A very popular chain of women’s clothing is sadly going out of business, and all of the different branches are having massive “closing down” sales, so my mother and I go to try and get some bargains.

We arrive at one particular store to see the doors down and the lights off. Expecting restricted opening hours due to the shutdown, we find a sign on the door saying that they should be open until 3:45. It’s a little after 3:00 pm.

Surprisingly, I spot a staff member in the store, so I politely knock on the glass, trying to get confirmation on the closing time. The employee very clearly sees me and, with hand gestures, basically tells me to go away. I manage to mouth to her through the glass that the sign says they should be open for at least another half-hour. Her response is a verbal “I KNOW!” and another shooing gesture to get me to go away.

Gee… I wonder why the stores were shutting with customer “service” like that!

I used to work in a petrol station (I believe you call them gas stations in the USA) in an area that was not fantastic for crime rate.

One night, pretty close to closing (nearing 11 PM), I saw a young male running toward my shop. I thought about locking the doors, but I was younger and less doubtful of people back then.

The young man RAN into the store, went quickly toward a certain aisle, grabbed “an item” and ran to my register. He quickly threw a packet of condoms on the counter, followed by some cash. I quickly scanned the condoms, and reached for the cash, but he had already grabbed the (now scanned) condoms from the counter and high-tailed it for the door, while I processed his sale, without issuing him change (it wasn’t much).

If I’d had time, I would have shouted after him:

Me: “Have a great night! I hope they’re still waiting, mate!”

This dude was super invested in returning as quickly as possible, AND ensuring safe sex was taking place, so KUDOS.

In the early 2000s, I was in my forties and a teacher in a girls’ school. I was walking down a corridor past a class of fourteen-year-olds. This particular room was open on one side to the corridor and, as I walked past, the entire class swiveled around and LOOKED at me.

As you might imagine I was somewhat taken aback, but I just waved at them. Much to my amazement, the entire class burst out laughing and some, quite literally, fell to the floor laughing.

A few hours later, I ran into the teacher for that class in the staff room and asked her what on earth had been going on.

Teacher: “Oh, that was a sex ed class. We were just discussing dirty old men when you happened to walk past and wave…”

I am a regular purchaser at a physical location that does online auctions. I arrive at the office to collect a $12 piece of jewellery, and I have my ID and printed invoice in my hand ready to show the office attendant. (These requirements are clearly outlined in their sale terms.)

It takes me twenty minutes to complete this very simple transaction because the person in front of me is complaining very loudly and arguing with the office staff about needing to produce ID… to collect a $30,000 car.

He had a tow-truck driver with him, also waiting, because he for some reason thought he could collect a $30,000 online purchase without ID.

Related:
No ID, No Idea, No Refund
No ID, No Idea, Part 52
No ID, No Idea, Part 51
No ID, No Idea, Part 50
No ID, No Idea, Part 49

This happened back around 2001. I was being served at one of the two returns counters for a faulty item next to a teenage girl. From what I heard and saw, she was returning two “The Sims” game CDs.

Manager: “How can I help you?” 

Customer: “I’ve had these on layby for ages, and I picked them up yesterday after school. When I got them home, I found that they had the wrong game discs in them, which sucks because I was looking forward to playing them. Can I either get my money back or the proper games, please?”

Manager: “Oh, you’re the third person that’s happened to. We can definitely replace those for you.”

Customer: “Thanks heaps. Just to let you know, my bus leaves in fifteen minutes. If I miss it, I’m going to come back and stand here and chat with whoever is here — staff, customer, or the wall — about nothing for half an hour until the next bus.”

Manager: “Um, okay. Well, we shouldn’t take too long.”

The manager radioed through to the entertainment section, and a staff member quickly brought up two copies of the games. 

Manager: “Here you go. Have a nice afternoon.”

Customer: “Thank you loads!”

She grabbed her items, threw them in her backpack, and took off running toward the entrance leading to the bus station.

I finished my business, and out of curiosity, I hung around near the entrance to see if she came back. She didn’t.