I should know better????

[georgiab]

Okay anyone who knows me knows one of two things: 1) I am extremely good hearted and 2) I would never sell someone something just to make a buck PLAIN AND SIMPLE!!!!!

Today had a woman come in the store she is very quiet and polite and usually doesn't say much but lately she has really opened up....Well today she came in and was very excited that we had some computer itiems...A monitor, keyboard and a mouse. She asks if they work and I say yes and test them for her to prove it...she buys them ( i give her a discount cause she is nice) and she calls a cab loads up and goes home. Now to those who don't know I work at a thrift store ALL SALES ARE FINAL...We even have all customers sighn a slip stating that are furniture appliances and what not are AS IS! So any who some time later I receive a phone call from a belligerant man stating that his wife came in bought a computer and it has all these cords but nowhere to plu them in at ...Automatically I know who he is refering to and inform him of this....I say well sir each iteim does work but she has to have an actually disk drive and such for it to be actually used...so he starts ranting about how she didn't know that and I shouldn't have sold it to her ...I said sir well I am sorry but it is NOT my responsibility to know who does and doesn't know about computers then he starts swearing and saying she has all these menatsl problems and so on ...Finally I said look Sir again it is not my resposibility maybe you should have been with her if that is the case...He thens said Well I can't be with her all the time...I then state well I can not be held liable for someone I know not much about and that that is not my position and an employee then he starts cussing her and I felt so bad for her and I said "sir that is not called for I even tell him he can find this part elsewhere and that if one came in I would notify her but that was all I could do"! He complains that as a salesperson I shouldn't have sold it to her WeLL first I am not in Sales ...People but what they see IT IS A THRIFT STORE..So long story short he bitches even more blames me and hangs up..... Now keep in mind for all those who suggest that I am a Sales person I AM NOT...It is a thrift store we sell used itiems this is not best buy...You see something you like you buy it..I make nothing off of anything she really wanted it so she bought it....Sorry so long!!!

[BookstoreEscapee]

That's like coming into the bookstore and saying "Why did you sell my wife this book? She can't READ!"

Thrift store prices and he expects tech support?!

[Imogene]

That's like coming into the bookstore and saying "Why did you sell my wife this book? She can't READ!"

Thrift store prices and he expects tech support?!

"Oh, come on, Bart, you don't need to be able to read to enjoy "The New Yorker". "

[Reyneth]

That's like coming into the bookstore and saying "Why did you sell my wife this book? She can't READ!"

HAHAHA I forgot about the SC mom who came into one of my old stores (for a tv channel, not the "mouse" one - there aren't many stores left) fussing up a storm that we sold her daughter a "Book of Love Spells" and don't we know they are the ? And how could we dare corrupt her little like that with *gasp* witchcraft?

Ummm, Ma'am, your daughter picked it out all on her own. We do not endorse any one religion over another. We also think the book is bloody funny and interesting - but just fun, nothing that really works. We have no responsibility towards people's purchases other than assisting in selection if needed (which she didn't) and ringing up the sale. Perhaps if you were so concerned about her welfare, you wouldn't leave her alone in the mall in the first place?

We didn't take the book back. She had already broken open the sealed part in the back.

[Imogene]

We didn't take the book back. She had already broken open the sealed part in the back.

*clears throat* The, um, love spells? The irresistible, bodice-ripping, god you're hot suddenly, take me I'm your's, love spells section?

[Reyneth]

*clears throat* The, um, love spells? The irresistible, bodice-ripping, god you're hot suddenly, take me I'm your's, love spells section?

The whole book was "Love Spells" - along the lines of clip a photo of you plus one of the one you desire together, face to face, put in underwear drawer and s/he will contact you within a week. Or stuff like that.

I don't remember what the "sealed section" ones were - more along the lines of a long-term relationship rather than a fling? So they were more "powerful" and not for ordinary human consumption or something.

LOL I had completely forgotten about that incident.

I don't know why SCs think we are mind readers. I've had two recently accuse me of thinking they were, because I didn't tell them this and that which they needed to know - despite me in one case actually telling her the info, she just didn't listen, and in the other the info was completely irrelevant. UGH!

[zzapp the witch]

Scary. Poor teeny bopper, casting love spells all over without proper information. Karma's going to be biting her in the ass hard.

[ThePhoneGoddess]

Oooh, that love spells SC reminds me of an incident in junior high...

My Mother and her best friend are antique collectors, and once when I was in junior high school my Mom got a set of antique tarot cards at an auction for a great price. Now my Mother is totally atheist and very literal minded; she doesn't believe in that sort of stuff at all, she just thought they were an interesting antique item.

