Some customers just can’t accept when a mistake is on their end, so they double down and take it out on the staff.

So, what would you do if a customer ordered a distressed band tee online, didn’t realize the “holes” were part of the design, and then tried to argue their way into a bigger refund? Would you give in to make them happy? Or would you stay calm and stick to the policy?

In the following story, one retail manager deals with this exact situation and chooses the latter. Here’s what happened.

Customer ordered an item that was distressed style online and tried to antagonize us for it

Earlier this week, a woman came in returning an online order; it was a band tee that was distressed style, so it had some holes in it.

She was returning it because it had holes, and my manager, who was processing the return, explained that’s the style. She said she was buying it for her granddaughter, who’s 9.

After the return was processed, she stepped aside and analyzed the receipt. Obviously, my manager continued to ring people and process returns as there were others in line.

When she came back, the lady was yelling at the manager.

At one point, I walked away to put some items back where they belonged, and when I walked back towards the register, the woman was yelling at my manager and pointing her finger in her face, saying that she had terrible customer service skills and that she would report her and “you sold me a shirt with holes in it! I’m never shopping here again!”

When she told my manager she was reporting her, my manager said, “Okay.”

I found it weird she brought up the shirt having holes in it again, as it was literally explained to her that the shirt is a distressed style, hence the holes. It wasn’t something malicious like she perceived; she just failed to recognize that the shirt was designed that way when she placed the order online.

Now, the lady was mad about the shipping cost.

Apparently, she yelled at my manager because after the return was processed, she didn’t get the amount for the shipping fee refunded, just for the item.

My manager was ringing others, and she didn’t fall back in line to address this, so she apparently said, “Excuse me, I’ve been waiting here!” to my manager and a customer after a moment. Literally the whole time she was standing next to the register, my manager was ringing up, and she was just analyzing the receipt.

My manager was very calm when handling this customer, and she mentioned that she had to focus on the line and that the lady wasn’t in line, so she couldn’t just leave people waiting to do a return or get rung up hanging.

Another customer witnessed everything and empathized with the manager.

There was a customer I rang up after who said my manager handled it very well, as she remained calm and empathized with retail employees who deal with customers like that lady.

About her not getting a refund for shipping, I don’t handle returns as it’s only for managers, but I’d assume it was because shipping is a service and the service was carried out, so that can’t be taken back the way an item would.

Honestly, I do think it was ridiculous that she antagonized us for how the shirt was designed, even after we explained it to her, as she clearly glossed over this when she placed the order online. But then again, I could see that she probably doesn’t realize that distressed-style clothing is a trend because she’s older.

Yikes! This just goes to show that you really can’t reason with some customers.

Let’s see what he folks over at Reddit have to say about this story.

According to this reader, most people should know what distressed clothing is.

This person thinks the lady stresses most people out.

Here’s an excellent point.

Too bad the lady couldn’t see this.

What a great manager. Some people in that position would’ve found it hard to stay calm.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.