Wish You Could Liquidate Some Customers

(A big department store has recently declared bankruptcy and is closing down. All the stores are now in liquidation. The new prices are clearly marked on the labels and any additional discounts are marked in bright posters all over the store. On top of that, this is pretty big news in general which has been covered by many media outlets. I am shopping with a friend because I have an old gift card that I want to use it before the store closes forever. I am next in line and am browsing the “impulse buy” section. I am standing about five feet away from the customer in front of me, who is at the cash ringing her items through.)

Sales Rep: *tells woman what the total is*

Customer: “No. That’s not right. They were on sale in the flyer.”

Sales Rep: “I understand, and I do apologize. The thing is, we’ve gone into liquidation, so we can no longer honor those prices. As you can see on the tag, this is the liquidation price; plus, there’s a 20% discount.”

Customer: *stares at the employee as if he is speaking in a different language* “What?! But it’s in the flyer!“

Sales Rep: “I can go check with my supervisor and see if I can put it through for the flyer price.” *leaves*

(I continue to browse a rack of flip flops that are behind the customer, four or five feet away.)

Customer: “CAN YOU PLEASE BACK AWAY, JUST LIKE A FEW FEET?”

(I do not realize she is speaking to me, since I am not very close to her and I am within the area blocked off for lining up, and there’s people behind me, so I don’t really have anywhere to move to. I just ignore her and think maybe she’s talking to someone else.)

Sales Rep: *returns* “Hi, so, I can’t make any changes to the liquidation prices.” *begins to explain to her what a liquidation is and why he can’t make any changes*

Customer: “Well, can you just ring it in at the sale price from the flyer, and then ring it in at the liquidation price so that I can see the difference?”

(The sales rep begins ringing through the items to compare prices. I step back into line, away from the flip-flops. I am now three or four feet away from the customer, but I am by no means “too close,” as I am standing in the marked area for the next customer in line to wait. The customer, who is now arguing about what ends up being about a $1 difference between sale price and liquidation price, suddenly turns to me.)

Customer: “CAN YOU PLEASE BACK AWAY FROM ME A FEW FEET?! I CAN’T FOCUS WITH YOU STANDING SO CLOSE!”

Me: *fed up, as we have been waiting on this woman over ten minutes* “Yeah! Okay!”

(I left the line and went to a different cashier elsewhere in the store. I was next in line there, as well, and was done with my transaction in about two minutes. I had to walk past the original register and noticed the same lady was still there, arguing about her store points, with a line of over ten people behind her. Her purchase was just four pairs of socks. Also, the cashier who checked me out told me that customers have gone crazy with the sale; she witnessed a woman slap a complete stranger across the face when she thought she was trying to step in front of her in line.)