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This one happened about ten years ago. I was working at a major department store (the one that used to have Roebuck attached to the name) in ladies' fashions. It's in Minot, North Dakota, it's the dead of winter, the temp is below zero outside, and a balmy 78 degrees Fahrenheit inside the store.
Most of us can tell the shifty-eyed shoplifters from the casual browsers. I saw this one woman going back and forth between displays, fidgeting with stuff in her hands and keeping her bulky winter coat zipped up to her chin. Every other customer had their coats unzipped, because once you hit the doors and our heaters blast you, the almost eighty degree difference is enough to make you break out in a sweat!
Well, Shifty-Eyes comes up to my register with a single pair of pants and wants to purchase them. No problem so far. As I ring her up she starts quizzing me on our return policy. Cash (or charge back to your credit card if you used one) for returns with receipt, store credit without, standard deal. No, I cannot give cash without a receipt showing that you paid by cash or check, and if you paid by check the purchase has to be at least a week old (to make sure the check cleared). No, I cannot take your word for it.
Well, she pays for the pants by check (I make sure to get her info down real clear), has me put the pants and the receipt in the bag, and then leaves.
Less than five minutes later, I see her walk back in the door and make a beeline for the juniors department across the aisle from me. Well, alarms are going off in my head, so I stroll over to the kids' section and listen as the woman demands store credit for the four pairs of pants that she wants to return without a receipt. Well, Shifty-Eyes turns into Cat-Butt-Face when I walk up and say hello. I tell her she should have come back to me (the closest register to the door she came through) with her return, as I'd have been oh-so-happy to help her with it. She claims she forgot that she had the pants to return until she went out to her car to leave. Okay, no problem, I've done that, too. But she was in the store for almost an hour....
In Minot, that's more than enough time to freeze your coffee in its cup, much less thoroughly chill a few pairs of pants and their bag sitting in your trunk.
Every pair of pants was store-temp, the bag was store-temp, and lo and behold, the at the bottom of the bag, beneath the pants she claimed to have purchased more than a week ago, was the register receipt for the pair of pants she had *just* purchased. She had been sputtering in indignation at me for taking the pants out and commenting on how they weren't cold, but when I got to the receipt she went quiet. I asked if she'd like to stop by the store's security office to review the tapes from the parking lot to check her story about getting the pants out of her trunk, and she went back to being indignant.
I have to hand it to her: this woman was persistent and stuck to her story. She lost all credibility, tho, when she tried to leave with the bag of pants. I put my hand down on them and wouldn't let her take them unless she went to the office with me and confirmed with my manager that they were indeed pants she got out of her car. Now, if it had been me, and some cashier was preventing me from leaving with my rightfully-purchased goods, her manager would only be the first person I would be complaining to. Shifty, on the other hand, tried to change tactics and demanded a refund for the pair of pants she had just purchased (doused in a rant about never shopping at the store again, yadda-yadda-yadda). Gave me this look of triumph like I wasn't going to be able to stop her from having her way.
That was when I politely reminded her of the return policy I had gone over in detail not fifteen minutes prior: She paid by check, and there was a seven day waiting period for returns if the payment was by check.
Three pairs of pants get placed behind the counter. One pair of pants goes in the bag, along with the date of purchase, the payment method, and the return policy highlighted on her receipt.
Have a nice day!
PS: If I recall correctly, the check bounced (surprise!) and she got picked up for shoplifting in our store a few weeks later. She got caught standing in the shelter of the big-item pick-up door, transferring stuff from her jacket to a store bag. Happy ending all around, I think.
Most of us can tell the shifty-eyed shoplifters from the casual browsers. I saw this one woman going back and forth between displays, fidgeting with stuff in her hands and keeping her bulky winter coat zipped up to her chin. Every other customer had their coats unzipped, because once you hit the doors and our heaters blast you, the almost eighty degree difference is enough to make you break out in a sweat!
Well, Shifty-Eyes comes up to my register with a single pair of pants and wants to purchase them. No problem so far. As I ring her up she starts quizzing me on our return policy. Cash (or charge back to your credit card if you used one) for returns with receipt, store credit without, standard deal. No, I cannot give cash without a receipt showing that you paid by cash or check, and if you paid by check the purchase has to be at least a week old (to make sure the check cleared). No, I cannot take your word for it.
Well, she pays for the pants by check (I make sure to get her info down real clear), has me put the pants and the receipt in the bag, and then leaves.
Less than five minutes later, I see her walk back in the door and make a beeline for the juniors department across the aisle from me. Well, alarms are going off in my head, so I stroll over to the kids' section and listen as the woman demands store credit for the four pairs of pants that she wants to return without a receipt. Well, Shifty-Eyes turns into Cat-Butt-Face when I walk up and say hello. I tell her she should have come back to me (the closest register to the door she came through) with her return, as I'd have been oh-so-happy to help her with it. She claims she forgot that she had the pants to return until she went out to her car to leave. Okay, no problem, I've done that, too. But she was in the store for almost an hour....
In Minot, that's more than enough time to freeze your coffee in its cup, much less thoroughly chill a few pairs of pants and their bag sitting in your trunk.
Every pair of pants was store-temp, the bag was store-temp, and lo and behold, the at the bottom of the bag, beneath the pants she claimed to have purchased more than a week ago, was the register receipt for the pair of pants she had *just* purchased. She had been sputtering in indignation at me for taking the pants out and commenting on how they weren't cold, but when I got to the receipt she went quiet. I asked if she'd like to stop by the store's security office to review the tapes from the parking lot to check her story about getting the pants out of her trunk, and she went back to being indignant.
I have to hand it to her: this woman was persistent and stuck to her story. She lost all credibility, tho, when she tried to leave with the bag of pants. I put my hand down on them and wouldn't let her take them unless she went to the office with me and confirmed with my manager that they were indeed pants she got out of her car. Now, if it had been me, and some cashier was preventing me from leaving with my rightfully-purchased goods, her manager would only be the first person I would be complaining to. Shifty, on the other hand, tried to change tactics and demanded a refund for the pair of pants she had just purchased (doused in a rant about never shopping at the store again, yadda-yadda-yadda). Gave me this look of triumph like I wasn't going to be able to stop her from having her way.
That was when I politely reminded her of the return policy I had gone over in detail not fifteen minutes prior: She paid by check, and there was a seven day waiting period for returns if the payment was by check.
Three pairs of pants get placed behind the counter. One pair of pants goes in the bag, along with the date of purchase, the payment method, and the return policy highlighted on her receipt.
Have a nice day!
PS: If I recall correctly, the check bounced (surprise!) and she got picked up for shoplifting in our store a few weeks later. She got caught standing in the shelter of the big-item pick-up door, transferring stuff from her jacket to a store bag. Happy ending all around, I think.
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