I work in a call centre on the social media team for a furniture company that also sells other items in its stores, such as plates. We get some pretty ridiculous stuff through sometimes, but this is the one that I remember the most.

Customer: “I have one of your plates; it broke.”

I give my standard greeting.

Me: “Can I have a photo of the plate and a photo of your receipt so I can look into this?”

The customer sends the photos.

Me: “Hey, [Manager], can you take a look at this?”

The photo shows a blue plate with a black patch and a massive crack. This isn’t something that has happened on its own. I go back to the customer. 

Me: “Hi, [Customer], can I please ask how the plate broke?”

Customer: “I was using it to put coal on.”

Me: *Internally* “Um… coal… It’s a plate. You seriously thought that would be a good idea?”

Customer: “Also, when the plate cracked, it burned my sofa, so I’ll need you to reimburse me for the sofa.”

The customer sends us photos of the sofa.

We then have a long, drawn-out conversation about how the plate isn’t FOR coal, so we won’t be paying her because she did something like this. She is basically arguing that we don’t specifically state not to put coal on the plates. I explain that this particular plate — as per the package — can only withstand about 50°C (122°F) heat and coal is WAY hotter than that when smouldering.

She doesn’t respond for a couple of days so I figure it is done with. But then I go into the office and a member of the team that deals with letters speaks to me. 

Employee: “Do you have anything from [Customer]?”

Me: “Yeah, but please don’t give her anything; it was misuse.”

They ended up sending her a £150 gift card.

I work in web sales at the head office for a mid-size retailer that has eighty-ish brick and mortar stores and sells widgets that are of a somewhat personal nature — not like that! As we can’t resell it if it’s been used and we don’t have a third-party vendor to return to, our policy is overall generous but very strict: all items must be in the original packaging, unused, and undamaged.

I’m encouraged to help with store-level issues to the best of my ability before transferring them to the store liaison, so when a woman calls me, I tell her she has the wrong department, but I’ll try to help if I can.

The woman has bought two of our accessory pieces as well as a main piece in our store and brought them home. She laid them out to look at them and decided that, while she likes the main piece, she doesn’t care all that much for the accessories. She wants to return them. I ask for more details.

Me: “So, have you taken them back to the store to request a return?”

Customer: “I did, but the manager wouldn’t take them back! And she was super rude. I took my things and told her head office would hear about this!”

Me: “Oh, dear. Which manager was this?”

She names the manager I literally spoke to two hours ago, whom I know to be a genuine sweetheart.

Me: “Okay, and what did she say? Why wasn’t she able to do the return?”

Customer: “My husband threw out the packaging, which wasn’t my fault, but I didn’t know I needed to keep the original packaging. [Corporation #1] and [Corporation #2] take returns without packaging all the time!”

We are not a large corporate entity the likes of [Corporation #1] and can’t absorb losses the way they can.

Me: “Oh, dear. Yes, well, it does say so on the receipt—”

Customer: “Well, she said that and I said, ‘I didn’t look at the receipt!’ And she rudely pointed at a sign on the register, but I shouldn’t be expected to read signs at the register! They should have told me when I bought the items! [Corporation #1] and [Corporation #2] never have a problem with doing these types of returns. She was just completely unwilling to make me a happy customer!”

She goes on quite a bit more, rehashing the same stuff.

Me: “Okay, well, I’m going to have to speak to the manager, and someone will be in touch with you.”

I called the manager and her version pretty well lined up with the customer’s, except that, apparently, the woman was hysterical and screaming at her, but she tried her best to stay calm. We laughed a bit, I reassured her that she had done nothing wrong, and I told her to email her version to her district manager and the liaison and CC me, and I’d fill the liaison in when she was back in the office.

When I told the liaison, I told her, “Read that email chain; we have a customer who wants complaint resolution because… [Manager that the liaison has known for years and has been friends with for most of them] followed corporate policy and did her job. Have fun!”

The liaison sent the woman a polite but firm email saying that they would accept a return this once, but that the manager had been doing her job. We never heard from the lady again.

We do not sell normal textbooks at our store; however, we do sell nursing and some law textbooks. Because of the high price and the fact that each of the textbooks comes with a digital download and CD, all of these are shrink-wrapped. We tell each customer when they purchase these that they cannot return them unless they are unopened, and it has to be within seven business days — seven days shorter than our normal return policy.

A customer comes up to the front with a return and immediately apologizes, stating that this will be the hardest return that I have to do today. I’m bracing myself for the worst kind of return — a book damaged or ripped — and she pulls out one of the nursing textbooks we sell.

It’s still in its packaging, with the receipt taped to the front of the shrinkwrap.

I look up to her and ask my standard questions.

Me: “Was anything wrong with it?”

Customer: “No, I just realized that I’m not cut out for nursing and wanted to return it. I know I’m a bit late with the receipt, so if you can only give me partial credit or nothing at all, that’s fine.”

I quickly scan the receipt.

Me: “You bought this three days ago? The packaging is still unopened. Do you have the card you paid with it on you by chance?”

Customer: “Yes, actually; I was planning on buying some other books.”

