Confusion runs high when supply runs low.

What would you do if a customer accused you of raising prices during a crisis, even though it was just a different product with a higher price tag? Would you argue back? Or would you calmly explain the obvious?

In today’s story, one grocery manager deals with this exact kind of customer and goes with the latter. Here’s what happened.

I was just accused of price gouging.

I work at a grocery store as the grocery department manager. I oversee dry goods, dairy, frozen foods, and natural foods.

As you all know these last two weeks have been absolutely insane for grocery stores. We’re out of a lot and it’s taking a while for things to get back in. We’re finding alternatives to give our customers SOMETHING to buy, even if it’s not their usual choice.

One of these is water. When crap really started hitting the fan, the first thing to go (after toilet paper) was multi-pack water. It became increasingly hard to get our brand in, so I got with my Coke/Dr Pepper/Pepsi vendors and had them bring in the national brands.

Here’s where the accusations started to fly.

The next day, an angry customer approached me.

“SO I SEE YOU GUYS HAVE NO PROBLEM PROFITEERING OFF OF THIS EMERGENCY.”

He said this loudly, with an accusatory “GOTCHA” tone.

“What do you mean?” I asked him, genuinely confused.

Clearly, the guy doesn’t understand how business works.

“YESTERDAY YOUR WATER WAS $2.99. TODAY IT’S $6.99.”

“Well, sir, this isn’t the water we norma–“

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU GUYS WOULD JACK YOUR PRICES UP LIKE THIS. I’M CALLING THE….” he turned to his wife. “Who is it?… The… Better Business Bureau?” He turned back to me. “THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU.”

“Sir, you can call whoever you want. We haven’t changed our prices. Our cheaper brand of water is unavailable for the foreseeable future, so we brought in the national brands so we’d have water for you to buy.”

Then, he put it into perspective for the customer.

“WELL, WHY ISN’T IT THE SAME PRICE AS YOURS?”

“If you came in here wanting ground beef, and we were out of ground beef, you wouldn’t expect me to sell you filet mignon at ground beef price, would you?”

“………..”

“The national brands have always been this price, sorry it’s more expensive than you’re used to, but it’s the only water we can get in right now.”

He bought our limit of two and walked away without another word.

Wow! Clearly, some people don’t use common sense.

Let’s see how the folks over at Reddit feel about this situation.

For this person, employees don’t have time for all that price changing.

Here’s a good point.

Hurricane season often does this to people.

This should be posted everywhere!

Luckily, the guy listened. Some people are beyond trying to reason with.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.