This happened to me the Christmas before last when I was employed at Hell-Mart. Reading a lot of threads with "Crazy Ladies" made me remember one in particular that made me want to pull my hair out and baffled me to no end.
I was sales associate. Sporting Goods was my official title, but I also covered Hardware, Seasonal, Pets, Toys and Stationary... usually simultaneously, but I digress. Boxing Day sales were upon us, so of course all seasonal product was 50% off. Unfortunately, this did not mean just anything and everything that was Christmassy, this meant items that were scanned as "Department 18, Seasonal." Some random Christmas items, such as cookie cutters, tablecloths, etc., were department 14 - Housewares. Therefore, these items were not considered Seasonal, and the discount did not apply.
You can imagine the kind of scrapes this caused with people trying (desperately) to save a buck or two on frivolous holiday novelty items.
Being so freakin' busy, my register, normally reserved for purchases of ammunition, paintball guns and expensive binoculars, was going full-tilt all day. I was not a cashier, though I was trained on cash, and therefore was slower scanning and bagging, ringing things in, using gift cards, what have you. So the day seemed to not be passing at all, as my line stretched fifty feet down to the toy department, where it ran directly in to the line-up for the Electronics registers. By lunchtime I'm worn out and as cranky as the Boxing Day shoppers.
This was when CRAZY LADY decided to appear. I start ringing her in, making small talk, commenting on how pretty the ornaments she was buying were, noting that she was staring a hole through the screen that shows the price they're scanning.
That's when it happens. Gift-wrap Organizer, $16 (which I agree is ridiculous for such a pointless product, but again, I digress).
M: Me, your poor, worn out employee.
CL: Well, you know.
CL: WAIT! That's scanning wrong! The price on the TAG is $16, that should be coming up for 8!
M: One second, some of the discounted items aren't scanning properly, I may be able to override it, I just need to see if it is indeed a Seasonal item.
CL: IT'S A F***ING GIFT WRAP ORGANIZER! OF COURSE IT'S SEASONAL!
M: *explains, politely, about the department 18 nonsense*
CL: That's f***ing ridiculous! Of course it is!
M: Well, where did you pick this up, ma'am?
CL: RIGHT THERE! *points to Housewares, directly across from my department*
M: *realizing this wasn't going to be pretty* Um.. that's Housewares. But I will double-check to be certain.
I examine the packaging, and sure enough, there's a sticker right on the back that says, Department 14. I show this to the customer.
CL: &^%^&%&%&$%*&*##$@@ MANAGER!
M: *deep, deep sigh* Manager on Duty, phone 109, please.
MANAGER: It's marked for what it is, you're not allowed to change it.
M: *thanks a f*cking lot, you wanna tell her that?* Okay... I'll let her know. *to customer* Yeah, I'm sorry but there's nothing they can do about it.
CL: GET THAT **** MANAGER HERE AND I'LL GIVE THEM A PIECE OF MY MIND!
M: Manager on Duty, phone 109, please.
MANAGER: There's no way. Have you seen the people here? More important things to attend to. (*this is certainly true, but still, help me out!? alas.*)
M: I'm sorry, they are tied up with other things now. Would you like the organizer or shall I put it back?
CL: YOU'RE NOT PUTTING IT BACK, I'LL TAKE IT UP TO CUSTOMER SERVICE!
M: Feel free, ma'am, but I assure you they'll tell you the same thing.
CL: FINE!
I bag her stuff, she wanders off, whatever.
The lines finally die down, and a coworker starts his shift (thank you, tiny Jesus!). I laughingly tell him about the crazy lady. The Gift Wrap Organizer has long since been put away, probably brought up to customer service and put in Houseware's recovery basket, to be picked up and put back wherever it belonged when someone got a moment. Meanwhile, my coworker finds a Santa suit, beat up, ripped, etc., and knows it has to be wrote off as damaged, but didn't have the time to bring it out back. He left it behind my counter. This is important.
I am standing behind my counter, writing off some damaged product, when who should reappear but the crazy lady.
CL: I was just over Housewares and I couldn't find that Organizer!!! I was going to take it to customer service and complain. Where did you put it?
M: Sorry ma'am, it's a bit hectic in here today (f'in obviously!!!!!!!!!
), things are getting moved around and out of place a lot quicker than we can fix them. I'm not sure where it would've ended up, someone probably purchased it.
CL: ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME!? ALL RIGHT YOU LITTLE ****, WHERE DID YOU PUT IT?
M: Yeah, pretty sure I didn't deserve that, and I promise you I didn't do anything with it.
CL: WELL WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? *points at the Santa suit, the box is in disarray so you can't tell what it is, just that it's Christmassy*
M: THAT would be a Santa Claus costume.
CL: FINE! *huffs off*
About two minutes later I get away from my counter for the first time all day. On my way back, THE CRAZY LADY IS BEHIND THE COUNTER RIPPING THE SANTA CLAUS SUIT BOX APART.
