Make your own credit card
I used to work at a game store a little more than 10 years ago. Once a woman came in dressed fairly trendy and asked for two PlayStation Portables (PSP), two Xbox 360’s and a handful of games and accessories. My store was pretty slow so this would be a pretty big sale for the day and I was excited about it.
She goes to pay and hands me a credit card which was not laminated and appeared to be printed out on a home color printer. I told her it wouldn’t work and she said just scan it anyway. So I scanned her fake credit card which clearly did not have a magnetic strip and it didn’t work— of course. She told me to just “put the numbers in” on the computer. I refused and she asked why, seeming legitimately confused. I told her I just couldn’t.
She told me she would be back with cash. I put everything back on the shelves. She did not return.
| RudgerZ
Crossed wires or stolen wires?
Years ago I worked at a small hardware store where they were constantly getting huge rolls of copper wire stolen. One day this guy and his girlfriend come in to return a roll. I was a few months in on the returns counter.
They had no receipt and when I scanned the item for the return it was only doing the price per foot. I couldn’t figure out how to get the SKU or the price for the whole roll. Called the manager and he comes out and right away knows there’s no way these people bought a roll and returned it.
So he asks when they bought it and they say two weeks ago (a common response) and my manager tells them “oh really because the last time we sold an entire roll was over three months ago.” The guy starts to get brave and tells him “so you’re saying I stole it?” And my manager says yes.
They end up leaving and leave the roll behind. Before they leave the store the guy says “I’m coming back and bringing the cops.” My manager says “go ahead, that way you can explain to them how you stole the roll.”
| celesticaxxz
Forging checks for DVD players is so 90’s
When we knew that someone was returning a stolen item we would simply tell them that it was now reduced in price to $1 and they could take it or leave it. Since we were a chain we couldn't actually accuse them of stealing it without getting into trouble.
We also would use a blank key on the register keyboard that would throw an error up on the screen when we scanned an item and we would simply tell them that the item was no longer in our system but we could offer them a refund of $1. Some were so desperate (stupid?) that they would actually accept it even on items that were worth $10 or more. Also, way back in the day in the early 90's we would get people trying to write bad checks all of the time.
So one day this guy came in right around the time when DVD players were coming down in price and he decided to write a check for one. I think they retailed for around $200. He was so happy that his bad/forged check cleared our managers approval (this was before TeleCheck even existed, you decided if you wanted to accept a persons check by calling the bank or just by looking at them) that after he took the DVD player out to his car he came back in to purchase three more because he wanted one for every one of the TV's at his mansion.
As he starts to write a check for the next purchase we decide to call mall security which back then happened to be two off duty plain clothed LAPD detectives that the mall employed —yeah, it was beautiful to have two actual cops there in two minutes when needed. Long story short, I can still remember the look on his face when the two plain clothes detectives showed up and flashed their badges at him and wanted to make sure his checks were valid.
He ended up being busted for fraud of a merchant, false identification and grand theft.
| dkcs
Dog food cover up
At the Kmart returns counter, I had a guy try to return a CD (with receipt). The shrink wrap had been sliced and the CD taken out. He claimed it was like that when he bought it. I told him I couldn't return it for cash but could swap it for the same thing. He went to get a new CD and brought some other artist. Told him it had to be the exact same thing. I had the electronics employee bring up the right CD. As I checked that they were the same and told him I would give him a new one, a smile grew on his face which quickly melted away when I took out a knife and cut open the plastic on the CD. No, you can't return that one later.
Another scammer that I actually caught was this guy who was paralysed on the left half of his body. He walked slowly around the store, dropping stuff. One day I caught him bagging Oxiclean in his cart. Notified LP and she watched him. He went through a self checkout and told me he bought the Oxiclean in electronics. LP called electronics, who said no such sale was made. I think she let him go that time but the next time he came in, he got a police escort.
