Yes the lunch box is FREE!

[bbaaww13]

We are having a sale this week where if you buy a book bag you get a lunch box for free. There are signs all over the store advertising this sale. The sale has also been printed in all the flyers we have in the store. If you go to the wall where we keep the lunch boxes and book bags you can't miss the signs. Or so I thought.

This little girl came up to my register with an iCarly book bag and lunch box.

SK: Sucky Kid
SD: Sucky Dad
Me: Me

SK: My dad wanted to know if he bought this book bag would be get this lunch box for free?
Me: Yes ma'am, you would.
SK: So he wouldn't have to pay for the lunch box?
Me: Not if you buy the book bag.
SK: So this is free? (Holds up lunch box)
Me: As long as he buys the book bag.

She walked away to find her dad. When little kids ask these questions I let it slide. There still learning. I don't have a problem explaining the sale to them. Next thing I know I see the little girl heading towards my register with her dad.

Me: Hello.( Opening spiel)
SD: My daughter wants to get this book bag and lunch box. Is there some kind of sale going on with this?
I just assume maybe his kid didn't explain the sale. But I still don't know how he wouldn't know about the sale with all the signs.
Me: Yes sir. If you buy the book bag you get the lunch box free.
I ring up both items. On our registers the sale price on an item doesn't show until I hit total. So as I scan them it shows the full price for the lunch box.
SD: HEY!!! That's suppose to be free. That's what the signs say!
Me: Yes sir. (Hit total and it takes the lunch box off)
SD: Why would you charge me for the lunch box if its free?
Me: Sir your not being charged for it. See its only charging you for the book bag.
SD: NO! I saw you charge me for the lunch box.! Just take it off.
So I delete the lunch box off and just bag up the book bag. I give him the total and he pays. I had set the lunch box off to the side and was going to reshop it after he left. After I hand him the book bag he reaches for the lunch box. He picks it up and starts to head for the exit.
Me: Sir. You have to pay for that.
SD: I did! It was free. Remember you told my daughter if we got the book bag the lunch box is free!
Me: It is sir but I still have to scan it.
SD: No! If you scan it then we get charged for it!
After 5 minutes of me and a manager explaining that he was not being charged for the lunch box we finally got him checked out and out of the store. He could not understand why if the item was free it still had to be scanned.

[firecat88]

So, then, by his logic, everything is free as long as it doesn't get scanned?

[ShootMePlease]

What a maroon.

Common sense says items have to scanned for inventory purposes. Everything needs to accounted for, whether it's free or not.

Of course, we are discussing this here. 'Nuff said.

[BrenDAnn]

Next time try this: We have to scan it for inventory purposes. See if that works. I deal with this ALL. THE. TIME. Our specials at the c-store don't take effect until I hit the total button. Pain in my ass!

[Lachrymose]

^That.

I think most non-retail people don't realize that scanning is also inventory control (no matter how inaccurate that inventory ends up being at times )

[Willis]

People just don't understand how inventory works. You just can't remove inventory without recording it. If he had half a brain he'd have seen that all he paid was for the book bag and the taxes on it.

EDIT: I didn't read the responses before me. Sorry for repeating inventory.

[Gizmo]

Discounts that don't get taken off the total until you press "subtotal" are always fun. I normally ended up printing a subtotalled receipt showing the free item being scanned on at normal price and then showing the adjustment below to prove it had been deducted before they will pay.

[MidoriDelSol]

You sound like you work where I work. I have that happen a lot too, like is a free lunch bag really THAT unbelievable of a deal? Our back packs are overpriced anyway.

[NateTheChops]

People are always puzzled by that concept.

I use to get it a lot back when I was working for Brooks Pharmacy. (Now WrongAid)

"Uh, well, why do you have to scan it if it's buy one get one?"

I have to assume that anyone who gets puzzled by it, or ask that question has never worked in retail or indeed any place where people have to pay for anything before getting something else for free.

[Balgram]

I can only recall going to a total of two stores in my entire life where the free item was just as this man imagined: no scanning, the item just went from under the counter to the shopping bag and we were done.

I might panic at first if I saw a free item ring up at full price, but the moment I saw the total I think "common sense" "logic" and "basic math" would come in and give me a hand.

[Teskeria]

There's the problem Balgram. These SC's are wearing Common sense/logic/math repellent. SuperPlus strength. Don't want those nasty things in their empty skulls. Why they wouldn't hear their brain cell rattling if they let those in.

[Kogarashi]

I think most non-retail people don't realize that scanning is also inventory control (no matter how inaccurate that inventory ends up being at times )

Ugh, YES. I lost count of how many customers would get confused because they'd hand me one of their 50+ drink packets/cat food cans/soda bottles/whatever and I'd have to ask for one of each. Yes, ma'am, I understand that all the cat food is the same price. But I have to put in the exact amounts of each flavor that you're buying so the inventory system knows how much of what we have left. How would you like it if you came back next week to find that we had a surplus of fish-flavored cat food but none of the beef, chicken, or pork varieties because you only handed me a single can of fish-flavor to scan?

This is why when, recently, I bought 20 plastic storage bins for our move-out (in about four months, but the bins are on sale now), I let the cashier scan one of each color and told her how many of each color I had so she could get the inventory correct, because I noticed that each color of bin had a different barcode. Take that, SCs.

[dragon_wings]

Today a lady was sold 2 packs of cigs by the new guy. Of course they were Golds and not Menthol and she wanted to exchange them. So as the manager did I exchange I made the comment that we have to do an exchange on the register for inventory purposes.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

We get that at the swamp all. the. fuck. ing. time.

We run a buy one get one free sale (now buy one get one for a penny), SC selects two items and takes them to the register, cashier scans them, SC has a premature vocal ejaculation and insists we charged them full price for both items.

We can show them on the screen and on the receipt that the charge for the second item was taken off or adjusted down to a penny, but no matter. They KNOW we've ripped them off.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Welcome to the 21st century, SCs...(not to mention most stores have been doing barcode scanning at checkout for decades now...)