Helping customers with returns is just a normal part of the day for most retail workers, but sometimes it can be a time consuming process.

What would you do if a customer needed to return and repurchase a larger number of items so that she could get her discount, but she didn’t bring the items with her, only the receipt?

That is what happened to the retail worker in this story, so she had to slowly type in the UPC of each item while the customer complained that it was taking too long.

Check it out.

The most ridiculous return

This happened when things were really picking up during seasonal time and it was just me, a cashier, and my manager on duty (MOD).

Since the store I worked at needed to always have a worker on the sales floor, I was left to deal with a steady line by myself.

No big deal, the return should be easy.

This was not too bad, I just apologize we’re unstaffed and thank them for waiting that was until this lady came up with a long receipt.

She told me she bought a bunch of t-shirts and she wants to return them and apply her teacher discount on it. The store I work at has special discounts and a discount for teachers is one of them.

I was looking if she had a bag or anything and then asked her if she had the shirts with her and she said no, they’re all at her house.

Now I can still do a return since she has the receipt and all she is doing is applying her discount on it, but since she doesn’t have the shirts and the way our system works, I’ll have to key in each UPC code for each shirt.

Luckily I could make it go faster by grouping the same codes for shirts together but it was still a long receipt with probably 20-30 shirts and mind you the line was piling up so I radio my MOD and ask her is there an easier way I can do this explaining the situation and my MOD said sadly that is the only way to do it.

At least the manager was willing to step in to help.

So, I warn the customer that I have to key in all these UPC codes to do a return on the shirts and then they will have to be repurchased and she said fine okay.

The line was getting so long that my MOD decided to just screw it and jump on a register because this return and repurchase will take forever.

So, this is how the ensuing nightmare return went, customer will be C and I am Me:

Me: -Starting to key in UPCS and using my quantity code to make it faster for the same size and color of shirts she bought-

Oh, now she is in a hurry?

C: So how long is this going to take? I’m in a rush, do you really have to key all those in?

Me: Yes, since you don’t have the shirts here for me to actually scan sadly I have to type in all the codes for them.

C: And how do I repurchase them? Do you have to do all that again???

Me: Yes I do sadly….

(By this time she was getting very irritable and it was actually time for me to go since the closing crew had arrived but were jumping on other registers to get the line taken care of so my MOD can get off the register, I asked if someone could take over but all the closers were new hire seasonal people and they had no clue how to do a return like this so I had to truck on)

I guess she should have bought them at the other store.

C: -getting frustrated- I don’t have all day to stand here for you to have you to put in all these codes! When I go to [another completely different store] they can do returns without having to have the product physically there! I’m not dragging all these shirts around with me!

Me: -gets on radio- MOD can you come here?

MOD: -walks over- What’s up?

What does this customer expect?

C: I don’t have all day for her to be putting in all these codes just so I can get my discount applied on them. I don’t drag my shirts around with me I have them at home! I’m in a hurry I can’t stand here all day wasting my time with this.

MOD: Since you don’t have the shirts here for her to scan this is the only way she can do it, also she (me) has to go home. -turns to me- What did you get keyed in?

Me: Anything I have highlighted here is have keyed in. -hands MOD the customer’s receipt and quickly leave to clock out-

I wish the manager would have said this!

Felt bad my MOD had to deal with this return but I was fighting back to say “Well we’re not [completely different store] .”

Also I don’t know why you would make yourself pressed for time when you’re returning a crap ton of product and don’t bother brining the product in to make it easier.

Even just bringing one of each shirt she bought would have been easier!

This customer comes in with a difficult request, and then complains that she is in a hurry? Ridiculous!

Let’s see what the people in the comments say about it.

I agree that this is what likely happened.

This is a good policy.

This seems like a good idea to me.

I wouldn’t put it past her.

This is a good way to handle it.

I can’t believe they accept returns without the item being there.

Some stores are pretty lax.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.