This one was an insider job — this guy who worked in electronics also did layaway. One of the service desk girls would put a giant bag of dog food in the layaway. Then the electronics guy would empty the bag and fill it with expensive electronics. Turns out they had been getting away with this for years, then the LP staff changed and the new lady knew how to police the place.
| mr_humansoup
Nice guy, nice try
One of my embarrassing memories from working retail is falling for one of these scams. I had actually been a cashier for probably five years at this point and had never heard of this particular method. I had seen people come in with cloned credit cards, barcodes switched and placed on the wrong product, returns that are filled with junk, counterfeit money, etc. but never had heard of this type of thing.
Some guy came in and wanted to pay for a cheap item with a $100 bill. I count out his change and am about to hand it over — let's say $95.15 — when he changes his mind and says "oh wait, give me that $100 back, I have the exact change. I can give you the .85 cents so that you won't need to give me the coins and you can just give me the $95." And heck if I didn't just hand it over. He spaced it out just long enough that I was still holding the $95 and because I had to take time to put the coins away by that point I completely forgot that I had given him back his $100.
I had no idea it had happened until the next day when my manager brought me in to review the video and asked me if I remembered the customer on the screen. I did (because he was friendly and we had chatted while I started ringing him up). I even told my manager 'oh yeah, nice guy' and then was informed of what had happened. It's one of the few times in my life I can remember being honestly startled and blown away that I hadn't realized what happened.
| forsaleortrade
How to ruin a cell phone in 1 day
I work at a major cell phone retailer. I once had a man come in with his wife to do an upgrade to whatever the new iPhone was at that time. While they were sitting in the store working with one of my reps (I was in management at the time) the wife starts getting text messages from someone claiming to be her husband’s mistress. This did not go over well. They took it outside before it got overly nasty, and we all assumed they were gone for good.
So, the husband comes back in. Alone. He finished upgrading his phone (priorities) and left. The very next day he tried to return the phone claiming that we had sold him one with screen damage. He brings it in, and it looks like someone took a diamond ring or something to the screen and scratched the heck out of it.
Now we have a strict “open the box and hand it to the customer before they leave” policy to avoid these situations. I was able to pull tape, show the customer where he held the phone for a good five minutes without pointing out any flaws and tell him that my company offers no warranty on that brand even if it’s bad out of the box — and especially when he didn’t show it to us before leaving the store. I suggested he take it up with the manufacturer if he truly believed the phone was damaged out of the box.
He did, right there in the store he called them. They also told him to kick rocks. The best part? I was new to management so I didn’t have a manager name tag yet. He asked to speak to the manager and I got to give him my best evil grin and say “I am the manager.” He left after that and we never saw him again.
| Wrashionis
Planting your own evidence
I used to work at Best Buy. This guy came in and returned a laptop saying that the box had some old laptop in it. He was yelling and screaming that we don't know how to do business. Manager gave him a full refund.
We started to check that old laptop he brought in — it won't turn on. Looks like the motherboard was toast. We pulled the hard drive out and started checking the data. Hard drive was completely fine with everything on it.
We started looking for the clues and found the pictures of the guy who returned the laptop. It was his old machine. We had all his info. Manager called him and said he has 15 minutes to bring the new laptop back or he is calling the police.
The guy came in and dropped the laptop at the front desk. Never saw him again in the store
| Vick7171
Coupons, lies and tuna fish face masks
At my old job, they used to have sales pretty often and would also give out coupons for specific dates. For Boxing Day, they had a 30% off sale and we'd also given out coupons that would start the next day. A lady came in on Boxing Day and we worked out that she'd get more of a deal if she used the coupon instead, so I offered to hold her items for her. I explicitly told her that she wouldn't be able to get the 30% off and she decided to use the coupon instead.
She comes back the next day, goes to cash to purchase her items and gets angry because they wouldn't give her both the 30% off and let her use the coupon. She told the cashier that the person she'd spoken to the day before had told her she could do that, sees me, and says "it was that girl who told me!"
I went to cash to speak to her (I was a keyholder at the time) and her story changed about three times through the whole thing. First she said that I told her she could combine the discounts, then she said that I never told her she couldn't combine the discounts and then finally it was "well I don't understand why I'm not able to do this." Another manager came over to help sort it out and as I walked away I heard her saying that I was a liar.
