Desparate to buy!

[edible_hat]

Does anybody else get customer who ask "Have you got anything for 25 cents?" and when told no insist on having you scan every barcode in the store until they either prove you wrong by finding the mythical 25 cent item or (far more likely) run out of barcodes?

[Knightmare]

Scan every barcode? Don't you have the prices marked on or next to the product?

I'd tell the SC to take a hike. I have more important things to do than scan all those bar codes.

[sarahj]

I'd get people at Maccas who'd have counted the cash in their pockets while waiting in line, usually coming up with less than a dollar, then ask me "what can I get for x cents?" I told them "an ice cream cone." Nope. "An apple." And they'd get all offended that I offered them fruit at Maccas. lol.

[Boozy]

So it doesn't even matter to these people what they buy, so long as there is an exchange of money for goods received?

I don't know whether to be confused or sad.

[matty]

Ah yes, I've seen those people at convenience stores, usually once they have completed a solid night's drinking.

Can't find a kebab shop, so they pop into a c-store, fumble in their pockets for whatever change they still have left and ask:

"How much are the meat pies?"
"How much are the doughnuts?"
"Do you have anything for... um... a dolllar and 35, no, wait, 40 cents?"

Then they ask the employee "Well, I've got $1.40, I know it's $2, but will that be enough? Pleeeease."

Now, I've helped them out once or twice with a spare 50 cents or whatever, so that they could at least buy something. Hey, I'm nice.

[edible_hat]

Scan every barcode? Don't you have the prices marked on or next to the product?

I'd tell the SC to take a hike. I have more important things to do than scan all those bar codes.

For some things we do, but not for others. I exaggerated a little, it's mostly stuff like individually wrapped gumballs and 1" squares of chocolate that they want.

Ah yes, I've seen those people at convenience stores, usually once they have completed a solid night's drinking.

Yeah, they're mostly drunk, stoned or little kids.

[gunsage]

"Actually, there is something that costs only $.25...ASKING ME THAT QUESTION! PAY UP!"

[HawaiianShirts]

I usually encounter that kind of shopper on Black Friday, about an hour after we open the doors.

Desperate-for-a-Sale Customer: Do you still have the $200 computer?
Me: Nope.
DSC: What about the $300 one?
Me: Nope.
DSC: The $400 one?
Me: That's gone, too.
DSC: Do you have ANY of the sale computers left?
Me: Yes, this one at $500.
DSC: I'LL TAKE IT!

One hour later, I'll repeat the exchange with another customer, only by that point I'm out of everything below $600. They came to buy SOMETHING, blast it all, and they're not going to let me stand in their way, even if they spend three times what they planned on spending.

And suddenly I'm reminded of one of my cheapest customers ever. This guy asked me to show him the best computer I had for under $100. I handed him one of those Sharp organizers (little electronic rolodex and calculator with a calendar and spelling checker). He wasn't very amused.

[Sylvia727]

Yeah, they're mostly drunk, stoned or little kids.

My local specialty candy shop has 10 or 12 bins near the window, with things like Tootsie Rolls for 2 cents each or a Hershey's kiss for a nickel. This prices are after tax, too, which is nice. I come in about once or twice a month and turn loose the 2 or 3 kids I have in tow (fun fact: I am the neighborhood's free taxi service). They set off with $1 in nickels and pennies clutched in their grubby hands, but the cashiers are very patient with them. I suspect this is as much due to my $30 of specialty chocolate as it is to their kindness.

Only once has one of the kids acted up; I handed my purchase and my cash to the 12-year-old and marched him outside. We waited on the sidewalk while I watched the others through the window (It's a small store, I can always keep them in view). And that young man never got invited back again, at least not in my mini-van.

I get my chocolate, the kids get their treats and learn how to handle money, and everyone gets a respite from the typical errands' boredom. Judging by the placement of the bins and several of the other customers I've seen, I'm not the first to take advantage of their system.

...so sometimes, asking what you can get for a handful of change is appropriate. When you're two and a half feet tall and wearing Velcro-fasten sneakers.