Trust The Machines

Earlier this year, I started working in a local grocery store. When this story happened, I was still fairly new to everything, and I wasn’t wearing a headset at the time, so if something were to happen, I’d have to ask a colleague to call someone. We have extra screens that show the customers the items that are scanned and their total, and the registers are shared by two people facing away from each other.

I already know the lady this story is about because the first time she was at my register, she snatched the receipt out of my hand telling me to just put it down. When I see her in the line to my register again, I know I have to make everything perfect.

She comes up, I scan her items — 100 cans of cat food and some other stuff — and I tell her the total. She looks at the screen and then looks at me.

Customer: “That can’t be my total. I calculated it and the register is wrong.”

She then proceeds to recalculate the items in her head — props to her; I couldn’t do this — and tells me the total she comes up with, which is about 4€ less. I’m kind of lost since, if the register tells me the price, I can’t change anything about it.

In comes the manager of the evening, who backs me up, after checking if I did everything right. The customer still says it can’t be and recalculates at least three more times. She asks for the manager not knowing she is already there, then asks for someone higher up. It’s late; the manager is the highest person in the store.

Customer: “I’m going to take the receipt with me. I want my receipt.”

Manager: “You can have the receipt, but you have to pay first.”

She has taken so much time with complaining and recalculating and everything that another customer in line offers to pay the difference. She finally decides to pay, once again snatching the receipt out of my hand, and she leaves.

But the story doesn’t end here.

The next time I work, she comes into the store and directly up to my register while I am scanning another customer’s items.

Me: “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

I am already looking for a way to get someone to help me if she gets rude again, but I get a really pleasant surprise.

Customer: “I came to apologise to you. I calculated wrong and the register was right.”

Then, she proceeded to tell me her life story, which I had to cut short as other customers were waiting. And now, every time I work and she is in the store, she comes to my register and is actually rather nice now.