There are plenty of things about retail that aren’t the best, but customers really going for the jugular is one of the worst.

Depending on the day, it can really get to you.

This customer was out to make someone pay for the inconvenience of having to prove the credit card belonged to her.

Check it out.

You’re a slight inconvenience to my day? Time to make you cry at work!

So I work at a fairly well known family clothing store.

I’ve been there for about 5 months and I’d like to regale you with the tale of the first lady that has ever made me almost cry at work.

Some necessary background: our credit/debit card machines have chip functionality for credit cards, but not debit.

If you want to pay debit you have to swipe your card, even if you have the chip.

We are also required to check a card if the person is paying credit and their total is over $50.

If there is no signature on the card we must see ID to run the card.

Ugh, I know no one likes that.

A lady comes up to my register with her two kids and her mother.

Her kids had already changed out of their old clothes and changed into the new ones, ripping the tags off and everything.

Luckily they kept the tags and I rang everything up, read her the total and asked if it was to be credit or debit.

She said debit and tried to put her chip in until I explained our registers wouldn’t read it, she had to swipe her card.

She gets all huffy and swiped it, big deal, whatever.

Her card declines.

“It must be your register, try it again!!”

Declined again. I ask if she had another form of payment, no.

Oh good, a solution.

I then asked if she could pay credit with that card.

She said yes, I checked it, only glancing at it long enough to see it’s not signed, and that her first name began with an F and her last name began with an M (relevant later, it normally only takes a moment for ID to be presented, and I usually still have the card in my hand when it is so I didn’t pay much attention).

I ask to see her ID and surprise, surprise, she does not have it. At this point she’s incredibly ticked off (Because obviously her insufficient funds are MY fault), so I call up the manager.

Since it’s the middle of Black Friday/holiday shopping busy times, it takes a minute.

During this time the lady and her mom are crabbing about how none of this would be a problem if I’d let them just use the chip for their debit card, yada yada.

This woman is next-level rude.

I speak up and start saying “Unfortunately we have no control over that, the machines are only programmed to accept the chip for credit transactions,” To which the lady replies

“Did I ask you a question?”

I’m shocked and fall quiet for a moment before saying,

“No, but she (referring to her mother) was wondering-”

“Well then talk to her, I’m not talking to you”

I’m not good with confrontation and am stressed out by how busy we are and not having dealt with someone as rude as her before so I just nod and fall silent until the manager arrives.

Thank goodness for manager backup.

He finally arrives and explains it’s store policy, there was nothing we could do, we needed to see some valid form of identification for her to run the card.

She huffs and then tries to tell her son, who is wearing our unpaid for merchandise, to go out to her car to see if her ID is there.

Oh no, he left.

At this point the manager had walked off, so I was stuck telling her

“Ma’am, he is wearing our clothing and it hasn’t been paid for, he can’t leave the store.”

“Well I’m not leaving!! He has to go!! I’m not going anywhere!!”

“Ma’am, he cannot leave wearing our merchandise unless it has been paid for.”

At this point the woman’s mother gets fed up and exclaims “Oh, fine I’ll go then!!”

So this should be the end of it, right?

She leaves and comes back and that minute or so felt like the longest in my whole life.

No ID was found but a cellphone was produced, and the customer brings up a picture of her ID on her phone.

I glance at it, and this was my mistake, saw that the initials matched, did not ask to see her credit card again, and just told her she was okay to swipe.

I realise I should have verified it but at the point I just wanted her to leave so I didn’t. Like I said, shouldn’t have done that.

She proceeds with her transaction in silence until her receipt prints to which she says

Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.

“I just have one question for you. What’s my name?”

At this point I just want the floor to swallow me. My face is bright red and I stammer out the initials matched, etc., but she was not happening.

She calls the manager from before back over and tells him, “I just wanted you to know that she made me go through all this trouble to verify my ID for my card, and when I just asked her, she could not tell me what my name was.”

To his credit, he stood up for me as replied that it was his mistake for even allowing the credit card to be rung through without a physical ID present and just in general stuck up for me.

But as soon as she left my other coworker who was next to me this whole transaction turns to me and just “I’m so sorry.”

Poor girl.

So yeah, being a stress-crier I almost broke down in front of my next customer before being able to get off the registers for a moment to compose myself.

Sorry this was so long!!

No one should treat anyone else this way.

I bet Reddit was indignant on her behalf.

Seriously, it’s just not that deep.

The dark side comes for everyone eventually.

It should be more shocking than it is.

No cashier is doing that on purpose. Ever.

This is the response.

Some people shouldn’t be allowed in public.

No exceptions.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.