retail workers: tell us your stupid customers

[evanrick]

retail workers: tell us your stupid customers

Ok so quite often where i work we have photo processing (the customers call it 1-hour but nowhere does it say we will have it done in 1 hour). i love when they say stuff like "can i come back for it later?" (meaning their pictures). this implies somehow we are holding their pictures hostage or something. its truly a stupid question when ask if you can have your product when its finished. its like asking if you can drink water out of the water fountain, that's what its there for!! i feel like saying "yes you can come back for it later, unless our store is destroyed by fire"

also when people are buying things that dont have a price tag or are missing a barcode, they often say "that means its free!". i love saying back to them "ive never heard that one before!"

i sure i will think of more later, but does anyone else have stupid customer stories they want to share?

[Ram]

Where do I start? Not dumb, just mental.

Ugh, this cop... he was looking for a patient in the hospital I used to work in. He approached me and told me that someone was brought here and he needed to question the person.

Me: Do you have his/her name
Cop: No
Me: Gender and time of arrival?
Cop: No
Me: Age or race?
Cop: I don't have that information with me.
Me: Is there something you can tell me about this person that you know? It would help me greatly in finding the person.
Cop: Erm, he's pretty sick.
Me: ...

Pretty sick? Pretty sick? Gee, thanks for narrowing it down to every fucking patient in the hospital. Yeah, 99% of the patients are really very well in health and they are just here for the fantastic hospital food. What kind of shit cop are you?

I spent the next 2 hours (including lunch hour) doing detective work while the cop complained about my inability to find a specific person in an enormous public hospital with the very helpful key word of "sick".

[silverbelt]

I work in a bookstore. When I think of "stupid customers", I get a rapid series of flashbacks... I'll try to pick the best :P

One woman was being an absolute ball-breaker. We finally get to the checkout and as I'm putting the books through, she wanders over to the bookmark stand and picks one up. It was just a plain bookmark, had a tassel on it (for extra prettiness, of course). She looks up at me and asks, "This is a bookmark... (I nod) I know it's a bookmark... but how do you use it?" I stared blankly at her for a few seconds before saying really slowly, "You place it in the book... at the page you want to mark... so you don't lose where you're up to...". Her face transitioned to that of a child learning the most ingenious solution to a problem, put the bookmark back on the stand and paid for her books. All of us working couldn't do much more than stare at each other in awe for a while.

Also, shortly after I'd been hired (still on probation, during a Christmas period) a man wanted to buy a bunch of our bargain novels. They're $5.99ea, or 5 for $25. He had 7. I told him it came to $36.98 for the lot. He argued that he had 7: if it's 5 for $25, then each book should be $5, hence the total should be $35. I told him that the $25 price only applies to groups of 5 and any extraneous books are charged individually. He started fuming and exclaimed in front of the 20 or so other customers around the counter, "Well you can keep your bloody books then!" and threw them all at me. I was new to retail, so I kinda just stood there in shock while my manager told him to leave. Christmas makes customers go funny.

I'm sure I've got more stories... bookstores don't seem to have the intellectual clientele people assume they would.

[BlondeCanadian]

I had a woman call in and bitch about her internet being out. then at the end of her tirade she says that we will have to fix it quickly because her cordless phone is running out of batteries and the hydro is out

[BlondeCanadian]

Not to mention how many calls i got from people telling me there screen only says no signal... so there is something wrong with their internet

[silverbelt]

Another awesome site for stupid customers (and sometimes bosses/employees): clientcopia.com

[redfox70]

You should have told her to dip it into her urine and that if it turns pink, she's pregnant.

Brilliant!

[jdcnow]

God, where to start.

I could write a friggin' book. I think all of us could And it would sell. It would sell like crazy.

And note to evanrick: I love you for creating this thread. Just so you know.

One of the annoyances I'm running into to at the convenience store I work at, is that our debit PINpad machines ask for the PIN number last. It asks, "Do you want cash back?", "Do you approve the total amount of the purchase?" (including any cash back they may have requested), and "Enter your PIN." in that order. I guess folks are so used to entering their PIN number first. You'd be surprised at the people I have to tell in a "sweet-as-sugar" polite tone, "Now, hang on just a sec, now. You have to read the screen, and read what's in front in front of you." I'm always inwardly amused when they look at me like, "Huh?"

I didn't know this little tidbit until I started working at a convenience store: We are required to do a once-a-week test to prove we don't have water in our gas. We go outside and take a kneepad (we're kneeling on stone concrete), a pen, a piece of receipt paper on a clipboard, and this thin, but LONG (12 ft. long) wooden meter stick with me. I also take this tube of water detection paste with me. We smear a little bit on, about 14 inches from the bottom end. We stick the whole stick down off into the underground tanks. When we pull it back up, we write down how many inches of fuel each tank has (our station has 3 tanks). I work the night shift, when we're not really busy, so the job falls to me. I usually pick about 2:00am or so when it's nice and dead, right after I get through mopping, and right before I do my nightly cigarette pack and lottery ticket inventories. It's nice and dead, nobody's there, just me. Just when I get 1 of the three tanks tested and done, here comes an 18-wheeler pulling into our diesel pumps - right where the tanks are! I don't know what these people smoke or if they share, but even with my neon-yellow vest I go out in to do this, they still try to run my ass over. Living proof they'll let ANYBODY drive a mack truck.

[bostonboy20]

I work at a small liquor store and can't stand my customers sometimes..lol


while I have many annoying questions/comments made everyday (You know this is cheaper down the street? [Well go down the street if you know that], I can get this for 5 bucks up in New Hampshire[no shit, they don't have the same taxes we do, so go there if you want])

My probably most annoying situation(which got me so full of rage and shock that this man was yelling at me for this) an old man comes in and buys a 6pk of beer, he places it on the counter and I take my scanner gun and tilt the 6pk to scan the barcode on the bottom of the pack. He then proceeds to remove my hand from the 6pk and place it fully back on the counter and asks me if there was a better way I could have done that, because now they are completely shaken up. "Did you have to tilt it like that", I responded, well sir the barcode is on the bottom that I need to scan to complete your transaction. And then I showed him the barcode and he again swats my hand and says "Don't do it again!" "But wasn't there a better way to do it than that?"
"Well I guess I could have just lifted it straight up sir" "Yeah I guess you could have done that, if these are all shaken up and explode on me I will bring them back and get a refund" now i'm annoyed so I just say "Yup". he pays and leaves. about 2 mins later an old lady comes in with the 6pk and says "My husband just bought these and said you shook them up, can we please get a new one, thanks" so I grab it out of her hand and walk to the coolers and give her a new one. I was soooo annoyed by this cause he was pretty much talking to me like a child.

