I work in a shoe store. The ground floor is exclusively women’s shoes and upstairs is men’s and kids.
I am quite ill and it’s very clear from my looks and voice. Most customers treat me nicely because I have a babyface and basically look fourteen, and looking sick helps too with people going a little easy on me.
I am stationed on the ground floor doing register while my manager helps customers and does other floor duties. It’s quite a busy Saturday.
A male customer puts two pairs of women’s sneakers and a men’s cap on my counter. After checking the sizes, I put them back in the box, not folding them back in the tissue paper though, as most customers don’t care and most of our boxes have the paper crumpled up anyway from people trying the shoes on.
Customer: *Immediately condescending* “No, no, no! You’re not doing it right! You gotta put them in right!”
He unboxes them again, folding them in the paper and stuffing them in the wrong way so they don’t even fit properly, all the while berating me for not doing my work properly in a condescending tone. I am already done with this man for treating me like a child.
Me: “Yeah, sure, sir.”
This process repeats with the second pair because I don’t fold them in the paper neatly enough. I scan the two pairs of shoes, €25 each, and the cap, which is €15.
Me: “Your total is €65, sir.”
Customer: *Frowning* “Huh, that’s not right.”
I give a short explanation of how I came to that price by adding the two pairs of shoes and the cap together.
Customer: “Oh, no, I got this cap upstairs together with these flip flops! You weren’t supposed to scan the cap!”
He shows me one of our store bags which indeed contains flip flops. At this point, I’m not sure why he’d have a bag but not put his cap in it, and I’m also not sure about why he’d put it on the counter with the rest of his purchase where I’d obviously scan it. Note that in no way I’m being accusatory in this next part, just following policy.
Me: “Oh, no problem. Would you mind showing me your receipt so I can just check it?”
Customer: *Immediately yelling, very angrily* “I don’t have to do that! You have no right! I paid for this! You’re not doing your job right! You don’t even know what you’re doing! I paid for this!”
Me: *Very calmly* “Sir, I just calmly asked to see your receipt. May I please see it? It is not an abnormal question; we ask customers for their receipt more often just to check. I really just quickly need to check it; there is no issue.”
The customer repeats over and over that he doesn’t have to, that I’m rude and a bad employee, that I don’t know what I’m doing, etc., probably just trying to intimidate me.
Me: “Sir, I respectfully asked you to show your receipt. I expect you to treat me with respect also. I did not ask you to do anything unreasonable.”
The customer sputters something about me not being respectful and the same lines about not having to show his receipt.
His fellow customers in my line are giving him the ”Oh, man, what are you doing?” look. The lady directly behind him stares at me pitifully and shakes her head every time I argue with him again about how I am not being unreasonable. My manager, an older man, arrives a bit late because he was on the busy floor and didn’t notice the aggressive man screaming in my face for the last two minutes.
Manager: “What’s going on here?”
The customer magically produces the receipt! Seriously, I have no clue how he got it so fast, and exactly upon the introduction of my manager.
Customer: “Here, I paid for this.”
He remains more calm and respectful to my manager. I relay to the manager shortly what happened, while he stays next to me because obviously, the tension is still incredibly high.
I complete his now €50 transaction, a procedure we could have had done and over within two seconds if he hadn’t been so defensive.
The customer throws money at me over the counter while pointedly look the other way. I bag his stuff and put the receipt in the bag. Normally, I give it to customers separately, partly so they don’t lose it and can stick it somewhere safe for possible returns or bookkeeping, and partly because it gives me a chance to offer them a last smile as a little customer service, but this man revoked his right to either of those.
The customer is even angrier now if possible, digging into the bag.
Customer: “You’re supposed to give it to me in my hand! In my hand! What if I lose it or if someone steals it to return?”
Me: “I’m not going to give you your receipt nicely in your hand when you throw your money at me.”
My manager moved from behind the counter then to physically usher the man out of the store whilst he was still berating me for basically being awful, horrible, disrespectful, etc. The relief was so strong I just started shaking like a leaf as soon as he was gone.
Later, I heard from another coworker that the guy had also been condescending to her, so I suspect this man is used to bullying women but has no backbone in the face of another man, and that’s why he immediately caved once my manager showed up.