I caught her and made a quick manager page, but she escaped before they even called me back. Like, she was CONVINCED we were hiding that
gift wrap organizer on her. Like it was some big conspiracy. Like I had nothing better to do with my time. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?
Sorry this was so long!
I was sales associate. Sporting Goods was my official title, but I also covered Hardware, Seasonal, Pets, Toys and Stationary... usually simultaneously, but I digress. Boxing Day sales were upon us, so of course all seasonal product was 50% off. Unfortunately, this did not mean just anything and everything that was Christmassy, this meant items that were scanned as "Department 18, Seasonal." Some random Christmas items, such as cookie cutters, tablecloths, etc., were department 14 - Housewares. Therefore, these items were not considered Seasonal, and the discount did not apply.
You can imagine the kind of scrapes this caused with people trying (desperately) to save a buck or two on frivolous holiday novelty items.
Being so freakin' busy, my register, normally reserved for purchases of ammunition, paintball guns and expensive binoculars, was going full-tilt all day. I was not a cashier, though I was trained on cash, and therefore was slower scanning and bagging, ringing things in, using gift cards, what have you. So the day seemed to not be passing at all, as my line stretched fifty feet down to the toy department, where it ran directly in to the line-up for the Electronics registers. By lunchtime I'm worn out and as cranky as the Boxing Day shoppers.
This was when CRAZY LADY decided to appear. I start ringing her in, making small talk, commenting on how pretty the ornaments she was buying were, noting that she was staring a hole through the screen that shows the price they're scanning.
That's when it happens. Gift-wrap Organizer, $16 (which I agree is ridiculous for such a pointless product, but again, I digress).
M: Me, your poor, worn out employee.
CL: Well, you know.
CL: WAIT! That's scanning wrong! The price on the TAG is $16, that should be coming up for 8!
M: One second, some of the discounted items aren't scanning properly, I may be able to override it, I just need to see if it is indeed a Seasonal item.
CL: IT'S A F***ING GIFT WRAP ORGANIZER! OF COURSE IT'S SEASONAL!
M: *explains, politely, about the department 18 nonsense*
CL: That's f***ing ridiculous! Of course it is!
M: Well, where did you pick this up, ma'am?
CL: RIGHT THERE! *points to Housewares, directly across from my department*
M: *realizing this wasn't going to be pretty* Um.. that's Housewares. But I will double-check to be certain.
I examine the packaging, and sure enough, there's a sticker right on the back that says, Department 14. I show this to the customer.
CL: &^%^&%&%&$%*&*##$@@ MANAGER!
M: *deep, deep sigh* Manager on Duty, phone 109, please.
MANAGER: It's marked for what it is, you're not allowed to change it.
M: *thanks a f*cking lot, you wanna tell her that?* Okay... I'll let her know. *to customer* Yeah, I'm sorry but there's nothing they can do about it.
CL: GET THAT **** MANAGER HERE AND I'LL GIVE THEM A PIECE OF MY MIND!
M: Manager on Duty, phone 109, please.
MANAGER: There's no way. Have you seen the people here? More important things to attend to. (*this is certainly true, but still, help me out!? alas.*)
M: I'm sorry, they are tied up with other things now. Would you like the organizer or shall I put it back?
CL: YOU'RE NOT PUTTING IT BACK, I'LL TAKE IT UP TO CUSTOMER SERVICE!
M: Feel free, ma'am, but I assure you they'll tell you the same thing.
CL: FINE!
I bag her stuff, she wanders off, whatever.
The lines finally die down, and a coworker starts his shift (thank you, tiny Jesus!). I laughingly tell him about the crazy lady. The Gift Wrap Organizer has long since been put away, probably brought up to customer service and put in Houseware's recovery basket, to be picked up and put back wherever it belonged when someone got a moment. Meanwhile, my coworker finds a Santa suit, beat up, ripped, etc., and knows it has to be wrote off as damaged, but didn't have the time to bring it out back. He left it behind my counter. This is important.
I am standing behind my counter, writing off some damaged product, when who should reappear but the crazy lady.
CL: I was just over Housewares and I couldn't find that Organizer!!! I was going to take it to customer service and complain. Where did you put it?
M: Sorry ma'am, it's a bit hectic in here today (f'in obviously!!!!!!!!!

CL: ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME!? ALL RIGHT YOU LITTLE ****, WHERE DID YOU PUT IT?
M: Yeah, pretty sure I didn't deserve that, and I promise you I didn't do anything with it.
CL: WELL WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? *points at the Santa suit, the box is in disarray so you can't tell what it is, just that it's Christmassy*
M: THAT would be a Santa Claus costume.
CL: FINE! *huffs off*
About two minutes later I get away from my counter for the first time all day. On my way back, THE CRAZY LADY IS BEHIND THE COUNTER RIPPING THE SANTA CLAUS SUIT BOX APART.
I caught her and made a quick manager page, but she escaped before they even called me back. Like, she was CONVINCED we were hiding that

Sorry this was so long!
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