And just to note, when I tilt a 6pk I barely tilt it, just enough to get to the barcode, the beer barely even moves, and in reality even if they were a bit shaken it wouldn't have been a problem unless he was opening that beer in the car and if that was the case than I would have called the cops on that cranky ass old man.

[jdcnow]

Hate this.

'I could've got this for xx amount at x store.' Ok? What do you want me to do? Go there and buy it for cheaper, I'm not forcing you to buy it here. You walked into the store, not me.

And that's the little detail people seem to forget. You came to us. We didn't kidnap you out in the street at gunpoint, drag you to our store, and say that you JUST HAD to buy it from us, or else!

Back when I was assistant manager over a dollar store in a nearby town. We had this one woman who owned a local franchise restaurant. Her snootiness was (and still is) known (and hated) all around town. I don't care who you are, when you dealt with this particular dame, you always walk away from her with the feeling of, "OK, who died and made you queen?"

Now our store hours are clearly posted right next to the front door on a huge 2-ft wide by 3-ft tall window poster with giant bold letters. We close at the same time every night: 9:00. What I always did with the few stragglers we'd see right at closing, is that if they knew what they wanted, and they only wanted a few things, and it was still a minute or two before straight up 9 o'clock, then sure, I'd let them in, but politely inform them that we're about to close. But... my rule is: 9 o'clock means 9 o'clock. If somebody showed up at 9:01, sorry 'bout your luck, but there's a 24-hour Walmart right next door that never closes. (The strip shopping center my dollar store was in was literally at the Garden Center side of the parking lot of a Walmart Supercenter.) My boss, the store manager backed me up on this too: every night, it should only take 30 minutes for my cashier and I to close the store, and we only have that much of an hours budget. And it taking 30 minutes means we aren't interrupted by customers coming in at the last minute, then staying 5 or 10 minutes more to look and shop. We're open for 13 hours everyday (8am to 9pm). If people can't make it in *sometime* between there, then we're sorry, but that's just too bad. We've got a time limit to get the store properly shut down and closed for the night, and that's just how it is.

One night, the above-mentioned woman comes in, about 8:30, and wants several cans of Campbell's Cream Of Mushroom soup. After getting a shopping cart full of additional items, she THEN discovers that she left her money in the other purse that she left at home. She does pay for some of her stuff, then says that she'll try to be back for the Campbell's soup. "OK, fine," I tell her, "just please be back before 9:00." She's like, OK. So (you've probably figured this out) 9:00 came and went, and she doesn't show. The cans of soup go back to the shelf. My cashier and I pull ourselves off the registers and go to the back office to shut down for the night. The store is empty, except for my cashier and I, and the sales floor is dark, except for the security lights. Now, we're in the back office. I've finished counting both our registers. It's 9:15, and, like clockwork, we're about to count the nightly bank deposit like usual. All of a sudden the phone rings. Do you know this crazy broad calls us on her cell phone from our front door?

Me: "Good evening, Dollar Tree. This is Joseph, may I help you?"
Woman: "Uh, yes. This is (name censored to protect the ignorant). I have the money for the soup."
Me: "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I did tell you to be back before 9:00. It's now 9:15. Not only have we counted and shutdown both registers, but we're in the middle of finalizing the paperwork before locking up for the night. Now if you come back at 8:00 tomorrow morning, we'll be more than happy to --" (I was going to say, 'sell it to you'.)
The woman interrupts: "You can't open up a register, real quick?"
Me: "Ma'am, it takes about 5 minutes to fire a register back up, and we're on a time limit to get the store shut down. We have to be out of here by 9:30. Now, if you come back in the morning at 8 o'clock, we'll give you all the soup you want. I'm very sorry, ma'am but that where things stand, at the moment. You have a good night, now. " (And I hang up on her.)

I asked my store manager the next day about it, and she again backed me up, and said that I did the right thing. 9:00 means 9:00, simple as that. The onus is upon the customer to bring enough money for what they intend to buy. If they forget and leave it at home, that's not our fault, nor our problem.

[Yooper]

A few notes I've gleaned over the years:

1. Customers cannot read.
2. Customers are convinced the POS-level associate created all the company policies, and all of them are designed to rip said Customer off.
3. Customers are convinced Retail Operations have a vast warehouse attached to the store, somehow in a 5th dimension, that stock every product known to mankind, and because we are lazy ignoramuses, refuse to go get whatever it is the Customer wants. This is especially apparent in a Specialty store. Why can't you buy a blender at a shoe store?
4. It is always the retail worker's fault if your credit card/debit card/check is declined. Always. I'm doing this to piss you off.
5. Customers believe retail workers are Psychic. I of course can see what you want when you ask me for the green thing that was over there three weeks ago and of course on sale. Duh!
6. I personally decided we would get Christmas products out in September. Globally.
7. Yes. We have elves that come into the store after we close to clean up after you, leaving fresh produce in the freezer, putting the bedspread you took out of the package back into it, etc., etc.

I'll post more soon. I have to go to bed after 4 ten hour days in a row.

[TickTockMan]

I work at a small liquor store and can't stand my customers sometimes..lol


while I have many annoying questions/comments made everyday (You know this is cheaper down the street? [Well go down the street if you know that], I can get this for 5 bucks up in New Hampshire[no shit, they don't have the same taxes we do, so go there if you want])

My probably most annoying situation(which got me so full of rage and shock that this man was yelling at me for this) an old man comes in and buys a 6pk of beer, he places it on the counter and I take my scanner gun and tilt the 6pk to scan the barcode on the bottom of the pack. He then proceeds to remove my hand from the 6pk and place it fully back on the counter and asks me if there was a better way I could have done that, because now they are completely shaken up. "Did you have to tilt it like that", I responded, well sir the barcode is on the bottom that I need to scan to complete your transaction. And then I showed him the barcode and he again swats my hand and says "Don't do it again!" "But wasn't there a better way to do it than that?"
"Well I guess I could have just lifted it straight up sir" "Yeah I guess you could have done that, if these are all shaken up and explode on me I will bring them back and get a refund" now i'm annoyed so I just say "Yup". he pays and leaves. about 2 mins later an old lady comes in with the 6pk and says "My husband just bought these and said you shook them up, can we please get a new one, thanks" so I grab it out of her hand and walk to the coolers and give her a new one. I was soooo annoyed by this cause he was pretty much talking to me like a child.

