From RHUer

I used to work at a discount clothes store a long time ago. There are many stories I could share about this place, but this one was the absolute worst...

A lady came up with a pair of leggings she wanted to return. She had the receipt.

Wonderful, I thought, this will be quick and easy.

Oh gods how the jinx struck.

She plops a plastic bag on the counter, presumably containing the leggings in question. Well, the combination of force from the plop and the movement of air proceeds to make the bag floof open.

Oh. My God. THE STENCH!

I am blasted by the smell so powerfully that I actually rear back. I use the end of a pen to creep the bag open a smidgen, partly to verify that it really was the bag and not just a Silent But Deadly Fart from one of our patrons and partly because I couldn't believe what she was obviously trying to do.

Nope! The leggings have indeed been soiled.

Me: "I'm sorry ma'am, but we cannot return these."

Woman: "But I don't want them anymore!"

Me: "And what the hell makes you think we do?! We're not paid enough to handle bodily fluids, ma'am. And these are most definitely stained with fluid feces."

She demands my manager.

My manager is the next register over. He doesn't even LOOK at her. "Ma'am, I can smell them from here. We're not taking them back. Throw them out, or wash them yourself; I don't care. But you are NOT getting money back for them."

The woman stormed out with her leggings.

Me, to manager: "Sorry for saying 'hell' on the floor."

Manager: "I didn't hear a damn thing."

I gave a little chuckle, and went back to ringing up customers.

--RHUer

Read more Gross Retail Hell stories here!

From u/lectric_socks Tales From Retail:

Another tale from the cursed help desk. I work in a department store that mainly sells clothing. I work a help desk which has it's own stockroom right next to the desk.

That room is for back of house functions like shipping different merchandise from the store to wherever it has to go.

We usually leave the door open in case we get a customer, would rather avoid that, "IS ANYBODY WORKING HERE?!?" situation.

So I'm working in the stockroom making boxes and packing up merchandise to be shipped to a warehouse. My coworker was helping until she got a customer who came up and started complaining.

She sounded like any customer who blatantly ignored our return policy, for some merchandise you only have 30 days to make a return. After 30 days for that merchandise sometimes it's no longer in the system and we can't look up the item because it's too old.

So working in the back I just hear the same spiel over and over coming from the customer.

"Well when did you change the policy? This is outrageous! Can't you do something just for me?? I've been a customer for 30 years! This is ridiculous I get better service at (name of competitor)"

Tired of the broken record complaining I reached over a little and pushed the door shut. Unfortunately the door is heavy and in closing it slammed shut.

I didn't hear the conversation that followed but, I believe my coworker to tell me the truth.

Flinching at the sound of the door she screamed,

"WhAT WAS THAT?!? WAS THAT A NOBODY?"

My coworker told her that her phrasing was impolite and that I was just trying to do my work without too much distraction.

The customer continued complaining saying I should be reported to a manager. And then just again about her return.

My coworker and I had a giggle about the whole thing after she left.

--u/lectric_socks

From u/sellyourcomputer

From u/lectric_socks  Tales From Retail:

I work in a department store that mainly sells clothing, like many stores you may return merchandise so long as it has not been used (tags still attached, not stained or gross in any way, etc.)

Long policy short it has to be in a resellable condition.

A customer came in, came up to me, and put a bag on the counter saying she'd like to make a return. Making no move to take the item out of the bag herself.

Grabbing the bag by the bottom and dumping the contents onto the counter revealed a small pink dress with a layer of lace over it. No tag on the dress. No receipt in the bag. The customer has an e-receipt on her phone.

The conversation that follows C- will be the customer, LS- myself, and M- is the manager.

LS - Unfortunately miss I can't return any sort of formal wear if the tag isn't attached.

C- What do you mean? I have the receipt, here is the item number. You should have everything you need to return this.

LS- No what I mean is it's our store policy that we don't return formal wear without tags attached. The dress has to be in perfect condition for us to return it.

(At this point I spot a small stain on the dress like food had gotten spilled on it)

LS- So with no tag attached and a stain on it right here there is no way I can return this without getting in trouble.

C- Well this is the condition I bought it in! This is ridiculous! I'd like to speak with a manager!

Calling the manager over she takes a little longer than usual to get to our counter. The customer is visibly fuming at having to wait a couple of minutes.

M- Hi my name is M how can I help you today?

A short recap to M and she's looking at the dress. Noting the stain and missing tags, reviewing store policy on formal wear and the customer is pissed.

C- This is crazy! This is how I bought the dress! I want BOTH of your names!

