TalesFromRetail

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Alas_PoorRachel on 2024-12-26 20:21:45+00:00.

Over a decade ago now, I worked the customer service desk for a large chain department store. We primarily handled returns, about 95% of which were run-of-the-mill transactions, 4% were unusual, and 1% were absolutely wild. This one was part of the 1%.

But first, a brief description of the return process: To make a return, I could use the receipt itself, or look up the transaction by scanning the purchasing credit card, both a store card or other major card (Visa, MasterCard, etc.). The refund would then be issued back to the original card, or, upon request, as a Merchandise Credit. Cash was only an option if used as original tender or to refund a debit card purchase.

In the event of a customer not having their receipt or purchasing card available, a Merchandise Credit was automatically issued, at the lowest refund amount possible. Use of a receipt or purchasing card ensured a refund of the full price paid.

What this particular customer wanted to return is of no importance, and anyway I have long since forgotten. However, what I will never forget, is how she wanted me to complete her return.

You see, she had made the purchase some time ago on Credit Card A, as shown on her receipt. She had then closed Credit Card A, and opened a new card, Credit Card B. Ms. Customer wanted me to scan her receipt, ensuring her the full refund amount, but instead of crediting her refund to Credit Card A, apply the credit to Credit Card B.

Apparently she believed that I could just type the new card information into my magical computer, and she'd be on her merry way, easy peasy lemon squeezy. She could not understand why that wasn't an option, and she did not want the only alternative, which was to process the full refund as a Merchandise Credit. In spite of my best attempts to inform her that I couldn't do what she was asking, and why she shouldn't want that capability on my end, Ms. Customer thought I just didn't have the clearance, and wanted me to get My Manager.

Who told her the same thing.

Sadly, I don't remember what Ms. Customer ended up deciding, though I'm assuming she took the full Merchandise Credit in the end. I do remember what I told my manager, as we watched Ms. Customer walk out the door: "If I could have done what she was asking me to do, I definitely wouldn't be working in retail...."

Edited to add: Ms. Customer seemed to believe I had the skills to "hack " the computer to do what she wanted, which is why I made the working in retail comment.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Internet_Hugs on 2024-12-22 00:39:20+00:00.

Way back in 2000 I was an adorable, naive 19 year old working retail at a picture framing place. The management of our little shop consisted of our Manager Jenny, the Assistant Manager Nick, and me the "Third-Key". (For those who don't know, a Third-Key is literally that... a third person with keys. I had the ability to open and close the store and act as manager-on-duty, but if Jenny or Nick was there then I was just a regular employee. (Names changed to protect the not-so-innocent.)

Jenny was an amazing manager, middle aged but cool. She'd had a LOT of fun in the 70s

and wasn't shy about telling us her hilarious stories. She was also kind of like the shop mom, she made cookies and was always very in-tune with people's emotions. She always knew the right thing to say to make me feel better, and she was a fountain of real-world wisdom. Everybody LOVED her.

She was also an artist, and her work was starting to pick up steam. That combined with the onset of some health issues made her decide that retail work just wasn't for her anymore. We were all really sad, but definitely understood.

Now Nick was just a college kid and definitely didn't want (or really qualify) to be promoted to Manager, so corporate brought in a Manager-In-Training to work as a fourth member of the management. Let's call him Steve. Steve was weird. He was a huge white guy but dressed in clothes that looked like they'd come from Bill Cosby's wardrobe. LOUD sweaters in Arizona heat. I was basically a Golden Retriever puppy and tried to chat with him while teaching him the ropes when it was my turn to have him shadow me, but he just wouldn't engage. It's not just that, but he would stare at me while I worked. Just sit in the office chair and stare. I tried to chalk it up to him just being awkward, but it was creepy. Even when I was trying to teach him something he would barely interact. When he did talk it was usually about how amazing he was at his last job and how low the pay was for managers in our company. Uh duh, it's retail.

Okay, so on to the meat of my story. Remember when I said that Jenny was having issues with her health? She called me one Saturday afternoon when I was off and asked if I'd come fill in for her. Of course I did, and ran down to the shop to relieve her. She was having a really bad day and I was happy to close for her. I also worked the next day, Sunday, and the day after that, Monday. That Monday our district manager came in while I was M.O.D. and we got chatting. Like I said, I was basically a chatterbox so this wasn't unusual. He asked me how Steve was doing and I tried to diplomatically tell the guy Steve was a dud, using the example that on Saturday when I relieved Jenny he had just sat in the office or wandered the floor the whole night. The D.M. seemed a little startled, but not about the guy's behavior but by the fact that Jenny hadn't been in the store after 3 pm.

After being in our store for about six weeks Steve started swapping out with another store in the neighboring city and acting as M.O.D. by himself. Steve was thrilled because he actually lived in this other city, and the rest of us just assumed this was part of his training.

Not so much.

Turns out that there'd been a whole lot of "shrink" happening at our store. A huge uptick in people paying with credit card and then coming back later and getting a cash refund. Back then if you did a return on a credit card or debit it took a few days for the money to show back up in the account. If people got mean about it we could do a cash refund, but it had to be approved by a member of the management by signing in with their register code and using their key. Thousands of dollars worth of returns were being done in cash, multiple times a day, when before we'd have maybe one or two a week. What's worse is that it appeared that Jenny was the one doing all these returns.