And just to note, when I tilt a 6pk I barely tilt it, just enough to get to the barcode, the beer barely even moves, and in reality even if they were a bit shaken it wouldn't have been a problem unless he was opening that beer in the car and if that was the case than I would have called the cops on that cranky ass old man.

Does it even matter if beer gets shaken?

[jdcnow]

A few notes I've gleaned over the years:

1. Customers cannot read.
2. Customers are convinced the POS-level associate created all the company policies, and all of them are designed to rip said Customer off.
3. Customers are convinced Retail Operations have a vast warehouse attached to the store, somehow in a 5th dimension, that stock every product known to mankind, and because we are lazy ignoramuses, refuse to go get whatever it is the Customer wants. This is especially apparent in a Specialty store. Why can't you buy a blender at a shoe store?
4. It is always the retail worker's fault if your credit card/debit card/check is declined. Always. I'm doing this to piss you off.
5. Customers believe retail workers are Psychic. I of course can see what you want when you ask me for the green thing that was over there three weeks ago and of course on sale. Duh!
6. I personally decided we would get Christmas products out in September. Globally.
7. Yes. We have elves that come into the store after we close to clean up after you, leaving fresh produce in the freezer, putting the bedspread you took out of the package back into it, etc., etc.

I'll post more soon. I have to go to bed after 4 ten hour days in a row.

Cyber-high-5. Tell it like it is.

I especially love it when people let their little kids come in and play Wheel Of Fortune with the reading glass and sunglass carousel display towers. Then, when the carousel display tower tips over and falls from being spun around so hard (as it almost literally did one time, in my store), the parents look at us like we did something wrong. No, it's your fault for allowing your kids to be uncontrolled little turds. We are not your kids' babysitters when you go to the other side of the store and shop.

[jamie_01930]

i HAVE ONE THAT TAKES THE CAKE. WE TOO HAVE INSTORE PROCESSING AND CUSTOMER SEES OUR 2ND SET FREE SIGN AND WANTS THE PHOTOS SHE HAD JUST DONE ELSEWHERE DONE FOR N/C THE SIGN DIDN'T SAY YOU HAD TO HAVE TO HAVE THEM ME DONE AT THE SAME TIME. I'M SURE I WENT OUT FOR COCKTAILS THAT NIGHT.

[jdcnow]

also when people are buying things that dont have a price tag or are missing a barcode, they often say "that means its free!".

I think that customers honestly believe that we in retail think that that joke is actually funny. When in reality, we just want to knock the fire out of them.

[silverbelt]

I just remembered something from my much-repressed first Christmas in retail.

The issue of bringing shopping trolleys into stores has come up pretty often. I'm pretty sure it's illegal (or just not allowed...) in New Zealand, which I envy.

Back that Christmas, we had a tonne of people in the store (GFC means we are pretty quiet now). It's not a very big store, and the walkways between shelves are just enough for wheelchairs and the like to fit comfortably without hitting anything. For that entire Christmas though, there were so many trolleys in the store that some disabled customers were getting trapped at the back of the store, unable to get around the trolleys.

Did the customers care? I don't think I even need to answer that.

[evanrick]

Also, them asking about when their photo's will be done is justifiable. You could be having problems with your Photo Processing machine, you could be backed up on orders and like you said there is no indication that it's an hour center, so how are they supposed to know when it gets done?

i guess we disagree here. i also disagree about charging 50x more for a passport sized picture since its just another print.

[gsdx]

And just to note, when I tilt a 6pk I barely tilt it, just enough to get to the barcode, the beer barely even moves, and in reality even if they were a bit shaken it wouldn't have been a problem unless he was opening that beer in the car and if that was the case than I would have called the cops on that cranky ass old man.

What's bouncing around on the seat of the car going to do to it as he drives home?

[ADarkStar1234]

One of my funniest experiences as a cashier:

A couple years ago the entire region I'm in had a massive shortage of wood pellets for wood pellet stoves, people were really impatient and pissed. One cold winter day I was at a cash register at the quiet end of the store, where a woman struts in with her 5 year old son and walks right up to my counter. She slams down here credit card and here is how the conversation went.
Her: "I want 10 bags of wood pellets!"
Me: "I'm sorry, we don't have any in right now."
Her: "Yes you do, I want 10 bags right now."
Me: "Um, there is a massive shortage of wood pellets, no place in the city has them in. I know that we don't have any."
Her: "I know you have them, so I want 10 bags now!"
Me: "If we did have them I would have to send you to the service desk, but I know for a fact we don't have them."
Her: "Yes you do, I saw them outside!"
Me: "Okay, can you show them to me please."
So we go just outside the door and she points at a large box with bags in it that were clearly labeled as Tube Sand. There was also a large sign indictating it was tube sand.
Her: "See, here they are, now I want 10 bags!"
Me: "Ma'am, this is tube sand, not wood pellets."
Her: "They look like wood pellets to me."
Me: "They are clearly labelled as tube sand, and do you see the sign right in front of it saying its tube sand."
Her: "So they aren't wood pellets."
Me: "No."
Her: "When will you get them in?"
Me: "I don't know, but you can put your name on a call list so we can call you when we get some."
Her: "No I need them now, I'll go to *other store* to get them."
Me: "You do that..." - knowing full well that she won't find any.

[Musik2400]

I work at one of very few convenient stores in Canada that happens to include a Liquor store as well... on top of which we're in a small town FULL of drunk people. I have MANY stories. I'll try and pick a few.

Setting: Sunday night, after the liqour is locked ( a big meal gate pulled across that side of the store) and beer store closed too. Drunk guy walks in.
Drunk: Awww... liquor's closed? (at 9:30 pm)
Me: Yes
Drunkk: Oh, so you can only get beer?
Me: No, beer store is closed too
Drunk: Oh *tries to open one of the beer doors* Oh, so all the beer's closed?
Me: Yes. The entie beer store
Drunk: So I can't get any alcohol?
Me: No
Drunk: Not even just one 6 pack?

This went on for about 20 minutes...and happens at least once a week.

Empties are another annoying thing.

