I am calling a customer who maxed out their credit card within the first month of having it but hasn’t made a single payment back in the last four months.

Customer: “Hello?”

Me: “Hello, is this [Customer]?”

Customer: “Yeah… what do you want?”

Me: “This is [Credit Card Company] calling about your account with us. It’s currently overdue for a payment, and—”

Customer: *Click*

No surprises there. I call back to give the customer the benefit of the doubt that it was an accidental disconnect. When I call back, I get an older-sounding man on the phone.

Customer’s Dad: “This is [Customer]’s father, and I will not have you scammers harassing my daughter! Lose this number now, or I am calling the police!”

Me: “Sir, I can assure you that I am not a scammer. I am calling from [Credit Card Company] about your daughter’s account. I can’t discuss any matters with you about this as an unauthorized user, but again, I can assure you that this isn’t a scam.”

There is a moment of silence, and then I can hear the father speaking to his daughter.

Customer’s Dad: “Did you get a credit card with [Bank]?”

Customer: “Yeah, but they said it was interest-free! I shouldn’t have to pay that back!”

Customer’s Dad: “That’s not what…”

There is the sound of a massive sigh from the father, and I can almost see him face-palming as he processes this information.

Customer’s Dad: “You still have to pay the money back. Interest-free just means there’s a period where they won’t charge interest while you pay it back.”

Customer: “Nuh-uh, Sharon told me it means you don’t have to pay it back.”

Customer’s Dad: “Sharon doesn’t have two brain cells to throw together.”

The customer’s dad returns his attention to me and asks if I can tell him information about the situation if his daughter authorizes him over the phone. I say I can, and he gets her to do so.

I then explain how the credit card was maxed out within ten days of activation and now needs to start being repaid.

Customer’s Dad: “How was she authorized for a credit card in the first place?! She doesn’t even have a job!”

Me: “She marked herself as employed when she made the application, and our records indicate that she received monthly payments for the last three months that matched her stated salary.”

Customer’s Dad: “Were those salary payments from [Company]?”

Me: “They were.”

Customer’s Dad: “She was fired from that job for not showing up. She hasn’t worked for months.”

Me: “That is unfortunate, and we can discuss an extension of her payment plan if that is the case, but I’m afraid we do need to settle on a confirmed plan today to stop her account from moving into debt collection.”

He turns his attention back to his daughter.

Customer’s Dad: “[Customer], you need to start paying this card back. How much can you start paying back today?”

Customer: “I have like… $3 in my account.”

Customer’s Dad: “I’m not loaning you any money.”

Customer: “But Daaaad! Make them go away! They’re giving me anxiety!”

Customer’s Dad: “You went ahead and signed up for a credit card under your own name, maxed it out, and ignored it? I can’t make them go away! I can’t make them do a d*** thing! You need to go out and get a job and pay it back.”

Customer: “But that’s not faaaaair!”

Customer’s Dad: “You’re eighteen; you’re an adult now. Welcome to the real world.”

He handed the phone back to his daughter, who started crying as I tried to go through the legal specifics with her. In the end, we came up with a plan to call her again next week so she could aim to have a source of income, and then we would discuss a new payment plan. 

The credit card was only for about $1,000, so not a huge sum, but enough to hopefully teach her some financial responsibility in the future!

Related: 
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 116
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 115
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part… *Quiet Sobbing*
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 114
This Is Why We’re In A Recession, Part 113

Today was Thanksgiving, and our store was one of the few places in our area that was open. The main grocery store and the convenience stores were closed, so it was just us and some pharmacies. Because of this, we were extremely busy with people who had forgotten stuff they needed.

At one point, we had a group of three teenagers and one older guy, maybe an uncle, come in and start awkwardly standing around the front registers. Teenagers almost always cause problems here, so rather than approaching, I made eye contact with one of them. She immediately turned away and started whispering to her friend. I assumed they didn’t need help and went back to working in my aisle.

A few minutes later, my manager was having a conversation with me, and the girl I’d made eye contact with came up to me.

Girl: *Yelling* “Excuse me! I need help getting my pictures off this!”

She held up a disposable camera.

Me: “Okay. I just need to find an envelope that you can fill out to send it for processing.”

I started digging around behind the counter, and I heard her telling her friends that she didn’t think I was right.

That’s when the guy she came in with told me they thought I was wrong.

Guy: “She says if you help her, she can connect the camera to her phone with Bluetooth and download the pictures onto her phone.”