They seemed to think that Jenny was taking all she could get before she retired. That is, until I told the D.M. about filling in for Jenny. Apparently a very large ($750) credit card transaction had been returned that night around 7 pm and Jenny's code was the one used. When I said she wasn't even there, in my naive way I had saved her.

It turns out that Jenny had just given Steve her register code to train him because it took a few days for him to get his own because of some computer glitch at corporate. After my offhand remark they took a closer look at our old schedule on paper (the management team didn't clock in and out) and realized that half these returns were happening on days when Jenny wasn't even there. So they switched Steve to the store in the other city which had a better surveillance system and caught him using another employee's code to pull the same trick, as well as flat out pulling cash from the till.

I'm not sure what the actual charges were, but from what I heard he was very startled when he showed up to work to find the District Manager and two sheriff detectives waiting in the other store's office for him. He was literally perp-walked out in handcuffs! I was so upset that they didn't do it in our store!

Jenny ended up leaving shortly after, the stress was just too much for her. Nick was made temporary manager and he and I split opening and closing duties for a couple months. I mostly opened and he would close. There were a few managers from around that would sub in to give us days off. Then we finally got a new manager who'd been entirely trained at other stores. He was okay, but he was no Jenny. Thankfully he was no Steve either!

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Aggressive-Sky-9482 on 2024-12-19 22:52:16+00:00.

Since we're in holiday crush hell right now, I thought I'd share a very positive experience I had several weeks ago. For context, I work at a store that highly emphasizes customer service so I am constantly talking to people on the floor and at the register. My store is located in a really big tourist area in the US that sees a lot of international tourists, and it isn't uncommon for me to have interactions where I have to navigate a language barrier. Like many of the stores in the area, we have a display of postcards and regional stickers right by the front door because they sell like crazy.

One weekday morning, I was hanging out by the front of the store greeting customers as they came in and running over to the register to ring people up who were ready to check out. A guy maybe in his late 20s came in and started checking out our postcards, and when I got the chance I went over and greeted him. After saying hi, he somewhat nervously asked if I knew how he could send one of the postcards we have for sale. Sure, maybe our main business isn't selling the postcards, but I love to help people out as I can, so I happily explained that after buying one of the postcards he could go to the nearby post office and either buy stamps or take it to the counter there where someone could help him send it. He thanked me and I left him to browse as I needed to ring some people up at the register.

A bit later, the guy comes up to the register with a single postcard and I start chatting with him as I ring him up. Towards the end of the transaction, he says, "Thank you so much for helping me, you are very warm and kind. This is my first time visiting America, and I was scared." I was a little flustered by such a genuine compliment, but I wholeheartedly thanked him for saying that as well as letting him know that he was doing great (in the context of English clearly not being his first language).

I got to brag to my coworkers about an awesome customer interaction and it's rare that I get compliments as specific as "warm and kind," so I spent the rest of the day feeling pretty great. Sometimes the job absolutely sucks, but every once in a while there are great people who remind me why I keep doing this. Wishing everyone some peace and good customers over the holidays!!

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Diligent_Elk_688 on 2024-12-16 13:11:39+00:00.

While I was working at a grocery store some years ago, there was this one particular incident that happened on a day I was not at work myself, however I came there to shop.

Laws here make it so the sale of alcohol is forbidden after 8pm, so the store would cover up the beer aisle and fridges. I came to the store about 7:55, and the incident happened from here.

A woman comes into the store with a shopping cart, and sees that my colleague is about to start covering the alcohol, but says nothing and grabs a 6 pack of beer. As the woman made her way around the store to the register, I was at self checkout minding my own business when I hear:

"WHY. DID. YOU. CLOSE. THE. ALCOHOL. SALE. SO EARLY!" Followed by: "I WAS HERE 7 MINUTES BEFORE! SCAN IT!" (She had brought a 6 pack of beer, which won't scan in no matter what since it was now 8:03pm) "I WAS HERE BEFORE IT CLOSED! LET ME BUY IT YOU FING B*!" yeah, you get the picture. My colleague at the register got more and more tilted and started talking back, not sure what he said since he was much quieter.

Suddenly the woman starts addressing other customers "I WAS HERE BEFORE 8, SO I SHOULD BE ABLE TO BUY THIS, RIGHT?" (Insert cricket noises) She pays for some stuff and then runs outside the store entrance and calls someone. I am on my way out of the store at that point and hear her talking. "CHECK THE CLOCK, I WAS HERE EARLY!" "THESE IDIOTS TOLD ME IT WAS CLOSED BUT I WAS EEEEARLLYYYYY".

Then she finally goes back inside and screams at my colleague "YOU F***ING LONGFJORDING" (translated from my language, but that sure is an oddly specific attempt at an insult). Not sure what happened afterwards as I was on my way home.

Man, alcoholism sure is something eh?

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Suny_monkey on 2024-12-16 06:29:09+00:00.

So this happened yesterday. It’s my first real confrontation with a customer beyond the normal “please don’t do that thing that’s against the rules” conversation. I’ll say up top, as an employee, I should not have used the word “stupid.” However, I didn’t pause long enough to remember I needed to react as an employee, and instead reacted as a community member who saw a child in a dangerous situation.

