Lockdowns have lifted, but I am still very cautious about going out, even though I work retail, so I try to minimize my contact with others as much as I can. However, my dog’s nails have gotten long and I have trouble trimming them, so I have brought her to a local pet store for a quick trim.

I have already paid and dropped her off and am standing off to the side of the grooming salon waiting. I happen to be in direct eyesight of the doors. A man and a woman walk in — one not wearing a mask and the other wearing one but leaving the nose and mouth exposed — and approach me.

Customer: “Cages?”

He has come super close, and like I said, he isn’t wearing a mask properly. 

Me: “Excuse me?”

I guess my tone takes him aback.

Customer: “Oh, you don’t work here?”

Me: “No, and can you please back the f*** up? You are clearly invading my personal space and not wearing a mask properly.”

He started to say something, but at that moment, my dog came out. She is a very large German shepherd mix and can look quite intimidating. She nearly launched herself over the gate after seeing me. Once they saw this very large dog clearly trying to get to me, the two quickly hurried off.

I’m working the register when a lady comes up with six cans of a brand of pet food that we currently have a sale on. If you buy six cans of the food, it’s only $9; however, you have to buy it in intervals of six. If you buy nine cans, you’ll get the sale on the first six but not on the last three. We just started this sale so this is something I’m unaware of.

I scan everything through and then I apply a $2.50 credit that she has under her rewards account, per her request. When she sees how cheap it is, she wants more cans.

Not knowing about the part of the sale where you have to buy the interval amount, I process a return for her, give her her money back, and then start to reprocess the transaction.

When she sees that the sale doesn’t apply to the extra cans:

Customer: “Take them off the transaction.”

I do so.

Customer: “Put the credit back on.”

Me: “It was taken off the account, but if you give me a minute I can get my manager and they can reapply it for you. We’ll probably just lower the price of the extra three cans so you’re still only paying the sale price.”

She gets angry and starts yelling.

Customer: “This is stupid and so are you!”

Me: “Please give me a minute. I can get my manager and apply everything for you so that you’re only paying what you want to pay.”

Customer: *Yelling* “This is your problem!”

She threw down what she had previously paid, which was less than what she would have to pay before my manager could override everything for her, and took her cans and left, telling us that we were stupid and ridiculous the entire time. On her way out, she told me that my drawer being short was my fault and I could talk to my manager about that.

My parents own a pet shop. Mum runs it most of the time as Dad still has his day job at the local train station.

One of the guinea pigs has given birth, and when Mum goes to check on them, she notices that a baby has disappeared. She’s upset that the baby will die, being taken from his mother so early, and calls Dad at work to tell him. Dad tells her that there’s nothing they can do as the thief is probably long gone, and that he’s about to leave work. Fifteen minutes later he walks in the door.

Dad: “Look what I have.”

He opens his hand to show the tiny guinea pig.

Mum: “Wha… Where did you find it?”

Dad: “As I was leaving work, I noticed a bunch of kids. One kid was showing off the baby guinea pig he got from the pet shop that morning. I just took it off him and told him that if I ever see him in my pet shop again, I will be calling the police.”

I’m on register at a pet store when an elderly woman in her Sunday best (on a Tuesday evening) with very strong, dramatic makeup and A LOT of perfume comes up. She hands me the invoice for her dog’s grooming and a small envelope.

Customer: “Put $5 in there for the groomer.”

Me: “Okay. Do you have the cash now or will it be cash back at the end?”

Customer: *Staring at me* “No… Just put $5 in there.”

I think she wants me to add it to the total — a common request.

Me: “Unfortunately, I don’t have the option to add a tip to the bill. It has to be done in cash.”

Customer: “I don’t carry cash!”

Me: “That’s okay. If you use your debit card, you can select ‘cashback’ and use that.”

Customer: “I don’t want to use cashback; my bank charges me! Just put $5!”

I am wondering where she thinks $5 is going to come from.

Me: “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

Customer: *Huffs* “It’s not difficult. You’re just ignorant.”

She jams her card into the card reader.

Customer: “Just do it!”

Me: “I don’t think I can do what you’re asking. Would you like a manager?”

Customer: “Yes! Finally!”

I call the manager.

Manager: “Hi, how can I help?”

Customer: “This girl is being purposely unhelpful!”

Me: “She wants me to put $5 in this envelope for the groomer but she doesn’t have it, nor does she want to do cashback.”

Customer: “My bank charges me! Why can’t you just take it from the drawer?”

Manager: “Because then the drawer will be short.”

Customer: “No! I told her to take it from the drawer! Put it on the bill!”

Manager: “We don’t have the option to add tips to the bill. It has to be done in cash. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused.”

Customer: “Forget it. You just don’t understand. When the groomer girl asks why she didn’t get a tip, I hope you have the grace to look ashamed of yourselves.”

Manager: “Ma’am, we’ve given you the options. You can do cashback or just tip her another day, but we cannot just take money from the register.”

Customer: “Disgraceful!”

She snatches her receipt from my hand and stomps off.

Manager: *In a sarcastic tone* “You millennials and your lack of understanding.”

Related:
Cash Back Attack, Part 13
Cash Back Attack, Part 12
Cash Back Attack, Part 11
Cash Back Attack, Part 10
Cash Back Attack, Part 9

I am the manager of the animal department at a pet store. I am ordering animals when someone pages for help to the fish department.

One of the other managers has beaten me to it and I see him going to catch large feeder goldfish for a woman and a small child, probably around three.

I talk to him about what is going on and he admits to not talking to the lady about size requirements and how big these goldfish can get. We ask her what size tank she has and she says it is a two-gallon. The fish she asked him to catch are already about three inches long and would not even be able to move in a two-gallon tank.

Me: “Ma’am, goldfish require a minimum of a thirty—”

Customer: “Just give me the d*** fish.”

Me: “No, ma’am, I cannot do that. They cannot survive in a two-gallon tank.”

Customer: “They are just twenty-cent fish; just give them to me!”

Me: “No, ma’am, they would slowly suffocate and poison themselves with their waste in a slow, painful death. I am not doing that. I don’t generally recommend anything in that small a tank, but you could probably have a female betta in that tank.”

Customer: “My daughter does not want a betta; she wants a goldfish. Are you going to tell her why she can’t have a goldfish?”

Me: “If you really want me to get down on my knees at her level and tell her she can’t have a goldfish because your tank will slowly torture and kill the fish, I will. I don’t feel it is my place to say something like that to a child, but I will if you really want me to.”

Customer: “Are you the manager?”

Me: “I am the manager of this department.”

Customer: “Get me the store manager.”

Me: “Will do.”

As I was leaving, I heard the mom tell her daughter that we were mean and evil and wouldn’t let her have any fish because we were just so mean and wanted to see her cry. I resisted the urge to turn around and tell the little girl that no, her mom just wanted to torture animals and was too cheap to buy her what she needed. I went and got the store manager and told her what happened and what was said. She told me to stay away and calm down.

About ten minutes later, she came back. She refused the sale and had to argue that a twenty-cent life is still a life. The customer tried to say that anywhere else would sell her the fish. The manager told her that company policy for us is no. She left, vowing to call and complain.

My boss and I are sure we were not the first store to tell her no, based on her immediate response to my informing her of goldfish requirements.

Related:
It Doesn’t Get Betta