The Price Of Dishonesty

(Our store is running a sale on certain cereals. I had just finished ringing up a customer who purchased some, and have told her the total.)

Customer: “Wait, that can’t be right. The cereal is two for $4!”

(After double checking the register, I look inside the flier.)

Me: “Oh, sorry. These boxes are 18 ounces, and the sale’s only for the 13 ounce boxes.”

Customer: “No it isn’t! They’re the same price over there.”

(The different sizes having the same price was news to me, so I follow her over to the aisle to find that while only one was on sale, both had the same price.)

Customer: “See? This is just dishonest!”

Me: “Well… that seems strange, but only the smaller one is on sale.”

Customer: “I can’t believe you’re doing something this dishonest! I’m reporting this!”

(She takes out her cell phone and begins taking a picture of the price tags.)

Me: “Giving them the same price seems weird, but how is it dishonest?”

Customer: “Because they have the same price! What’s the difference between these two?!”

Me: *confused* “This one’s five ounces larger, but not on sale?”

Customer: “Forget it, I don’t want them anymore.”

(We return to the counter, where a line has started to form.)

Me: “All right, then. That will be [total].”

Customer: “That’s still not right! This item is supposed to be a dollar!”

(She marches back to the shelf and shortly returns.)

Customer: “Never mind, it was the item next to that one that was on clearance.”

(I needed manager approval for all the voided items, so I handed her money back while I started handling the other customers. When we later closed the register, we found it was short by the exact amount she owed. Apparently, she made the manager think I’d held on to her money. For how much she talked about dishonesty…)