Words Don’t Mean Anything Anymore

I work as a customer service representative at a department store. I greet a customer and start the return process. I scan the receipt and the item.

Me: “You’ll be getting $10.60 back.”

Customer: *Taken aback* “That is not how much I paid for these jeans! I know that I paid full price; just look at my receipt.”

I look at the receipt and there is exactly one item on it, so there is no mistake. She paid $10.60 before taxes for the pants. It says, “Clearance,” in bold with the clearance price printed next to it. There is a clearance sticker on the pants. My total matches the receipt total. I show her, and she can’t find where it says, “Clearance,” even with me pointing. I pull out my highlighter and highlight all the relevant information.

The customer looks at the receipt, now with the clearance price and total highlighted in bright yellow.

Customer: “I know I paid full price!”

Because, apparently, the word clearance doesn’t mean anything.

Me: “Well, this is the receipt, and these are, indeed, the pants you purchased.”

After I spent fifteen minutes explaining receipts, clearance prices, and how totals work, she agreed to take her refund back for the amount that her receipt said… which is what I offered her to begin with.