Me: “There is no way to do such a thing. We usually mail disposable cameras out of state for film processing, and then the pictures are digitally sent back to us to print.”

Guy: “How long does that take?”

Me: “Usually a few weeks.”

Behind him, the girl started throwing a fit that it wouldn’t be done today and stomped off.

The funniest part of all this to me is the fact that they actually thought disposable cameras had Bluetooth.

As a cashier in a small convenience garage (gas station), I get a lot of children from the neighbouring schools. A lot of kids now have their own debit cards, and occasionally, I get the odd kid who doesn’t understand when the card declines. But by far the most noticeable difference between these kids and me when I was their age is that they have no clue how to count change. When I state the total due, they will look at the handful of change that they have in bewilderment and then hand me all of it to count it out for them.

I had one young customer who was totally confused by what I was asking him for. For an idea of what I mean, I often say, “oh,” where the zero goes when saying the cash amount. His total for his candy was £1.06.

Me: “That comes to one-oh-six, please.”

Boy: “What?”

Me: “One pound and six pence please.”

Boy: “What do you mean?”

Me: “Your total comes to one pound and six pence.”

Boy: “Sorry, but I have no idea what you mean.”

I take all the change from his hand.

Me: “You have to give me one full pound and six pence.”

I show him the pound, a five-pence coin, and a penny.

Me: “See? One pound…” *points to the coin* “…and a five pence and a penny make the total of money that I need for the till. Okay? One-oh-six.”

He shakes his head in confusion and walks away.

Boy: *Mumbling* “I have no idea what happened…”

He was at least seventeen years old, and it just baffled me that he hadn’t got a clue how to count change. The “one-oh-six” thing is often used over here in stores, so I can’t say that is why he was confused.

Two teenage girls are making a large purchase (lots of flashy designer items), and the total comes to almost $3,000. They hand over an American Express card to pay for it, and I notice the card has a man’s name.

Me: “Is this you?”

Customer: “No, that’s our dad.”

Me: “Is he around?”

Customer: “Oh, he died yesterday. I’m just trying to max out his credit card before we report it.”

Me: *Instant look of horror* “Why would you tell me that?!”

Customer: “You’re minimum wage! Why should you care? I work in a [Dollar Store] and let people get away with all kinds of s***.”

Me: “I’m a manager, and you realize I’m gonna have to report this now, right?”

Customer: “Why you gotta ruin all our fun?”

Me: “Fun?! Your dad just died!”

Customer: “Noooo, he died yesterday. Weren’t you listening?”

Me: “I listened to the part where you admitted to committing fraud and the non-reporting of a dead body.”

Customer: “Fraud? What fraud?” 

Me: “Dead people can’t use credit cards.”

Customer: “He’s not using it. I am!”

She just… didn’t get it. She still didn’t get it when the police were escorting them away. 

Related:
The More You Read The Worse It Gets, Part 17
The More You Read The Worse It Gets, Part 16
The More You Read The Worse It Gets, Part 15
The More You Read The Worse It Gets, Part 14
The More You Read The Worse It Gets, Part 13

I’m a sports coach for teenagers who want to swim but don’t want to do competitions. They just want to swim, swim hard, swim a lot, and swim even more. The group I teach has an average age of seventeen years old, and I’ve taught most of my students for over five years. 

Teaching them can be challenging, as they get bored easily, so I try to make each lesson different from the other one. And if we all have an off day, we just take it easy. 

This time, I decide to see if the kids are up for some childish fun. I make assignments like “If the letter E is in your name, you do [this], and if there isn’t, you do [that],” or, “If there’s black in your swimming gear, do [this], and if not, do [that].” I manage to find combinations where most of the time, half does [this] and the other half does [that]. The kids surprisingly like it a lot.  

As a final assignment, I decide to be cheeky. For the sake of the story, let’s say my name is Amy. 

Me: “All right, last assignment. Just imagine the most beautiful name you know, one you would love to be called yourself. Don’t say it out loud; keep it to yourself! Now… if this name contains an A, an M, or a Y, you do [this]; otherwise, you do [that].”

Most kids don’t hesitate and just do either assignment. One, however, stays behind. 

Me: “Something the matter?

Student: “Aren’t we a bit arrogant today? *Big grin* 

Me: “I was hoping the others would have noticed, as well, but it seems you are the only one! So, as a reward, you may do whatever you want.”

Student: “Nah, I’ll just do [this assignment].”

I love teaching these kids.