Had a customer scream at me over a 50 cent coupon glitch

I was working the register at a grocery store in Austin last Tuesday and this lady went ballistic because her digital coupon for store brand bread didn't apply automatically, it was like 50 cents and she held up the line for 15 minutes while I called a manager to override it. Has anyone else had people lose their minds over tiny amounts of money like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

kim.xena25d ago

Yeah, "held up the line for 15 minutes" is wild. Best thing I learned is just keep your voice real flat and say "I can fix it, give me one sec." Takes the fire out of it. If they still go off, just let the manager handle it, not worth your paycheck.

vera_murphy25d ago

Hold up though @kim.xena, is it really that deep? Like yeah customers can be annoying but 15 minutes of your day is just 15 minutes. You're gonna let someone's bad mood ruin your whole shift? Just fix the problem, move on, and forget about it by the time you clock out. I've had people yell at me over a dollar coupon and honestly I just laughed about it later. Don't give them that power over your peace of mind, you know?

benc5322d ago

Yeah @kim.xena nailed it with that flat voice trick. I worked retail for 2 years and once had a guy lose his mind over a 10 cent bag fee. Just smiled, said "sure thing," keyed in the override, and watched him stomp off. Best way to deal is treat it like a bug in the system, not a personal attack.