I work at a furniture store. Swedish and blue. If you’re not familiar, you buy the furniture in boxes and build it yourself. We have specific carts (flat carts) to carry your heavy boxes on.

So I’m trying to leave the warehouse floor to go to lunch. I see a young guy, who I thought was probably 16 with a much younger brother, running down an aisle pushing a flat with two boxes and a young child. The setup is one box on the cart, one box leaning upright between the handles of the cart, and a 3-4 year-old kid laying on top of the bottom box but under the leaner. Not a good spot. So I immediately react, “Aboslutely not!”

The adult (almost adult?) stops the cart and leans down to the kid, “Oh, sorry buddy. You gotta get off now.”

I then tell him, “And I need you to not be running around with a full cart.”

Now, honestly, I couldn’t remember what exactly the guy said here if you offered me a million dollars. But I know he pushed back on my stopping their “fun” because I responded by pointing at the cart and saying, “Because that’s a stupid decision.” (Talking about having a small child lay down between two heavy boxes while you push it as fast as you can go.)

He did not like my calling him out. “Okay. Hate all you want, but I would NEVER tell my son something is a stupid idea.” (Son?! I didn’t see that one coming.)

I started to walk away then but he follows me into the walkway yelling, “Great idea. Call your customers stupid.”

He’s causing a bigger scene than necessary so I turned back and told him, “I didn’t call you stupid. I was telling you that that was a bad idea. What if he was under there and that box slipped and fell on him?!”

Y’all, I’m not exaggerating here. The SECOND I finished that sentence, the box in question slipped from is propped position and fell exactly where the kid had been laying. I have witnesses on that timing. At this point, I’m imploring this guy to realize the risk he was taking with his kid’s safety. I raised my voice above his tirade and gesture at the fallen box, “What if he was still under there?!”

This guy has the AUDACITY to shoot back, “He wasn’t, though.” As if he has grounds to claim responsibility for his son not being between those boxes anymore. Like it wasn’t entirely my doing. So I shouted back, “Because I made him get off!” And then I walked away and left him yelling after me and trying to bring other customers into it. A coworker told me that he even turned to his kid and said, “Can you believe she called us stupid?!”

And that’s what I have the biggest problem with. I didn’t call anyone stupid. However you want to interpret my using the word in the first place is up to you. But this pre-schooler had no blame in this situation and I absolutely didn’t address him even once. That guy basically told his young child that he was at fault and that a random adult called him stupid. If you’re so concerned with your kid not being told he’s stupid, console him. Don’t follow around and yell at a stranger then bring him into it like he’s an equal participant. As I said at the beginning, I should have said “bad” or “terrible.” But I won’t feel bad about keeping a young kid from getting very hurt.

I told my manager exactly what happened and he basically said to pay attention to wording. But he’s never going to tell us not to say anything if we see a dangerous situation.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/PurpleBirdieLady623 on 2024-12-15 11:01:53+00:00.

I ( 29F) work the graveyard shift at a local convience store in my town and we definitely get a bunch of crazies at night. This particular instance happened about 15ish minutes ago.

Two men came in as I was mopping the floors, and began to look around my store. One went to the restroom and the other grabbed some snacks. One of the men, as he was waiting for his buddy to finish with the restroom, tried to buy all of their snacks with a 100 dollar bill. Now, I'm supposed to do several safe drops throughout the night and I had just done one maybe 30ish minutes before they came in. Other than the safe drops, I didn't really have access to the safe.

Obviously, I didn't quite have enough change in my till to break that 100 and let him know as such. Unfortunately he didn't take this well. He kept telling me to just complete the purchase and give him his change. I had to tell him five times that we didn't have enough change but he just wasn't listening. I tried asking him if he had anything smaller than that but he didn't.

He threatened to talk to the manager about this. But I was the only one there at the time, so obviously the manager wasn't there. It was at this point, I just told him and his buddy to leave. Him and his buddy were so stubborn. It was absolutely ridiculous.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Diligent_Elk_688 on 2024-12-11 14:07:07+00:00.

Another calm, quite boring and normal day at work in the sports equipment store I work at. I was manning the cashier as usual (that is my job after all), when a slightly annoyed woman comes to the register. She said some snarky comment before switching to being very polite, which I didn't think much of at that moment.

A few minutes later, my colleague comes and asks for me to look at something. What I found was a bloody big mess.

Turns out this customer had been trying to open a box of wool baselayer clothing the wrong way. These boxes have a slide-out bottom or side, and the woman had decided to rip open the top instead.

My colleague had approached and asked if she needed help, and also explained how to open the box the easy way without damaging them. The woman had responded with "Nah, I'm done here" and so they both moved away from the shelf.

Well, a few minutes later, that same colleague went back to the shelf and found the mess. Several boxes were torn open, some pieces strewn about on the floor, one box had obviously been slammed to the floor and stomped on.

"What the hell is her problem" I thought. As you may be well aware if you work in any kind of store, even if the content is perfectly fine, the box being broken is a big nono for many customers, so these products became virtually unsellable.

I would definetly have charged her for these items if I'd known as she paid for other stuff, alass it was too late for that. She caused a few hundred dollars of damage after all.

To this day, science cannot explain what caused this individual to be so petty.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Diligent_Elk_688 on 2024-12-10 13:59:28+00:00.

