It Happened at Work

One of my duties is to either deny or approve returns at the Customer Service desk, so I am called over to the desk a few times a night. Sometimes these are quite unbelievable.

We had a customer that insisted that she didn't have to pay Maine Sales Tax because she is from New Hampshire. It took me and another CSM to get her to understand that when you are shopping in Maine you have to pay the sales tax.

There was the customer that brought back a home blood pressure tester that she had bought 4 years ago and insisted that she could return it because it had quit working and had a warranty. The Customer Service Associate and I had a difficult time getting her to understand that she had to contact the manufacturer, that the warranty is through the manufacturer, not through Walmart, and for most items we have a 90 day return policy.

I have had customers tell me that we should have every single policy that the company has regarding returns posted through out the store, even though they are clearly posted at Customer Service.

A couple of weeks ago I was called over to a register for a price check, where the customer was saying that an item was on clearance. The item in question was one that we had just started carrying a week early. I went and did the price check any way and it was marked for the price that the register rang it at.
Sometimes people get angry because we have to do a price check.
I think they just don't realize that we can't take their word for it, we have to go and check the price. Sometimes they are right about the price, but more often than not the price rang up turns out to be correct.

I have had customers chew me and the cashier out because their credit card gets denied. I'm sorry, this isn't our fault, when it comes up credit provider denies the charge, there isn't anything that we can't do anything about.


I think the best one that I have heard though is this one. We have a very short cashier. She was covering customer service one night when a customer came in to cash a paycheck. This man Said to the cashier "You are short. I bet you give good sex." She tried to ignore the statement, then he noticed that she wasn't wearing a wedding ring when she handed him is money. "Oh I see you're single." Just at the time the phone rang and she went to answer it and the man left without any further comments.
The poor cashier was so embarrassed, and now she wears a ring when she comes to work to keep men like that from hitting on her.


Now I do have to say that I have seen some very good things happen.

I had an elderly couple pay for formula for a young mother when she tried to use a WIC check early. If you aren't familiar with WIC, the checks have a starting and ending date of when they can be used.

I had an older customer help a young father pay for his groceries when he didn't have enough money for them.

People like the last two examples help to restore one's faith in the human race.