Unable To Iron Out The Problems With That Thinking

(I work for a multinational clothing chain. The customer’s daughter purchased a jacket in the UK and went back home to Tenerife where she lives. She discovered that the security tag was still on it.

The annoyed daughter demands some kind of compensation for the hassle as she needs to take the jacket to the store in Tenerife to remove the tag and is really unhappy about the whole situation. Her mother has called to complain and was asked to send the receipt in.)

Me: “Good morning, and welcome to [Chain]. How can we help you today?”

Customer: “Hi, I need to speak to [Manager]; she’s a manager there. I’m supposed to send her a copy of my receipt but I’ve done a very stupid thing… I’ve ironed it and now it’s black and burnt!”

Me: “You’ve ironed it?!”

Customer: “It was all crinkled up! I wanted it to be smooth when I took a picture of it!”

Me: “Well… uh… okay, let me speak to [Manager]. What’s your name?”

Customer: “[Customer].”

(I give the manager a quick call.)

Me: “Hi, [Manager], I have a customer who was meant to send a receipt in to you. She’s called [Customer].”

Manager: “Oh, yes, she said that her daughter bought a jacket, but the tag was still on it; she says her daughter is unable to take the jacket back to the store in Tenerife as she is not close to the store and her daughter does not have the receipt with her to prove she has bought it, but [Customer] does. She was really, really unhappy about it, so I advised that she scan us a copy of the receipt and we would look into it further and maybe get a gift card for the value of the coat to be sent out. I said that we would only do this if she provided us with proof of purchase though, as it’s a goodwill gesture.”

Me: “Oh, well, funnily enough… She wanted to let you know that she is so dumb, she has… ahem… ironed her receipt you asked her to send in and it’s now all black and burnt.”

Manager: “Ha! What an idiot! I was being nice offering her that, anyway; I normally wouldn’t have! What a fool. Okay, well, we can’t help her without a receipt. It was a goodwill gesture but on the condition that she sends that in. Nothing we can do without it!”

Me: *laughs* “Okay, well, I shall enjoy telling her!”

(I take a deep breath and try to control my laughter and feign sympathy.)

Me: “Hi. [Customer], I’ve just spoken to [Manager] and I’m really sorry, but she says that without the receipt, we’re not able to take this further, I’m afraid.”

Customer: “What?! But that jacket is £80! It’s not our fault your store left the tag on!”

Me: “I know and I’m really sorry about that, but unfortunately, we’re now unable to help any further, as we cannot see on our records how much the jacket was or when it was purchased.”

Customer: “Well, I’m very disappointed; you’ve just lost a customer!” *click*