AWOL, not MIA

[Hobbs]

Sorry for not posting in a while. AF and school keep me pretty busy.

Return Policy Regular

I’ve seen this girl enough times to remember her name and recognize her on sight. She usually comes in with her kid, who’s actually kinda cute. Problem is, this girl (I say girl because she’s no more than 19) seems to always forget our return policy. Usually, it’s several bags of cigarette smoke-fumigated clothing, on several receipts, and some of them w/o receipts. Now, I hate our return policy, because if it were up to me, we wouldn’t take back those smelly things, but I digress.

One the occasions w/o receipts, where she still has tags on the clothes, this girl seems to always forget her ID in the car or some other damn place. Now, I know personally that I’ve explained non-receipted returns to this girl more than once. Just this Sunday she was in trying to make a return, and tied up one of two CS lines because of her bloody ID.

Sucky Customer w/ Sucky friend

A couple came in to return two shirts. As the GF/SO/Sancha explained, her sancho had received it as a gift. They had a gift receipt but, in their quest to be difficult, lost it. So I explain how, since the tags are attached, I can return it for credit, and if it’s been reduced since it was bought, they can only get that price for it.
So, instead of going through the whole spiel of beginning the return, I go to Price Lookup instead. Lo and behold, the first shirt is marked down to $1.49. Sancha and her Sancho are mad, but I explain there’s nothing I can do. No biggie, the other shirt has a $8.99 ticket on it. Sure enough, it’s reduced too, down to a paltry $.49. sancha explodes on me, that’s ridiculous, no one would buy that for so low etc.

SA=sancha
RA=random asshat customer egging sancha on
Me= yo

SA: You can’t tell me you have things for .49!
RA: I’ve certainly haven’t seen anything that low (begins mutterings w/ she-beast friend)
Me: We do, in fact sell things that low, sometimes.
SA: oh, really? Then, where’s your .49 section?!
Me: (Wow, that’s a new one…) It’d be in the clearance section [vaguely pointing over my shoulder]
SA: But it says $8.99! See?!
Me: (enunethused) I understand ma’am, but the policy says we can’t return it for that price w/o a receipt.
SA: I told you, it was a gift, how’re we supposed to have a receipt?
Me: a gift receipt.
SA: We lost it.
Me: Sorry ma’am, I can’t do it.
SA: where’s this policy?! (looks around)
Me: Right here. (points to plaque on the counter, which also has our check and credit card policy. I thought of telling her it was also printed on our receipts, but thought that’d be a bit much).
Sancho and Sancha finally leave in a huff and I roll my eyes.
Me: (cheery) Bye…!

Language Barrier

Me: Hi, how’re you?
SC: [incoherent Spanish)
Me: (knows little Spanish and even less incoherent-Spanish): O_o Ma’am, I don’t know what you just said.
SC: O_O

I dunno if I posted this…plus, this might count as a ruined X-mas…

Kinda late, ain’t ya?

So, I was waiting outside for my ride X-mas Eve, completely pissed ‘cause they called me in to work and it was basically the End Times all day. We closed at 6, didn’t get out until 8:30. So as I’m waiting, an SUV drives up, chock full of SC’s.

SC: Is Ross open?
Me: O_o (turns and looks at darkened store, complete with security shutters down and locked). No…we closed like, two hours ago…
SC: Oh, okay… (drives off)

Found you out, didn’t I…?

A lady comes in and asks if we do a military discount.

SC: Well, I’ve been to two Marshall’s that say you do.
Me: I’m sorry, but they must be confused, because we’ve never done that.
SC: Oh, okay.

Now I know where people get the idea we do a military discount!
Plus, yesterday I got hit up half a dozen times for a military discount.

I’m sorry si- Wait, what…?

So, as you all may know, I’m a cadet in the ROTC at school. Last Friday, one of the cadet-officers addressed me. He gets on me for little things, due to my training, and I know I’ve pissed him off royally before. So I never think when he talks to me it’ll be good…

CO: cadet-officer
C1: Cadet officer 1
Me:

CO: Cadet Hobbs…
Me: [eek] Yes sir?
CO: Heard you did good marching the squadron today.

[silence]

Me: O_o Y-yeah…
CO: it’s true, isn’t it?
Me: [brain restarting] Yes, sir.
C1: (to CO) I like how you can just scare people like that…

Note: it wasn’t that I was scared (well, kinda) but it was just so unexpected that my brain blue-screened on me.

[wagegoth]

Return Policy Regular

Problem is, this girl (I say girl because she’s no more than 19) seems to always forget our return policy. Usually, it’s several bags of cigarette smoke-fumigated clothing, on several receipts, and some of them w/o receipts. Now, I hate our return policy, because if it were up to me, we wouldn’t take back those smelly things, but I digress.

A lot of stores won't accept returns if the items are not in saleable condition. That is, they must be able to put those clothes back on the floor in the condition they're in to be sold. Time for your company to get real.

[HawaiianShirts]

Sure enough, it’s reduced too, down to a paltry $.49. sancha explodes on me, that’s ridiculous, no one would buy that for so low etc.

My first thought upon reading this was that I wanted to respond to her, "Oh, I think you'd be surprised just how little people are willing to pay for stuff."

I mean, if I go shopping and find something I want for a lower price than I expected to pay, I'm not going to argue! I'm not going to go find some associate and ask them to mark the item up so I feel good about paying a higher price for it!

And yet, I've had customers do nearly that. I've had customers give me suspicious looks, claim that the price or deal is just too good, and walk out without buying anything. Because the price was too low for the item they were looking for.

I keep trying to tell myself that real logic and reason don't apply to these people, but I don't listen to myself very well.

[AriRashkae]

It's that old "If it's too good to be true ... " line. Which, in general is a good rule to keep in mind. But that just means if you get it for pennies, and it breaks in a week, well, you should have seen it coming.

[CoffeeMonkey]

There's also the illusion of quality = pricey. My old manager once explained to me that one of the reasons why there's such a high markup on some of our products, when customers could get the stuff for much cheaper in a grocery store, is that that's what they WANT to pay for it. Paying more means it's a premium product. They want premium product, not cheap stuff, so they're ok with paying the higher price.

[Bramblerose]

A lady comes in and asks if we do a military discount.

I will randomly ask if there's a military discount, depending on how broke I am and how annoyed I am at his branch of service (the higher the annoyance the more likely I am to want one).