We give her our names and inform her that there is NO way we would have sold her a dress in the condition that she is trying to return it in.

C- Well you have to take it back! I've returned dresses before with no tag attached! This is not supposed to be such a big issue! Just take it back!

A bit more back and forth between the customer and the manager and this lovely thing happened.

C- WELL I DON'T WANT IT ANYMORE

M- Well it's been used, so it's yours. If you don't want it anymore you can take it to a consignment shop. Sure you won't get all of your money back that you paid for it, but you'll get something.

C- NO YOU HAVE TO TAKE MY RETURN I DIDN'T USE IT, I DON'T WANT IT ANYMORE!

M- Miss if you don't want it anymore, you can take it home and throw it away. We're not returning it like this because it's not within the policy standards.

C- WELL FINE! HERE YOU THROW IT AWAY FOR ME! Pushing the dress towards us

M- No, I said you can take it home to do that.

The customer storms off in a huff with the dress. Manager looks at me and tells me my counter is bad luck before walking away.

--u/lectric_socks

From u/Lord-Table, TalesFromRetail

At uniquely named game store, we sell stuff. This is not unique, nor is it news. However, I remember exactly what I sell in a day. This also happened several minutes ago, typing it up during a slow break. I'll be Me, and the guy I had to deal with over the phone will be OPG (Old Phone Guy)

Phone ring

Me: Thanks for calling store name, Lord-Table speaking, how may I help you?

OPG: Grumble playst... grumble ...ot working got it today

It took several tries to get OPG to speak properly, fun times I tell you.

OPG: I got playstation one from you guys just a few minutes ago, and it's not working. I'm bringing it in for a refund.

Me, thoroughly bamboozled as I was, replied:

Me: I haven't sold a PS1 in several weeks. Perhaps you went to another location?

OPG: No, I went to the one at street rd. and road st.

Me: That's my location, but again, I haven't sold a PS1 in weeks.

OPG: Well I bought it from you, I recognize your voice. I'm coming over, and you're giving me a refund.

He hangs up, so I start waiting around, and lo and behold, some fart walks into my shop as I opened the sub, holding his PS1. He slaps it onto my counter.

OPG: I want a refund. It won't work, and I just got it.

Me: (With a practiced air of care) Do you have the receipt?

OPG produced a receipt... from major competitor. How. I thought this kind of stupidity was reserved for politicians. So I just stare at him for a solid thirty seconds.

Me: (Trying to contain my laughter) This is a receipt from our major competition, and is about a month old. Do you have our receipt?

Needless to say, OPG didn't appreciate my brain.

OPG: Now listen here, I bought this from you specifically an hour ago, and I demand my money back. You will give it to me!

Me: The last PS1 I sold was to a blonde lady several weeks ago, and you don't have the receipt with you. With the only receipt to have been shown to me was from our major competition about a kilometer east of here.

And wait for it... The perfect line that has low level employees quiver in their boots...

OPG: Let me talk to your manager.

Me: I am the manager.

Related: http://imgur.com/gallery/vPoiE

--u/Lord-Table

From u/thisisaflawedprocess Tales From Retail:

I work in a small hobby shop that sells drones, RC units, etc., and we get a fairly... eccentric clientele. Of particular note is this older woman who came in and bought a really expensive drone for her "grandson", though we suspected she was actually trying to use it to spy on an active military base from the brief conversation we had.

Anyway, she comes in 2 or 3 days after she bought the thing demanding a refund. Being a smaller shop, we only offer refunds and exchanges for manufacturing defects or something we screwed up. This was neither. Apparently her neighbor didn't like the fact that her "grandson" was flying the drone too close to their window and then telling them to get bent when they said something. So they shot it down. I politely inform her that we can't offer a refund because the dummy didn't respect her neighbors.

But it was malfunctioning before that! Look. I kept a log of the issues!

I look at her log, and I notice that all the dates are from later this month. September 22, 23, and 24, 2018. I mention this to her and she drops the classic busted customer line:

Are you calling me a liar?

Well, as you can imagine, I absolutely was calling her a liar, seeing as I caught her with empirical evidence in midlie, but Customer Service and all that. I just suggested that she confused the dates, but that it didn't matter since she didn't take it in before somebody literally shot it out of the air. She is not pleased. Long, melodramatic sighs and disappointed head shaking abound.

Well, I guess this is the society we live in now. Stores are stealing money from old ladies and the world is burning to the ground.

With that, she left. I assume to get into her Delorean and try to track down the Doc in the old west.

Friggin' lunatics, man.

--u/thisisaflawedprocess