I had a friend who wanted to see them, so I brought them over one night at a sleepover to show to her. Being 14, I left them there on accident. Well her Mom was a hardcore Baptist and when she found them she had a fit and burnt them in the fireplace, while making her kids watch. It's not like we were even playing with them, we were just looking at the pictures on them...really intricate drawings.

So when my Mom found they were missing I got in trouble for taking them over there. She ordered me to get them back. I asked my friend and found out her Mom had burnt them, and my Mother was quite pissed off over it.

Her and my friend's Mother had words. My Mom demanded the money she paid for them, and my friend's Mom informed her that she should be thanking her for saving her daughter from the devil. My Mother then went off about the lack of evidence for such a belief, as well as the many mistranslations in the bible and how presumptuous it was to burn her property without even speaking to her, and then my friend's Mom went off about how she was leading me into a pact with satan and that my Mom should have her children taken away from her for our own good...and, well, you get the idea.

Me and my friend watched all this, fascinated. After that we were not allowed to go over to each other's house. We were still friends in school, though.

[BookstoreEscapee]

We had a parent bring back a copy of a book called The Big Book of Revenge - it's along the same lines of the Anarchist Cookbook, which we do not carry in the store (we will order it but you have to be 18 to buy it). The mother was very upset that we would sell this to her child and even that we would carry it in the store. I could see her point, as the kid was maybe 14-15, but it was not our fault that her kid is buying something like that. She had the receipt and we did take the book back, but really, she was yelling at the wrong people. The manager just apologized to her, and told her that we don't censor books, and also that most of what we carry is not decided at the store level.

ps Most of the orders I've ever gotten for the Anarchist Cookbook were from teenage boys who order it over the phone, at which point they are informed they will need ID to pick it up, and they bluff and say OK, and then never pick it up. After holding it 2 weeks we send it back to the publisher. If you don't know, the AC is considered by the authors to be a "survival guide" and includes information on drugs, lethal and non lethal weapons, "recipes" for bombs and stuff. The back of the book has this warning: "Read this book, but keep in mind that the topics written about here are illegal and constitute a threat. Also, more importantly, almost all the recipes are dangerous, especially to the individual who plays around with them without knowing what he is doing. Use care, caution, and common sense. This book is not for children or morons."

[chainedbarista]

i could be mistaken, but wasn't the ac on the government's watch list? considering the content, combined with the government's stance on terrorism, i'd think that a purchase of this book by unknown parties would set off alarms somewhere...

[NightAngel]

It's like when people call my work and say, "I just bought a home theater system with surround sound and *every gadget known to man*. How do I hook it up?"

Okay, this is a video store. We rent out movies and sell candy. Why are you calling us asking? Why not call the place you bought it or the manufacturor? (I'm positive I spelled that wrong.)

[BookstoreEscapee]

i could be mistaken, but wasn't the ac on the government's watch list? considering the content, combined with the government's stance on terrorism, i'd think that a purchase of this book by unknown parties would set off alarms somewhere...

It may have been. Probably why we didn't carry it in the store. But we did carry others in a similar vein. But seriously, we don't know what every book is about and we can't stop people from buying most things based on age (the only things we card for normally are mags like Playboy, etc., which say right on them you have to be 18 to buy). I've had teens buy the kama sutra and frankly there's not much we can do about it. It's right there on the shelf.

[AFpheonix]

It's like when people call my work and say, "I just bought a home theater system with surround sound and *every gadget known to man*. How do I hook it up?"

Okay, this is a video store. We rent out movies and sell candy. Why are you calling us asking? Why not call the place you bought it or the manufacturor? (I'm positive I spelled that wrong.)

Or they call us at 11 at night.
"Uhhhhh....I just found this pill under the fridge, do you know what it is? Oh what the hell, I'll just put it in my mouth anyways."

Seriously, just throw it away. It's all good.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Or they call us at 11 at night.
"Uhhhhh....I just found this pill under the fridge, do you know what it is? Oh what the hell, I'll just put it in my mouth anyways."

That's scary. If I found one of my pills I would recognize it. If I didn't recognize it I would toss it. (I'd be more concerned about my cats if I found pills on the floor).

I like my pharmacy because on the insert with the instructions and all the scary scary side effects they include a description of the pill: color, shape, and writing and even what color ink it should be. Comes in handy when getting a new script cuz I always open the bottle to check before I go.

[MadRocketScientist]

I've got copies of the Anarchist Cookbook, The Poor Man's James Bond (Vol 1 & 2) and various other such texts. In the hands of most people, these books are more dangerous to the reader than anyone else (plus all the info is available on the web).