Now, I work at Sephora and we always get people trying to return fake products. My favorite one was when someone returned a face mask but had put a can of tuna in the box instead of the actual face mask.
| ShadyLady709Q49
$20 scammer
I worked at a Jewel many, many years ago. Opening shift as a cashier, a man comes through with two 24 packs of Pepsi. It’s opening shift, so at that time we count our registers and confirm they’ve got the correct opening cash. We didn’t carry too much cash and we all know how much is in the drawer to start. He ends up paying with a $100 bill for these sodas. I counted back his change with mostly 20’s — all the 20’s I had just counted.
There were no more 20’s I could have given him and I don’t know how he did this, but he shuffled them in his hand, and showed me that I supposedly short changed him. Now, I knew immediately that he was no good.
I told him that I would call a manager over and have them double check the register. The manager came, counted down the register and explained that the drawer was balanced, which means I didn’t short change anybody. But, if for whatever reason the drawer turned up $20 over at night, we could give him a call.
The manager tries to take his info down and he asks for his name and the guy thinks about it and says “Steve…Bush!”
| Bakingjingo
Barcode tricks
When I worked on a checkout a woman pulled a barcode label from a container of $4 tinned fruit and stuck it over the barcode of a $25 container of medjool dates. She pretended that she didn't do it. Another time a man carried a $30 bag of dog food to the customer service counter without paying for it and asked for a refund. My manager gave it to him even though we both knew he had stolen it while we watched him.
Oh, and another time a group of people were using fake credit cards to steal. Not sure exactly how it worked but they ended up typing in a different card number into the EFTPOS terminal while another dude tried to distract you. These guys were super friendly and chatty and probably thought I was young and dumb but I caught them trying to take off with about $500 worth of groceries. They were all like, "just let us go and get some cash out, we'll be back soon to pay.”
They never returned and my manager gave me a box of chocolates for picking up on it. Proudest moment of my retail career.
| puddingandp1e
Fake it ‘til you make it or get caught trying
I work at an Italian deli/specialty market. It’s family owned and has a super tight knit cast of employees. It’s also in a rougher part of town. One day, a presumably homeless woman came into the store. No big deal — we’re by the shelter and a lot of the homeless folks are friendly and just getting something nice to eat. However, this lady was clearly out of her mind. Whether it was drugs or mental illness wasn’t clear. Honestly probably both.
She was in the store for an hour just harassing employees and customers. Eventually, the owner (the Italian man after which the store is named) had to intervene. He firmly asked the lady to leave, but she had a surprising response: “oh it’s okay, I work here.”
Imagine the surprise on the owner’s face. He certainly didn’t remember hiring her. Dumbfounded, he told her that was impossible, since he’s in charge of the hiring to which she responded: “oh, are you hiring?”
Honestly I’ve got to respect a good gambit. Unfortunately for her, it didn’t seem to pan out. I don’t have any new coworkers yet.
| SirPickell
Xbox roach motel
I used to work for a store that did trade-ins for old gaming systems. One day a man comes in trying to trade in his Xbox 360 to get credit for the (at the time) new Xbox One. We’re pretty lax about the condition of the product. As long as it turns on, we’ll take it. I’m talking to the man as I’m taking the Xbox box out of the bag he brought it in, he’s pleasant. I open the box up and ... cockroaches just come crawling out.
I almost dropped it, and I told the guy we can’t accept this. Boy, does he get mad. He has the gall to ask where in our terms does it specifically say they can’t accept this? The manager gets involved and he eventually leaves, only to come back the next day to try it on another employee.
I radio the manager when I recognize him. Guy puts up a fuss again and the manager eventually tells him he’ll give him the trade in credit IF he takes his bug ridden machine with him and never brings it back. I still get creepy crawlies thinking about those cockroaches.
| zahliailhaz
Rattle your chain
I work in a high end jewelry store that does jewelry repair on site. I had a lady come in and drop off an older 80’s style Omega chain for a simple solder and fix. We have our customers sign the envelope where we write a description of the piece and then they sign the same envelope when they pick up their merchandise and are satisfied with the work.
