It’s lunchtime and I’m going through a popular fast food drive-thru with my two small kids. I’m from out of town and we’re trying to head home, so fast food is the best option for us. I order, and the girl confirms my order and has me pull forward. Judging by the voice, it’s the same person who took my order.

Employee: “Hi there! Your total is $11.74.”

I hand over my card. The employee stares at my card in her hand for a moment.

Employee: “Oh, did they not tell you we can’t take this right now?”

I’m confused because I know she took my order, so she was the one who didn’t tell me. I also know there was no sign by the speaker or menu saying that they aren’t accepting cards.

Me: “Um, no?”

Employee: “Do you have another way to pay?”

I’m completely thrown off, but I’m trying to be polite.

Me: “I don’t have that much cash. Er… My bank doesn’t have a branch here, so I’ll have to figure it out. I’ll have to come back.”

Employee: “Do you want us to hold your order for you? I can have them hold your food at the counter inside.”

I’d rather just reorder to ensure I get fresh food.

Me: “Uh… No, that’s okay. I’m not sure how long it will take for me to come back. Thanks.”

Employee: “Oh, okay.” 

Her tone of voice, while not rude, made it clear she was done speaking with me. I decided not to go back and just got food elsewhere since she didn’t apologize for the situation at all. Plus, I didn’t want to have to pay an ATM fee anywhere or have to get out of the car with a two- and three-year-old.

I’m pretty sure the person in line ahead of me paid with a card, but maybe it was a gift card? It felt weird to me, almost as if she were making an excuse not to accept my card. It’s a decent-sized city, so it’s not like seeing an out-of-town debit card would be a reason to deny my card.

A customer asks me to make a total of thirteen copies for her. After sales tax, her total comes out to $1.41. I tell her the total, and the woman starts digging change out of her purse.

Customer: “Hold on, I know I have it in here. Ha! My purse is going to be so much lighter now!”

As this is common, I smile and patiently wait for the customer to count her change.

Customer: “Well, here’s what I have on me. I still owe you 40 cents.”

The customer yells across the store at her daughter.

Customer: “Hey, [Daughter]! You got any change?”

Daughter: “I’ll run out to the car and look!”

By now, there’s a line forming behind this woman. I inform them that we won’t be much longer and apologize for the wait. The customer is still digging through her purse.

Customer: “I guess this wasn’t the purse with all my change in it!”

After a few minutes, the daughter returns.

Daughter: “There wasn’t anything in the car.”

The customer produces several pennies.

Customer: “Oh, look! Seventeen more cents! Now I just owe you 23 cents!”

She rummages around in her purse some more, while her daughter complains about how expensive our copies are. I’m trying not to look irritated, and I call for another associate to assist the folks in line behind these two.

Customer: “Man! I didn’t bring enough cash! I’m going to have to give you two of these copies back.”

She hands me two pages, I deduct the appropriate amount at the register, and I notice she’s still one cent short. But rather than go through this ordeal again, I run the transaction through and get a penny later. The customer and her daughter leave, and I overhear them talking on their way out.

Customer: “Well, I can just come back tomorrow and print more stuff! I didn’t want to have to use my debit card for $1.41!”

Customer: “I want to return these.”

The customer pulls items out of a bag.

Customer: “I don’t know where my receipt is.”

Me: “Okay. Did you pay with a credit card?”

Customer: “Yeah, I did.”

Me: “I can look up the purchase and do the return with that.”

Customer: “Awesome!”

The customer then stands there, staring at me, and gives me the little head motion telling me to get on with it.

Me: “Do you have the card with you?”

Customer: “Yeah.”

She still just stands there, giving me the look again.

Me: “I need the card. I can’t look up the transaction without the card.”

Customer: “Oh! Okay!”

She hands over the card, and I swipe it and process her return.

Me: “Okay, you’re going to have a credit of [amount] onto your account.”

Customer: “What? The price on this says [higher amount]!”