One completely normal day at work, on evening shift, I was manning the cashier as usual. This being in the sports equipment store in a mall.

As I am on my way to the register after doing something else, my colleague comes up to me and tells me something hillarious.

He had walked into the storage room and found a random man standing there with a receipt in his hand, looking a bit confused.

What this man had done:

1. He had gone to the mall's parking garage after buying something, and wanted to collect his item from pickup, there are doors used for that in the parking garage related to each store.

2. He must have missed the gigantic logo on the door that reads "Insert store name here". This door is locked, as it is also our staff entrance.

3. He pressed the EMERGENCY OPEN button next to the door, which is only to be used in case of a fire, as there is an emergency exit past that door aswell. Then he walked inside and took our goods elevator to the third floor.

And that is where my colleague found him. The real kicker? The receipt was from a different store entirely.

The emergency button kept beeping, and so customers went to tell a completely unrelated store about this, which led one of that store's workers to come tell us about it.

The aftermath is that the elevator now requires a key card to operate.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/VexingPanda on 2024-12-08 03:32:05+00:00.

Hello everyone - I wanted to share some stories of my time working in sales, specifically in the mobile phone arena. Now mind you, these stories come from circa 2007 and 2008, where devices like iPhone is still in its early days and I'm working for a carrier where iPhone is not available.

Each story is disconnected from one another and may not be related, but I felt I wanted to share them somewhere as a record.

The stories show different sides, from internal turmoil to delighted customers to angry customers and customers we may have been, not so friendly to.

With that, allow me to share the first story.

Part 1: The wifi Hotspot conundrum

This first story is nothing crazy, and fairly short, but it will give you an idea of the way I did sales.

The store I worked at was in a fairly rich part of town and each other major carrier was within just a few minutes walking distance.

Customer, let's call him Eric, walks into the store and starts asking me about the details about the Hotspot, pricing, range, number of devices, etc.

I go on to tell him our coverage is some of the best but also ask where he will be using it, he mentioned the university nearby and around town.

Well, many people have used it in the university, in fact we have a large contract with the school itself, so I am sure you will be fine.

Next comes the question of questions - Speed. I mention ours on average is 10% faster than competitors, and proceed to take him to the demo device to which we do speed test.

Mind you, this is 3G Era- getting those 6.5Mbps were beautiful.

There is a bit more chatter back and forth, and he then asks, all the carriers are 3G, so how can you guarantee yours is faster?

Well, I can't guarantee it 100%‌, but I have tried in the other stores, and unless they've upgraded, ours definitely has faster rates.

Still unsure, and of course, talking to a sales person, you may not be able to trust them wholeheartedly, so he then proceeds to ask what if you are slower?

I tell him, look, I tell you to the best of my knowledge, now the other three major carriers are on this street‌, all within a 10 minute walk. I am not going to coerce you into a decision you aren't comfortable with, so I suggest going to each carrier, asking and trying their demo device to see which is faster, and in the end pick the one right for you.

He did just that, and about 4 hours later‌, he returned and purchased a card and commented that he appreciated the fact that I wasn't trying to just sell to him but directed him to make an informed decision.

fin

So, that is my sales style, I will not "sell" but rather find what the customer needs and if we don't have a product to fit what they need I'm not going to get them to buy something they will be unhappy with.

You may see this pattern in future stories, and, in my next part you may see that it actually upsets a customer, who perhaps came in trying to start an argument.

✌️

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/AutoModerator on 2024-12-01 13:00:45+00:00.

Welcome to /r/TalesFromRetail's Express Lane - your quick stop for short tales, pithy observations and general retail chat about how things are going with your store, your customers and yourselves.

Please follow the rules regarding anonymity and derogatory speech. NO BUSINESS NAMES

(All comments will be sorted by "new")

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/amiraasommers on 2024-12-04 04:08:07+00:00.

I work at a retail store that sells clothing, and the other day, I had a customer come up to the counter with a small pile of items. She seemed nice enough, just browsing around, and was ready to check out. As I started ringing up her items, she pulled out a checkbook and handed me a check.

At first, I didn’t think much of it, as we do accept checks, but when I looked closer, I noticed it was a handwritten check. No problem, I thought—sometimes people still use them. But then, I realized it was missing some key details. No date, no amount written in numbers, and, to top it off, she didn’t even sign it.

I politely told her, “I’m afraid I can’t accept this check since it’s not filled out properly.” She looked at me, confused, and said, “What do you mean? It’s just a check. You just cash it, right?”

I explained that checks need to be properly filled out with the date, amount, and signature in order to be processed. She seemed a bit flustered but said, “Oh, I didn’t know that! Can you just take it to the bank and cash it for me?”

I tried not to laugh, gently explaining that we’re not a bank and can’t process checks like that. She was still a bit confused, but after a few minutes, she seemed to understand. She ended up paying by card instead, but before leaving, she thanked me for “teaching her how checks work.”

It was definitely an unusual moment, but it made me realize how much some things have changed. It’s always interesting when a customer has no clue about something so basic, but it made me smile.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/amiraasommers on 2024-12-04 03:53:37+00:00.

I work in a retail store that sells home goods, and I had a pretty amusing interaction with a customer the other day. A gentleman came in, looking for a specific brand of toaster. We’ve had some issues with stocking lately, and I knew right away we were out of that brand. I double-checked the inventory system, just in case, and sure enough, it was out of stock.