This woman saw what I wrote and then signed the bottom, no problem. When she picked up her chain she was ecstatic and said it was the best work she’s ever seen. She pays for the repair and signs the envelope agreeing that the work was all in order. She leaves.
10 minutes later she calls saying we switched her chain. I’m like look lady, we haven’t carried this type of chain in over 10 years because no one buys them, I wouldn’t even have a chain to give you. Also, we have cameras in the store including the jewelers room, please come in and take a look at the video surveillance assuring you that we didn’t switch your chain.
She would not let it go and was insisting that we reimburse her the money for her chain that we switched and hat any other store would have done it. I politely let her know that we would be doing no such thing since there is no way we switched her chain.
She said she was going to write me the nastiest Yelp review. That was a month ago. I’m still waiting for her to come in and demand her chain. She was clearly scamming since she did not want to see the video tapes and was expecting us to just pay her out. But as a small privately owned jewelry store, we can’t just accept that the customer is always right like the big corporate stores do.
| Twistedlittlelady
Watch wars
I worked at a Fossil store for a while and if customers brought in their Fossil pieces we would replace the batteries. So this guy brings in his watch and needs the battery replaced — no problem.
I take his watch to the back and replace the battery, bring it out front and hand it to him. He looks at it for a moment, then looks at me and says "that's not my watch.” I didn't know what to say. I legit said to the guy "I'm sorry sir I don't know what to tell you. That's your watch, it didn't leave my hands from the moment you gave it to me.”He looks at it again and says "No, that's not my watch.” We spent a painfully awkward moment just staring at each other (I had no idea what to say) and then just sort of repeated the above interaction a few more times.
Eventually, I said "I can ask for clearance from my manager to show you the repair station if you want to take a look back there" my manager walks over and says "everything okay?" and the guy just walks out the door. I still have no idea what he was trying to do.
| alexander_karamazov
Keep the breadsticks coming
I work at a cafe inside a big store and we have some regulars. Some are really nice and some ... not so much. This one lady, we have dubbed her “the breadstick lady” comes in probably every other day. She gets the same order every single day she comes in — two breadsticks, like a little pan of them.
And she has got to the point where she will walk into the store, hold up two fingers and we know to throw them in the oven since they take about 10 minutes to make. We also sell drinks, which can be found at the registers to check out groceries too.
So she will buy the breadsticks and then grab two or three cups from a register and not pay for them. And every time we ask to see the receipt for the cups and she asks “I thought the breadsticks were a combo? Two breadsticks and three drinks?”
And every day the answer is no. It’s crazy to see how many times she tries this and continues to fail, but continues to try as well!
| SneakyDonut23
Loose shrimp
Had a customer who would send her aid to the store — amongst the groceries bought were two bags of frozen shrimp. About a week later the aid would return with a ziplock bag with the ones she didn't want, which was less than a single bag, for a refund on both of them.
We allowed it and it happened a couple of more times until the aid came in and explained to us that she would constantly take them out of the freezer, thaw the whole bag, eat some and refreeze it, and said that she would be ok (in fact, happy) if we said no.
So we did and the lady files a complaint against us weekly now trying to get a $10 gift card for her complaint. Had a guy argue with my associate about a Play-Doh feature that had a factory sign on it that said .50 cents. He claimed that it meant half a cent each and wanted two for a penny. He was doing it out of spite.
One of my egghead peer assistant managers was baffled and said ok, but when my store manager approached him at the register he told him he was not right and to keep his penny — he didn't want it.
| kanuvpayne
Hide and seek: expired food edition
Worked at Winn Dixie when I was a teenager. They had these really good sales on crab meat — like $5 for a 1lb can. One day this woman comes in with four cans asking for a refund; the cans were bulging and hot to the touch. She claimed that they were like that when she bought them. Really? Sure you didn't leave them in the car all day? The store also had a policy that they would sell meat that was about to expire for 50% off. People would grab steaks out of the meat department and hide them in the freezer section, under or behind other products, then come back later to buy them.
Not only is it pretty obvious when someone is digging through frozen peas to pull out a steak, it's really obvious when they come through the register with a frozen steak.