Me: “Yup, and when you bought it, it was on sale.”

I show her the screen that, in very plain English, shows the breakdown of why she paid what she paid.

Me: “When I swipe your credit card, it’s the exact same as if you had your receipt; this is what you paid.”

Customer: “But I know I spent over $300 here that day. I’m going to go get my statement; I want all my money.”

Me: “You’re getting back exactly what you paid.”

Customer: “No, I’m not, because I know I spent more that day!”

Me: “Did you buy other stuff here that day, or just these three items?”

Customer: “No, I bought other stuff, too.”

Me: “Which you’re not returning.”

Customer: “No, I kept those.”

Me: “So, you’re not getting your money back on those items. That’s why it’s not over the $300 you say you spent.”

Customer: “Oh.”

This, ladies and gentlemen, was a woman who holds a very high job at a very large, global company.

Related:
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 91
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 90
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 89

(I’ve woken up and realized I can’t find my wallet. As I don’t have my wallet and thus don’t have any cash for the bus, I end up walking over six miles down the road to get to the bar I visited last night to see if I left it there. I see that there is some sort of street festival on the road and walk past an entryway to get to the bar, which is now only about twenty feet away. Suddenly, a cop barrels up to me, shouting.)

Cop: “It’s a $10 entry fee to access this street! You can’t come in without paying!”

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize there was a festival today. I’m literally just here to get to the bar that’s right there. I think I left my wallet there last night.”

Cop: “It’s $10 to access this street!”

Me: “I’m sorry, sir, but like I said, I think I left my wallet at the bar. I’m just trying to get in to see if they have it and then I’m leaving.”

Cop: “Nobody can get on this street without paying $10!”

Me: *pause* “What if they work on this street?”

Cop: “Then they have to pay $10!”

Me: “I don’t see how that’s right at all. But I literally don’t have any money and I just walked over six miles to get here. Is there any way I can just go to the bar and see if they have my wallet? I can give you the $10 if they have it, and I’m not even going to stay for the festival.”

Cop: “Not without paying $10! Why don’t you just go to an ATM and get $10?”

Me: “First, I don’t have my wallet, so I can’t use an ATM. Also, my bank is on this street, so I can’t even go to the bank to get it. You’ve kind of put me into a corner here.”

Cop: “Well, you’re not getting in until you pay the $10 entry fee to access this street!”

(I then had to spend a half-hour begging random people for money for the privilege of accessing a street before I finally had enough to get in. And, of course, the bar didn’t have my wallet, so I ended up having to beg for money and walk well over ten miles for no reason. I have no clue how it’s right in the slightest to bar anyone from using a public street without paying, especially if they work on the street or have business unrelated to the festival. But maybe that’s just me.)

After college, I moved in with a friend from high school, renting a room in her house. The house’s washer had been malfunctioning — and by that, I mean shooting water back out the pipes — and I offered to meet with a plumber after work so we could get it fixed.  

The plumbers were two super nice gentlemen who figured out there were roots growing all throughout the plumbing and would need to be removed. One temporary option was $500; the more permanent option was $1,000.

My friend had left me a blank check for this but I wanted to check in with her first. Upon calling and telling her the situation, she immediately started freaking out over the cost but said to go ahead with the $1,000 option. 

Ten minutes after the process had started, she called back telling me to stop them from doing anything because these men were con artists and lying to us. I insisted that I had seen the roots myself on their camera and that the men had already started. 

These two men could hear her screaming and crying in my ear about how these men were lying and I was too stupid to know that. She wanted me to make them pull a piece of root out from the pipes to prove they weren’t lying. The process these men were using was to shoot a high-pressure hose down the pipes to break them up, meaning no “proof” for her.

She eventually just left work and came home and “thanked” them in a sarcastically cheerful manner and, thankfully, paid up. I informed her that, in the future, if she wanted something fixed in the house, she’d better be there herself.