I work at an anime store where we sell replica weapons from anime. I had a guy come in on Sunday the week before Halloween.
Customer: “My kid wants to be Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7. I want you to try and find him Sephiroth’s sword from the game. I need it to be exact dimensions, and I want it before Halloween.”
We don’t even do custom orders or look up where people can find other anime replicas; we just sell them.
I booked a two-day stay in California, but I booked the return flight for 5:00 in the morning instead of the evening. I go to the airport at about 3:00 pm to get my flight out. I go through security and go down to the gate and there is no activity at the gate. I check the schedule board and realize the mistake I made.
I go back to the airline desk and tell the agent what happened.
Me: “I don’t care if you send me all over the place if I can just get back to my home tomorrow.”
Agent: *Looking up flights* “I have something for about $800.”
Me: “That is fine. I’ll take it.”
Agent: *Continues looking* “There is another flight that goes through [Airport] for about $300.”
Me: “That’s great. I’ll take it. You’ve already saved me $500!”
The agent continues typing on the computer and hands me a ticket at no charge.
Me: *Almost speechless* “Thank you so much! I can’t believe it.”
I wrote a letter to the airline thanking them for being so nice when I was the one who couldn’t manage to book my own flight correctly.
I work in a men’s clothing store known for huge discounts and sales. Our business took a huge hit with the work-from-home movement, so the savings now are tremendous to push through the extra inventory we are stuck with.
A guy and his wife come in on a Saturday evening to get a couple of suits as he put on some weight recently. He wants to know the price of the suits he selected.
Me: “The suits you have here are each $199.”
Customer: “No, no, no. How much are they on sale for?”
Me: “That’s the sale price. $199.”
Customer: “Well, how much can I get them for?”
Me: “Still $199.”
Customer: *Deep sigh* “Okay… When you look up my account and see how much I’ve spent here, how much will they be?”
Me: “Still $199. As the store manager, I cannot do better than that price as it has never been that low in the past year.”
Customer: “Okay… Whatever, I need them, so I guess let’s get them.”
We got up to the register and I asked for his phone number to look up his account. We tried his home, cell, and work number, and even his wife’s cell, but no account came up. Turns out it’s been about five years since he last shopped with us, so his account was automatically removed from the system. People frustrate me with throwing around how much they spend somewhere as a means of getting a better deal.
A customer comes in with some family members in tow and starts yelling about how her phone is broken and she’s on vacation and needs a new one. The phone is older and still has a removable battery. The phone isn’t actually broken; the battery just doesn’t last as long as the customer wants it to.
Me: “Do you use all of these apps? It looks like some of them take up a lot of battery and constantly run in the background. If you are able to remove any of them or just close them when not in use, that may help save your battery life.”
Customer: “Absolutely not! I use all these apps. I can’t get rid of any of them. The battery is just garbage. You need to give me a new phone!”
Me: “Well, the good news is that it looks like it’s just the battery that’s bad, and there’s a battery store across the parking lot. I know they stock this type of battery and it will only cost you about $20!”
Customer: “You’re just trying to palm me off on someone else! You just don’t want to help me! You think I’m a problem and want me to be someone else’s problem! You have to give me a new battery!”
Me: “Ma’am, I’m not trying to palm you off on anyone. We don’t carry batteries, but the store right across the parking lot, about thirty feet away, will be able to help you with a replacement.”
Customer: “You have to fix this now!“
My manager comes out to see what all the shouting is and the customer continues demanding a battery. My manager goes to the back to see if we have anything that would work with the phone, but we don’t.
Me: “Well, you also have the protection plan. If you don’t want to replace the battery, I can overnight you a new phone for free. It will be shipped directly to you!”
Customer: “No, that is absolutely unacceptable. I cannot wait that long. I need a new phone now! You have to give me a battery or a new phone. You are just trying to send me away!”
Me: “Well, if you don’t want to pick up a new battery across the lot or have a new phone shipped overnight to you, the other option would be to pay this phone off and purchase a new one. We can get you the same type of phone or a newer one, whichever you’d prefer.”
Customer: “Fine! Just go get me a new phone!”
I go back and grab the new phone and see that she has just purchased her current phone, which is $350, and she hasn’t made any payments. I brace myself for what’s coming.
Me: “Here’s the new phone. In order to purchase this today, you will have to pay off your current phone, and there is an upgrade fee of $40 plus taxes, so your total today for the new phone will be $420.”
She throws her debit card at me.
Customer: “You’re crooks! You’re just trying to take all my d*** money! All you want is my money! You should just give me a phone! I can’t believe you’re actually charging me for this!”
I quickly process the payment and hand her the new phone.
Me: “It should activate on its own when you turn it on. Let us know if you have any problems with it!”
The customer’s family just stood in the back, quiet, the whole time. One of them tried briefly to calm her down but gave up pretty fast. I’m still shocked she decided to pay $400 for a new phone on the spot rather than spend $20 on a new battery or even get a replacement phone for FREE. Luckily, she came in right at close and we were able to lock the doors so she couldn’t come back in. I never saw her again.
Related:
About To Get Charged With Battery, Part 8
About To Get Charged With Battery, Part 7
About To Get Charged With Battery, Part 6
About To Get Charged With Battery, Part 5
My husband and I temporarily lived with his parents for a few months while we waited to be able to move into our new place. We did pay them rent, and I helped with cleaning and cooking while my husband helped with projects around their house. A majority of our belongings were in storage.
Father-In-Law: “Hey, do you still have that fancy blender you got for a wedding present?”
Me: “Yes, why?”
Father-In-Law: “I have a coworker who needs a blender, and since you’re not using it, I told him he could have it.”
Me: “Why did you do that? We’re not currently using it because it’s in the storage unit, but we will be using it once we move to the new place.”
Father-In-Law: “You’re not using it now, so you have no need for it anymore.”
Me: “We will be using it eventually. We’re not giving it away.”
Father-In-Law: “But I told him he could have it.”
Me: “Are you going to buy us a new one if we give ours away?”
Father-In-Law: “No.”
Me: “Well then, you’re going to have to untell him, because it wasn’t yours to give away.”
He later brought it up to my husband and my husband had the same response. He was ticked at us and ended up giving his coworker one of the blenders they owned, but he told us how we had embarrassed him when he had to give his coworker a lower-end blender. They tried a few more times to get us to give away our things to someone they knew. When we refused, they told us we were ungrateful. We were very happy once we were able to move out.
