From Please-Panic Tales From Retail:
Not me but happened to my girlfriend today.
My girlfriend works in retail and today as she was about to take her lunch break, she noticed that her phone was gone. She panicked a little because we are in a LDR and her phone is her primary mean of communication with me. She spent +10 minutes looking for it, she looked everywhere : the fitting area, her locker etc.. She thought it must have fallen somewhere and then remembered that fortunately it wasn't on mute so she asked a co-worker to lend her a phone and called her number.
It rang and the ringing seemed to come from a customer in line ( a man in his 40s). She didn't want to accuse him outright so she got closer and the sound was really coming from him. He kept his head straight, the other customers were staring since the phone kept ringing loudly and he wouldn't pick up.
My girlfriend's manager was nearby so she told him that it was likely that a customer had her phone.
Manager : ''Sir, I think you have my employee's phone in your pocket.''
Customer : ''No, I don't think so. I don't have a phone on me.''
The customers in the line and my gf all looked at him in disbelief as the phone was ringing like 2 minutes ago. My girlfriend proceeded to call the phone again and as it rang he acted completely surprised and pulled it out.
At this point security was called by the manager but the customer was adamant, that was his phone.
Manager : ''You just said you didn't have a phone on you but now you are saying it's your phone? ''
He was insistant that the phone was really is. My girlfriend told him to unlock the phone, if it really was his he should be able to unlock it no problem. But nope, he wouldn't have have any of that, he felt like he was being disrespected and all that.
My girlfriend said she could prove the phone was hers by unlocking it. She was then given the phone to try and she quickly unlocked it. There was also photo of us as the phone's background.
Girlfriend : ''How is it that your phone has a picture of me and my boyfriend in the background? ''
The customer stayed silent, he simply put his items back on the counter and calmly left. Everyone was baffled.
Thought nobody would call him out on it? That's my only guess.
Posted by: Gothchickfla | Monday, July 17, 2017 at 05:49 AM
What an idiot. I'm just glad he handed it over instead of refusing outright.
Posted by: Misty Meanor | Monday, July 17, 2017 at 08:07 AM
That's my thought too, Goth. I think he assumed "The Customer Is Always Right" blight that currently exists would extend to allowing him to get away with stealing an employee's phone, so long as he denied it
Posted by: TenebrisVenator | Monday, July 17, 2017 at 08:50 AM
Maybe one of those "retail workers aren't real people, so it's ok to treat them like shit" people.
Posted by: Gothchickfla | Monday, July 17, 2017 at 09:14 AM
Exactly. I can just see the thought process as being "Oh, it's an employee's phone. That's alright, then. I'll just deny everything and act indignant if they try to call me out. If they say anything, I can get them fired for accusing me!"
Posted by: TenebrisVenator | Monday, July 17, 2017 at 02:31 PM
Too bad this dip couldn't have been arrested. Shesh, the nerve of some people.
Posted by: Tech Support Survivor | Monday, July 17, 2017 at 03:14 PM