Are you serious?

[Star*]

Ah the forgotten world (to me) of retail.....

And this woman comes to my register today and has 2 spray cans of Oust and 1 package of BOGO free in a cellophane wrapper of Lysol Renuzit. Sets them both down and says "How much is this" and hands me the Oust. I tell her $3.00 a can.

Then she says "How much this?" hands me the 2 pk BOGO of Lysol. I said $3.50. Pauses a moment and then says (kid you not) I want these (points to Oust) for like these.....points to the Lysol 2 pack BOGO. I stood there for a moment and said "I'm sorry Maa'm I don't quite understand what you want." So again she said "I want these cans BOGO because it says on this package (points to LYsol) BOGO."

Swear to you - ya could have heard a cricket belch. In my infinte ability to deal with difficult child's I said "Are you kidding me? Are you for real? YOu really think because Lysol is BOGO that these 2 separate cans of Oust are BOGO and aren't even marked that way? Are you serious?" and the woman stood there.....looking at me and said again "I want these (slams Oust on counter) LIKE THESE (slams Lysol BOGO pack on the counter) and said "WHAT is so Freaking hard to understand about that??" and I said (as if a light bulb went off in my head) "OOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Okay - I'll play - and I scanned one can of Oust /over rode the sale and rang in $6.00 and told her the total was $6.42 and then as I put one can of Oust in the bag and I said - "Okay you paid for this one.......so NOW you get THIS ONE for FREE." and she said......."But they wuz $3.00 a can when you scanned them the first time."

I stood there poker straight face and I said in a kindergarten explaining tone "I know!, but the Oust BOGO sale was yesterday an in order for you to get the Oust BOGO 2-DAY - I have to charge $6.00"

She stood there staring at me - and apparently realized that the "DUMB AS DIRT" act was not working (note to self thank Dude for that realization) and so I stuck my hand out waiting to get paid and again stated $6.42 please." and she said - (honest to Pete)

"Naw - take those off - THIS is a better deal." and I voided the oust and rang her up for the lysol......@ $3.50 plus tax......

OMG I NEVER THOUGHT DEALING WITH A difficult child WOULD BENEFIT ME IN THE "real" WORLD.......and she was so serious......yeah right.

I out dumbed her is all........ - Confuses em.

Honestly - WTheck?

 

[house of cards]

Sounds like something you would see on Candid Camera, if anyone remembers that show. I hope you are sleeping, wish I could send you some epsom salts.

 

[witzend]

Was she a gypsy? When I worked retail there were lots of gypsies in the neighborhood. (My apologies to any gyspies on the board.) They were always pulling that stuff. We used to have a "dented cans" bin. I remember one day a gypsy group was in, and a woman came up to the register next to me and told the guy working "59 cents!" on a perfectly fine can of stew beef that was more than that. The guy kept telling her "No, 89 cents." She kept on and on "Dented can! No speak English! 59 Cents! Dented can!" He finally took the can and smashed it against the counter and put a big dent in it and said "Now it's 59 cents!" and put it in her bag.

 

[klmno]

I just want you to remember how much Dude has taught you to prepare you for the real world. (LOL!)

 

[Hound dog]

The ones who really grate on my nerves are sign changers. They change sale signs on shelves attempting to get a more expensive item not on sale for the sale price.

I don't know if any of you worked for Meijers but they're more than a wee bit anal about sale signs. Because policy was if the item really was under a sale sign you gave it to them at that price. So if our signs were in the wrong place it was because some customer moved it. (we wouldn't dare get it wrong)

Had one lady that came in every darn week. She was a sign changer. I kid you not, this woman would have a major difficult child tantrum if you didn't give the item to her for the sale price. It worked once. But after that, even the store manager backed us up.

Woooweee, you're reminding me of some of the reasons I didn't like retail.

 

[Abbey]

Oh, geez...you guys are making me relive my day(s). I love the dented can story. I can so see me doing that with a smile on my face and saying, "My pleasure."

Abbey

 

[Marguerite]

Star, well done. A really good way to handle it.

And from what you describe - she wasn't stupid. She was trying it on. She has probably found that in the past, someone took pity on her and let her have something cheap because they thought she didn't understand, or because she wore them down - or whatever reason. All that fuss for what amounted to a little more than $3. It's not worth the adrenalin, surely?

I do have a question, though - how many other checkouts operate at the same time? And were the other operators within earshot of you? Were they paying close attention as they should have been? because maybe it wasn't about saving $3, maybe it as about creating a diversion...

Marg

 

[Abbey]

(I'm rereading this post. Note: Do NOT go into Star's line. She will kick your .)

The visuals are just too great.

 

[TerryJ2]

OMG, ROFL! Way To Go, handled it very well.

My sister used to waitress. One group of elderly women would come in a cpl X a wk and sit at a table for hrs. They were Soooooo cheap ... one wanted to trade in her pickle for a baked potato. Too funny!!!

 

[Star*]

Ok - even I fell out of the chair at the dented can story - MUST remember that. Thanks Witz -

And Marg - The only customers IN the store at the time were in line - You're right - she WAS trying it on. lol (like that too)

Abbey - I had a customer yesterday tell me they did NOT want a can (small) of Vienna sausages. I put it on top of my register. About mid day the manager came over to me and began talking about some of the ways to "catch" shop lifters. Now you, me and the rest of the board will agree that for minimum wage - I'm NOT jeopardizing my life for a TracFone, kleenex or can of tuna. I'm not chasing anyone down - (although thoughts of doing that are appeasing to me) - Big scary 240 lb. woman, running after you like a pit bull could cause serious damage - but NO - not for minimum wage. And the manager and I are talking about this and I told her flat out - I'm not chasing anyone down - too dangerous. She agreed.

