I didn't witness the event, but I saw the aftermath.
We have a regular customer who comes in for cigarettes (ours are super cheap, apparently). One night recently, she sent her two children in to buy her cigarettes. One child is of age, but the other is a minor. So this in itself is a gamble, because (as she found out) some locations will ask for both IDs in case it seems like a suspicious sale.
As it happened, my manager was cashiering when the customer's children came up to buy cigarettes. The minor made the mistake of saying what cigarettes they wanted, so my manager asked to see both their IDs. Since one child was a minor, the sale was refused and (I'm assuming) my manager bid them adieu.
Well, cue customer coming in with fire in her eyes, demanding to see a manager. She stalked up to me and said, "If you're smart, you'll get your manager right now."
Shocked, I went to the only manager in the store, the one who had refused the sale.
After asking if she was the only manager available, the custom proceeded to verbally tear into my manager, accusing her of being rude to her kid. My manager said she wasn't rude, and tried to explain herself, but the customer would have none of it. She eventually left, after threatening to speak to corporate.
I felt awful for my manager, because she can come across as a bit rude, but it's simply her personality. She also had no choice, because from her standpoint, a minor was attempting to buy tobacco, which is a HUGE no-no.
The customer came back a few days later to purchase her own cigarettes and was in a much better mood. I was just happy that the manager in question was not on the sales floor when this customer came back.
We have a regular customer who comes in for cigarettes (ours are super cheap, apparently). One night recently, she sent her two children in to buy her cigarettes. One child is of age, but the other is a minor. So this in itself is a gamble, because (as she found out) some locations will ask for both IDs in case it seems like a suspicious sale.
As it happened, my manager was cashiering when the customer's children came up to buy cigarettes. The minor made the mistake of saying what cigarettes they wanted, so my manager asked to see both their IDs. Since one child was a minor, the sale was refused and (I'm assuming) my manager bid them adieu.
Well, cue customer coming in with fire in her eyes, demanding to see a manager. She stalked up to me and said, "If you're smart, you'll get your manager right now."
Shocked, I went to the only manager in the store, the one who had refused the sale.
After asking if she was the only manager available, the custom proceeded to verbally tear into my manager, accusing her of being rude to her kid. My manager said she wasn't rude, and tried to explain herself, but the customer would have none of it. She eventually left, after threatening to speak to corporate.
I felt awful for my manager, because she can come across as a bit rude, but it's simply her personality. She also had no choice, because from her standpoint, a minor was attempting to buy tobacco, which is a HUGE no-no.
The customer came back a few days later to purchase her own cigarettes and was in a much better mood. I was just happy that the manager in question was not on the sales floor when this customer came back.
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