I am the store manager of a small store in a popular chain. Part of our refund policy requires a receipt or the card the item was paid for with, as well as, of course, the item itself. Without a barcode to scan into the system, there is absolutely NO WAY around this policy. Exchanges are only done with the exact same item, and they do not require receipts unless they are for high-dollar items ($40+).

A customer comes in who must be around fourteen. He wants a refund.

Colleague: “I’m… not sure we can refund this…”

Me: *Overhearing her* “What can’t we refund?”

The boy shows me his phone, where I see a screenshot of someone’s bank account being charged a certain amount.

Me: “So… what are we refunding?”

He holds up a phone charger that has been completely removed from the package.

Me: “…okay. Do you have the package for the phone charger?”

Boy: “No.”

Me: “Do you have the receipt or the card it was paid for with?”

He shows me his phone again — still a screenshot of someone’s bank account.

Me: “I’m sorry, but without the package, there is no way to scan the item into the system for a refund, and without the receipt or the card that it was paid for with, there is no way to prove you bought it at one of our stores.”

The boy leaves.

Ten minutes later, a woman calls. I’m helping a customer at the register, so my colleague answers it. It’s the boy’s mother. She is MAD. My colleague repeats what she’s saying while I continue to help the customer at the register.

Woman: “I want a refund for my phone charger!”

Me: “Do you have the receipt?”

Woman: “No.”

Me: “Do you have the packaging?”

Woman: “No.”

Me: “Then we can’t help you.”

Woman: “I WANT YOU TO LOOK UP THE RECEIPT FOR ME SO I CAN CALL CORPORATE AND TELL ON YOU!”

Me: “…sure. I need a date, a time, and the name of the colleague who helped you.”

I finish helping the customer at the register and find the receipt in about six minutes. Meanwhile, the woman hangs up and calls back.

Woman: “I called another [Store], and they said your policy is to make the customer happy! So why aren’t you making me happy?! I want a refund!”

Me: “Absolutely, ma’am. As soon as you find the packaging for the item.”

Woman: “It’s in the dumpster already! I bought it two days ago! How can I find it? Can’t you just take another charger off the shelf and scan it?!”

Me: “That is against policy, ma’am, as is processing any transactions over the phone. Now, if you want an exchange, I think I can manage that, but there is absolutely nothing I can do for a refund if you do not have the packaging for your item.”

Woman: “THAT’S WHAT I SAID! I WANT AN EXCHANGE!”

I give up. I hand the newly printed receipt to my colleague while she waits for the boy to come back for the exchange.*

Colleague: “…is she still going to call corporate to complain?”

Me: “Probably, but I had someone file a complaint with corporate when I didn’t hire her a week after she applied to the job, so you know, I’m used to idiots by now.”

I train dogs at a chain pet store. The customer pays for each six-week course, we do the lessons, and then we have a little graduation with diplomas. One woman brings her German Shepherd to class. The woman attends every class, writes down what feels like every word I say, and asks questions about everything. She stays after to pick my brain about training things not covered in class. (I should have charged it as a private lesson because it was outside the curriculum, but I didn’t.)

At the end of class, I hand out the diplomas. The woman waits until everyone is gone and then asks me to meet her at the register. I grab an enrollment form, thinking she’s going to enroll in the next classes. She pulls out her original paperwork.

Woman: “I’d like a refund.”

Me: “Um… Oh. Was something wrong?”

Woman: “Oh, no, honey. You were great. My landlord said I need to have proof of training, and he’ll reduce my monthly pet fee by $20. This dog eats a lot, so I need to save every penny.”

Me: “Uh-huh. Well, since there’s nothing wrong with the service, I can’t refund you.”

Woman: “What? Your policy says you will!”

Me: “If there’s something you’re not happy about. But—”

Woman: “I’m not happy about paying. So, get your manager or whatever you have to do. I’m not leaving until I get a refund.”

Me: “Okay…”

I walk to the manager’s office and explain what’s going on. Her jaw drops, but she comes out anyway.

Manager: “Hi. You want a refund on your classes?”

Woman: “Yes! Don’t worry; [My Name] was wonderful. I’ve never met someone who takes so much time and cares so much about a dog behaving. But you see, my landlord—”

Manager: “You need the diploma so your landlord will reduce your rent, right?”