Dude came in with 18 24's, 2 12 packs, and 4 6packs. He came inside. I was in the middle of filling out a milk order (which involved clearing out our etire milk cooler), and my coworker had a line of customers. I politely told him that if he just wanted to unload them at the side of the building, he could let us know how many he had and we'd give him his money. (regullar procedure at our store when both CSR's are busy). He told me he didn't know how to add them up.... (he's a regular who brings in empties at least once a week... so ya he does know)

I went out to check, and saw what he had. I told him he could go inside and let her know he had 20 24's. He was like "But what about my 12's and 6packs?" Me: Well.. 18, plus 2 12 packs is another 24 which makes 19, and 4 6 packs makes 20 24's
Him: I don't think thats right.
Me: Well then if you would like to count them yourself, I wouldn't mind getting back to what I was doing. Have a nice day.

Or phone calls!
Caller: Hi, what time's your beer store closed?
Me: Sorry, you just missed it. It closes t 6 on Sundays
Callr: Aw, really? You're joking right!?
Me: Nope. Sorry
Caller: So theres no way for me to get any beer?
Me: No
Caller: But don't you have a key? Couldn't you just open it up for me?

At this point I usually hang up.

[bostonboy20]

ooo another fav from my liquor store:

~shouting across the store~
How much is a 6pack?

Me: Of what?

Customer: A 6pk

Me: Yes, but of what kind of beer?

Customer: Oh, Bud.

[Yooper]

The BEST get-even-with-the-dickhead story I've ever heard:

A while ago my neighbor was working for a Home Improvement Center for the summer while he was in College.

Customer comes in to return a toilet he'd purchased, claiming it had a scratch on it. He's being a real dick about it, too, because he claims he had to drive a whole half hour back to the store and has now lost two hours of his valuable day, and wants to exchange the toilet and get paid for his time, too! Whatever. OK, go look it up and there's only one left...in the entire state. So my friend goes to the warehouse and the toilet is at the top of the rack...some 30 feet up. He gets the lift, goes up to retrieve the toilet, and in a moment of questionable judgement, he misses the lift and toilet (it IS in the box) goes flying off the rack.

Wait, it gets better.

My friend opens up the box and puts all the bazillion pieces into bubble wrap, tapes it up securely, returns the pieces to the box and makes sure the box isn't making any noise.

He takes the box to the customer and assured the customer he personally inspected the replacement toilet and it is scratch-free. Places it gently in the back of the customer's SUV.

About an hour later, my friend sees the customer driving back into the parking lot. He goes to the Manager's office and says he's leaving for the day, because he's about to get fired.

Way, way worth the losing the job part!

[DeafFoxDemon]

WOW, those stories are funny as hell

[LemonSquare]

Cust: How Much are your Cigarettes?
Me: Which ones
Cust: Your Cigarettes.
Me: Which brand of Cigarettes, we have lots.
Cust, in a snotty attitude, as if I should know what kind he smokes: XXY Brand.

Cust: You know, these are 15 cents cheaper at XYZ Store.
Me: Yup.
Cust: Why don't you sell them for the same price? A pack of smokes is a pack of smokes.

On hot days:

Custs': OMG, it's so hot in here, you should have an Air Conditioner!
Really? I've only been here for 7 hours, I didn't notice it's 40 god damn degrees in here. Thanks for the tip off, Sherlock.

Lady approaches ATM. Couple mins later:
"Does this work"
Me: As far as I know, no one has reported any problems today.
Cust: Well, it's not giving me any money!!

So I walk over and look. Machine says Declined, which pretty much means there are insufficient funds on the account. She gets all pissed off that the machine won't give her any money. You can tell the woman is struggling financially. I looked at her for a second and she stormed out of the store. I felt like telling her it's not a magic machine, and dosen't give you free money.


Cust: Pack of John Players Regular
ME:*Gets pack of John Players Regular, and place them on the counter*
Cust: *Shoves pack of cigs back at me and yells with disgusted attitude "20 pack!"

If you want a 20 pack. Fucking tell me.


Woman comes up to pay for her Gas:

Me: 40.0? (example)
Cust: yes.
Me, noticing her debit card: Debit? That's 39.25
Cust: What?! 39.25?!
Me: Yes Ma'am, you save 2 cents per litre when you pay with Debit
Cust: I KNOW!!!!
Me: Stare at her. Then turn around and give stupid look to co-worker.


When you pay for gas with cash, we don't give you the receipt, because the computer dosen't auto print one. People give exact change and just stand there until you ask if the want a reciept. Sometimes they do, sometimes they are just standing there, watching you put the money in the till. After I say "Thank You", Walk. Away.

Chick asks for $25 Cash back.
I tell her we can only do 20. Gets mad and says "Well, I just can't do it then". Okay. Fine.

People come up to pay for Gasoline that's $xx.02. They chuck the 2 cents on the counter and say "the rest in Debit" --What's the god damn point of that!?

One old man said "You know, you're really one annoying pain in the ass" when I asked him to sigh his Lottery Ticket before I checked it to see if it was a winner. No signature = No money if you win. I really don't care if you sign or not.





Annoying shit:

-When getting someone their Pull Lotto tickets "Make sure I get the winners".
-Ask for "Twist and Shout" on their lotto ticket. No. It's called "Twist". Shut up.
- Chucking $8 in nickels on the counter and asking if I mind if they pay in change. What If I said yes?
-Getting annoyed when I won't go home with you to unload the new clothes washer off your truck. We have a delivery service. I'm not it.
-"This ticket must be the lucky winner, it has my age on it, 28!!" When the guy is minimum 65. It was funny the first time. After the 50th, it fucking annoys me. Shut up.


Retail. I'm just filling in as a favor to the owner of the store until he finds someone permanent. Not going to miss it.

It's the little things that after a while, eat your soul.

[bostonboy20]

thought of more things at work tonight...haha

this one isn't so much a stupid thing...just more of a, I don't understand why more than one person has asked me this question.

"Are the warm 12pks the same price as the cold ones?"

Like...I just don't understand that...like are they expecting the warm ones to be cheaper?

When customers just throw money at me in a crumpled ball.
When a customer places the money down right in front of my out stretched hand.
When a customer places the money at the other end of the counter making me walk away from the register to get it.

and then of course the cell phone talkers who just point at things assuming I can decipher exactly which tiny nip bottle their finger is pointing to. Use your big person words please and get off your goddamn phone!


