>A buddy of mine is working in a retail store in the south Texas area… in Prevention and Loss. I asked him to send me his daily ‘stupid shopper’ stories. I can’t post them all because… there are too many. But I’ll pick some juicy ones. If you’re in retail, working hard on that sales floor, I’m sure you have some dumb shopper tales to share… post ’em here in the comments area… this is your outlet — get it off your chest! And shoppers wonder why retail people have short fuses or ‘appear rude or disinterested’.

…. a man comes in with an old scratched up laptop and says he’s shopping for a new one. In the meantime, he asks me if I can help him retrieve his password, he can’t remember it. No problem, just log onto Windows with a new user log in and download a free password recovery freeware tool. He says he can’t log in… hands me the laptop… you try it. He powers it up, oops. It’s the bios password. I thought he meant he changed and forgot his Windows log in. I can’t help you with the bios password. You may just want to sell it. I said that after realizing that it must be stolen. He walked out of the store real fast because he saw my demeanor change instantly.

… a man comes in with a car insurance card and asks if our copy and publishing department can change the name on the insurance card because the insurance agent spelled his name wrong. It read on the insurance card Bob Jennings. What’s your name? Mark Simon. Wow, they really did spell it wrong, I know that agent, let me call him and… NO THANKS… and he walks out the door.

… a lady comes in to buy some blank dvds we have on sale… 100 packs, marked down from $54.00 to $19. “Good price, are these all you have?” There were about 6 100 packs still on the shelves. Let me check. Later… “we have about 12 more in the back”. “I’ll take all of them.” “Wow, 1800 dvds… must be some big wedding coming up”. She said nothing. Paid cash at the register. Thought something was odd. 30 minutes later she comes in with several DVD covers, just the covers. “Can someone show me how to make copies of these?”. “Why do you need copies of these, please?” “Why do you ask?” “Because they’re copyrighted.” “I know your policy, YOU can’t copy them, but you can’t keep ME from copying them.” “Yes, but I am bound by law not to show you HOW to copy them… perhaps I can interest you in a scanner/copy machine that you can take home and make all the color copies you want?” She left saying something about talking to the manager the next day or something.

…. a man comes in to buy a laptop power cord. $100. I ring him up. He hands me 2 discount cards he got in the mail. 1 for $10, the other for $15. And a piece of paper with some numbers written on it. “Sir, what’s this?” “It’s a tax exempt number from my church.” “Oh, can I see the actual tax exemption card?” “No, I lose it, those are the numbers.” “I can’t give you the tax exemption without seeing the real card. I am also not suppose to apply two discounts cards… see it says it right here, cannot be combined with any other discount or clearance, etc. etc., but I’ll make an exception today since you don’t have your tax exemption card” “Other stores let me, they take my numbers, too.” “That’s great, but those discount cards are for OUR store and I won’t give you a tax exemption unless you can”…. he throws down the power cord and heads for the door mumbling about how he’s calling the manager….

… a man comes in, obviously in a hurry because he interrupted me speaking with another customer, “can you please refill this ink cartridge… I have a project waiting”. Since he interrupted, I had to ask it, I HAD TO… “don’t you have another backup cartridge?” “At these prices? (It was a $10 recycled black cartridge)”… “No, I’m sorry it can’t be refilled!” “Why the hell not?” “See this electrical strip? It’s torn off… without it, it can’t be refilled… that strip is needed to reset the serial number and work with the machine’s hardware!” “I didn’t do that, you did… I want a new cartridge!” “Sir, the only way that could have happened is if it was ripped from the cartridge head… you have to be very careful with Lexmark cartridges, I see that happen alot.” “You did that, I want a replacement!” The customer I was talking to butted in, “actually I saw you hand it to him like that already, why are you yelling at him?” “Mind your own business, I… you sold me a bad refill cartridge and now you won’t replace it!!!!” He tried to make a scene but I have 2 noisy nephews at home… I’ve learned to ignore it. I guess he left for another store. It’s been a few days and the manager hasn’t called me on it.

… and older lady came in and showed me her favorite pen. It was a promotional pen from a doctor’s office. “I love this pen and it’s out of ink, do you have refills for it?” “No ma’am, it can’t be replaced. See? It’s sealed… it’s a promotional pen. No way to get the refill out.” “Oh but you must, I really love THIS PEN.” “Have you asked that doctor to give you another pen? I’m sure he would.” “NO, IT’S THIS PEN I WANT… NOT A NEW ONE!” I don’t know much about pens, let me find another sales person who’s an expert in pens. Gave her to the manager. I don’t know how he handled it, I had real customers to help. 🙂

…. a woman comes in with about 15 pages she needed faxed. Some W2s, proof of citizenship, tax forms, etc. “How much to fax these, please?” 79 cents per page local, $1.79 per page long distance. “Ok, that’s fine, go ahead.” It took about 10 minutes to fax. Ok, the fax went through. Let’s ring you up. Total was about $28.00 with taxes. “What? I don’t have that much! You said it was 79 cent a page. “Yes ma’am, and $1.79 per page long distance… it was a long distance fax number.” “Why didn’t you tell me that before you faxed it?” “You wrote the cover page, you didn’t know that it was long distance when it read ‘Bryan, Texas’?” “I only brought 5 dollars with me, that’s all I have.” “Even it it was a local fax, it would be more than $5.” “What am I gonna do now?” “I’ll have to keep your originals, please come back later and pay for these… here’s a copy of the charges, come back Monday and ask for [manager’s name] … I will leave a note for her”. She left upset. I hope she comes back.

I bet YOU have a better one to share with us… click COMMENTS below and let ‘er rip.

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