If you want to return something to a store, you better have the receipt. At some stores this is more important than others, but you need to have prove of the purchase in either paper or digital form.

The customer in this story claimed she didn’t have her receipt with her when she went to return an iPad she claimed she got as a Christmas present. She claims the person who gave it to her didn’t give her a gift receipt, but she’s hoping to get cash for the return.

What’s crazy is that when the manager comes over to talk to her, she completely changes her story. I’m still scratching my head at what’s really true and what isn’t in this story.

Keep reading for all the details.

Customer thinks lying will make getting her money back easier

I had a customer this weekend who thought lying about her situation would make the return process much easier.

So I was the weekend Customer Service Manager when I got a call from my Customer Service counter to come speak with a customer.

To pre-face this the girl working the counter is one of my best. She’s friendly, she’s professional and she’s thorough. This was the first time she’d ever had to call me up for a situation because she usually does everything she can to resolve an issue.

We’ll call her Veronica (V), I’ll be Pearl725 (P), we’ll have the customer (C) and later the store manager (M) will enter into the convo below.

The problem was with a Christmas present.

V: Hey Pearl725! So this customer got this iPad as a Christmas gift and when she opened it it had clearly been used and won’t turn on. She doesn’t have the receipt and I did explain to her that due to the price we would need the receipt.

P: I’m really sorry to hear that’s not working. So I just want to clarify someone gave this to you and they didn’t provide you with a gift receipt or even the original receipt correct?

C: Yes it was a gift, and I don’t want to ask them for the receipt because I don’t want them to know it was used. I’d feel really bad!

P: I understand, unfortunately because this is such a high price item we really do have to have a receipt for it. I can make an exception and I can give you an even exchange of the item if you get the exact same iPad.

But she didn’t want another iPad.

C: Well I don’t need another one I already bought one I told her that when I came up here. Why the hell can’t you just take it back!?

P: Unfortunately it’s a high priced item and an electronic. Due to potential theft risks we’re required to have a receipt for items like this. I am so sorry. If you could ask them for the receipt or even have them come in with the details for the method of purchase we could locate the transaction and issue you a giftcard or refund their method of purchase.

C: I want cash.

P: Well depending on how they purchased it we could definitely look into that as a possibility if you can get the receipt.

Now the customer is lying.

C: I already told you I’m not going to ask them for that. That is super rude I’m really insulted you would even suggest that. Now I’m not leaving until you give me cash back for this. She said she’d give me cash.

V: What? No I didn’t.

C: Clearly she’s new and doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Get your store manager now!

At this point I walkie the store manager explain the situation and let him reply so the customer can hear it.

The manager explains the situation again.

He states as I said only an exchange is acceptable.

She wouldn’t accept his response and wanted him to ‘come up and say it to her face.’

M: Ok so you got this as a gift, it’s used, you don’t have a receipt or sort of proof of purchase you just want cash back correct?

Suddenly the customer get’s super sweet.

The customer is lying again!

C: What? No I’m fine with an exchange. I told both of these girls that but they were really rude and refused to give me that option.

P: I thought you said you’d already bought one to replace this?

C: No, not yet I want one to replace it.

P: Uh huh well I’m sorry I must have misunderstood you.

This is getting crazy! She just keep lying!

C: Clearly. I just don’t understand why this had to be so difficult and why you wouldn’t just accept the receipt I have.

M: You have a receipt?

C: Yes both of these girls were so rude and refused to accept it.

V: I must have misunderstood you as well since you told me it was a gift you received and you thought it would be rude to ask the person who gave it to you for the receipt.

Never Miss a Story

Sign up to get our BEST stories of the week straight to your inbox.

She actually had a receipt the whole time!

C: scoff I never said that. Regardless though I don’t know why your policy would be so unfriendly to customers. I mean if you treat everyone without a receipt how you treated me you shouldn’t even be in business.

P: I’m really sorry about the misunderstanding. returns item and gives her back the cash she paid for it You have a great day!

Thankfully Veronica was there to hear the whole ordeal so she could back it up to the store manager.

Why would someone think lying about not having a receipt would make the whole thing so much easier? Especially for an iPad of all things!

That’s crazy! The only reason I could think that she’d lie about a receipt was if she bought the item at some sort of discount (do iPads go on sale ever?) and wanted to get cash back for the full price and not the sale price. Still, that was very strange.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person is confused.

It really does sound fishy.

This customer would’ve loved to have been there.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a researcher who complained about being excluded from a trip only to watch the university cancel the whole thing.

This person has a theory.

I’m pretty suspicious of this customer. I think she was still lying. I don’t think the iPad was broken when she opened the box.

As the person in the last comment suggested, it’s possible she bought a new iPad and was trying to return an old broken iPad but hope the employees wouldn’t notice. Did she think that lying and then confusing them would work? If that’s what she was up to, it seems like it did work. But it probably would’ve worked if she had just showed them the receipt too.

It’s hard to know what’s the truth and what’s a lie.