stupid 99 cent soda

[Green_Fairy]

we were reeeeally busy today at the cookie store. at one point, we had a pretty decent line going. a woman and her late-teen son ordered 4 cookies (which are buy 3, get the 4th one free) and a soda.
after i had already charged their card, she asks me if the drink was 99 cents. apparently her son had noticed the sign that says "any size soft drink 99 cents with any cookie purchase." i said something along the lines of "oh no! i'm so sorry it's a new promotion and i totally forgot about it! can i get you another drink to make up for it? or a coupon for a free cookie next time you're here? "
aaaand cue the crazyish.
SC: can you just give me the cash difference?
Me: um...i'll actually have to refund the entire purchase (which is true. it's how our system works). it'll take a few minutes.
SC: oh, okay
Me: so...another soda?
SC: no. i don't mind if you refund the order. i can wait.
Me: ...right. *refunds the order, re-rings it up, still with the 4 for 3 cookies, but now with the 99 cent soda. takes a couple minutes because our system has been slow lately* aaaand i'm gonna need another signature right here
SC: *signs with an entitled look* thank you
Me: yeeeah. have a nice day, guys! *goes and helps the 15 other people gathered at the counter*

when i had a free minute about an hour later, i actually figured out how much they saved.
drum roll please!!

..
....
..
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53 cents.

was i rightfully annoyed by this? or was i over-reacting and were they in the right asking me to re-ring it up to save 53 cents?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Both.

You have to honor the sign if anybody brings it up. Ideally there wouldn't be several promotions running at once that involve the same items and require so many adjustments to be made at the register.

But it's also amazing how much aggravation some people will put themselves through to save a couple pennies.

[bainsidhe]

It's human nature to get frustrated when things don't go perfectly. But you still did the refund, which made the customer happy. You were frustrated by the situation, but didn't take it out on the customer, so you were fine. Personally, I would've asked for the 53 cents back as well. I usually shop by myself and there's no guarantee I'd ever come back for a free cookie. I certainly wouldn't need a second drink. *shrugs*

[TonyDonuts]

Ideally, you should have just been able to give the customer 53 cents, and then have your manager do a paid-out for the cash.

Minimum fuss and bother, and the books come out right at the end of the day.

So naturally, many companies take the more complicated and aggravating route, the route that says, "We want you to take care of legitimate customer concerns, BUT we refuse to trust you with the means of doing that."

At my company any cashier can handle a customer problem up to twenty-five bucks a simple as that.

Now, convincing the cashiers of this is another story, but that's a whole 'nother rant.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I did a return once on a book that was bought in New York, which has higher sales tax (about 2% difference at the time). I forgot to change the tax, and the customer wanted me to fix it. Fixing it was a pain in the ass and took several minutes. The difference was about 54 cents or so. It was totally my fault, and I don't blame her for wanting the right tax back, but if I were the customer I think I would have just told them not to worry about it. I'd rather save myself the several minutes than go through all that over a few coins.

[Sapphire Silk]

I can't blame the customer from wanting to save a few pennies . . . but by the same token, since she realized the mistake late, if it had been me I'dve taken the extra soda or a coupon . . . just to save time.

[arminius58]

Ideally, you should have just been able to give the customer 53 cents, and then have your manager do a paid-out for the cash.

Minimum fuss and bother, and the books come out right at the end of the day.

So naturally, many companies take the more complicated and aggravating route, the route that says, "We want you to take care of legitimate customer concerns, BUT we refuse to trust you with the means of doing that."

At my company any cashier can handle a customer problem up to twenty-five bucks a simple as that.

Now, convincing the cashiers of this is another story, but that's a whole 'nother rant.

I would have canceled the whole order too, yeah, .53 cents isn't that much. However, a fairly common scam is to do something similar you pay money out of the stores money and then the credit card comes back stolen etc. and the store is out for the money. Not only for the transaction, but the additional amount that you just paid to the thief. And if you work for cheapskates like I do you would probably end up losing your job over the .53 cents.

[MoonCat]

I'd have taken the extra drink if I were her. Her son gets one, she gets the other. That would've made me happy.

[PepperElf]

yeah, i'd prolly have taken the extra drink too

but you did well, even if it was annoying for you