Woman: “Yes!”

Manager: “Okay, give me all the paperwork.”

[Manager] processes the return and hands over the return receipt. I stand there, shocked and angry. Besides all my hard work going down the drain, I am going to have commissions deducted for the refund.

Manager: *To me* “Hand me the attendance sheet.” *To the woman* “What’s your dog’s name?”

Woman: “Cairo.”

Manager: “Do you have his diploma, or—”

Woman: “Right here!”

She holds it out to [Manager], who takes it from her.

Woman: “Oh, I need that for—”

[Manager] rips the diploma in half and then rips it again and again.

Woman: “Excuse me?! I paid for that!”

Manager: “And we refunded it. You got your money back, and we got our diploma back. Have a nice day.”

She pockets the shredded diploma.

Woman: “No! I need that! It’s proof!”

Manager: “If you’d like to pay for the classes, [My Name] will happily rewrite your diploma. Otherwise, we are done.”

The woman glared at [Manager], but she stood firm. The woman later complained to corporate that we had revoked her diploma but didn’t tell them why. After we explained, corporate sided with us.

The woman also left a one-star review on Yelp and Facebook. Her stupid story actually got a lot of people to come in and get their dogs enrolled in classes. So, while I lost her sale, I gained several more because of it.

I’m a manager in a casino, called to a dispute with a customer. That’s not uncommon, so I make my way over to the service desk to sort out whatever issue is happening.

When I get there, there is a mildly drunk man there who is claiming the ATM gave him casino gift cards. He suggests that perhaps the ATM is out of money.

We stand there for about ten minutes discussing this. And when I say “discussing”, I mean that I repeatedly try to explain that in no way, ever, would an ATM stock “casino gift cards” as a backup to cold hard cash.

Eventually, I get him to take me to the offending ATM, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s a vending machine for purchasing gift cards. It has a HUGE sign above it that actually says, “NOT AN ATM: GIFT CARDS ONLY!”

He tries to show me what happened when he put his card in, and I swear to God, the machine alerts him at every page that this is for buying gift cards — gift cards that are non-refundable in every situation.

Despite going through this whole process, at no point does he realise his mistake.

He doesn’t get a refund and allegedly can’t afford a taxi home. I hope he enjoyed his $400 stay at the hotel… using the gift cards. 

Related:
The Gift Card That Keeps On Giving, Part 28
The Gift Card That Keeps On Giving, Part 27
The Gift Card That Keeps On Giving, Part 26
The Gift Card That Keeps On Giving, Part 25
The Gift Card That Keeps On Giving, Part 24

I answer a customer call that has been escalated to me by another agent. The caller wants to return a printer some months after it was purchased.

Me: “Do you have a receipt?”

Caller: “No.”

I use some creative searching, and I am able to look it up and email him a copy to boot. The official return limit is two weeks, but in actuality, the computer will let you do up to thirty days, and a manager (I am one) can override just about any time length if we have a good enough reason.

Looking up the receipt in his customer account, I can also see that he was a jerk to the associate who originally answered the phone.

Me: *Flatly* “The return limit is two weeks, and we can’t help you. I suggest that you call the manufacturer since it probably has a one-year warranty through them.”

Caller: *Yelling* “It’s ridiculous that I can’t return it!”

Me: “If you know of a store that lets you return electronics six months after you bought them, you let me know because I’d love to shop there. Our limit is two weeks.”

Theoretically, I could have helped him — I’ve done returns that were older than that — but not after he chewed out the other associate and then me. Now he can go shop at our competition.

Related:
You Catch More Flies With Honey Than Vinegar, Part 5
You Catch More Flies With Honey Than Vinegar, Part 4
You Catch More Flies With Honey Than Vinegar, Part 3
You Catch More Flies With Honey Than Vinegar, Part 2
You Catch More Flies With Honey Than Vinegar

Customer: “I’d like a large [soda].”

She gets to the window, and I see three other people in the car laughing pretty hard. I take her money and give her the drink. About two seconds later, I hear…

Customer: “FIRE IN THE HOLE!”

I see a large orange grenade flying at me. I am not impressed. I am even less impressed when…

Customer: “Could I have my money back?”