(A customer comes up to my register with a game that’s priced at $40.)

Me: “All right, sir, your total is—“

Customer: “Hey, that game is supposed to be $20! Why is it ringing up for $40?!”

Me: “Well, sir, if you’d look at—“

Customer: “No, I don’t want excuses! I want you to fix it now!”

Me: “Sir, please, if you just look at—“

Customer: “Where is the game? That price tag said $20!”

Me: *shows game* “Actually, the game is labeled as $40, but—“

Customer: “You must have switched the games to show a higher price! I demand that—“

Me: “SIR! If you would look at the display, the game is showing up as $15! You are getting more of a discount than what you are asking for. If you are adamant about paying $20, then I would be happy to adjust the price. Do you want me to do that?”

(The man finally looks at the display. He goes quiet and his face goes red.)

Customer: *mumbling* “I’ll take the $15.”

(He was silent for the rest of the transaction, then snatched the bag and ran out.)

(Recently, my store ran a buy-two-get-one-free deal on our games. The day after the deal ends, an older woman enters the store to return two games. When I look at her receipt, I instantly notice that the games were the two she had gotten free. I sense this is going to go badly, so I refund the warranties she got with the games, as well, to give her a little back.)

Me: “All right, ma’am. Your return is $3.”

Customer: “Excuse me? I spent $20 on those games. There’s no way the return is just $3.”

Me: “Well, ma’am, you bought these games during our buy-two-get-one-free sale. These were both the games you got for free.”

Customer: “My total bill was $20! I want that back! Why won’t you do that for me?” *turns to the long line behind her* “Do you believe these people? This is ridiculous!”

Me: *fed up* “You paid nothing for these games, so you should get nothing back. You are getting $3 for the warranties you spent. If you don’t like it, take the games back with no refund.”

Customer: *scoffs* “That is not how this should work. They don’t like these games, so I’m not keeping them. Just take them.”

(I processed the refund and the woman left while complaining about how we SHOULD do refunds on free items.)

(One of my mom’s friends has picked me up from work but makes a quick stop at a video game store to look for a gift for her son, who is turning 12.)

Mom’s Friend: “You play games, right? Got any suggestions?”

Me: “[Kid] has a 3DS, so the new Pokémon games are pretty good. You could always get him one of the LEGO games, too; those are fun.”

(She suddenly notices a big display for “Assassin’s Creed: Origins,” which just came out a few days ago.)

Mom’s Friend: “I think he mentioned wanting that one!”

Me: “Oh, that’s definitely not a good choice at his age.”

Mom’s Friend: “Why not?”

Me: “I’ve only put a few hours into it, but it’s very violent and there’s a lot of blood, plus there’s a good bit of bad language, not to mention a few topless women. I mean, you play as an assassin, so basically, the entire goal is to kill people.”

Mom’s Friend: “Oh, are you sure? He said it was a fun adventure game.”

Me: “Yep, I’m sure. I mean, it is technically a fun adventure game, just not one appropriate for kids.”

Mom’s Friend: *looking at the box* “But look, it’s in ancient Egypt, so it might teach him about history!”

Me: *flipping the box over to show her the M rating, which lists all the reasons I had tried to deter her* “Maybe, but he’ll run into all this stuff along the way.”

Mom’s Friend: *heading toward the counter* “I’m getting it. You’re a girl; I’m sure you wouldn’t play anything that bad.”

(While she’s paying, I ask the cashier if he considers the game appropriate for a preteen.)

Cashier: “Probably not.” *shows us the rating* “As you can see, there’s a lot of content that could be a problem.”

Mom’s Friend: “It’s okay. I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

(I later found out she made her son turn it off after the first cut-scene and immediately returned it.)

(My local game store used to run a price match for other stores, but recently stopped doing it due to fraud.)

Me: *to cashier* “Um… Could I please get a price match for this game?” *holds up game*

Cashier: “No, sorry, we stopped doing that about a month ago”

(As he says this he looks prepared to be yelled at.)

Me: “Oh, okay… It’s only a few dollars, anyway.”

Cashier: *surprised* “You didn’t yell at me?”

Me: “No… Why would I?”

Cashier: “Most people who come in unaware that we stopped the price match yell at us. I’ve had about three people today; one of them even threw the game at me.” *points to bruise on his arm*

Me: “Wow, some people. Oh, well, only a few dollars difference, anyway. I’ll buy it at full price; could you please ring this up?”

Cashier: “And she’s polite! You are by far the best customer I’ve had all week.”

(To the cashier: you are awesome, and I hope that all the mean and nasty customers have stopped by now.)

In the video game store where I work, I have a couple of regular costumers that come once or twice a week: a mother and her son, about seven years old. I especially know them because they always ask for Lego games and the mom plays with her son… and they are fairly good, too.

Our store also has a special promotion with the receipts; for every hour you play, we put a seal on your receipt and when you get ten seals total, you get a free hour.

The mom and child couple have gathered the ten seals and ask for their game, though the kid’s mom tells me they have something important to do and to tell her in half an hour so they can go. She assumes once that half an hour is done and they leave, that means she can’t redeem the rest of the promotion.

I tell her to not worry; she can return when she’s done and she can play the half-hour she has left. She seems pretty happy about this.

So, they leave after the first half-hour and they return later in the day. As I promised, I’m honoring her deal and giving her the half-hour she missed. To my surprise, she’s come with a cup of coffee she gives me as thanks. It’s been a really cold day, so it really hits the spot. It was a simple gesture, but really made my day.