I Love Retail

My associate came over to me to ask me to give a customer a refund. She also explained that the CDs this guy brought in were the same CDs another man just repurchased because his were "stolen" or "lost" at JC Penney. The same exact two CDs.



I asked Paul, ,whose name was on the reciept and rang the transaction in question, if he remembered checking that guy out and he said "no". The man explained that the CDs were a gift that he didn't want. He was starting to wonder what the problem was with a return. They were unopened CDs and he had a receipt.



I went to the counter and began to explain the problem, "you see, these CDs were purchased by another gentleman..." 'I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANOTHER GENTLEMAN! I WANNA KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS WITH GETTING A REFUND! OH, I KNOW, IT'S BECAUSE I'M BLACK! THAT'S WHY YOU ARE GIVING ME A HARD TIME!" he interupted. I tried to ask where he got the CDs and he continued on about "MY WOMAN IS IN THE CAR! SHE GAVE THEM TO ME! YOU WANT ME TO GO GET HER? I DIDN'T WANT HER TO COME OUT IN THE HOT WEATHER, THE HOT SUN, TO COME IN HERE!" I said "yes, get her."



I wondered why, if it was so hot and miserable out, why he left her in the car instead of bringing her inside air conditioning? But, I suppose, the AC in the car was working.



He came back in with her. I asked her if she remembered who "rang her purchase". The associate, Paul, and I were both standing in front of her. She said "I don't remember who it was". (She had a choice from the three of us...I am an old woman, Nikki is a young woman, Paul is a man, but she couldn't remember who rang her up.) I asked "Do you remember if it was a man or a woman?" and she said "I'm not sure, I think it was a man". Mind you, the time of the transaction was just thirty minutes prior. So I asked "What time did you come in today?" and she said "I dunno. It was after noon sometime. It was after my nap." Well, it was at 2:30, which technically was after noon I guess. The guy got all upset "WHAT'S WITH ALL THESE QUESTIONS! WHY CAN'T WE JUST GET OUR REFUND!?" I asked "Well, about how long ago were you in here?" and she couldn't answer...it would have been just about 30 minutes ago. "IF WE WERE WHITE THEY WOULDN'T BE GIVING US A HARD TIME WITH ALL THESE QUESTIONS!" We offered them store credit for their "purchase" and the girl was considering just taking that, but the man...."NO WAY! I'M GETTING MY LAWYER! THESE PEOPLE ARE _ _ _HOLES! THEY ARE M'F'ing US AROUND!" Then speaking, or rather yelling at us directly said "IF I EVER SEE YOU OUTSIDE I'M GONNA KILL YOU AND YOUR MAMA!" He went on to say that he knows the "black woman who works here" and "she'll tell you that I'm an honest person!" I wondered why, if she knows him well enough to testify to his character, why he doesn't KNOW HER NAME!??? I also wondered how if he is "honest" and someone of integrity, how he could justify his behavior at that moment?



It was a rather scary encounter. The man was cleary irrational and never gave us an opportunity to explain the problem, or our concern. He kept asking us "WHAT THE F___ IS THE F'ING PROBLEM?" yet, he wouldn't listen to the explanation.



I verified on the electronic journal that those CDs were purchased together two times today. There was the original transaction (2:30), and the replacement transaction at about 2:50pm. A man made the purchase both times. The second time the man explained that he had "lost" his first purchase and came back to buy them again. The same man purchased those same CDs in one transaction two times today. At no time did a woman purchase those same two CDs together and pay cash. It is possible that the man who was so upset at us really believes we were wrong and thinks we were accusing him of stealing, however, he got those CDs from his girlfriend. She was willing to accept the store credit. Hmmmmmm... I think she knows what really happened. It blows my mind that she supported her "man" in this whole episode, knowing full well she did not buy those CDs.



I wrote up an incident report and let mall security know that this man made some threats...actually said "I will kill you" and behaved very irrationally. You just don't know what some people will do.



Tonight, Paul called me. The man and his girlfriend came back. The man stood out in the hall of the mall outside our store and motioned with his hands like he was going to "choke" Paul. He yelled obscenities into the store and called Paul names and called us all racist. Paul went out into the parking lot to get the tag number from their car. When the woman saw Paul, she sped up to try to get out of his sight. She was backing up in the parking lot, going the WRONG way, and an accident was averted because another driver slammed on their brakes to avoid a collision. Mall security was a witness to the unsafe driving, but nobody got the tag number, only a vehicle description. It was frightening, really it still is. I had Paul call me once he was home. This is so stupid and all over $31.



This is why it is so much easier to just give the guy the refund, even though, in principle, it is the wrong thing to do. That money does not belong to that guy! It belongs to the man who originally purchased those two CDs. My store is out nothing...we had nothing to gain. We made a stand on principle today and only got death threats and accusations yelled at us through a string of obscenities.



I am so sick of belligerent people bullying others around to get their way that I am more apt to give that questionable refund to someone who comes in and simply says "I understand your policy on open CDs, but I bought this thinking it was one thing and it turned out to be another. I don't enjoy it and was wondering if there was anything we could work out?" than to someone who comes in and goes on a rampage and makes death threats. All that makes me less likely to give in.



There is no justice in this world. I long for Jesus.