Then she asked "What is that can of sausages doing on your register?" and I said "Oh I was in girls fast pitch in my younger days and I can nail mostly anything with a ball, but since we didn't sell any balls should a thief decide he wanted to run out of the door I'd grab my Vienna sausages and nail him in the back of the head as he left the store, rendering him unconscious and THEN get some nylon or cotton rope out of the housewares aisle and tie him up like a calf while waiting for the police and IF I felt "giving" I could go to the Pharmacy aisle and get a hot/cold pack for the KNOT on the back of his head caused by the sausage pitch."

My manager looked at me and said (straight faced) "Do you have a receipt for those sausages? If they leave the store under your watch you're responsible." And we BOTH got a good howl.

Ten minutes later I got the assistant manager to ring me up for the sausages and keeping with store policy I taped the receipt for employee purchase to the can. The manager came up to my register, saw the recepit taped to the can and said "Girl you are going to go far in this company!!."

So yes, if you hear of someone being nailed in the head with an employee purchase can of Vienna Sausages - It WAS ME."



Exchange a baked potato for a pickle? OMG......sure why not ....gaw

 

[gcvmom]

Hmmmm... didn't know my sister in law was shopping in SC recently!

 

[Wiped Out]

Oh Star, you handled it beautifully! I admire everyone who works retail. been there done that and I was amazed at some customers!

 

[witzend]

So, if you dent the can on his head will you ask to be compensated for your loss?

The thing about those gypsies that everyone hated was that not only did they want to haggle over the price of every item in their cart, when they were done their husband would whip out a wad of cash that I wouldn't earn in three months and hand the wife what she needed to pay.

 

[Marguerite]

The gypsy story sounds a lot like a clown party easy child 2/difficult child 2 did a few years ago. I was only supposed to drive her there, it was a low-budget job. The client was supposed to go through the boss but had somehow bullied him into giving her our phone number. She rang to talk to easy child 2/difficult child 2 (who thankfully per her on speakerphone) as she gave us a list of what she expected - Pass the Parcel with a toy in every layer (one for each kiddie - there would be 20 kids), egg and spoon race, tug of war, a huge list of games, all of which involved consumables, sweets, toys - none of which she had paid for, she was only on the lowest budget of all, with the "entertainment only" option.
The boss was resigned - "Oh, crikey, that awful woman - just give her what she wants, I'll never take a booking from her again. You'll find Mick out there too with his jumping castle - she's had her hooks into him this morning too, bargaining him down."
So he let us assemble a large Pass the Parcel, stuffed the pockets of her clown suit with spare toys, easy child 2/difficult child 2 went off to buy a dozen eggs and plastic spoons for the egg and spoon race - and we were off. I'd grabbed a climber's rope from our garage, so we were set.

easy child 2/difficult child 2 is inventing and capable, but when we got there I got cold shivers - the "kids" were ranging in age from a baby (whose birthday it was) to mostly mid-teens and older, lecherously aware that inside the clown suit was a very attractive and seemingly very young and vulnerable female. Without being racist, the cultural background, shall we say, did not appear to be respectful of women. Certainly not of women from outside their own ethnic group.

So I stayed. Because I'd been woring all morning with easy child 2/difficult child 2 on a fairground stall, I was already wearing clown-ish clothes so they got two clowns for the price of one. And those kids - horrible! The teen boys were the worst. They would attack the younger kids and take their toys off them, then come to us and demand more. The egg and spoon race had to be stopped because these boys stole the eggs from the younger kids ("Gimme that or I'll belt yer!") and I don't know what they were doing with them, but I suspect hoarding them was the start. They probably ended the day thrown at someone's car.

So easy child 2/difficult child 2 invented some other games. The tug of war was good - it wore these boys out, made them have to prove their manhood. easy child 2/difficult child 2 used the rope to make up other games such as tightrope walking (the rope was the 'tightrope' but flat on the ground). Between us we kept those kids busy. I was very glad I had stayed - some of the older men, fathers to these kids, were doing more than just watching. easy child 2/difficult child 2 reported the improper suggestions being made, and because I was there I made it clear that she was a good girl who was off limits. Maybe they thought that a girl who does this sort of job is fair game, available for hire for ANYTHING.

What really burned me up - the woman who had booked the party was, all this time, ringing the boss on her mobile phone complaining that easy child 2/difficult child 2 was doing a lousy job. She bullied the boss out of the fee. The boss paid easy child 2/difficult child 2 but I know he never got paid. I don't think she knew that I knew - when the kids were called over to the marquee for birthday cake, we were invited to have some too. I took off my garish clown short and with a plain shirt underneath I was able to quietly sit and listen, and I heard this horrible women bragging to her friends about how much money she had saved, how much she had got for free. For her it was all a game, to impress the other women there with what a good provider she was to save so much of her husband's money (that was how she described it - her husband's money that she was saving. A good little wife, publicly thrifty, while arranging for every luxury she could get).
I had managed to have a quiet word to Mick on the jumping castle - he was packing up and couldn't get out of there fast enough. He told me his adventures - she had been complaining that he had taken too long to set up, that the castle hadn't been bouncy enough, that the kids hadn't used it as much as she'd hoped (not his fault) - he had in fact got there early to set up, had given her the allotted time and more - she insisted on another half hour even though he had already given her the allotted time and more, for half the fee.

I heard later that she eventually paid him with a dud cheque.

Marg