I politely explained this to the customer, and he seemed a bit disappointed but didn’t make a big deal about it. I offered to check if any other locations had it in stock or suggest some similar models, and that’s when he got a little confused.

He stared at me for a few moments and said, “So if it’s not here, can you just make more toasters?” I had to stop myself from laughing, and I explained that toasters, like most items, are ordered from suppliers, and we can’t just "make more" on demand.

He thought about it for a second and said, “So, I can’t just ask for a toaster from the back?” I calmly explained, “No, unfortunately, there’s no magical toaster stash back there.” At that point, he chuckled and said, “Alright, I guess I’ll just wait until you get more.”

It was such a funny moment, and honestly, it made my day a little easier. You just can’t help but smile when people ask such innocent questions in retail.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Diligent_Elk_688 on 2024-11-30 11:46:18+00:00.

To break up my streak of slightly negative stories, here's a short and sweet one. I was at work in the sports equipment store from my first post. (A store that sells sport, supplements, outdoor, hunting, skiing and biking stuff).

I was manning the cashier as usual and it was about three out of five hours into my shift. An english speaking guy comes and asks for my help in solving a confusing mess of price posters on protein powders to get the cheapest option. I help him find it, and he proceeds to say: "Thank you so much! I'm gonna buy you a chocolate!" I pause for a moment, look at him and say "Do you mean it?" He says "Yeah, what chocolate do you like?" "Milk chocolate" I respond. And he leaves the store. I didn't expect him to actually do it, but about 7 minutes later, he comes back and hands me a large size milk chocolate bar and a coca cola, before shaking my hand and saying "Here you have a chocolate, coke and a new friend!" and then he left again. For reference, the cost of these two items is almost the amount he saved on the protein powder. This gesture made my whole day better, and the coke was the energy boost i needed for the rest of the day. Thank you kind stranger :-)

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Alyksandur on 2024-11-30 06:12:55+00:00.

This one is from many years ago, but I was recently reminded of it. Apologies in advance for not having the exact dialogue.

 I used to work at a drug store back before they were open 24/7 (before scrapping that post-plague). We would typically make announcements at 9:45pm, 9:50pm, and 9:55pm advising customers that we would soon be closing and to make their final selections, and then another at 10:00pm stating that we were closed and to bring their purchases to the register for checkout. I tended to be the one to make these announcements. I tended to be the one to make those announcements when I was there because nobody else could be arsed.

 So one night I did the 9:45pm announcement and the district manager, there on a late visit on his way home, stormed up to the front register. I was in photo at the time and the cashier ratted me out as the offending announcer, leading the DM to come up to my register like a thundercloud.

 “What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.

 I, at the time, had no idea what he was talking about. “…Closing down Photo…?”

 He didn’t like that answer. “The announcement! Why are you trying to rush paying customers out the door?”

 One good thing about working Photo: It doubled as Customer Service and the Complaint Department. Years of dealing with angry customers and karens (even if they weren’t called that back then) had taught me how to deflect blame — or how to make crap roll uphill, if you will. “Because that’s what I was told to do,” I said.

 “By who?” he demanded.

 “The store manager.”

 He stomped off for the office door, about ten feet away, and on his way back there he said, “Don’t even think about making another announcement like that!” The wall between Photo and the office was thin enough that I could hear the DM yelling, and I recognized my boss’s name, so I’m guessing he called the boss to yell at him.

 The next day, the store manager made sure the assistant managers and lowly peons knew to never make announcements like that again, nor to advise customers that we were closing (or had already closed if it was after 10:00pm). I worked that night, didn’t make the announcement, and then had the next two days off.

 The policy had been rescinded by the time I got back — by the regional manager. Why? Because he really, really doesn’t like paying overtime. The rest of this was told to me after the fact by one of the other Photo guys. Turns out on my first day off, a customer came in at 9:55pm or so and, in accordance with the district manager’s orders, nobody told her about what time we closed. She didn’t leave until 2:00am (and, from what I remember being told, didn’t even wind up buying anything). The following afternoon, the DM came in for a meeting with the store manager to yell about the previous night’s overtime, to which my boss reportedly said, “Which policy do you want us to follow?”

 The two of them were in a shouting match in the office when the regional manager showed up, and once he heard about the no-closing-announcements policy the district manager had implemented, he rescinded it on the spot and yelled at length at the DM. Apparently the only words the guy running Photo at the time could make out from the district manager were, “Yes, sir,” “No, sir,” and “I understand, sir,” and he beat a hasty retreat from the store as soon as the regional manager was finished chewing him out.

 I typically dreaded visits from the regional manager because he tended to be a stuck-up narcissist, but I genuinely regret having missed that one.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Malikissa on 2024-11-25 15:21:35+00:00.

So I used to be a manager for a fairly large CD/DVD store back in 2010 or so that was right next to an anchor store. For those who do not work in malls, the anchor stores are the very large stores at the ends, and sometimes the middles of malls, think Racy's, Mordstrom's, Delk, sometimes Barget, etc. Our store took up the same amount of space of about 3 or 4 small stores in the mall, and had an entirely glass front, minus two large open doors that had the slide down grates for closing.

