Rules at convenience stores are usually simple, but some customers still find ways to test them.

So when one customer filled a two-liter bottle from the fountain machine and then tried to walk out without paying, one convenience store employee was forced to deal with a dramatic encounter that left everyone confused.

Read on for the full story.

But I used my own container so it’s free…right?

This happened at the convenience store/truck stop I worked at for 3 years. I was a shift lead, and on this particular day I had been outside sweeping the parking lot.

There were 2 cashiers inside—one brand new (in training), and one fairly new (been there about 2 months).

But here’s where the shift starts getting weird.

As I was sweeping, I noticed a young man (mid-20ish) walk out with a 2-liter pop but didn’t pay a whole lot of attention until the new cashier came out a few seconds later and made a beeline toward me.

“Shift lead, that guy,” she pointed at the man with the 2-liter, “he filled up that bottle from the fountain and walked out. New cashier told me to come let you know.”

So the shift lead went out to confront the customer.

I told her to go on back inside and I would handle it. I followed him around the corner of the building and found him wandering around behind the store.

“Excuse me, sir, I need to talk to you for a minute.”

He stopped and faced me, looking a bit confused. “You filled up that bottle from our fountain pop machine and didn’t pay for it.”

He looked at the bottle in his hand and back at me.

The customer had quite the excuse.

“He said it was free.”

Now it was my turn to look confused. “Who said it was free?”

“That guy at the store.”

This immediately didn’t add up for the shift lead.

I was the only guy at the store at this time, the cashiers were female.

“Sorry, sir, but the only guy here is me and I definitely did not give you permission to steal pop.”

“No, not you, the guy at the other store. He said since I brought in my own container it was free.”

Finally, the shift lead is able to put the customer’s story together.

After a bit of questioning, the story was that this person had been at some other convenience store that was part of our chain of stores, and a male cashier had told him that since he had brought in his own empty 2-liter he could fill it up free of charge.

He found the customer’s excuse rather ridiculous — for multiple reasons.

First, we didn’t allow certain types of containers to be refilled (Styrofoam, thin-walled plastic cups, or any container that could not be washed and/or sanitized).

Second, the pop was not free, period.

The cashiers had to pay for them, even at work, so there was no way I was going to let some random stranger fill one up for nothing.

Regardless, he let the guy off pretty easy.

“Well sir, sorry, but whatever the cashier may have told you at the other store does not apply here.”

“You mean that I can’t get it free?”

He gets stern with the customer, who eventually capitulates.

“No sir, and if you do not come back inside and pay I will call the police. I don’t think you really want to go to jail for a dollar, do you?”

He came back inside and ended up paying $1.05 with tax (I charged him for the 32-ounce refill).

In the end, the customer gets off with a warning.

I let him know that he should probably ask at each store he stopped at about the “free refill” before assuming, since he may not run into someone as nice as me again.

The customer ended up paying the $1.05, but it took some work to get there.

What did Reddit think?

Customers don’t always have the most realistic expectations.

This commenter shares an amusing story from their childhood.

This commenter wants to know what else this thief was plotting.

It’s amazing how often people bend the truth when they think they’ve found a loophole.

For a dollar’s worth of soda, this customer came far closer to trouble than it was ever worth.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.