25. Check Out This Piece Of Work
This happened a couple of times over many years when I was a cashier. Every time, I would scan her 1,000 items and hit total, then she decides to start digging in her purse to find her checkbook. After a few minutes, she finds it, and then starts to slowly fill it out.
Of course, a line has built and people looked like their life was slowly draining out of them. I felt it too. I ran the check through the register (it scanned it or whatever) then put it in the bottom of the cash drawer. I hand her the receipt then she held her hand back out.
I am not entirely sure why, because I wanted her to go, not give me a high five. She just went ahem at me and said “Where is my check”? I looked at her confused, “In the drawer, where I just put it after the transaction”. “I want my check back,” she yelled. “Ma’am we have to keep the check in to deposit in the bank, in case there are any transaction errors”.
She was shaking her head no the entire time, “No, I have to get it back, otherwise somebody could steal my identity”. I tried to assure her that from the register we put it in the safe at night, then in the morning, and the armed guard takes it to the bank for deposit.
She would not accept it and said that if she could not get it back then she would return her purchase and get it back to buy things elsewhere. This must have been a power play for her, but she messed up. You see I was on my last week at that job. I asked for her receipt, which I got, pulled up her transaction, and hit void previous transaction.
I grabbed her check, the receipt, and the void receipt, then handed it to her, “There, I have voided the transaction and returned your check. Good luck at the next store”. I then started removing her items from the bags and making a stack beside me on the floor.
She looked dumbfounded, jaw dropped. “NO, I purchased those, those are mine”.
I kindly, with the most customer service voice I could muster replied, “You told me that if you could not have your check back, you would buy things elsewhere, and I had already told you we were not able to give it back, so I voided your purchase and now you have your check back. ”
I looked at the next person in line, “I can help the next person”. That beautiful customer stepped forward, right next to the lady, and started a conversation about some cereal she bought. By that time the manager had come over, and the lady began yelling at him. He ended up ringing her items back up in the aisle next to mine and she paid by check but was again unable to keep the check.
I could hear it all well, in fact, half the aisle was watching their show of an interaction. The BEST part was when she was demanding her check back (again) he asked if she wanted him to void it out so she could go elsewhere.
She nearly exploded, ripped the receipt out of his hand, threw the bags in her cart, and breaking things by the sound, and stormed out yelling. The cherry on top was that on her way out she turned back to yell more at us and ran into the door frame with her cart. Laughter erupted from a few kids nearby. What a great day.
Shutterstock