Me: “Okay, well, this all looks in order, so if you insert your card, you’ll be getting $156.88 back on your card, but since it’s the weekend, it won’t go back on until Tuesday.”

Customer: “Wait, seriously?”

Me: “Yes, ma’am. You are within the return policy, so you’ll be getting the full amount back.”

Customer: *Nearly in tears* “I didn’t expect that at all! I bought a textbook from the campus, and even though it was unopened, they told me I could only get $30 back. Thank you! You just made my day!”

Me: “Well, I’m glad I was able to help! You are one of the easiest returns I’ve done in a while, so if you could sign this, you can get on your way!”

I hand her a return receipt that comes with a coupon for a BOGO cookie over in our café.

Customer: “What kind of cookie do you like?”

Me: “I think the chocolate chunk is the best, but my coworkers usually say the peanut butter one.”

Customer: “Okay, thank you.”

Ten minutes later, she comes up to me at the register and hands me one of our chocolate chunk cookies.

Customer: “Thank you so much again! I really appreciate it! This is for you!”

Me: “Thank you so much! I didn’t expect that!”

It made my day to see someone who was so sweet get exactly what she deserved!

Related:
That’s The Way The Cookie Gloriously Crumbles

This story is part of our Feel Good roundup for March 2021!

Read the next Feel Good roundup for March 2021 story!

Read the Feel Good roundup for March 2021!

I’ve been working my first retail job for a few months now, and as I usually work at the cash, I’ve gotten my fair share of grouchy customers for one reason or another. This is the first one that makes me so angry that I nearly lose my mind at said customer.

I am finishing checking out a customer when a man comes up to the cash. He stands at the empty cash next to mine, which is totally fine as it is super slow and I am the only cashier right now, and starts looking through the bag he’s holding; it’s a bag from our store so I figure it is a return. When it’s his turn, he explains the situation to me.

Customer: “I bought this Friday past and I’d like to return it, but I think I lost the receipt. I can’t find it anywhere; it’s not in my bag or at my house. Can you still do a return that way?”

Me: “Yes, I can do the return for you, but the way our system works, I’ll only be able to do in-store credit; I can’t put it back on your card.”

Customer: “You can’t even give it to me in cash?”

Because I’ve only ever done maybe two no-receipt returns:

Me: “I might be able to. I’ll try for you.”

I do the return as I’ve been taught to with no receipt. As I do so, he’s pulling up his bank statements on his phone to show me that he did, indeed, purchase the item Friday past. It comes to the final screen where the only option I’m given is to give in-store credit.

Me: “Unfortunately, all I can do is give you back in-store credit.”

Customer: “Even though I showed you that I did actually purchase it?”

Me: “Trust me, sir, I do believe that you bought it. We’ve had no-receipt returns here before, but since we don’t have the receipt information to put into the system, it only gives us the option to give you in-store credit and there’s no way we could override that; not even a manager can.”

He starts to get angry. His girlfriend has joined at this point; she’s much calmer.

Customer’s Girlfriend: “What’s going on? Can you return it?”

Customer: “They won’t give me my money back.”

Me: “It’s the way our system works, ma’am. Without a receipt, I can do the return, but the only way I’m able to give the money back is through in-store credit. There’s nothing else I can do.”

Customer: *Starting to raise his voice* “I don’t understand how I proved that I bought that item and it’s right there in front of you and you’re saying there’s no way I can get my money back. This is bulls***!”

I was starting to get angry. I was starting to shake and I was seeing red. Like I said, I’ve gotten my fair share of rude customers, but something about this guy just sends me to new levels of pissed-off that I have never been to before. While he’s having his hissy fit, there’s a line of people watching this happen starting to form behind him, which is making me even angrier for some reason.

Me: “It’s just the way our system works, sir; there’s nothing I can really do about it.”

Customer: “Yeah, well, it’s bulls***!”

Customer’s Girlfriend: “If he comes back with the receipt, will he still have time to return it?”

Me: “Yes, he has ninety days from the day of his original purchase; he has plenty of time to bring it back and get a full refund on his card or in cash if he has the receipt.”

Customer’s Girlfriend: “We’ll go home and look for it and come back.”

He took the item he was trying to return and left, all the while huffing about the whole ordeal. I was so pissed off that I almost asked if I could go take a break, but my shift was almost over so I decided to tough it out.

He later returned to get the in-store credit and apologized for being grumpy. I told him it was okay and I understood, even though I was still very peeved about the whole situation.

Related:
Will Not Give Them Credit For Trying

A few years back, I was shopping for a Father’s Day gift and decided to buy my dad the DVD of a movie we had seen in theatres about six months before. I went into a chain store well known for its loose return practices and bought it without a problem.

Or so I thought. When I presented it to my father, we realised that A, the plastic wrapping on the DVD case was missing, and B, so was the actual DVD. I took it back to the store, almost certain that they wouldn’t believe my story, but to my surprise, they took the empty DVD case back and refunded me. I bought a sealed DVD and was on my way.

I’m not sure who’s worse: me, for being boneheaded enough to not notice that something was wrong with the first case, or the customer service people for accepting a return that I would have pegged as a scam. I’m pretty sure they thought I was full of s*** but had to follow a “make the customer happy no matter what” policy.