 and wait for a message to say it’s ready, but by 5:00 pm I’m still waiting. I ring the customer care, who puts me through to the store.

Call #1:

Worker: “I’m sorry, sometimes we have problems finding the items. Let me find out what’s going on and call you back.”

Call #2, half an hour later:

Worker: “I’m sorry for the delay, but we’re having problems finding all of your items on the shop floor. I have three team members looking out the back at the deliveries. I’m going to go and help look, as well. I just wanted to let you know what’s going on, and I haven’t forgotten you.”

Me: “Thank you. I really need these to start a new job tomorrow. Even if I need to substitute things, I don’t mind paying the difference.”

Worker: “No problem. We’ll work it out. I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”

Call #3, nearly an hour later:

Worker: “I’m sorry, but we were unable to find [pants #1] and [shoes]. We do have [pants #2]; they are the same colour and style. The only difference is [pants #2] are made of organic material and are slightly more expensive. Are those okay?”

Me: “That’s fine. How do I pay the difference?”

Worker: “Oh, no. Don’t worry about that. It’s our fault; we’ll cover it. Now with the shoes, we were unable to get them in women’s shoes. I do have several similar styles in men’s.”

Me: “Great. I don’t mind taking the men’s if they fit.”

Worker: “All right, it looks like you ordered size seven in women’s. What I’ll do is pull out a couple of pairs in men’s in sizes I think will work. When you come to collect your order, I’ll have a seat ready so you can try them on and see what works.”

Me: “Thank you so much. You have been amazing.”

Worker: “My pleasure. I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get it sorted out.”

Me: “No problem. You’ve really gone above and beyond to make sure I got what I need.”

Worker: “You’re welcome. See you soon.”

When I arrive, true to her word, everything is ready, including a sanitized stool for me to sit down a safe distance from everyone to try the shoes on. I find a great pair that is more expensive than the ones I ordered, but when I go to pay:

Worker: “Oh, no. It’s our mistake. Don’t worry about it. Good luck with the new job.”

Me: “Thank you so much. You really went out of your way to help. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to start tomorrow, and I’ve been unemployed since the start of the health crisis. This really means a lot.”

Worker: “I’m glad we could help. My manager said to do whatever I need to make you, the customer, happy and I’m so glad we could. Good luck with the new job.”

I thanked her again and asked for her manager’s name so I could contact corporate to let them know how amazing they were. Not only did she go out of her way to make sure I had my items, but they also covered over $50 in the difference and went above and beyond. I started the new job, and many months and two additional lockdowns later, I am still working and have just been offered full-time permanent employment.

To the worker, if you’re reading this, thank you so much. If it wasn’t for you going above and beyond and making sure I had what I needed, I would still be struggling to survive. You will never understand what a difference what you did made to me and my family.

I’m working the register at a second-hand store when an older man walks in carrying a leather jacket with one of our store’s tags on it. We haven’t been letting customers try things on in the store for health reasons; however, we are more than happy to refund or exchange things if they get them home and they don’t fit, as long as the customer has the receipt and keeps our price tag on.

Me: “Hi, how can I help you?”

Customer: “I bought this yesterday, but it doesn’t fit. I want a refund.”

Me: “Sure thing. Do you have your receipt?”

Customer: *Slightly irate* “No.”

Me: “All right, did you have a loyalty card with us?”

Customer: *Getting angry* “No. Why can’t you just refund it?”

Me: “I just need a receipt in order to process the refund.”

Customer: *Almost yelling* “Just give me the money. I only bought it yesterday.”

Me: “If you only bought it yesterday, I can probably find the receipt in the system. Do you remember what time you were in?”

Customer: *Snapping* “You know what? Forget it!”

He throws the jacket at me and storms out. At this point, my manager arrives, having seen the last part of this conversation. I tell him what happened.

Manager: “You know, he fits the description [Coworker] gave of a man who walked out wearing a leather jacket while she was busy. I just assumed we wouldn’t see that jacket again. If he comes back, could you call me?”

He didn’t come back that day, but he did come back the following day while I wasn’t there. Apparently, he started verbally abusing [Coworker] about our prices, so the manager banned him from the store.