They also had a buy one get one free if someone found expired bread. People would hide bread in other sections of the store then come back for it a few days later. I remember one lady had a cart literally filled to overflowing with bread — half of it expired.
As a result of these shenanigans, we had to comb the store every night for products hidden in the freezers.
| Dalgeek
Suspicious card decline
One time I had a guy come in, try to pay for a $500 phone with a card and the card was declined. "Sir your card was declined, do you wanna try a different card?"
"Nah man, let me just call my bank to see what's the problem."
He then called some number from his phone and handed it back to me. On the other end of the line was a guy who was very well spoken. CLEARLY not in cahoots with the man in front of me who was not well spoken. The guy on the other line walked me through the steps to push "force sale" on the card and assured me that there were funds on the account and it was a problem on their end.
I'm sure it would have forced the transaction, said approved and then a day or two later it would have failed or declined. Anyways I said no and gave the customer back his phone and took back ours.
| xTheatreTechie
Can’t fool me, coleslaw
I worked 10 years in fast food and 5 years at a grocery store, these are my favorite from each:
At a chicken store we sold a 16 piece meal for over $30. We wouldn't give a refund without them returning the product but would usually replace it without any proof because of corporate. So a common scam was to go to one store and get a replacement and then take that to a second store for a refund. One day I had a guy come in for a replacement. I was pretty sure he was full of it but I went ahead and did the replacement. I initiated the bottom of his coleslaw super fast and after he left I called around to our sister stores to watch out for a refund meal with my initials. Sure enough he hit the nearest one where they laughed him out.
At the grocery store the funniest was a lady who tried to replace corn syrup last winter that expired in 2005. "I bought two of these last week by accident!" I had countless people over the years clean out their cabinets and try to get cash for all the expired stuff that they supposedly bought.
| lilyluc
Receipt scavenger
I get a lot of guests that pick receipts off the ground, parking lot or trash and then go into the store to pick the item off the shelf and return. I’m usually pretty good at calling our security and stalling the transaction for as long as I need to.
This guy the other night, who regularly does this (I feel like he has an accomplice(s) because our AP is always watching someone else when he is in the store) and for some reason I always happen to be at guest service. Anyway, he got loud with me the time before, so I didn’t even want to deal with it and notified my manager even though I am technically a supervisor.
Well, we deny it by forcing the system to come up with an error message and he starts yelling again. As if the three different beat up cash/ debit card receipts he had didn’t make us suspicious enough, he pulls out a bag of probably 100+ beat up receipts to prove to us how often he shops here. Like nah, bro, but thank you for the laugh.
Only annoying thing is I know for a fact multiple of my guest service team members have done returns for him before. He mentioned them by name to me by claiming “so and so” never gives him a problem, only me. Really, really hope we can catch him for good soon because I am tired.
| man_iamtired
Scamming the scammers
I work in sales at a telecommunications company. Oh man do I love scammers, especially on a quiet day. You can tell a mile away their point is to get a high end phone for $0 while keeping their hands free with a fake or someone else's ID.
Although they are not as outrageous as what I've read here, I get a huge kick listening to them struggle. Usually I'll tell them the credit check will take a few minutes as my system is slow and immediately call fraud management. Hand over the info and conference the loser into surprising them with a new person full of questions.
A few examples I have is when a customer was looking to get a new device and I said the plan would be $200 a month when it was really $85 a month. "Oh, do you have anything cheaper?" — nope! Then "oh um, okay but the phone is free right?" — yup.
Today I got a call — the same old traditional young scammer. So I do my routine by surprising them with my favorite department. He offered a driver's license amongst the ID and the fraud rep asked him "what's your nearest major intersection?" First time I ever heard that — the customer became frustrated and said "I don't know, I don't drive!" I nearly died.
I have stories daily. I could process the order fully and flag it or tell them I have to speak to another department where they just hang up and end it there. That's no fun.
| Yujiza
Never bring a cupcake in a bra store
I used to work at Victoria’s Secret when I was in high school. A lady brings a bra over and as I’m about to scan it and take tags off she asks if she can get some kind of discount because it’s stained. I look it over and there’s what looks like bright blue icing on it.
