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This is a post so as not to hijack another thread. It relates a story that I had happen one of the first nights I closed by myself at Moore's.
First, let me give you some background. This is all important information to keep in mind.
Moore's had this really strange layaway policy. (I say had, since the company is no more). *no pun intended* THe policy basically stated that you had to put a minimum of ten percent of the total purcase price, including sales tax, down on any item you were placing on layaway. The policy went on to state, that you were required to make at least one payment in the first thirty days. Fail to do so, and on day thirty one, the layaway would be returned with a ten percent restocking fee. This fee didn't include sales tax. Now, if you returned the layaway on day thirty, you'd get all your money back.
So, on to the story:
Two ladies come into the store, both of them grumbling about something from the moment they step inside. They head back to the housewares dept (where the office also was) and mill about some. After a short bit, I see one of the employees there waving in my direction. Heading over, she informs me that the two ladies here wanted to return some layaways.
No biggie that. I spent much of my time returning stuff (especially around christmas) so I ask for their copies of the papers. One has hers, the other doesn't. Again, that's no big deal. We keep copies on hand anyway. So, I take the lady's name, noticing that the name sounds vaguely familiar. Can't put my finger on it though.
Turning to the first woman, I see that she's returning on day thirty. (this is key) Monkeying around with the return, I hand her money back to her. So far so good. All smiles all around.
Taking a moment, I dig up the next lady's return. Keying things in, I'm told to give her around two dollars and thirty five cents back.
Uh Oh. Checking quickly, I note that it's day thirty two...Crap. She got bit by the restocking fee. Turning to the woman, I muster my courage and hand her the bit of change back and ask her to sign. Looking at the change, and then me, the lady goes ballistic. The gist of her yelling being that I was stealing her money.
After a moment of this, I get her calm enough to explain that there was a restocking fee on her return. This didn't help. She starts off wanting to know why her sister didn't have to pay one? She even spits at me "What are you Racist?" (At this point, I so wanted to say, "Yes, I am prejudiced against the stupid." It's worth noting, that she and her sister were black. YOu'd think, if I were truly racist, her sister wouldn't have gotten any money back either.)
Listening to the hail of verbal abuse, I just waited it out and smiled some. "I can't help you. It's not in my power. The computer tells me what to return, and corporate sets the rules. You actually agreed..."
Breaking in, she starts off with this blubbering "No I didn't you blankety blank honkey." Honkey? Who the heck says that anymore? For that matter what is a...wait, never mind. Back to the story.
Raising my voice finally, I said "Miss. YOU signed the paper. YOu agreed to the terms on the paper. Now, are you saying you signed something without reading it? I'd hate to think that's so, I mean you seem like a rather intelligent woman. I shudder to think that you'd have done something so ignorant." (Nice non condescending way of saying "you signed stupid. Deal.")
The story doesn't end well. The woman stormed out never to return, at least not on my watch. She did come back to speak to the manager, who told her to go pound sand.
Epilogue: I had more trouble from this woman than I can count. It turned out that she was known for passing bad checks in my city. Hence the name seeming so familliar.
First, let me give you some background. This is all important information to keep in mind.
Moore's had this really strange layaway policy. (I say had, since the company is no more). *no pun intended* THe policy basically stated that you had to put a minimum of ten percent of the total purcase price, including sales tax, down on any item you were placing on layaway. The policy went on to state, that you were required to make at least one payment in the first thirty days. Fail to do so, and on day thirty one, the layaway would be returned with a ten percent restocking fee. This fee didn't include sales tax. Now, if you returned the layaway on day thirty, you'd get all your money back.
So, on to the story:
Two ladies come into the store, both of them grumbling about something from the moment they step inside. They head back to the housewares dept (where the office also was) and mill about some. After a short bit, I see one of the employees there waving in my direction. Heading over, she informs me that the two ladies here wanted to return some layaways.
No biggie that. I spent much of my time returning stuff (especially around christmas) so I ask for their copies of the papers. One has hers, the other doesn't. Again, that's no big deal. We keep copies on hand anyway. So, I take the lady's name, noticing that the name sounds vaguely familiar. Can't put my finger on it though.
Turning to the first woman, I see that she's returning on day thirty. (this is key) Monkeying around with the return, I hand her money back to her. So far so good. All smiles all around.
Taking a moment, I dig up the next lady's return. Keying things in, I'm told to give her around two dollars and thirty five cents back.
Uh Oh. Checking quickly, I note that it's day thirty two...Crap. She got bit by the restocking fee. Turning to the woman, I muster my courage and hand her the bit of change back and ask her to sign. Looking at the change, and then me, the lady goes ballistic. The gist of her yelling being that I was stealing her money.
After a moment of this, I get her calm enough to explain that there was a restocking fee on her return. This didn't help. She starts off wanting to know why her sister didn't have to pay one? She even spits at me "What are you Racist?" (At this point, I so wanted to say, "Yes, I am prejudiced against the stupid." It's worth noting, that she and her sister were black. YOu'd think, if I were truly racist, her sister wouldn't have gotten any money back either.)
Listening to the hail of verbal abuse, I just waited it out and smiled some. "I can't help you. It's not in my power. The computer tells me what to return, and corporate sets the rules. You actually agreed..."
Breaking in, she starts off with this blubbering "No I didn't you blankety blank honkey." Honkey? Who the heck says that anymore? For that matter what is a...wait, never mind. Back to the story.
Raising my voice finally, I said "Miss. YOU signed the paper. YOu agreed to the terms on the paper. Now, are you saying you signed something without reading it? I'd hate to think that's so, I mean you seem like a rather intelligent woman. I shudder to think that you'd have done something so ignorant." (Nice non condescending way of saying "you signed stupid. Deal.")
The story doesn't end well. The woman stormed out never to return, at least not on my watch. She did come back to speak to the manager, who told her to go pound sand.
Epilogue: I had more trouble from this woman than I can count. It turned out that she was known for passing bad checks in my city. Hence the name seeming so familliar.
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