Things are really picking up during seasonal time, and there’s just a cashier, my manager on duty, and me working. Since our store needs to always have a worker on the sales floor, I am left to deal with a steady line by myself. This is not too bad. I just apologize, explain that we’re unstaffed, and thank them for waiting.
That is until this lady comes up with a long receipt.
Customer: “I bought all these T-shirts, and I want to return them and apply my teacher’s discount to them.”
Our store has special discounts, and a discount for teachers is one of them. I look to see if she has a bag or anything.
Me: “Do you have the shirts with you, ma’am?”
Customer: “No, they’re all at my house.”
I can still do a return since she has the receipt and all she is doing is applying her discount on it, but since she doesn’t have the shirts, the way our system works, I’ll have to key in each UPC code for each shirt. Luckily, I can make it go faster by grouping the same codes for shirts together, but it is still a long receipt with twenty to thirty shirts, and the line is piling up, so I radio [Manager] and ask her if there is an easier way I can do this, and she says that, sadly, this is the only way to do it.
I warn the customer that I have to key in all these UPC codes to do a return on the shirts and then they will have to be repurchased, and she says that’s okay. The line is getting so long that [Manager] decides to just screw it and jump on a register because this return and repurchase will take forever.
I start to key in UPCs, using my quantity code to make it faster for the same size and colour of shirts she bought.
Customer: “So, how long is this going to take? I’m in a rush. Do you really have to key all those in?”
Me: “Yes. Since you don’t have the shirts here for me to actually scan, sadly, I have to type in all the codes for them.”
Customer: “And how do I repurchase them? Do you have to do all that again?”
Me: “Yes, I do, unfortunately.”
She is getting very irritable, and it is actually time for me to go since the closing crew had arrived, but they are jumping on other registers to get the line taken care of so [Manager] can get off the register. I ask if someone can take over, but all the closers are new seasonal hires and they had no clue how to do a return like this, so I have to truck on.
Customer: *Getting frustrated* “I don’t have all day to stand here waiting for you to put in all these codes! When I go to [Other Store], they can do returns without having to have the product physically there! I’m not dragging all these shirts around with me!”
I get on my radio and ask for [Manager] to come over.
Manager: “What’s up?”
Customer: “I don’t have all day for her to be putting in all these codes just so I can get my discount applied on them. I don’t drag my shirts around with me; I have them at home! I’m in a hurry! I can’t stand here all day wasting my time with this.”
Manager: “Since you don’t have the shirts here for her to scan, this is the only way she can do it. Also, she has to go home.” *Turns to me* “What did you get keyed in?”
Me: “Anything I have highlighted here I have keyed in.”
I handed [Manager] the customer’s receipt and quickly left to clock out.
I felt bad that [Manager] had to deal with this return, but I was fighting back the urge to say, “Well, we’re not [Other Store]”. Also, I don’t know why you would make yourself pressed for time when you’re returning a crap ton of product and don’t bother bringing the product in to make it easier. Even just bringing one of each shirt she’d bought would have been easier!
