Receipts serve an important purpose, yet lots of people lose them or throw them away.

If you were working at a store where customers were required to have a receipt if they wanted to return an item, would you ever make an exception to that rule?

In this story, one employee shares what happened when a customer didn’t respect the store’s rules.

Let’s read all the details.

“This is a classy store.”

I seriously don’t understand people most days.

I work as a part time in assembly for a hat store in the US.

Part of our return policy (along with most other stores), is that you have to have a receipt to return the item and it can’t be customized in any way.

The policy didn’t go over well with one customer.

About a month ago a man comes in looking to return a hat he supposedly just bought the other day. He will be DA (for Dumb ***) and I’ll be myself.

“I’m here to return this hat,” D.A. says.

“Okay,” I responded. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing, I just changed my mind.”

“Okay, do you have the receipt?” I ask.

“No, my friend said this is a classy store and I shouldn’t need the receipt.”

It becomes repetitive, like the way you discipline young children.

“I’m sorry sir, I explain, “I can’t do a return without the receipt. I can exchange it for you if you would like a different hat, but I can’t give you any money back without it.”

“Well, why not?” he asks tersely.  “This is supposed to be a classy store. I’m supposed to get better customer service than this.”

“Again, it is our policy. I can’t change it. I can’t be sure that you bought it within our time frame, that the hat isn’t stolen, or that you didn’t get a discount on it. Without the receipt, there’s nothing I can do.”

“Well can I speak to the manager?” he says.

“I am the manager (first time I’ve ever said this and it gave me a huge rush).

This guy is still relentless!

DA says, “Well, what about your boss?”

“I’m sorry, she’s not currently in right now,” I tell her. “You’re more than welcome to check back later in the week, but she’s going to tell you the same thing. Corporate controls our policies. The only one who could even possibly bend the rules is maybe our District Manager, but she’s on vacation.”

“Well, can you call her?”

“No sir, I’m not going to bother my district manager for a return,” I respond, having my patience. “The policy is clear, and I’m not risking my job for you.”

He claims he has proof.

“I can prove I bought it last week!” he says. “There was two women in here, and the white one rang me up.”

I’d like to point out here, that there are only 3 people who work in my store. Me, my store manager, and another part time assistant manager.

Only me and my store manager are white. So essentially, dumb *** called my store manager a derogatory name.

The entire time I was exceedingly polite, but the moment he called my store manager a derogatory name, I became curt.

“I wasn’t the one to ring you up,” I said.

Now the gloves come off.

“I don’t recognize your face, I’m not giving you a refund. Now, we can do this one of two ways. Either you can leave my store and not come back, or I can have you arrested for trespassing and harassment, in which case, you’d be completely banned from the mall instead of just my store. Which one are you going to choose?”

He stormed out cursing and yelling at me, saying he was going to get me fired for threatening him.

I still have my job, didn’t even get written up. When I told my store manager what he said, she went off. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so ticked off.

As he walked off, I called out with the biggest grin I could muster, “Have a fantastic day!”

It’s always a good idea to keep your reciept.

Here is what folks are saying on Reddit.

Yep! He should have studied.

LOL is this Harrods in London? Kidding.

No, NASCAR folks can afford to not get a refund.

All bosses should be like this!

Stay classy, hot shot.

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.