Related:
Refunder Blunder, Part 55
Refunder Blunder, Part 54
Refunder Blunder, Part 53
Refunder Blunder, Part 52
Refunder Blunder, Part 51

For no apparent reason whatsoever, it is inexplicably the busiest day ever. There are crowds of people all throughout the store and long wait times to reach the checkouts. As usual, I’m looking after the self-serve machines. The line for the self-serves is by far the longest I’ve ever seen it, and I’ve been there a long time. I’m doing my best to keep things moving, but it’s pretty hectic.

A customer approaches me through the self-serve exit. She talks in a pleasant, conversational tone for this entire exchange, even the bits that aren’t pleasant nor conversational.

We currently have a promotion going on where spending money earns you special points which you can trade in for a glass container.

Customer: “Excuse me. I think I’ve earned enough points for one of your glass containers.”

Me: “May I see your receipt?”

She shows me her receipt, which indicates that she does indeed have enough points for a container.

Me: “The containers are just at the end of aisle one over there. If you want to grab one and line up, I can show you how to put it through. You just need the container and your rewards card.”

Even though they are free, the containers still need to be scanned through a register and then paid for with points, which are saved on customers’ rewards cards.

Customer: “Would you be able to go and get one and do it for me? I don’t want to have to line up in that line.”

Me: “Ah, not really sorry. It’s really busy here, as you can see. And I’m not really allowed to leave my post unattended. You can always come back next time and get it. It might be a bit quieter then. As long as you have your rewards card, you can get it any time.”

Customer: “I’m just worried you’ll have run out.”

Me: “I shouldn’t think that will happen. They’ve kept the containers pretty well stocked. I don’t think they’ve allowed them to run out since the promotion began.”

Customer: “Okay. What’s your name by the way?”

I point to my name tag.

Me: “[My Name].”

Customer: “Thank you, [My Name]. I’m going to report you for refusing to help a customer. This is bad customer service.”

Me: “If you feel you have to, go ahead. As I said, I unfortunately can’t leave the self-serve. You can try talking to them at the service desk. Maybe they can spare someone up there to go and help you.”

Customer: “No, it’s okay. I’ll just report you. Bye.”

Me: “Okay, have a good day.”

While I feel her threats were pretty empty, I almost hope she does complain about me. “A member of staff refused to abandon their post and their customers on a very busy day to do my shopping for me, and then they wouldn’t let me cut in line past all the other customers who’d been waiting for ages to get a register.” I’m sure that complaint would be taken very seriously.

A customer alerts me to a spill. Someone has dropped a pot of yoghurt on the ground, spilling yoghurt everywhere, and just left it there without alerting anyone. I grab some paper towels and make my way over to it. As I do, a coworker spots it, too, and begins walking over to it. However, neither of us is in time to stop a customer from stepping in the spill.

Coworker: “Sorry, you’ve just stepped in a spill.”

The customer takes a step away and my coworker and I begin cleaning up the mess.

Customer: *Annoyed* “Why was there a spill here and nobody to warn me about it? Someone should have been here.”

Coworker: “I only just noticed it, ma’am, but not in time to warn you.”

Me: “A customer only just told me about it. I was just coming to clean it.”

Customer: “Well, you shouldn’t have left it unattended. One of you should have been here to stop me from stepping in it.”

Coworker: “We didn’t know about it. We both came as soon as we knew it was here.”

Customer: “I understand that, but one of you should have been here. You can’t leave a spill unattended like this. One of you should have stayed here while the other got stuff to clean it up with.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but as we said, I was only just told about it. I came as soon as I was told. You got here before me.”

Coworker: “And I only just spotted it as you were about to step in it.”

Customer: “I understand that. I understand that you both only just found out about the spill. I understand that you both just got here. But that doesn’t change the fact that one of you should have been here to warn customers not to step in it.”

Coworker: “But we didn’t know about it.”

Customer: *Getting more frustrated* “I know that you didn’t know about it. But that doesn’t change the fact that you can’t leave a spill unattended like that, even if you don’t know about it yet.”

And with that, she walked off. My coworker and I just shot each other a confused look and went about our business. Next time there’s a spill, I’ll be extra sure to already be standing next to it before going to find it.