These Accusations Will Not Be Televised

(I work in the electronics department. A female customer comes up to the desk I’m standing at, asking to buy a TV. As we’re heading towards the back wall, she keeps repeating that she knows absolutely nothing about TVs, but knows she wants a smart TV — a smart TV means it can connect to the Wi-Fi — even though she doesn’t know what a smart TV is. I help her find the one she wants, and I scan the barcode to get the DPCI number and head to the back to pick up the TV. I’d like to note that each product has a unique DPCI number, and no two items will have the same number unless it’s a children’s toy. I bring it out, and we go through the sale really smoothly with no problems. She even thanks me for being so helpful. About an hour later, a call comes through the department, and I answer it.)

Me: “Hello, thank you for calling [Store]. How may help you?”

Customer: “Hello, I came in earlier to buy a TV, and I was sold the wrong television.”

(She doesn’t seem to recognize my voice. I know for a fact that I sold her the right TV since not only was it the same brand and size, the DPCI number was the exact same.)

Me: “I’m sorry, do you—”

Customer: “I’m just really upset, because I told the girl who was working there that I knew nothing about TVs, and she seemed to want to help, but she disappeared, and then came back with the wrong one!”

Me: “I believe I remember the sale. The TV was a 40-inch [Brand] smart TV, right? Is that not the TV you wanted?”

Customer: “I don’t know. The one I have is [same Brand], but I’m not sure if that was the one I wanted. I know nothing about TVs, and the girl knew that!”

Me: “I’m very sorry that you do not have the TV you want. Fortunately, since you bought it today, you can still return it in store and get a full refund.”

Customer: “But what are you going to do? The TV on the box doesn’t even look like the one I wanted. This is just incredibly unprofessional; that girl completely lied to me. She sold me the wrong TV on purpose; I’m so surprised that [Store] would employ someone so deceitful. It’s really unprofessional.”

(I have to take a moment to calm down after this woman called me a liar and unethical because she didn’t think the picture on the box was right.)

Me: *trying to keep my cool* “I’m sorry, but the only thing I can do, if it is not the TV you wanted, is have you return to the store and get a refund.”

Customer: “But what happened was just extremely unprofessional.”

Me: “Again, I apologize and can only offer a refund. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Customer: “No.”

Me: “Then I hope the rest of your day goes well. Goodbye.”

(I never hung up so fast on a customer in my life. I had to take my break early after that.)