(I work at a video store. A customer is on the far side of the store and yells out to me. He does not hold up the DVD.)
Customer: “Hey man, which Saw is this?”
Me: “Well, what does it say on the cover?”
Customer: “It doesn’t say anything!”
(I walk over to the customer and immediately recognise the problem.)
Me: “That would be Saw 4, sir. ‘IV’ means four.”
(A customer comes in the door and heads straight over to me.)
Customer: “Excuse me, do you all sell pickles?”
Me: “Uh, I’m sorry… do we sell what?”
Customer: “Pickles.”
Me: “Uh… no, we do not.”
Customer: “Darn. I coulda sworn you guys used to sell them here. Ah, well. Where are your blank cassette tapes?”
Me: “Uh, we don’t sell those, either.”
Customer: “Really? Well, what about batteries?”
Me: “No.”
Customer: “Greeting cards?”
Me: “Sir, this is a video rental store.”
Customer: “…So?”
(An older gentleman comes in to return a movie he’s rented the night before. It’s clearly stated on the movie case that it’s a foreign action film that is subtitled in English; there is also the option to have it dubbed over in English or French.)
Customer: “I want a refund on this movie!”
Me: “I’m sorry to hear that! Did it not work?”
Customer: “No, it worked, but it wasn’t in English! I want my d*** money back!”
Me: “The subtitles or dubbing wouldn’t work?”
Customer: “I didn’t even watch it. I want my money back!”
Me: “Oh! I understand. Did you try going into the set up menu to change the language setting?”
(The customer looks at me, confused, so I show him the language options on the back of the case.)
Customer: “I DON’T KNOW! I just want a refund. It was stupid!”
Me: “So… the movie worked… and you didn’t even try to change the settings… and there’s a sign behind me that says if there’s a problem with a movie you have to let us know the same day or no exchanges/refunds… and you want me to give you your money back?”
(With that, the customer goes from being extremely agitated to looking sheepish.)
Customer: “…no.” *leaves store*
This story is part of the Scared-Of-Subtitles roundup!
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(Note: our computers are really old and crash all the time. We aren’t allowed to close the store unless there’s an emergency, so we have paper forms to do transactions by hand when this happens. We’ve also recently hired a new and relatively clueless manager.)
Me: “Oh, crap. Hey [new manager], the computers are down again and rebooting them isn’t working. Can you call comp support so we can get them fixed?”
New Manager: “Oh, sure, just let me lock up the store first.”
Me: “Um, we’re not allowed to lock up the store just because the computers are down.”
New Manager: “If we can’t do business, we have to lock up the store.”
Me: “We do transactions by hand when the computers are down and put them into the computers later.”
New Manager: “But that’s impossible! No one can do business without computers! Business didn’t even EXIST before computers!”
Me: “It’s entirely possible. It just takes a calculator and some patience.”
New Manager: “Well, I’m not doing that s***. I’m going to lock up the store until the computers are up.”
(At this point, the store manager has just come in for her shift and has heard part of our conversation.)
Store Manager: “Actually, you can do transactions by hand or you can be fired.”
New Manager: “You can’t fire me for that!”
Store Manager: “For violating company policy and refusing to do your job? Yes I can!”
(I’m manager on duty tidying up. One of my coworkers walks up to me.)
Coworker #1: “I have a customer who doesn’t want to pay her late fees because she’s ‘righteous’.”
(Baffled, I follow my coworker up to the register and see the customer. Immediately, she speaks to me.)
Customer: “I shouldn’t pay because I’m righteous.”
Me: “I’m… sorry? What happened?”
Customer: “I’m righteous. It’s not right for you to charge me.”
Me: “I’m showing your movie was returned two days after it was due. It was five days, but you had it out for a full week.”
Customer: “You’re not being righteous. I’m righteous. I’m busy out spreading the word of God. I didn’t have time to bring it back. I was being righteous. This isn’t right of you!”
Me: “That’s very good of you, but unfortunately the fees are valid. I’m afraid you will need to pay it in total if you want to rent today. I can’t take it off.”
Customer: “No, I’m a righteous person. You need to do the right thing. This isn’t right of you!”
Me: “Actually, since you knew the due date and that we charge fees, you know that the charge is valid. It wouldn’t be righteous of you to not pay a fee you knowingly incurred.”
Customer: “No, no. I am righteous! This is YOU not doing the right thing.”
(Coworker #2 has been awkwardly standing at his own till with a slight smile frozen in place this whole time. Eventually, the customer notices him.)
Customer: *to Coworker #2* “Don’t you laugh at me. I’m righteous, young man!”
Coworker #1: “He wasn’t laughing at you, ma’am. We’re a very happy crew.”
(The customer glares at Coworker #2 for a while before deciding to pay up and rent, muttering the whole time. The only audible word is “righteous.” Before leaving, she has one more thing to say.)
Customer: “Tell them it’s not righteous. I know it’s not your choice, but it’s not right to do this to me when I’m righteous!”
Me: “Yes, ma’am, I will. Have a good night.”
(Not surprisingly, the customer didn’t return her movies two weeks later, even after repeated attempts to get a hold of her. She ‘righteously’ kept merchandise that didn’t belong to her!)