OH and probably the most annoying one, when you say the total, they hand you money you ring it up and then JUST as the drawer is opening they go "Oh I think I've got the change"....like I know usually it's fairly easy math...but I hate math and that's what the register is there for...to tell me how much to give back...cause then if I can't figure it out quickly I feel like a complete moron.

[syoBsUtsuJ]

One woman flat-out told me, "You're in the customer service business ... service me, bitch."

[Yooper]

Most annoying question:

"Do you work here??"

Someday I'm actually going to say it: "No, madam, I happened to find this spiffy name tag, cordless telephone, and walkie talkie out in the parking lot and thought I'd come in and move merchandise around just for the hell of it."

OR

"No, sir, I just hit the actual employee over the head with this frying pan, and stole his nametag and thought it would be fun to stand behind the cash register counter and ring up sales."

J. F. Christ, we're all wearing frigging nametags. Honestly.

[jdcnow]

A few notes I've gleaned over the years:

1. Customers cannot read.

Plenty of times I had people ask me where the cosmetics or the bathroom is when they are standing like a foot away from said area and the huge plastic sign in all bold letters reading "Cosmetics" is hanging directly above their heads. If I hadn't valued my job and let my inner smartass out I simply would've said, "look up".

Oh, PandyBoxx, don't feel alone, dear. When I worked at Dollar Tree, our business format was that everything we sell is $1 per item. We had it etched into the front doors, "Dollar Tree: Where Everything's $1". We had window posters advertising our wares in the front windows. We had the green skysigns hanging off the ceiling both at the front and back of every aisle with our big huge ($1) insignia on it that said, "Everything's $1. Believe It!" Down every aisle, we also had the strips along the front edge of the shelves that said "Everything's $1". We had the little index card signs every few feet on items, that said $1.

We'd still get asked on a daily basis, "How much is this?" I often joked with my cashiers, "If we got it tattooed across our foreheads, 'YES, IT'S A $1.' do you think they'd still ask?"

[jdcnow]

Some of this stuff is unbelievable! You guys must be pulling our legs!?

Believe me, you have no idea how much we really wished we actually were making this stuff up. But I assure you, that every one of these stories are the God-honest truth. I kind of think of our job in retail as something along the lines of HBO's Taxicab Confessions, although not nearly as raunchy...sometimes.

My mom is an overnight stocker at a Walmart Supercenter. You gotta understand, in these smaller, rural towns especially, the local Walmart SC is often the only game in town between 12/Midnight and 5:00am. So often times, it also functions as the local hangout. And sometime people come in and let it all hang out. Literally.

My mom told me that this young college guy came in the store one night and started streaking and strip-dancing, all the way down to a Speedo. All the women employees started fishing for dollar bills and gathering at the main aisles in front of fashions and on the west side between fashions and toys/electronics. But the male assistant manager stepped in and promptly kicked him out of the store, and threatened to call the cops if he came back in later that night. Turns out, it was a prank the guy's buddies had put him up to.

[jdcnow]

thought of more things at work tonight...haha

When customers just throw money at me in a crumpled ball.
When a customer places the money down right in front of my out stretched hand.
When a customer places the money at the other end of the counter making me walk away from the register to get it.

and then of course the cell phone talkers who just point at things assuming I can decipher exactly which tiny nip bottle their finger is pointing to. Use your big person words please and get off your goddamn phone!


OH and probably the most annoying one, when you say the total, they hand you money you ring it up and then JUST as the drawer is opening they go "Oh I think I've got the change"....like I know usually it's fairly easy math...but I hate math and that's what the register is there for...to tell me how much to give back...cause then if I can't figure it out quickly I feel like a complete moron.

Believe me, I can sympathize. When people throw money and coins at me, then fakely apologize for it, I simply reply with this snappy comeback:

"Oh, that's OK. My only complain with money being throwed at me is that it doesn't happen more often. When people stop throwing money at me, that's when I'll mind."

[jdcnow]

thought of more things at work tonight...haha

When customers just throw money at me in a crumpled ball.

To all the lady JUBbers here, please forgive my ignorance here, because I'm going to sound like a complete jerk. But could somebody tell me what's with the women who stuff money down off into their bra? What is that about?

There's nothing quite like accepting sweaty nasty dollar bills from a place every straight guy dreams of going.

[jdcnow]

Too bad they didn't get any pictures.

Rrrrriiiight, lol. Wished I'd been there.

Here's another story of my mom's, and, instead 'stupid customers', file this one under 'stupid retailers'...

When Walmart went to all uniforms from the old "khaki, good conditioned T-shirt-from home, and blue vest" combination, we knew that it would right away be a recipe for trouble, namely, shoplifters.

At the Walmarts where employee turnover was high, especially on the graveyard shift, everybody knew that any idiot could walk in wearing a navy blue shirt and beige khakis, claim they 'accidentally' left their name badge at home, and they're taking that new VIZIO top-of-the-line $1,500 High-Def widescreen television set out for a customer; when in reality, they were really 5-finger-discounting that new VIZIO top-of-the-line $1,500 High-Def widescreen television set. Here's the thing: this ACTUALLY happened at my mom's store. Repeatedly. Before management wised up to what was really going on.

They made away with several high-dollar $$$ TVs, several desktop PCs, stereo equipment. They basically robbed the store blind for like 2 weeks straight, right after Bentonville institued the new uniform policy.

[jdcnow]

This Thanksgiving 2010 will mark my 9th year in retail. Over these past 9 years, I'd have to say my favorite job was as a Christmas-season phone order representative for a mail-order bakery. I loved getting all kinds of calls and meeting fine folks from all across the country. Hopefully my situation works out to where I can go back to work for them this season.

Well, like every other retail establishment, we did have our fair share of crank-yankers to have to deal with.

I'll never forget this one woman from Chicago who called in. Her sister ordered an apple-cinnamon pecan cake from us. The sister didn't want it, so she gave it to the caller. The caller didn't want it. So the caller calls us and tells us the situation, and can she get her money back. We look up the transaction to find that it was paid for with the caller's sister's credit card, and that it was purchased on the sister's account with us. So the sister would be the person who would need to contact us, since it's officially the sister's money that paid for the cake.

Well, we tell the caller this, and of course, she raises a stink (both women live at the same address). So we put her on hold while we talk with our superiors to see if there's any recourse for the caller, and if she really will have to have her sister to contact us to get the money back.

