They’re Discounting Your Explanation

(I work at a self-serve movie theatre, and as everybody knows, concessions can be pricey since theaters typically only make a few cents per ticket. Because of this, I get a lot of guests that make outraged comments about our prices, though we always offer the opportunity to sign up for a loyalty card to get them 10% off of each order. One day, a particularly bold guest is asking about the prices of concessions items.)

Guest: “How much is the popcorn?”

Me: “It’s [amount] for the regular with taxes, and fifty cents between each size. The drinks are the same.”

Guest: “Wow, that’s not too bad.”

(She walks around for a bit, then starts taking out different bags of popcorn from the warmers and inspecting each one closely and putting them back in. When this happens, we typically have to throw them away to prevent cross-contamination. She then approaches the concessions counter, earning the usual talk from my coworker.)

Guest: “Can I have a fresh one?”

Coworker: “Actually, since we’ve just opened, all of the popcorn in the warmers and the popper were made at the same time, just a few minutes ago. The ones from the warmers are probably better since they’re kept hotter than the popcorn in the popper.”

Guest: “I’m pretty sure that’s from last night. Give me a fresh one.”

(Rather than arguing, she makes her a fresh one, and the guest comes over to my cash.)

Me: “Hi! Do you have a loyalty card with us? It’ll give you 10% off your purchase.”

Guest: “Yes, I do!”

Me: *scans card* “That’ll be [total], please.”

Guest: “What? I thought you said it was [significantly smaller amount]!”

Me: “I’m sorry, I believe I said it was [correct amount]. If you’d like to switch this for a smaller size, I can definitely do that for you.”

Guest: “No, I’ll take this one. Are you sure you can’t make it cheaper?”

Me: “I’m sorry, I can’t do that.”

Guest: *suggestively* “I think you can.”

Me: “I’m sorry, I can’t. That’ll be [total].”

(She then glared at me, but proceeded to pay, anyway. During the movie, I noticed that she came out with a half-empty bag and walked right into the manager’s office — not even lower employees are allowed in without permission — while the door was closing behind a manager, to complain that the popcorn was burnt and that she wanted a new one, and also that the cashiers need to be better trained. My manager came out and told me all of this, and said that her popcorn wasn’t even burnt! Some people are so desperate for free stuff.)