I was working at a mall-based bookstore as an assistant manager. About a year and a half into my time there, my manager decided to quit. We all could see it coming, and there were no hard feelings. We wished her well and anticipated her replacement, who was coming to us from another store in the chain.

He was easy enough to get along with but seemed a little aloof. Regardless, he seemed to know his stuff, and we continued along with no disruptions.

At this point, Amazon was a long way off, and the larger chain bookstores weren’t as prevalent, so we maintained a pretty brisk business all year round, and it got hectic over the holidays.

As we got closer to the holidays, our manager started coming in later each day, changing the schedule last minute, and just not keeping up with any of the standards of the store. I tried my best to pick up the slack, but there were certain things that had to be done by him. And he was still aloof and just didn’t want to explain what was going on, even when I confronted him about how this is affecting everyone.

Then, one December day, he just didn’t show up.

Nobody could reach him at all. I called our district manager to advise him, and he wasn’t able to find the manager, either. So, we muddled through the holidays as best as we could. Other assistant managers came over to help with closing and opening, I put in extra hours, and we managed to get through it.

After everything had calmed down, I did find out from some of the manager’s old coworkers what had happened to him. His changing of the schedule and coming in late were all part of him trying to live a lifestyle on the down-low. And the day he didn’t show up was right after he came out to his wife as gay and she kicked him out.

Not that there’s a great time to come out for anyone, but that sure was the worst time for our store.

My spouse and I went to a big box store to pick up some prescriptions and buy groceries. We finished up shopping and went to the checkout. By this time, I was to the point where I needed to finish up and sit down someplace due to health issues, so I wasn’t paying close attention to the process.

I loaded the items onto the belt while my spouse grabbed the bags and put them into the shopping cart. I prepared to pay and looked at the screen, and it said $270. That seemed a little high to me for the number of items we got, but I went ahead and paid. The cashier seemed like she started to say something to me and then changed her mind, but I didn’t think anything of it. I just wanted to get done and go sit down.

We went out to the car and loaded up the groceries, and I got to sit down, and we headed home. I got a text notification from my credit card but didn’t look at it until we got home — about a twenty-minute drive.

When I finally checked the text message, it said that the total purchase was $424.96! What?! I got the receipt out and, sure enough, that was the total. I looked through the items we had purchased, and the very last one was a tire — for $270! I called the store to see if I could get the refund over the phone or online, but no, I had to drive back to the store.

So, twenty minutes back to the store and up to customer service. The only person there, [Employee #1], didn’t know about my phone call, so she started to look at the receipt. [Employee #2] came over.

Employee #2: “Oh, you’re the one who called about the tire!”

She started to process the refund and started having problems. At about this time, [Employee #3] showed up, so she took over trying to process a refund. She also got an error about the product not being in the system.

[Employee #3] called for a supervisor, who looked at the receipt.

Supervisor: “How did you get charged for a tire? We don’t sell tires at this location!”

Me: “I don’t know. I didn’t buy one!”

The supervisor finally decided that he could put the money on a gift card and then go to one of the cashiers and get cash to give me the refund. Then, he couldn’t get the swipe on the computer to put the funds on the gift card! He tried three different gift cards, and then [Employee #3] said maybe it would work on the other computer. She switched it over and got it to work.

[Supervisor] ran to get the cash, and I finally had my refund!

Apparently, the cashier who had checked us out was new. I had seen her manually entering the UPC from one of our items, and she must have entered it incorrectly, selling me a tire instead of a bottle of vitamins! The supervisor was surprised that the computer didn’t catch her mistake, and I told him about her starting to say something to me but then stopping.

The fun part is that some family members work for the big box store corporation. My spouse had texted them about being charged for a “tire” and one of them texted back saying, “That location doesn’t even sell tires!”

I stop at my local membership warehouse store to get gasoline. The gas prices have been high lately, but this store usually has gas anywhere from twenty to thirty cents cheaper per gallon than most gas stations. As such, it’s always busy.

Unfortunately, the layout for the pumps at this store isn’t great. There is room for maybe five vehicles to line up behind the ones at the pumps. Beyond that, the vehicles start blocking one of the entrances to the parking lot for the store. Because of this, the store has enlisted employees to help guide the drivers to move their vehicles a bit closer and provide room for people just entering.

