Some people always try to scam some type of discount when they are shopping, so workers have to make sure that they aren’t tricked. It can be hard, but its worth the effort.

What would you do if a customer said that the manager had promised him a 50% discount on an expensive item because they were really good friends?

That is what happened to the guy in this story, but he happened to be the manager, so of course he knew the guy was lying. He and an employee made a show of telling the customer in a way that made the guy feel like an idiot.

Read through the full details below and see what you think of how the situation was handled.

The manager and I are very good friends and he told me I could get it at half price

I used to work, years ago, in a retail store. Now, fortunately, I work in IT and have limited customer interaction.

Seems like a pretty decent job.

The store I worked in was a hobby shop, mostly cheap-ish stuff, though we also sold some high-end soft guns, some ranging up to $2.000,-.

All of us in the store, the store manager, full time employees, and part timers had a really great bond – only the higher up managers made the work kinda suck-ish, but that is another tale indeed and thankfully they didn’t show themselves too often.

Any way.

There is nothing wrong with window shopping.

One day, when I was working the register, a father and his son entered the store and started looking at one of the more expensive soft guns.

We usually had a lot of lookie loos, so after checking if they needed assistance, I went back to my business – I don’t mind kids wanting to look at the cool guns, it’s actually nice hearing how excited they sometimes get.

Oh, they do want to buy.

After a bit of looking the father (F) cleared his throat and pointed at the gun.

F: “We would like that one.”

Me: “Sure thing. I’ll just get my coworker to get it out of stock – Hey Coworker (CW), would you mind going to the back to get this gun for the customer?”

That must be a really nice airsoft gun.

Me (to the father and child again): “It really is a nice soft gun you’ve chosen”. I then describe all the advantages of the gun to them.

Me: “I’ll just ring you out, while we wait for Coworker to get back. It will be $ 1.400,- please”.

Does he expect them to take his word for it?

F: “Oh, we have an agreement with the manager, that we could get this for half price”

Me: “I’m sorry, but I highly doubt that, since that would make us loose money on the sale” (though this is a bit of an exaggeration, it would be close enough that it just wouldn’t be feasible).

There is no way he is telling the truth.

F (starting to get angry): “Now listen. I called and spoke with the manager, who assured me, that I could get this for half price.”

Me: “I’m sorry, but I would know if you had and I’m not aware of such an agreement.”

At this time my Coworker comes back with the gun, and having overheard the last bit of conversation, I see in his eyes, he thinks he knows full well, how this will end.

Even if it were true, the manager wouldn’t want them to just take a customer’s word about it.

F (Angry now): “What’s your name? I’ll tell the manager about this – he and I are very good friends!”

Me: “My names MBrondum. Coworker, could you get the manager for us?”

This is just too funny.

I could see this surprised my coworker at bit, but he quickly caught on and nooded.

CW: “Sure thing…” He started walking to the back, then turned around “Hey MBrondum. Could you go to the register? A customers wants to speak with the manager…”

Catching someone in such an obvious lie is always fun.

Me: “Of course!” Turning to the father again “I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you: I’m the manager of this store and I have in no way spoken with you about getting anything half off… And I do not believe I know you, so the ‘good friends’-stuff you mentioned isn’t true either.”

Never have I seen an angry man deflate so fast, being caught in a lie that red handed.

Of course they didn’t buy it.

They ended up not buying the soft gun, but CW and I did get a good laugh out of it.

Why do people think that they will get away with this type of thing? It is a waste of time for everyone.

Check out what the commenters had to say about it below.

Now this is too funny.

It is great when you can put a customer in their place like this.

Sadly, this is true.

Here is someone who got to do something similar.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who was denied a raise for “not being dedicated enough,” but then went on to discover what was really going on behind the scenes.

This person loves the story telling.

It must have been so satisfying to expose the guy as a liar like this. You do have to feel bad for his kid, though.

Sadly, some parents set such an awful example for their children.