Dealing with upset customers is part of the job, but it gets a lot harder when you’re blamed for something you didn’t even do.

What would you do if you were trying to help a customer fix an issue caused by your coworker, but they kept yelling and refused to listen to you? Would you lose your patience and yell back at them? Or would you keep it calm and let your emotions out once they leave?

In the following story, one cashier finds herself in this situation and sees the transaction through to the end. Here’s how it went down.

Customer complains about me because of something another cashier did, and curses at me for trying to help.

For the purposes of this story, the lady will be RL (rude lady), the manager is M, and you clearly know what ME means.

I was cashiering in the tobacco aisle at a popular supermarket when a lady came through my line.

Before I even begin checking her out, she starts being very aggressive and hateful.

RL: I was in here the other day trying to get a refill for my e-cigarette, and the stupid guy who checked me out gave me the wrong thing, and it won’t fit!

Immediately, she saw the problem.

RL pulls out the e-cigarette and the refills she bought, and I immediately see the issue.

Me: Oh, I see what happened. The cashier who sold you this product gave you the wrong type. Even though it is the same brand, he gave you the refill of a different model of e-cigarette, which is why it won’t fit.

I took a couple of refills (one of the wrong model and one of the right model) and showed her the difference, and where it shows the model name on the correct one. I then took a picture of the flavors we had in the correct type and showed her.

The woman wanted to return the wrong ones.

Me: These are the flavors we have for your model. Do you know which one you want?

RL: First of all, I want to return the wrong ones because they don’t work, so get to it.

Me: I actually don’t have the capability to do it on this register, but let me call my manager and see what we can do.

I called over my manager, and he came by very quickly, as I’m pretty sure he could hear her yelling.

The manager told her they weren’t returnable.

M: What seems to be the problem, ma’am?

RL: I want to return these refills because the guy who sold them to me sold me the wrong ones.

M: Unfortunately, we cannot offer returns on tobacco products once they have been opened, as per our policy.

RL: Of course, you can’t! I just want you to know that this is absolutely ridiculous and never should have happened. You need to train your associates better!

To ensure a good fit, she opened the pack.

At this point, my manager walks away, leaving me to deal with her. She’s still cursing at me, calling me names, and telling me it is ridiculous that she can’t return them since they were wrong.

I again show her the picture of the flavors we have available

Me: Do you know which flavor you want? We have original, mint, menthol, berry, and melon.

RL: I want to open the packages first to double-check that they will fit.

This was after I had already opened the box to show her they would fit, but she wanted to take them out of the wrapper and remove the cap to “make sure,” even though the cap was clear and you could see through it.

She tried to show the woman that it was the right cartridge.

Me: I’m sorry, ma’am, but unfortunately, we cannot open the individual packaging due to sanitary reasons. It would then be impossible for us to sell them. However, as you can see from the cap, it will fit in your device.

RL: Well, how do I know you won’t try to screw me over and sell me the wrong thing, as that other guy did?

Me: You can see right there the part that will screw into your device, see?

I pointed it out to her.

At this point, the lady calmed down a little.

RL: Alright, fine, whatever.

Me: So, do you know which flavor you want?

RL: Well, I want the flavor the original device came with!

I looked at the packaging and compared the color to what we had.

Then, the woman had a problem with the price.

Me: Based on the cartridge color on the box, it looks like the original, but I can’t be 100% certain.

RL: Fine, whatever. Maybe you shouldn’t be so incompetent. How much is the refill?

Me: It is $14.88 for the package, which has 4 refills in it.

RL: Are you kidding me? That’s ridiculous. Whatever, just add them on!

Before she left, the woman wanted the cashier’s name to complain to the manager.

I add them up and tell her the total amount, and she throws her money at me, and I give her change.

RL: What is your name? I’m going to complain to your manager because you wouldn’t return the wrong ones, even though it wasn’t my fault. Next time, you’ll learn not to sell people the wrong thing.

I gave her my name, and she stormed away. I ended up calling my manager over to cover me for a few minutes so I could go to the bathroom and cry. The actual conversation had much more cursing and screaming, but I decided to exclude that part.

Yikes! That woman sounds pretty terrible.

Let’s see how the folks over at Reddit would’ve handled her.

This person jokes that they may have slapped the woman.

According to this comment, she handled it professionally.

This person puts shame on the manager.

As this reader points out, it’s actually the law.

Treating people like that is wrong.

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.