Retail policies exist to protect customers, but they tend to cause problems when someone thinks they can bend the rules by being loud enough.

One supervisor’s routine price correction turned into a standoff when a rude customer claimed the law was on her side and demanded far more than she was entitled to, setting the stage for a very embarrassing lesson in reading comprehension.

Keep reading for the full story!

The customer is always right

I was working as a supervisor in customer service at a large chain supermarket. Where I live, there’s a thing called scanning policy.

This is when an item scans at a higher price than it is ticketed for—if this happens, you get it for free.

Now, with this policy, if you have multiple of the item, you get the first one free and the rest at the correct price (remember this).

This supervisor sets the scene for the shift, which didn’t get off to the best start.

I was the supervisor on duty for a close shift. The only person above me in the store at the time was the duty manager who works in groceries (she has never worked in customer service).

I had a customer come up to me, and right off the bat she was rude.

She slammed her receipt down on the table and informed me that I (yes, me specifically) had overcharged her for an item that was on special.

She had bought 10 of them for the specific reason that they were on special.

The supervisor did their best to assess the situation and respond professinally.

I apologized to her and went to get the ticket. This lets us confirm that:

1. it did scan wrong,
2. it wasn’t a human error (e.g., wrong ticket on the wrong item), and
3. the price can be fixed in the system before it is put back up so we aren’t constantly giving away free things.

They affirmed that the customer was right, and tried to make it right.

I came back up to the counter and apologized again, said she was correct, and just to make things go smoothly, I offered to give her 5 of the items for free and the rest at the special price.

But clearly, this wasn’t enough for the customer, even though the supervisor was being even more generous than they were supposed to be.

This is where she flipped.

She demanded ALL of them for free, as they all scanned wrong.

I explained to her what the scanning policy was and that I was actually giving her more for free than I should have been.

The customer soon starts flexing her law degree and continues to escalate the argument.

She proceeded to tell me that I was completely wrong and that she was a lawyer, and that she was to get ALL the items for free because that is what the LAW stated.

I calmly explained to her again that that isn’t the law for a scanning policy. This is when she demanded a manager.

I informed her I was essentially the “manager” of service at the moment, but I would be happy to get my duty manager, so off I went.

So the supervisor talks with the manager, and they decided on a plan.

I explained everything quickly to the duty manager, and she wasn’t really sure, as she had never had to deal with a scanning policy before.

I informed her that we had government-issued pamphlets on it in the office and asked if she wouldn’t mind popping up to get one for me so I could show the customer.

I went back to the customer to inform her what my duty manager was getting. The biggest grin slipped onto her face, and she just said, “Good.”

The manager handed it back off to the supervisor, who broke the news to the customer.

My duty manager came back and handed me the scanning policy form. She then turned to the customer and, before she even had a chance to complain, informed her that she was leaving the customer with me, as I was currently in charge of service, and left.

The lady still had a satisfied smile on her face. So I calmly placed the pamphlet on the table, flipped to the multiple-items section of the scanning policy, and pointed to it.

I couldn’t contain my smile as I watched hers disappear the more she read. Once she was finished, she just looked at me and didn’t say anything.

Here’s where it really starts getting good.

I then continued to process her items, giving her the FIRST item for free and the rest for the special price.

I turned to her and explained that, as per the policy, she had gotten the first item for free and the rest at the special price.

I then informed her that I would refund her a total of $XX rather than the $XXX I was originally offering her.

She didn’t say a word, just took the money, and left.

Sounds like this customer should have just stayed quiet!

What did Reddit think?

No cashier likes being thrown under the bus by their boss.

It can be frustrating for customers when stores don’t have all their ducks in a row.

This commenter is very familiar with the exact policy mentioned in the story!

But this commenter thought the story was headed in a very different direction.

The customer walked out with far less than she could have had, all because she pushed too hard and listened too little.

Policy humbles overconfidence every time.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.