The glass front gave us a perfect view of what was going on in the mall when it was slow, as it was on this particular Sunday evening, about 30 minutes before close. I generally set myself up at the front of the store, sorting new product on a cart, looking outward into the mall, so I could greet anyone who came inside. My employees were finishing up closing duties so we could close registers and get out the door as fast as possible.

Now, this particular mall had the usual security guards who tended to be the guys who fell into two categories. A, the young guys who really wanted to be cops, but probably failed due to psych evals, and were a little bit too excited to catch shoplifters, and B, the older guys who probably used to be cops and just wanted everything to be safe for everyone. And on weekends, we had a few cops that patrolled the mall. As employees, we did occasionally need to call security, and had good relationships with the security teams, as well as the loss prevention team at the anchor store right next to us, which I shall call Delk.

We also used to think that the cops that pulled mall patrol detail were probably bad at their jobs. How silly we were. As I was sorting CDs and hoping for a fast exit that night, all of the sudden, I saw a woman with a stroller *racing* out of Delk just as fast as she could go. Quickly in pursuit was one of the cops, and Bob, one of our favorite LP guys from the Delk team. Before I could even yell back for my employees to see the show, the following occurred:

The cop made a flying tackle on the woman, landed on her back, and slid *with* her almost 10 feet across the nicely waxed tiles, while the stroller went flying, and had both hands behind her back and handcuffed before the two of them slid to a stop. The stroller, before you worry, crashed and spilled its contents, not of a baby, but of probably a few thousand dollars worth of prom dresses and jewelry, also sliding out all over the nicely waxed tiles. Bob skidded to a stop by the stroller and began collecting the items and apparently sorting through the items to determine which ones were owned by Delk, and which were the property of other stores she had been stealing from so they could be returned.

And one of the young mall security guards strolled up from the other direction, saluted me, and said, it's okay, we've got it taken care of.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Diligent_Elk_688 on 2024-11-25 10:20:34+00:00.

I remember this one well, It happened the day after "The thief who got cold feet" story. It was one day before our national day, and I was at work at the grocery store, and this was some years ago.

I was working late/closing shift (4pm to 11pm). The store closes at 11pm. Around 10:50pm, a lady with a typical Karen haircut and purple hair color walks into the store and grabs a shopping cart, and walks into the opposite end of the store with meat fridges and freezers.

I start the closing routines and don't think much of it. The time hits 11, I've finished my routines and the lady is still standing there in the same exact spot. I go to her to tell her the store is closed, but before I get a single word in she says:

"I know, the store is closed, I know you want to go home, I've worked in a store before you know" I kinda just responded with "mhm? Are you loo-" "Listen, I've worked in a store before! You ALWAYS let the customer finish shopping" and then she started rambling incomprehensively.

The time hits 23:05, she FINALLY starts moving, but was swerving between the freezers, not grabbing anything. On the way to the cash registers, she suddenly takes a sharp right turn to look at something. The entire time she is rambling to me about something, I was spacing out and just following her to make sure she leaves.

Finally, at 23:12, she makes it to the register and my colleague scans her items. Then she realizes she forgot something and is about to go grab it, but before she does I say "I'll go grab it for you", which I did.

I return with the item and my colleague scans it through. Then she asks about cigarettes (the store uses an electronic safe that you pay for a ticket you scan and then the item drops like a vending machine). While tapping the screen in front of the register. My colleague explains that whatever cigarettes she wanted we were out of. She scoffs and proceeds to look for her wallet in her purse.

After rummaging for what felt like forever, she finds the wallet, pays and packs her stuff in a bag and heads for the exit. I follow her to lock the door. She notices some national day flower bouquets by the exit and is about to stop to look at them, when she probably noticed me rolling my eyes, and she left.

The time was now around 11:23, and my colleague still needed to finish counting the till. The entire time from when I first walked up to the lady and until she left, she was rambling about stores and how she worked in one and "I know how it is" and stuff. Lady, if you know then please leave so I can go home!

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Diligent_Elk_688 on 2024-11-22 23:28:28+00:00.

A few years ago at this point, I was working in a grocery store, unlike the sports equipment store I work at now. I remember this story well, because two days in a row, something stupid happened, and this is one of them.

Two days before our national day, I was at work during the evening. Suddenly, while I am having my lunch break, my colleagues come in and asks me for help. I follow them and on the way am briefed about a thief having stolen a bike from the store entrance.

A man who was a regular customer, who always rode his bike, had his bike stolen from the store entrance. He'd parked it inside for whatever reason. Well, lucky for him, there are cameras in the entrance that caught the culprit red handed. The hillarity ensued from here.

I go to check the security tapes to prep for the police to show up (victim had called). This is what I observed:

• About 5 minutes after the bike was left in the entrance, the culprit shows up, looks back and forth a few times, puts on some gloves and walks off with the bike, his face was in clear view.
• Fast forward about 7 minutes, the thief returns to the store, the victim is still there and they start talking together, turns out they know eachother. No way in hell can we tell the victim that it's the thief, we have no idea if he becomes violent or not.

We keep our eyes on the thief, something he eventually notices. On the camera feed, you can see him walking around and shoving stuff into his shirt and pants all sneaky-beaky like. When he notices us observing him, he panics and starts emptying the stolen goods from his pants and shirt in random locations around the store before leaving.

