Your Logic Is Four-lty

(We close at 9. Against our better judgment, my manager and I decide we should answer the phone when it rings around 9:04. I answer. For reference, we are in an outdoor mall and our sister store is maybe six store fronts down from us.)

Me: “Thank you for calling [Store] in [Location]. This is [My Name]. How can I help you?”

Customer: “Yes, I’d like to know why you locked your doors four minutes early.”

(I’m thrown because I watched my manager lock our doors no earlier than 8:59. I hadn’t seen anyone attempt to get inside since then.)

Me: “Oh, uh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know we had, um, I don’t—”

Customer: “I was just over at [Sister Store] and they locked their doors at exactly 9. I came here and you had locked your doors four minutes early. I want to know why.”

Me: “I apologize; I hadn’t realized we had. Unfortunately, now that it’s past 9 our registers are already closed, so even if—”

Customer: “No, I don’t care. I just want to know WHY. WHY did you lock your doors four minutes early? What was the reason? I drove ALL the way over here from [Sister Store] and I you had locked your doors four minutes early. WHY?!”

(I stumble over some words before my manager quietly tells me to have her talk to the customer. She does and tells her that our clocks are reading incorrectly because of a power outage earlier in the week and we must have closed based on that time, which would have been 4 minutes too early. The clock thing is true, but we both wear watches and had our phones… Eventually, my manager convinces her to come into the store to get a coupon in her name. After she hangs up…)

Me: “So she didn’t want anything? She didn’t want to come in now?”

Manager: “Nope, just called to complain and ask WHY.”