This Customer Is Sole Destroying

I’m working my first week as a part-time shoe salesperson. A woman walks in, and I greet her, the usual retail pleasantries. 

She pulls a shoe off the display.

Customer: “Size seven, please.”

I head to the back to grab it. The moment I step into the stockroom, three coworkers look up like I’ve just stepped on a landmine.

Coworker #1: “Who asked for the size seven?”

Me: “Lady in the blue coat.”

Coworker #2: *Groans.* “Oh no. That’s her.”

Coworker #3: “The tornado.”

Coworker #1: “Huh, she’s early.”

I blink.

Me: “The what?”

Coworker #1: “She’s notorious. Tries on a bunch of shoes, never buys anything.”

I laugh nervously and head back out.

The woman tries on a pair. Then another. And another. She starts building a pile.

Customer: “Do you have this in wide? …What about in black? …Actually, bring me that one in a six-and-a-half. And an eight.”

I run back and forth like a relay athlete. Fifteen pairs of shoes, minimum. She walks in a circle, frowns, sighs dramatically, and shakes her head at each one. 

Then, without a word, she stands up, grabs her purse, and walks out the door.

No purchase. No thanks. No goodbye.

I’m just standing there next to a mountain of rejected footwear.

Me: “She… walked me.”

Coworker #3: *Pats my shoulder.* “Don’t worry. She walks everyone.”

Coworker #1: “You’ll see her again next week. So now you know.”

Me: “What is up with her?”

Coworker #2: “We think she’s just bored. She likes making us run around for her. We complained once, and our manager explained to her that she needs to buy something if she wants to continue to get service from us.”

Me: “So… does she?”

Coworker #2: “Yeah. Once a month.”

Coworker #1: “And a week later, she returns it.”

Coworker #3: “Today is week three. Next week, she’ll actually buy something. Then it resets to week one, and she comes in with the return, but still wastes an hour of our time trying on other shoes.”

Me: “And she hasn’t been banned?”

Coworker #1: “Corporate sees that she buys a pair of shoes a month, which actually puts her in ‘loyal regular customer’ status. It doesn’t matter that they’re not profiting off of her, in fact she’s costing us money based on the amount of time she takes up. But corporate doesn’t see that, or doesn’t care. Honestly, I think she kinda knows she’s bulletproof at this point. I mean, who needs to come into a shoe store weekly? It’s gotta be a power move.”

Next week comes along, and d*** it, my coworkers are right. She made a purchase.

Week after that? A return. They looked very unhappy being very right.