Cops show up immediately after he left. I show them the tapes and we identify the guy, they already knew him. While I was talking with the police, the bike had magically shown up in the entrance again. The police left to pick him up anyway. Safe to say, the thief got cold feet.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Diligent_Elk_688 on 2024-11-22 07:44:00+00:00.

For context, I work in a store that sells sports, camping, outdoor and hunting equipment. This includes hunting rifles and air rifles. I work there as a cashier, said cashier is at the exit of this relatively large store. I have many strange stories from this store and a previous store, this is one of them.

One day I am behind the only open register, and a 50-something man comes stomping into the store, straight up to my register, and without me even being able to say hi, he says:

"I need my receipt NOW!" in a slightly irritated voice. Dumbfounded, I respond "Oookay, when did you come here for the purchase and what was it?" He responds, still slightly irritated "I don't know when" I kinda just stare at him for a second before he continues: "Look, it should be around a year ago-ish?, my insurance company said you have it on record" Trying hard not to roll my eyes at him, I ask "Do you have a more specific timeframe, what month?" He gets slightly louder and more irritated, before he says "Look, I don't have time for this, let me write down my info, I purchased an air rifle last year and I need the receipt" I have him write down his info before I ask one final question that would help me locate his receipt. "Are you a member of our store?" "Yes, I am" I check his number, ofcourse he isn't a member. Before I even get to tell him this, he's already on his way out of the store, even angrier now for whatever reason.

This guy really thinks I would manually look for his receipt from "around last year" with "an air rifle" on it among several hundred thousand receipts?, keeping in mind that receipts aren't even kept in record that far back, at least not that I, a basic cashier would have access to.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Theeldritchwriter on 2024-11-17 21:41:54+00:00.

Had a customer come in earlier, on a motorcycle, got some gas and some snacks, no issue, started off as friendly guy. As he was paying he looked back out the window at his motorcycle, still parked at the pump, and started telling me “that should be a good enough spot to leave my bike. I’ve got to grab some things from the (grocery store next door)”

Y’all know why that’s just a no-no thing. It’s common sense not to do. Kind of surprised I even had to explain to the guy that no, you can’t leave your motorcycle parked at the gas pumps while you go shopping in another store. You’d think I was trying to explain astrophysics to him for how confused he was by that. I did point out that he’s welcome to bring his bike to park at the side of the building, or in any of the parking spots in the grocery stores parking lot. It’s literally next door, we share parking spaces, it’s not gonna be any more effort for him to take his bike over there than it is walking to the store.

Then he started getting that “how dare you tell me what I can’t do” kind of aggressive as he tried to argue that he was just going to grab a few things so it’ll be quick. It’s just a motorcycle, it’s not taking up much space. Like man, that’s not the issue, you can’t park at the pumps and dip out because then customers who need it can’t use the gas pumps.

I don’t think he ever understood why he can’t just park and bail, because that requires thinking about something other than yourself, but he begrudgingly said he’d just take his bike over to the grocery store like it was the biggest inconvenience in the world.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/DisastrousTarget5060 on 2024-11-15 17:55:28+00:00.

I wanted to share a funny (for me) interaction with a customer from a few days ago.

This guy comes in to pick up a package for his friend but I can't find it. I find out that it's still in the process of being delivered and that it's a laptop.

I tell him that it's still on a truck somewhere and also warn him that because of what it is, we will not be able to give it to him. I tell him that this is a hard rule and we will not budge on. I suggest that he gets the person who the package is for to contact the shipper and try to get his name put on the shipping label. I give him a pieces of paper with this information.

A couple days later he's back and holding the piece of paper I had given him. The package is here but his name is not on the label so I refuse to give it to him. My boss can hear him getting mad and comes over to help. My boss tries explaining to him a few times that it doesn't matter what he shows or who he calls. His name isn't on the label so he doesn't get the package.

He gets his friend on the phone and insists my boss speak to them. My boss does and tells them the same thing along with their options: come get the package themselves or we'll send it back and they can make arrangements with the shipper. Friend chooses the second option so back on the truck it goes.

I really don't know what was going through this guy's head when he came back. I warned him that this would happen and lo and behold! It did

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/throwaway-25434 on 2024-11-15 00:03:27+00:00.

Today was my last day in retail. I start a new job in a hospital next Monday. After applying to 100+ jobs since leaving HE, went to 5 interviews, and accepted an offer for a receptionist position. uses all the same fundamental skills but gets me out of the endless cycle of doom. I even worked a full weeks notice, more consideration than management has ever given me regarding my own schedule, but hey ho!

I've worked at my present clothes retailer/cafe combo for almost 2 years. Having had years of retail experience (1 major national chain and 1 local volunteering role.) I started in the bookstore part. In an effort to develop my communication skills, I trained at a local non-profit, helping out with some telephone administrative duties. Lately I've been spending more and more time in the stock room because the main operations manager left and hadn't been replaced and we kept losing workers who are mainly temp students. It's been work up there ever since, and that’s an understatement.

So my last day is a long one in the stock room, as usual… The only difference being the satisfaction of wearing a plain black shirt instead of the usual company uniform, almost symbolising similar essence to that of a funeral setting, which I found quite amusing.

