Working in retail is not for the faint of heart.

Sometimes blocking communication from a customer can work in their benefit, but definitely not always.

In the end, this customer was the one who got the payoff after dealing with a rude clerk.

Don’t tell me how to do my job

After putting hardwood in our foyer and dining room, we decided on a particular baseboard that Lowe’s carried in “Pro Packs”.

These packs come with six 12′ boards and I believe cost $180 each.

We purchased two packs knowing that one wasn’t enough, but we should have four boards leftover, which we could then return.

We made a few mis-cuts, so we ended up having three full boards to return. I lugged them back with my receipt.

As the returns clerk took my receipt, I explained that these were 3 boards from ONE of the Pro Packs on it.

At first it didn’t look like the customer’s honesty would pay off.

I also said that the refund should be half of the cost of one, which is what the person who sold me the packs originally told me would happen.

She asked me if I bought one of the boards on another receipt.

I repeated that all three boards were part of a pack, that there was no other receipt, and that the refund should only be half of one of the listed items.

She said back to me (verbatim), “Don’t tell me how to do my job!” and then walked back in the area to talk to another lady also working returns.

Two minutes later she came back and asked for my credit card.

But it did — and then some!

She put a $360 refund on my card. But that wasn’t all.

She also gave me a Lowe’s store gift card with $180 on it because I didn’t have the receipt for the 3rd board I was returning.

I was going to mention that I should have only gotten a $90 refund on my card and no gift card, but I didn’t want to tell her how to do her job, so I left.

I went back a few weeks later and used the gift card for 5 gallons of paint which we used to paint the same rooms.

Here’s what people are saying.

Many commenters told stories about free stuff they got from similar situations.

This is such a great point. It’s also a public relations issue.

Makes sense. Those who do probably lose a lot of product that way.

Hehe thanks to everyone for the snark. It was satisfying!

Oh, dear. They probably lose customers via those threads!

This is why you invest in communications training.

Pay now or pay later.

If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.