(I’m called in to talk to my front-end supervisor and the assistant store manager about a customer complaint.)
Assistant Manager: “I received a disturbing call about you from a customer who said that she dropped her cash while paying and you didn’t help her pick it up.”
Me: “Well, no, I didn’t. I was told in training that cashiers aren’t supposed to leave their registers in the middle of a transaction unless there’s an actual emergency. Also, the customer in line behind her did help her pick it up, and three people picking up a few coins seems like overkill to me. Anyway, the only reason that her cash ended up on the ground is because she tossed it at me instead of handing it to me, forcefully enough that the coins bounced off of me and landed on her side of the counter. I’m not in the habit of helping people who disrespect me.”
Supervisor: “[My Name], you need to calm down.”
Me: “I’m calm; I’m just telling you what happened.”
Assistant Manager: “The customer didn’t call to inform me of this because she wanted you to get in trouble.”
Me: “Really? I can’t think of any other reason to call and complain about something so petty.”
Supervisor: “That’s enough! I’ve been at this store almost a year now and you are the only cashier I’ve ever gotten any complaints about from customers!”
(This is an outright lie. Cashiers and baggers at this store talk to each other all the time, and one of the things we all talk about is, “[Supervisor] chewed me out over another BS complaint.”)
Assistant Manager: “You’re probably lying about her tossing the cash, too. I’m sure if I looked at the security camera footage from that day I’ll see she did nothing of the sort.”
Me: “That’s a great idea; let’s go look at it right now. I even remember roughly what time it was.”
Assistant Manager: “We don’t have time for any of that; just sign this write-up so we can all get back to doing our jobs.”
(I refused to sign. Within two weeks of this incident, I had found a new job and given my notice.)