Wild Card

(I work at a bargain outlet that has their own membership bonus card. I am on register ringing up a woman and who I’m assuming is her mother. The woman looks to be in her 50s, the mother in her 70s. I ask her for her bonus card and she starts pulling cards out of her wallet, trying to find it.)

Me: “Could it be under a phone number? I can try and look it up for you.”

Customer: *recites the number*

Me: *punches in the number, confirms that’s her information, and gives her the total*

Customer: *stands there and looks at me*

Me: “Will it be cash or card?”

Customer: “I already gave you my credit card.”

Me: “Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am; I don’t remember you handing me a card.”

Customer: *starts digging through her wallet again*

Me: *starts searching around the register in case it got dropped or I picked it up absent-mindedly while looking up her information* “I’m sorry, ma’am. I don’t see it anywhere.”

(I notice that my co-cashier needs my signature on a receipt so I quickly sign it and return it to her register, which is two feet from me. We work back to back almost. Meanwhile, the customer’s mom is getting frustrated)

Customer’s Mother: “What is going on?”

Customer: “I can’t find my credit card.” *still searching her wallet*

Customer’s Mother: “I just saw you have it and hand it to her; where is it?” *starts rooting through her daughter’s purse now*

Me: “I’m sorry, ma’am, I don’t have it.”

(Even though I’m fairly certain I don’t, I check the floors and the countertop to see if it slipped off somewhere, but no luck. The mother starts getting really upset and really loud, claiming over and over again that she just saw her daughter have the card and hand it to me. I’m just standing there, unsure of what to do. I’m about ready to empty my pockets and ask them if they want to see a manager when the customer just pays with cash. I finish the transaction for them and hand them the receipt.)

Customer: “If I happen to find it, I’ll call you and tell you.”

(I take down her name and number in case it shows up, and then I run to my manager.)

Me: “I think I just had a customer accuse me of theft.”

Manager: “Okay, follow me.”

(We went into the front office, and not even five minutes later we got a call saying she’d found her card. Here’s the best part, though: that’s all she said. No apology, no admitting she was wrong, nothing. She basically accused me of stealing her credit card, and didn’t even apologize.)