Every cashier knows that sales bring out the same dreaded, familiar question: “Does this count?”

For one cashier, a clear “50% off kids clothing” sign turned into an unexpected meltdown by a shopper who was determined to get her way no matter what.

Read on for the full story.

Woman decides “kids clothing sale” means “women’s long-sleeve blouses sale”

I’ve just gotten back to work after a two-week vacation, completely free of annoying customers!

My first day back, we had a 50% off kids’ clothes sale, and I was the main cashier.

The cashier actually started their shift off in a pretty good mood.

It wasn’t too bad — I was still high on remembering the joy of all my time off and managed to brush off things that would normally annoy me.

I put up the signs for the sale myself. They were on the front door, in the kids’ department, and in the fitting rooms. Also, the font was all one size and on the same line — “50% off kids clothing.”

As far as they saw, the sale sign was as clear as could be.

What I’m getting at is there was no gimmick, like trying to fool you by putting a kids’ sale sign in women’s or printing “50% OFF” in huge letters but “kids clothing” a quarter of the size.

I was also the one who wrote and made the announcements over the loudspeaker all day, clearly enforcing that the sale was just on kids’ clothing.

But of course, customers still found a way to be confused by it.

Among inquiries like “But I’m buying this large men’s sweater for my 13-year-old kid, why isn’t it on sale?”

I had people tell me the announcements and signs were misleading, and some acted disappointed.

Before long, in came the worst customer of all.

I managed to think nothing of it until an older man and woman came up with two pairs of men’s shoes and five women’s long-sleeve blouses — no kids’ items.

If we have sales with multiple departments, I let customers know if what they’re getting isn’t on sale, but when it’s just kids’ clothes, there isn’t really a need.

This lady was really in the mood to argue.

Lady: Is this stuff 50% off?

Me: No, the sale is just on our kids’ section today.

The lady blinked and blinked, remaining silent.

Lady: …What?

Me: It’s just our kids’ section on sale today.

Her husband tried to calm her down, but to no avail.

The husband was trying to wave her over to him and mouthed, “It’s ok.”

Lady (to her husband): Well, what do you wanna do? This stuff isn’t on sale! I’m not getting any of this!

She dropped the shirts back into her cart. The husband quietly told her it was okay and that he’d get a pair of his shoes.

She begins to antagonize her husband for his purchase.

Lady: Those aren’t half price, Don. You’re going to pay full price for that? I can’t believe I picked out all those shirts for nothing. Hurry up and let’s go.

The husband smiled at me and paid for his shoes. The woman shoved the cart away from her.

He was about to hear about this all night long.

Whenever he was done, she continued talking about how misleading it was as she was leaving the store.

I genuinely get it when stores do things like I mentioned above — but this was straight up a white piece of paper that said “50% off kids clothing,” posted in no other department but kids.

Why is it that so many customers just refuse to read signs of any kind?

Redditors chime in with their two cents on the matter.

Many customers need to re-learn the meaning of the word “misleading.”

At the end of the day, some customers just refuse to be told no.

This user doubts the truthfulness of this story, but not for the reasons you’d expect.

What part of kids wear do some customers not understand?

Some customers will argue with plain English all day long if it means they can get a discount.

This shopper truly believed the universe owed her a sale, but she clearly didn’t deserve one.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.