Thrift stores are a great place to find all sorts of different items while saving a lot of money. While most people who shop there are just looking for great deals, some of them seem to just want to cause trouble.

That was the case in this story, where a customer came in every day and tried to get an employee to tell him the price of items without showing him which item. Whether he was trying to negotiate a great deal or he was just crazy isn’t clear, but it wasted a lot of time and he always got aggravated when the worker couldn’t give him a set price.

Finally, the manager told the customer that he couldn’t do that anymore, or he wouldn’t be welcome back. The customer freaked out and threatened to never return, which the workers are hoping actually happens.

Personally, I think the customer was just a little bit crazy, but it is hard to tell. Take a look at the full story below and see what you think.

Guy in the thrift store furious that I tried to help him buy the item he wanted to buy

For context, I work at a large thrift store, probably the largest by volume in our area. Our inventory covers probably 4000-5000 square feet in total.

That’s a big thrift store; I’m sure they are very busy.

I schedule pickups for new items through our system and man the front desk about 95% of the time.

There is a regular who hates me. Specifically, he hates that I do not have encyclopedic knowledge of our inventory. He is 6’4 and always wearing weird, shapeless jackets.

Does he think this guy knows the price of every item on the floor?

I will confess that my own dislike for him is what is driving me to tell you that he also reeks of something that is either body odor or cat urine.

For about 20 minutes every day, he will walk around the shop floor in silence, looking at everything the floor workers have set out, and then he will approach me empty-handed to ask me how much an item costs.

I could see this happening once, but every day?

He is not describing these items to me in any kind of detail, for the record. He asks me how much “the red chair” or “shoes” will cost.

I then have to ask him to clarify what he is talking about, which makes him extremely irritated.

This guy must have some type of mental health issue.

One time he actually brought the item he wanted priced to the front, only it was still in a cardboard box that he would not open. I asked him several times if I could see or know what he was holding, and he rolled his eyes and said “I didn’t say what it was, I asked how much it was.”

I had to call my supervisor over from his office to tell the man that yes, he did have to show me what was in the cardboard box, as I am not yet capable of seeing through solid objects.

Just a normal day.

Today he came in again and did his usual routine, but he seemed more sullen than usual, if that was possible. He finally came to the front and asked me how much the “clear Tupperware” was.

I assume that, if you are reading this, you know that most Tupperware is clear. I asked him “Which ones?” and got up to go find what he was talking about.

I’m not sure if this guy is safe.

This was apparently Joe Catpee’s last straw. He scoffed and pointed at me, then told me to “NEVER ask ‘which ones?’!” I told him I did not in fact know what he was talking about, that I am not in charge of inventory at the store.

He kept repeating “Which ones? You asked me WHICH ONES?” at increasing volume until my manager had to get involved and ask him to either bring the Tupperware to the front and pay whatever they cost or get out.

Don’t threaten them with a good time.

He did, in fact, pay for the $2/piece large Tupperware containers. My manager then took the guy outside and told him that he was to bring anything he wanted to ask me about or negotiate the price of to the front from now on.

Mr. Catpee does not like this rule, and he has said things indicating he might never come back.

Please let it be true.

I bet everyone is hoping that he follows through on his threat to never come back. Sadly, that is very unlikely to happen.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a barista whose keen eye uncovered a customer scheme for free coffee.

Read on to see what the people in the comments have to say about this story.

Sadly, this is spot on.

This is likely true, but it doesn’t make what he is doing acceptable.

He should be banned from the store.

I agree with this. Is the customer even safe to have around?

This person says he would ban the guy from the store.

Why wasn’t this guy banned from the store long ago? It is not the job of a thrift store employee to try to navigate the mental health issues of a random customer. Plus, I’m betting the guy rarely actually buys anything.

After the first time or two that this customer caused problems, the manager should have banned him from the store. Businesses like this are often way too tolerant of abusive customers, and it makes it an awful place to work and an awful place to shop for other customers.

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