After our supervisor decide to get on the phone and deal with the caller herself, the caller confesses to the supervisor that the apple-cinnamon pecan cake they want a refund on...is the very cake the caller is sitting down at the kitchen table eating on!!! Right this minute, while she's on the phone with us. Cue the Benny Hill music!

[jdcnow]

Mikami, I think I have a winner for ya'

File this one under both stupid and racist.

I, myself, used to be an employee of one of the regional Walmarts here, back when that particular location was an old-fashioned Walmart department store, before it was converted to a Supercenter.

Well, my old front checkouts head-supervisor told me this one story:

One night she and one of the assistant managers were coming from the back offices, up past the layaway desk, when they had to step in on a situation at the layaway desk. This black male customer complained to the checkouts supervisor and the assistant manager that the layaway cashier was being racist, because she couldn't find him the big empty box he asked the layaway cashier for.

The assistant manager (who was the highest-ranked of the three) went upstairs to the balcony above our stockroom, where all the layaways were kept. He couldn't find any empty boxes either - they had all been baled and recycled.

So the angry idiot customer halls off and says essentially "You're all racists!", and stormed off. The assistant manager, the front checkouts supervisor, and the layaway cashier all looked at each other, and started laughing hysterically: The layaway cashier was a white girl married to a black guy with mixed-race kids (a boy and a girl) whom the black guy fathered. Everybody who worked in the store knew this. This girl is the last person who should be called a racist.

[In a mocking tone: ] But they're E-VILLE RACIST white folks!, simply because I can't get my box. Nah, nah, nah.

Living proof that common sense isn't common anymore.

[jdcnow]

I give you guys lots of props for being able to work in retail! I couldn't and would never do it. I don't have the patience.

So a round of drinks for the retail workers!

You guys have my respect.

Thanks, huntneo. Sometimes, it's literally all we can do to have to deal with this crap with a straight face.

One more story from the bakery:

The one year we decide to switch from UPS to DHL for express shipping this happens. We dread the feared "last call of the day" because, even if the bosses had called quitting time, if you were on a call, customers came first. Which is reasonable, from a business standpoint. But still, no one likes to get the last call. Sure enough it was my unlucky day, one time. But it was not a customer, it was the DHL delivery driver.

One of our customers had ordered a cheesecake. Because cheesecakes are highly perishable, we pack them in dry ice and express ship them at our (the bakery's) expense and at no charge to the customer. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning orders will be immediately rush-shipped out to be received by the customer on either Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday of the same week. Wednesday afternoon, Thursday, and Friday orders will be processed that Monday, and shipped out that Monday afternoon, to be received later that same week.

Well this woman delivery driver wants us to find this address (is DHL too cheap to spring for GPS? Just sayin'...) for her. Well it's supposed to go to a small country town whose name I won't mention, about 100+ miles southeast of metro Los Angeles. Well, after - I kid you not - 30 minutes of trying to find this customer's address - it's literally out on a county road out in the middle of the bareback desert - we finally find the customers address.

The DHL driver asks how far is it, because she's at a convenience store in West Hollywood asking for directions. After I go through a detailed explanation of how to get there, she realizes that it's too far for her to drive because it's late-afternoon/early evening on a Friday night. So this dame literally tells me that the cheesecake is going to sit in the local DHL warehouse all weekend, and they'll deliver it first thing Monday, and promptly hangs up. The cheesecake will be ruined by Monday morning.

So we pull the customer's order, refund it, and put in an order to whip up a fresh cheesecake Monday morning and overnight it via UPS. We happily stuck DHL with the bill for the whole fiasco. They had to pay back the money we refunded the customer, they had owed us a penalty because the customer's order didn't get to them on time, and we also sent them the bill that UPS sent us for the overnight shipping. Inside that cheesecake package we also sent an apology letter to the customer explaining what happened and who dropped the ball, and we also tagged along a $25 gift certificate. DHL paid for all that, too.

As you can imagine, after so many cases like this, where DHL kept dropping the ball time and again, we switched back to UPS, the following Christmas season.

[jdcnow]

I'm literally going to link some Benny Hill music for this story because I think you'll need it.


This happened yesterday morning at the convenience store I work at. I found out about it when I went up to by a candy bar, and the assistant manager took me into the back office to pull up the security cameras. It's a good thing she did: if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it.

This story is living proof that although some people can read, they honestly don't believe the rules actually apply to them.

We are an Exxon station with 8 gas pumps in front of our building with 2 more on the east side that are built to handle 18-wheelers. Now our first two pumps on the west side, pumps 1 & 2 are equipped to give diesel fuel. All 10 of our pumps are the standard blue Exxon ones that allow you to pay at the pump with your choice of credit, debit or Speedpass.

I mention pumps 1 & 2, because with that particular gas pump, on both sides (one and two), the electronic screens are bleached out to where you can't read what's on the screen to complete the transaction. You can stick your card in there, but you can't see which of the buttons on the side of the screen is credit and which one is debit. And if it is debit, you can't see when the screen asks you for a PIN number, or anything.

Because we've had too many issues with people thinking their card went through when it really didn't. Then they get gas, which they never really paid for, even though they thought they did. Then we're stuck with a drive-off which looks bad on us. So we've put signs on both sides of the pumps that say something to the effect of, that the 'pay-at-the-pump' ability is out of order, and that you must come inside to pay, and that we apologize for the inconvenience. This is the sign that we have scotch taped over the screens at both 1 and 2.

So this man comes in, pulls his truck up to pump 1. We have him on camera pulling our paper sign off the electronic screen, stopping to actually take time and read what the sign said. He then sits the sign on top of the gas pump, and then - I kid you not - WHIPS OUT HIS CREDIT CARD!!! Nice.

When it doesn't work, he hits the help button on the keypad, calling for us. The assistant manager is standing inside watching the whole thing. When she hears his help call from the cash register, she goes out there and tells him the exact same thing the sign said.

He then goes around to another pump and gets his gas.

[DeafFoxDemon]

lmao!!!! ^^^

[Musik2400]

relting to the smokes like someone else mentioned, I also hate when people aren't specific. Example

Can I get a Player's Rich?
--By default this gets him a 25 pack regular size
No I wanted King Size
--So I grab a 25 pack of King Size
No one of the fucking pouch packs (20), jesus don't you know how to do your job?

I do.. but If you're not gonna ask for what you actually want, I'm not gonna be able to get it.

[jdcnow]

File this one under "Lazy People Make Me Tired".