We're running light on bodies so there are just the two of us for much of the day and during the other one's lunch breaks we have to handle things alone. I hate working alone in the back! But we get through it and I say goodbye to the full-time regulars who are awfully nice and are absolute troopers, wishing me well and saying they'll miss me.

Don’t get me wrong, part of me wanted to walk out halfway through the day but if I made it this far I should probably just stick it out, either way, what a relief. Go to see my manager to say goodbye and she's got a card waiting for me where everyone has written a bit to see me off: congratulations, best wishes, nice working with you, know you'll do great etc.

Even during my exit interview, a manager who I barely spoke to, but had a cordial relationship with, seemed genuinely upset at the prospect of me leaving, expressed genuine excitement for my future, being one of the youngest long-term workers in the store. Wished me luck and encouraged me to keep in touch, and all the managers did the same.

I vow to NEVER work a retail job again…

(Just needed to vent! 😜)

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/BowloRamaGuy on 2024-11-11 06:56:01+00:00.

I was working as a cashier / salesperson at a now defunct chain that carried electronics, car audio, appliances, computers, CD's, etc. This was back when heavy tube televisions were still a thing.

The store manager gives us a game plan for Black Friday and my station was in the television department first register closest to the front door.

The doors open and immediately I have a line of people.

One rather large man asks "Where are the 32 inch televisions?" and instinctively I said "The next aisle over" and he goes over there. I mean, technically my answer wasn't wrong. They were in that aisle. He meant the ones on sale lol oops. He came back and I had to tell him they were already out of stock.. Boy was he mad.

A few hours later the store manager pulls out a few 32 inch tv's from the back he was hiding so it looked like the store still had a few in stock and people at like 1PM were getting a deal.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Clown-Chan_0904 on 2024-11-07 17:34:42+00:00.

I live in an european country, and I work part time at a grocery store, hopefully full time someday (when I am not suffering from 8+ diagnoses anymore).

I was at a shelf, doing the usual stuff.

An elderly male customer walked over to me with a plastic wicker basket and ask me "hun, what color is this"?

It was 100% white, no nuances, no shade, not a slightly warmer or colder white, just WHITE-white.

So I tried to keep a straight face and gave him the answer.

He didn't believe it. He KEPT THINKING it cannot possibly be white. He just wouldn't accept the truth. I had to send him to the manager, I just couldn't deal with it.

He kept insisting thay the basket wasn't white.

He was not blind, I am absolutely certain.

Are there some kind of special colorblindness where you cannot see the color white? I don't know.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/TemptationTapestry on 2024-11-06 23:29:04+00:00.

Last Friday, it was business as usual at the register when a man strode up with purpose, holding a crinkled receipt in one hand and a store flyer in the other. “I need a refund,” he announced firmly, with the air of someone about to right a great wrong.

I glanced down at the receipt, just two days old. The item in question? A can of soup. The refund he wanted? Eight cents.

Before I could ask why he was so insistent, he pointed to the flyer. Apparently, the soup was supposed to be eight cents cheaper, and he was there to make sure he got the advertised discount. “It’s not the money,” he said, with a serious look in his eye. “It’s the principle.”

I tried explaining that the register couldn’t process refunds this small, hoping he’d laugh it off and move on. But he just stood there, arms crossed, resolute.

So I sighed, reached into my pocket, and pulled out a dime. Placing it in his hand, I kept a straight face and said, “Here you go, sir. Keep the change.”

He blinked for a moment, clearly not expecting that, then pocketed the dime with a satisfied nod. “Thank you,” he said. “That’s all I wanted.” With that, he turned and strode out of the store.

As soon as he was out the door, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself. Sometimes, customer satisfaction really does come down to the smallest of change.

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The original was posted on /r/talesfromretail by /u/Paffio_ on 2024-11-01 03:33:47+00:00.

About 25 minutes before my shift ended this lady with her family were standing on the end of the last isle which is right before the register and the first cashier was busy. She was looking at dresses and almost everyone waiting in line does that so I called out “are you ready” and she turned around and gave me a weird look but I ignored it and raised my hand and said “next on two”. She then proceeded to say something I couldn’t hear except the last part which was “sorry if you didn’t like my answer” as she slowly backed away. Since it’s halloween today my work let me dress up and I was a bloody clown so I assumed she didn’t like clowns or something so I said to my coworker on one that she might have to take them instead because I think she’s scared of clowns but she had to go on break so I was left there alone. The lady and her family then started walking to the other side of the store and kept giving me looks and like a minute later she came back and asked me to call the manager and I said okay and called her up. She came up and the lady started saying she had a horrible experience today and said I yelled “are you going to pay” at her and was giving her nasty looks and attitude. My manager sent me away because the lady kept looking at me. Luckily my manager knows me and knows I wouldn’t do that. I am absolutely baffled I started crying afterwards like what 😭. The lady even said I should go back to training and not have me up at the register. Also this shouldn’t really be important but I have a 4g septum piercing that I got to keep in for today because it matched my costume and I have a hunch she has something against people who dress alternatively. I was just trying to ring her up I’m so confused and she wouldn’t stand within 5 feet of me like I was gonna get her 😨. The more I’ve been thinking about it the crazier it seems like genuinely what’s the issue because every customer I’ve had has always had good things to say about me unless it was about some store policy I have to follow.