When You’re Wrong Twice And Still Can’t Make It Right

I work at a corporate coffee shop that is not Starbucks. One of my new hires is ringing up a customer:

Customer: *Tries to pay for his drinks with a Tully’s gift card.*

The new coworker politely hands it back.

New Coworker: “I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t accept competitor’s gift cards.”

Customer: *Yells back.* “What? You aren’t gonna accept my Starbucks card?! Don’t they own you guys now?”

My new coworker looks over at me pleadingly and asks so the customer can hear:

New Coworker: “Starbucks doesn’t own Tully’s or [Our Store], do they?”

Me: *Picking up the gift card and handing it back to the customer.* “Nope. Also that’s not a Starbucks card.”

He looks down at it, probably realizes, but continues to deny the facts before him.

Customer: “You need to accept this card! These guys own you now!”

Me: “Your total is [total]. How would you like to pay?”

Customer: “Cancel my order!”

The drinks were already made during the time it took to deal with this and were subsequently thrown away after he stormed out.