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It’s always frustrating when your manager throws out a store policy just because a customer pushes back hard enough.
In this story, an electronics employee dealt with that after a woman brought back a TV she had purchased two years earlier because her child had damaged the screen.
The store’s service plan clearly didn’t cover accidental damage, so the employee explained that to the customer.
Of course, the customer asked for a manager and insisted she had been told something different when she bought it.
Read on to see how it all played out.
Manager Gave Customer FREE TV.
I work for a large retailer in the electronics department.
Our return policy on televisions is pretty straightforward: You have 90 days to return the TV with a receipt for any reason unless you’ve damaged it. After that, it’s on the manufacturer’s limited warranty.
You may also purchase a 3-year extended service plan. This plan kicks in after the manufacturer’s warranty ends, effectively giving you 4 years of coverage. It covers things like dust, heat, humidity, and power surges, but no accidental damage, so no football in the house.
The service plan is fulfilled outside of the store by dialing an 800 number or visiting a website. These terms are on your receipt, on the big sign behind me when I’m describing this to you, and on the orange pamphlet containing the details of the service plan that I hand to you along with your receipt. There’s not really any room for interpretation.
When the customer arrived, she explained that her television had been accidentally damaged.
The other day, a customer came in with a broken TV.
Customer: “Hi, I bought this TV two Christmases ago. My kid broke the screen. I have the service plan.”
The customer hands me a receipt.
True enough, it’s about two years old. The screen is most definitely cracked.
Unfortunately, the service plan didn’t cover that type of damage.
Me: “Unfortunately, the service plan doesn’t cover accidental damage. Also, it’s not handled in the store.”
I hand the receipt back.
Customer: “Well, I was told by someone who works here when I bought it that accidental damage is covered.”
Me: “Sorry. It’s covered on mobile devices, like laptops and phones, but not TVs. See, it’s on your receipt, and the pamphlet, and on this giant sign behind me.”
Of course, the lady asked for the manager.
Customer: “I want to speak to your manager.”
Now, when a customer asks to speak to my manager, I am obligated to call a manager over. In a perfect world, the manager would have my back and not make me look like an jerk in front of the customer. Well…
Manager: “Is there a problem?”
Customer: “This person says accidental damage is not covered, but when I got the TV two years ago, they said it was. Blah blah, false advertisement, blah.”
Rather than sticking to the policy, the manager took the customer’s side.
My manager and the customer spoke back and forth for a moment, then finally my manager relented.
Manager: “Okay, go ahead and give her a new TV. Whatever we have that’s closest to what she bought.”
What in the actual heck?
Not cool.
So we end up just handing over a free television. Why? Because the customer said so, and completely against anything our policy says.
I swear she sneered at me in victory.
Thanks for having my back, boss. Never mind that the expense cuts into our bonus.
Oh no! There’s nothing worse than being undermined like that.
Let’s take a look and see what the readers over at Reddit think about what happened here.
These situations make this person angry.
This would’ve been mean.
According to this comment, they work at the same store.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a woman who received a work email from a place she never even applied.
Here’s someone who thinks she should turn the boss in.
It’s no wonder she’s so upset about this.
Managers who do these sorts of things are so frustrating.
If you’re not going to uphold the store policy, what’s the point of even having one?
And what’s worse is that now the customer knows all she has to do is push a little harder to get her way.