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[Demonoid Phenomenon]

I just remembered one of the many scams that 'criminals' would utilize in order to get a discount on things at the Marshall's I used to work at.
They would find something they liked and actually break something or bend part of it or do some sort of damage to it to get the price lowered.
There was one lady who ALWAYS managed to fill her cart with things that were incomplete or damaged in some way. I spent a good while trying to explain to her that one particular item she had picked up looked damaged on purpose. It had that 'distressed' look and was MEANT to look like that.
I couldn't get her to grasp that concept.

I even had several people tell me as they purchased defective/broken/damaged items, "Well, it's a gift for someone and I didn't want to pay full price since it's damaged."

[pbmods]

"Well, it's a gift for someone and I didn't want to pay full price since it's damaged."

Hey, if you're gonna buy a gift for somebody you don't like, why pay full price?

[Becks]

I sincerely hope I never get any gifts from that person.

[dragonflygrrl]

I especially love it when they realize after they've purchased it that the bit they broke is causing the whatever it is to not function properly and try to return it. Sorry, all merchandise discounted due to damage is sold as is, as the receipt clearly states. Have a great day, and thanks for choosing our store! Bye!

[Lace Neil Singer]

I sincerely hope I never get any gifts from that person.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[Demonoid Phenomenon]

In most of those cases, the damaged item they were planning on 'gifting' was something common. So, for the most part, they could have taken the same money and bought something really nice that WASN'T broken.

Sometimes, even with an additional discount, Marshall's stuff can be expensive. For your run-of-the-mill damage they may reduce it by 10%. Not a significant amount by any stretch.

But when dealing with SCs...
As long as they feel like they're getting one over on you...

[PorkChop]

When I was pregnant 4 years ago, my husband and I decided to eat at Red Lobster for my birthday. I ordered the steak, well done. When the steak was brought out to me and ate a piece. It was obviously wasn't well done. No big deal, things happen. I told the waiter that my steak wasn't well done and I wanted this steak brought back to the kitchen to be cooked some more. I wasn't asking for a new steak or a free meal. He apologized and took my plate. A minute later the manager stopped by and asked if everything is okay. I said yes, everything is cool. He offered my meal to be free since it was their mistake. I said no, I would like to pay my meal, mistakes happen! He insisted until I finally said okay. I got my steak and it was great! Since my meal was free, I tipped that meal price to the waiter.
I would've eaten the steak as is, I don't like to complain much. It makes me feel negative. Since I was pregnant and eating undercooked food is bad for the baby!

[Thrifty]

They used to do that at the thrift store as well. Usually by putting a hole in a piece of clothing they knew they could fix later.

"Excuse me see this shirt here it has a hole in it, I'm not paying 3 dollars for it! Take a dollar off!"


We caught a few people red handed doing that it was such a shame.

[Kogarashi]

My mom would often check out merchandise carefully for small defects (usually in clothing, and these were defects that she could fix because she could sew, but would otherwise probably unravel the article of clothing), then ask for a discount. She never actually went so far as to damage the merchandise herself, though.

[protege]

They used to do that at the thrift store as well. Usually by putting a hole in a piece of clothing they knew they could fix later.

"Excuse me see this shirt here it has a hole in it, I'm not paying 3 dollars for it! Take a dollar off!"

Cheap bastards.

My church has a white elephant sale every year. Most of the stuff is in pretty good shape, and there's usually very little junk. However, some people still complain that a 50-cent coffee mug is "too much" and insist on taking it for a quarter. Give me a break--all the cash from the sale goes to pay utilities, and for various programs. Even though the stuff is donated, the church does *not* profit on it.

I got a great deal on a huge B1b bomber model kit last year. It had been opened, and partially built. Because of that, and the fact that models don't sell well, they were going to let it go for $3. Imagine that, a kit that usually sells for up to $100 in hobby shops....I got for $3! It got better though--inside was 2 complete paint sets, and various tools. Since it's for charity, I tried to talk them into taking at least $10 or more for it, but the guy at the door thought that was too much. We eventually settled on $5. To him, the money wasn't the issue--he just wanted that "damn plane" gone. Models never sell well at that sale--because the boxes are usually in bad shape, and they sometimes have parts missing--nobody wants to touch them. Except for me, that is

[DesignFox]

I know Luna has told me a ton of stories like this one. People in the bookstore would dig around for a damaged book just to try and get a discount. When they told her it was for a gift, she could never believe that they were willing to buy something for someone that was damaged. And she would tactfully tell them such.

I really don't understand that. "But I can't pay full price for this, it's a gift!"

Um, if it's a gift, I make sure it's something nice that the person will enjoy, not something that screams "I'm too cheap and just don't care!" Who are these people?

[Thrifty]

My mom would often check out merchandise carefully for small defects (usually in clothing, and these were defects that she could fix because she could sew, but would otherwise probably unravel the article of clothing), then ask for a discount. She never actually went so far as to damage the merchandise herself, though.


I think that's a great idea and we never had a problem with people pointing out things we missed and asking for a cheaper price. But when you start damaging things, especially nice things and want a deal that is where the problem comes in.

[Jester]

I know Luna has told me a ton of stories like this one. People in the bookstore would dig around for a damaged book just to try and get a discount. When they told her it was for a gift, she could never believe that they were willing to buy something for someone that was damaged. And she would tactfully tell them such.

I really don't understand that. "But I can't pay full price for this, it's a gift!"

Um, if it's a gift, I make sure it's something nice that the person will enjoy, not something that screams "I'm too cheap and just don't care!" Who are these people?

I love yard sales, and I shop at used bookstores. And I don't mind buying slightly beaten up merchandise or books....for myself. For friends, I will only buy something new that looks great! What the hell are these people thinking?

Personally I think a good number of the "it's a gift" people are lying through their teeth. My guess is that it is not a gift at all, but they are trying to use that line to guilt the salesperson into giving them a discount. The scary thing is that with a lot of the others, though, it truly is a gift. Cheap bastards.

[protege]

I love yard sales, and I shop at used bookstores. And I don't mind buying slightly beaten up merchandise or books....for myself. For friends, I will only buy something new that looks great!

I think it depends on the person, and the item. I usually do give new things as gifts...unless the item is unique, or something collectible. For example, my ex-girlfriend collected carousel horses. She had literally hundreds of them. For her birthday (or Christmas, or other special day), I'd get her one. One of her favorites was an antique horse that I'd found in a "junk store" on vacation. IIRC, it was rather large and in good shape, but nobody wanted it. I bought it, cleaned it up for her, and she loved it.

However, I do think that some people are just cheap bastards. Sure, there are a few good things in junk stores now and then. I sometimes frequent them looking for old model cars, or things like that. However, most of the stuff you find in a store like that is truly shit. I mean, is someone *really* going to buy those rusty metal spice containers (i.e., the container the spice *came* in from the store) from 1952? And yes, there *are* people who will buy that crap and give it to someone as a "gift"

[Rapscallion]

Oh, the flashbacks...

Woman pondering the flowers on display: "That's quite a bit. I think I'll only get one bunch of these. I don't want to spend too much as it's for a friend."

Someone needs a better friend, and it's one of the two people she was talking about.

Rapscallion