Holiday shifts can bring out the absolute worst in customers, especially when sales signs and fine print are involved.

Imagine you’re covering as a backup cashier, trying to keep a long line moving, when a customer insists they deserve a discount that clearly doesn’t apply. Would you stand your ground and stick to the policy? Or would you step aside and let another cashier offer them the discount of their choice?

In the following story, one retail worker had no choice but to go along with the latter. Here’s what happened.

The couple that made me 100% hate cashiering

I’ve been working at a popular retail joint in the U.S. for the past 3 years, primarily in the clothing department. In other words, I know what I’m doing.

When you’re trained to work the floor in our store, you are also trained to be a backup cashier whenever it gets busy.

That aside, this story took place over the past holiday season, when I had just finished the fall semester at school and was getting back into the swing of things at my store.

I was working in the women’s active wear department that day. To push out old items to get new items in, we had a sale going on on all REGULARLY priced women’s active wear.

When the store got busy, she went up to help cashier.

If I remember correctly, you got about 20% off when you spent $40 or more on REGULARLY priced items. I keep saying REGULAR because of the customer I had when the manager of the lanes asked for backup.

I need to point out real quick that we have a certain code in our store for managers, so we never directly call them managers, only by the code, which often leaves guests confused and mad that we didn’t call “our managers.” This will play out later on.

Anyway, I answered that I would be right up, and the manager asked me to use one of our two express lanes, since there was a single line for both and it was backed up way, way up.

A few minutes later, here came the problem couple.

So I’m there, getting through customer after customer with my usual chipper attitude, when this woman and her husband came up.

Now they really did seem nice at first, but then that’s when I noticed all the CLEARANCE women’s active wear the woman had in her hands, to which my mind went immediately to “Uh oh…”

I began to ring up her items, already knowing that I would have to explain that the sale did not include clearance items, but I was seriously hoping that she would have a couple of regularly priced items in her pile that would take the percentage off.

Nope, of course she didn’t.

Immediately, the wife told her the price was wrong.

At the end of the transaction, I told her her total, which was a bit above the $40 dollar mark with some change. That is when this “conversation” happened.

Me will be me. Irritated wife will be IW. And her husband will be IH.

Me: Alright, so your grand total comes to $40 something dollars and some change.

IW: Oh no, that can’t be right. You have a sale sign in that section that says if you spend $40 or more, you get 20% off your purchase.

Me: Yes, that’s right, that we have that deal going on, ma’am, but it’s only for our regularly priced items, not clearance.

She tried to explain the sale terms to the wife, but she wasn’t listening.

IW: Yeah, so it was over $40 dollars, so I should get it off.

Me: I’m sorry, ma’am, all the active wear items that you selected are on clearance; that sale doesn’t apply to them.

IW: Um, yes, it does! The sign says it!

This would be the right time to point out in this story that not only was I working in that section that day, but also that the sale sign clearly stated in big letters that it did not include clearance.

Me: Ma’am, I primarily work in the apparel section. I know the sign is clearly marked for REGULARLY priced items only.

Then, the husband joined in.

IW: No, you’re obviously a cashier, otherwise you wouldn’t be here! You don’t know anything about the clothing section!

Me: (Omg) I’m here as backup, ma’am, to help my fellow coworkers.

The husband finally spoke.

IH: No! Your store makes plenty of money and has no need to ask for anyone to come up and help!

IW: Yeah, we are regulars here!

By this point, everyone was looking at her.

Oh, yay… a “regular!” Also, being a “regular” gives you no insight into how our store runs, nor does it give you any idea about our staffing situation.

IH: And we know how the sales work here, you’re trying to scam my wife into paying more money!

Me: (OMG!) No, sir, I’m trying to explain what the sale sign says!

IW: I WANT TO SPEAK TO A MANAGER RIGHT NOW!

Fantastic. Now, not only am I getting looks from other customers in line, but I’m also getting sympathetic looks from the other cashier next to me, who is trying her hardest to get through the rest of the customers in line to come help me deal with this couple.

The manager was obviously having a bad day, too.

So I call the manager up, who is already frazzled and pretty out of it because it was the peak of the holiday season.

I explain to him, in front of the couple, exactly what is going on and what the sign says, and all he says to the couple is, “Yes, moonlitcat13 here is right.” …And then he walked away in complete holiday zombie mode. Great.

IW: That wasn’t the manager! We told you to get the manager!

Remember what I said about the code for managers?

Me: Ma’am, he is the manager, and if I got another one, they would say the same thing this one just told you.

The couple didn’t believe that was the manager and demanded another.

IH: No! You called out a random group of letters, and this guy came up! We know this store! That wasn’t your manager!

Me: We have many different managers depending on the day of the week and which section of the store they are assigned.

IW and IH: NO!

This is when the cashier who was working the lane next to me, who was very pregnant at the time, waddled over to me and asked what was going on. I now explained to her what was going on, with the couple interjecting in the background every 5 seconds on how I was lying.

This is when the cashier did something I didn’t expect. She asked the wife how much she wanted off of EACH ITEM that was ALREADY ON CLEARANCE! Just so we could get them out of the store!

They took full advantage of the cashier’s offer.

In other words, my fellow cashier was practically giving away items! Cuz heck, if a cashier asked you, “How much off would you like for that item?” you would probably take full advantage of that!

And oh yeah, this couple was going to get these stupid items for a dollar if they could!

Remember when I said their original total was about $40, with some change?

At the end, the couple ended up spending only about $15 dollars on the whole purchase because they took advantage of my fellow cashier’s words and kept shouting random percentages off to get even more off for the items.

Horrified, it was too late to stop what was happening.

I was in complete horror because I was signed in to the computer with my store ID number. All these random percentages and sudden mega drop in price of already clearance items would show up on my ID number.

But at this point, it was too late, and the damage was done, and the irritated couple paid for the items with satisfaction on their faces, then went up to customer service to complain about me and praise the other cashier.

The icing on the cake?

As the couple leaves the store, the irritated wife looks at me and says: You still never got us a manager! And walked out.

Wow! That other cashier was way out of line.

Let’s see what the folks over at Reddit think about these people getting their way.

According to this person, customers like that are grown children.

Here’s someone who had a trick to avoid this.

Here’s someone who thinks the other cashier just reinforced their behavior.

Yet another reader who can’t stand when people get their way like that.

The other cashier was out of line.

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.