Up at my convenience store, water and air (for your car and tires) are free. The machine is on the backside of our building on the northwest side. You do, however, have to come in and tell us, so that we can use our remote to activate the machine.

Now most folks will walk in and say, "Hey, could you turn on the air for me?" And we're always happy to do so. We'll watch them to see what vehicle they get into and pull around back, then we'll hit the button on the remote. But here's the thing: It is only exactly 60 regular-sized footsteps from our front door to the air machine out back - I counted them, one day.

Do you know we will literally have some people who are literally footsteps away from us actually call us up on their cell phones using up their airtime, just to ask us to turn on the air for them? These are not people in a wheelchair or on crutches, or have some other genuine special need that they cannot walk the 60 footsteps to come tell us. These are regular able-bodied people like you and me. And heaven forbid they should break a sweat walking around a small building the size of the average house.

[jdcnow]

People have actually been pretty good lately in my store, which is surprising since it's getting busier. But sometimes people work on the floor and ring, so obviously when the person running the register is on the floor there needs a means to get their attention, which is the Bell.

I won't have to tell you what people do after I explain what the sign says by the bell. "Please ring once'. Yea.

Oh, I know, right? We used to have a bell when I worked at Dollar Tree.

They would ring it right in front of you, just to be a smartass. When the implied intent of the bell is to ring it when nobody's up there, so that we can stop what we're doing to go help take care of customers.

I especially love the little kids who come up and ring the bell forever while their poor excuse for parents are off doing their own thing.

DING-DING-DING-DING...DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING!!!!

Sometimes I just want to knock holy hell out of some of these 'parents' - and I use that term loosely.

[Yooper]

When I was on the sales floor from February to May, I found someone had a bell to deploy 'when needed' under the counter in my department.

I made it go away.

[evanrick]

i swear some people automatically call racist if they are being treated badly. its not because of their bad attitude, their rude behavior, no no its because they are black right?

also, women are the worst customers. they expect you to do everything for them and are the bitchiest when they dont get their way. especially middle aged housewives (aka goldiggers) who want "every possible discount" and "dont want it" because its not the price they THINK they saw.

i have had countless rude bitches and women are much much more likely to act snobby to me than men.

asians also annoy me because they are extremely cheap and only want good deals on stuff. sure everyone does, but believe me its not just a stereotype (or politically incorrect) to say that asians are cheap.

however Filipinos, young asians, and pacific inslander customers are much nicer and bearable than other asians.

also, shoplifters are the first people to react negatively to anything. if they are making a big deal about something, you pretty much know they are guilty.

also black men and women ( if they are not drug dealers or ghetto) are pretty cool too.

[jdcnow]

One poem I used to sing about Christmas, and my old boss at Dollar Tree got a kick out of it:

Children screaming,
people cursing,
all is merry and bright.

Wrap up the toys
be-fore there's a fight,
'cause Santa Clause comes tonight.

[CowboyBob]

I used to work retail years ago, and couldn't believe how dumb some people can be. You wonder how they can function out there in real life. The rudeness, nasty comments, condescension, stupid questions...... omg. We used to sit in the break room and compare rude and stupid people stories.

[jdcnow]

A few notes I've gleaned over the years:

2. Customers are convinced the POS-level associate created all the company policies, and all of them are designed to rip said Customer off.

Honestly, Yooper, you ought to be sainted for that post!

I had one winner this morning.

Now we do lottery scratch-off ticket inventory once everyday. The first half is done by me, usually between 2:30 to 3:00am right before cigarette inventory. I write down the little number one the last one of each kind of ticket - that tells us how many of each kind of ticket we have left. Multiply that by the price for each ticket, and you get how much cash inventory we have of that ticket. Multiply that by 48 times over (for each individual roll of ticket and price denomination), and you get my store's total scratch-off ticket inventory. It's a quick process to write all the numbers down (only about 5 to 10 minutes). But once I do my half of the inventory, I cannot sell another lottery ticket until my boss, the store manager, comes in at 4:00am to do her half. She must do what I did, writing the numbers to all 48 tickets down, and compare her notes to mine, so that, if there are any variances in lottery tickets we have on-hand, they can be tracked down. Variances mean a cash shortage in the lottery, and a shortage in the lottery is something even a manager can get into big-time trouble for, if not fired outrightly, if the shortage is big enough. So once I count all the lottery tickets, I don't sell another one until the boss does her inventory. It's as simple as that.

So I had this one girl come in, and wants two of the $2 tickets. Now, as politely as I know how, I explain to her this. She has a few more items and wants to check out.

Now, as I said, I will have been in retail 9 years this Thanksgiving. I know the way to be professional and courteous with people. One of the first things they teach you in retail, when dealing with a customer's request that you cannot fulfill: try to gently and politely put a positive spin on the situation, so that the customer doesn't feel so much like they're getting a raw deal. Well, here's what I said to her:

"I'm sorry, but we can't sell tickets again until the manager comes in at 4:00 and does her inventory on them. But, who knows: maybe I just saved you from buying a losing ticket! "

I've used that exact line before with no trouble. Most people even reply, "Well, maybe you're right..." and we continue without incident.

This crazy dame shoots back in a stuck-up tone: "Well, it's my money to spend how I want too! I can afford it!" As usual, I reply with my Bugs Bunny face: cool, calm, and collected, while she rants and raves and carries on. As she leaves, I think to myself, but never say out loud, "Don't let the door hit ya', sweetie!"

We don't make the rules, we just do what we're told. And if we're told not to sell scratch-offs after we do inventory, then I'm not selling them. Period. I don't care if Scott Evans walks in (don't I wish ) and wants a $5 scratch-off. The answer is still no.

This girl is actually an old classmate of mine I went to school with. She's been in trouble with the law here, down through the years; most recently, she posted bond a few weeks ago - she was arrested (and made the local papers) for animal cruelty for starving her pet pit bull. Just to give you an idea of what this girl is like.

[jdcnow]

A few winners from NotAlwaysRight.com:

Algae Get Another One

(A middle aged couple come into the tropical fish section and ask me about their algae eating fish.)

Customer: “Hello, we bought some algae eaters a while back, and they died after about 2 weeks. We bought some more and they did exactly the same after 2 weeks and we were just wondering what could have been wrong with them?”

Me: “What have you been feeding them?”

Customer: “Nothing, we thought they ate the algae.”

Me: “They do, if there’s enough to go around.”

Customer: “Oh dear. Well they did keep the glass awfully clear.”