I’ve just pulled up to the pump, gotten out of my car, swiped my membership card, and am ready to tap my credit card for payment. At this point, I can see someone in the corner of my eye kind of hovering close by. Since I still need to type in my PIN for payment, I get wary of people standing too close to me when I pay. I turn to see one of the store’s employees looking at me expectantly. I think he must have a question or something important to tell me.

Me: “Yes?”

Employee: “Are you going to tap for payment?”

I’m thinking maybe there’s something wrong with the pump. I look back to the pump and don’t see a sign or any other indication that I couldn’t pay by tapping, so I look back at the employee.

Me: “I was going to. Why?”

Employee: “We’re encouraging everyone to tap to pay when possible.”

Me: “Okay?”

Employee: “You see, all the cars are lined up waiting, and if everyone taps to pay, it saves up to forty-five seconds on each transaction. It’s a much faster way to pay.”

Me: “Yeah, I know. I would have been done by now.”

I turned back to pay, blocking his view while I typed in my PIN. I didn’t bother to see if he was giving that spiel to anyone else, but he definitely wasted my time. Even if I was swiping, I could have gotten done faster.

I’m working in the drive-thru of a bank, which generally has a cash-out limit of $2,000; we have to get approval for amounts over our limit, and this takes time that we don’t like to waste for customers in the drive-thru.

A customer pulls up.

Driver: “I want to take out $3,000. I know that’s more than the limit, but I have someone in the car who shouldn’t come inside.”

Me: “May I ask why that is?”

Driver: *With an added chuckle* “Well, he’s a little crazy.”

My coworkers and I watched as the man in the back seat gave us a straight-up serial killer glare. 

I don’t think he blinked that entire transaction.

It was definitely one of the weirdest, creepiest encounters I’ve had in customer service.

I’m working in a shoe store and a customer comes in.

Me: “Hi there. How can I help you today?”

Customer: “I ordered a pair of shoes online.”

Me: “Okay, what was the last name on the order?”

Customer: “[Customer’s Last Name].”

Me: “Okay, let me go grab it for you. In the meantime, may I see a photo ID, please?”

She gives me her ID. I find the order and open the box to show the customer the shoes.

Me: “Okay, are these the correct shoes? Do they look okay?”

Customer: “Those are the right shoes, but I want to check them as last time they tried to give me a pair of worn shoes.”

Me: “Oh, my! I’m so sorry about that! Feel free to make sure that they look okay.”

Customer: “Excuse me! These look like they have been worn, as well!”

I look over the shoes, and they both have the shapers inside perfectly and there are minuscule particles of dirt and dust on the bottom of the shoe. These most likely haven’t even been tried on and just sat in a warehouse and got dusty.

Me: “I’m sorry, could you point out where you see indications of them being worn?”

Customer: “They’ve got dust and dirt ground into the bottom here! I don’t see why you guys keep trying to sell me an $80 pair of shoes that has already been worn!”

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but it looks like these have just maybe been tried on once but probably just collected dust in a warehouse.”

Customer: “Of course they’ve been worn! They have dirt ground into the bottom!”

Me: “Would you like me to try and remove the dirt for you? I’ve got the supplies right here.”

I show her the alcohol wipes.

Customer: “No, that’s not the problem. I just want to know why I’m being sold shoes that have been worn! Someone could have had athletes’ foot, and I don’t want to catch any fungal infections from a worn pair of shoes that’s supposed to be new!”

Me: “I’m sorry, but there are no visible signs of wear like smell, indents, or extreme dirt on the bottoms, so the packers that shipped them would have no reason to mark them as worn and not send them. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that someone did not try on a pair of shoes; we sometimes ship shoes out from stores themselves and not the warehouses. Even if they are from a warehouse, somebody may have shipped the shoes back after trying them on and not liking them.”

Customer: “Is there any way I can get a discount since they’re worn?”

Me: “I don’t believe so but let me check with my manager.”

I call the manager over, who then tells the customer everything I have already said and refuses to give a discount. The customer still makes a fuss, but there is nothing we can do in our system for worn shoes that aren’t actually worn at all. As she finally decides to leave, I make a small remark to try and break the tension.

Me: “I totally understand where you’re coming from about the germs. Would you like me to spray some sanitizer inside the shoes for you?”

Customer: “No, that’s not necessary. I guess I’ll just have to do it at home.” *Stomps off*

Me: “I hope you have a great rest of your day!”

Seriously, who makes a big deal about perfect shoes with some dust on the bottom and then won’t even let me fix it for them?