Don’t Ask Her What Size She’d Like

(I am ringing up a customer. She has bought one large jug of ice-cream, a bag of chips, and dip.)

Me: “Did you find everything okay?”

Customer: “Just fine…. just fine.”

(I notice she’s looking me over up and down, but I try to ignore it.)

Customer: “How are you so skinny?”

Me: “Sorry?”

Customer: “How are you skinnier than me? It’s so unhealthy!”

Me: “Uh, well I’m normally like this. I exercise, and I try to stay fit.”

Customer: “Oh, so you’re saying I’m not!? I can’t believe this. Just because I’m buying ice-cream and chips, doesn’t mean I’m unhealthy!”

Me: “I know it doesn’t ma’am. I eat ice-cream too.”

Customer: “Wait, you do?”

Me: “All the time, ma’am.”

Customer: “Oh… no wonder why you’re more bigger than me. You should take care of yourself more.”

Discount Discounted

(At a pharmacy in Sherman Oaks, CA...)
Me: “And do you have a free rewards card with us, ma’am?”

Customer: “A what? I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t know.”

Me: “If you think you have one, I can look it up by your phone number?

Customer: “My what?”

Me: *louder* “Your phone number, ma’am.”

Customer: “I don’t have one of those! I don’t think I have one! I don’t have a phone number! I don’t have one!”

Me: “Okay, ma’am, that’s fine. Your total today is $26.74, and just to let you know, you could have saved $5.90 if you had the rewards card.”

Customer: “A discount? My phone number is ***-****.”

I love this one the best of all:

2 Guys, A Lie And A Burger Place

(The customer points out an ad on our window asking customers to inquire on how to get a free burger.)

Customer: “How do you get the free burger?”

Me: “You call the number on the back of your receipt and after a short survey they give you a confirmation code.”

Customer: “Yeah, my code is 6610. Now give me my free burger.”

Me:“Sir, if you’re going to make up a fake code make sure you know how long the codes are.”

[JOHN B]

I have had two customers, in two years, each coming in looking for a window blind that they can see out of, but no one can see in..........



(no, not a mirror window film. They want to see out clearly, but block all sight viewing in.)

[jdcnow]

A few notes I've gleaned over the years:

1. Customers cannot read.

OK, so, down at my convenience store, we ran out of both the lids and straws for our larger fountain drink cups. This was a busier week for fountain drinks than we expected. It happens. But we are sorry for running out. And we have a sign posted on our soda fountain. In fact, we have 5 signs.

Now, we have 5 different copies of the same sign posted on our soda fountain, saying that we are out of lids and straws.

One at each end of the fountain, at eye level above the spigots. That's 2. There's one on the stainless steel backsplash below the soda pop spigots for number 3. Now our soda fountain is built into a section of wall, and on one side, you have built-in cup dispensers, and on the other side, you have a built-in section for straws and cup lids. We have signs above the cups, and over the lids/straws section. We figure you can miss one sign, and not see it. But surely you can't miss 5 whole signs, can you? And these aren't little index card sized hand-written signs. These are full-page 8 1/2" x 11" sized signs printed on regular copy paper with BIG BOLD LETTERS IN ALL CAPS.

We still get asked, "Are y'all out of lids?" and "Where are your straws?" The inner smartass in me just wants to say, "No, we just thought we'd hang up tacky signs in between customers to amuse ourselves and make the time go by faster." "No, we thought we'd make useless signs and see how fast we can use up the ink from our back office printer."

We also have it posted on all 5 signs that if you make still make a drink, you still have to pay for it. Because when we run out of lids and straws, people will just sit the drinks down on the counter next to the soda fountain and just leave it there. After a while, we begin to lose money on drinks that go unpaid for, and we just lose out on that money. ($0.95 cents a whack, but still, in retail: a loss is a loss, and there's no such thing as a good loss.)

I had this one high school kid look at me tonight like, "Are you serious? " I heard and saw him mouth off to me under his breath. But I did charge him an extra $0.05 cents (our senior citizen coffee) just on the sheer principle of the thing. Anybody can miss one sign. But 5 different signs? Seriously? Oo And then, to cop an attitude about it. Turns out your first grade teacher was right when she told you that you have to read and follow directions.

[JOHN B]

I love NotAlwaysRight.........I have been in many situations like that.....

[roadtripboy]

OK, so, down at my convenience store, we ran out of both the lids and straws for our larger fountain drink cups. This was a busier week for fountain drinks than we expected. It happens. But we are sorry for running out. And we have a sign posted on our soda fountain. In fact, we have 5 signs.

Now, we have 5 different copies of the same sign posted on our soda fountain, saying that we are out of lids and straws.

One at each end of the fountain, at eye level above the spigots. That's 2. There's one on the stainless steel backsplash below the soda pop spigots for number 3. Now our soda fountain is built into a section of wall, and on one side, you have built-in cup dispensers, and on the other side, you have a built-in section for straws and cup lids. We have signs above the cups, and over the lids/straws section. We figure you can miss one sign, and not see it. But surely you can't miss 5 whole signs, can you? And these aren't little index card sized hand-written signs. These are full-page 8 1/2" x 11" sized signs printed on regular copy paper with BIG BOLD LETTERS IN ALL CAPS.

We still get asked, "Are y'all out of lids?" and "Where are your straws?" The inner smartass in me just wants to say, "No, we just thought we'd hang up tacky signs in between customers to amuse ourselves and make the time go by faster." "No, we thought we'd make useless signs and see how fast we can use up the ink from our back office printer."

We also have it posted on all 5 signs that if you make still make a drink, you still have to pay for it. Because when we run out of lids and straws, people will just sit the drinks down on the counter next to the soda fountain and just leave it there. After a while, we begin to lose money on drinks that go unpaid for, and we just lose out on that money. ($0.95 cents a whack, but still, in retail: a loss is a loss, and there's no such thing as a good loss.)

I had this one high school kid look at me tonight like, "Are you serious? " I heard and saw him mouth off to me under his breath. But I did charge him an extra $0.05 cents (our senior citizen coffee) just on the sheer principle of the thing. Anybody can miss one sign. But 5 different signs? Seriously? Oo And then, to cop an attitude about it. Turns out your first grade teacher was right when she told you that you have to read and follow directions.

I understand your frustration. But, if you don't have lids for that size cup, why don't you take that size of cup off the soda fountain. It would keep you from losing money on unpaid drinks.