My eyes then trail over to her child who is eating a cupcake with bright blue icing and it had clearly just been stained by her. So I go “oh this is from the cupcake” and she goes “yeah any discount like half off or something?”
And I swear to god I just looked at her for a solid five seconds until I could spit the polite response out because in my brain I was going “did you really just ask me for a discount on an item YOU just ruined as you brought it to the cash register?”
Instead I politely told her I can’t sell damaged items. Like? Let me just smash the window of a brand new car and get $15,000 off because that makes sense
| mekelarje
Liar, liar
Giphy
Family of five comes in and the grandma pulls me aside to tell me her son's house burnt down leaving her grandchildren with nothing and she wants a discount.
I tell her sure, I can give her 25% off her purchase. She wants more, but that’s the best I can do.
They shop around for a while and eventually come up to the register. The whole time one of the little girls is saying things like, “I’m so sad all my stuff is gone,” with the grandma replying “I know, I wish I had more money OR A COUPON to help.”
One of my coworkers knows her and informs me after they leave that their house did not in fact burn down.
| icantdrawcircles
A not-so-stealthy exchange
Tenor
As a teen, I worked at a convenience store. A man walked in and quickly grabbed a package of pantyhose off the shelf, walked up to the register and informed me that he’d purchased the pantyhose for his wife, but they were the wrong size.
I responded that I’d watched him take them off the shelf, and therefore couldn’t give him a refund as he never bought them. He argued that of course he had, and said that rather than a refund, he’d take an adult magazine in exchange. I laughed, saying that the cost of the pantyhose wouldn’t cover the cost of the magazine, even if he had paid for them.
The man considered this, grabbed another package of pantyhose from the shelf and asked, “How ’bout now?”
| Tulabean
The crock-swap
Giphy
I was covering the break for a customer service employee when a lady brought in a box of cookware to return. It was a brand we just received the previous week — I know, because I put together the display and lugged all the boxes out. One of the most expensive sets we ever sold. Anyway, I asked the reason it was being returned and she said that it was nothing, she got another one as a gift. I go to pull the box off before starting the return in the register and the weight just feels off. I asked her if it had ever been open and she said no. The tape on top had not been disturbed, but it's possible to open some of the boxes through the bottom without cutting them open.
I tell her, "Oh, well let me just check it to see if it is still sellable or not" and as I proceed to cut the tape she starts telling me how that's "not necessary and could I get my cash back" yada yada.
The box was filled with bricks.
I exclaimed in my best Disney princess falsetto, "Oh goodness! We didn't sell you this! Here are your bricks back! As soon as you bring in the pots and pans I can proceed with your return!"
| *red_balloon_animal
The fake credit card
Tumblr
I used to work at a game store a little more than 10 years ago. A well-dressed woman came in and asked for two PlayStation Portables (PSPs), two Xbox 360s and a handful of games and accessories. My store was pretty slow so this would have been a pretty big sale for the day and I was excited about it. She went to pay and handed me a credit card which was not laminated and appeared to be printed out on a home color printer. I told her it wouldn’t work and she said just scan it anyway. So I scanned her fake credit card which clearly did not have a magnetic strip and it didn’t work (of course).
She told me to just “put the numbers in” on the computer. I refused and she asked why, seemingly legitimately confused. I told her I just couldn’t. She told me she would be back with cash. I put everything back on the shelves. She did not return.
| RudgerZ
The last customer of the evening
Giphy
The store was open until midnight the two last nights of the financial year calendar. Apparently, the store thought someone might come in at 11:59 the last chance they had to deck out their entire office with new laptops and chairs and stuff. After about 9pm the store was pretty much a complete ghost town. By 10 pm to 11 pm the store was the cleanest it ever was since it was built. On this one night the phone rang at about 11:30 pm. The guy wanted to know if we were still open because he wanted to buy something specific. It turned out we had it in stock and he told me — several times — that he was going to get out of his pyjamas, get dressed and come down to the store. I was, like, "Sure. The item will be at the front counter whenever you're here to collect it."
So he turns up and tells me again that he had to get out of his pyjamas, get dressed and come down to the store to pick up this item. It was about 11:45 pm by this point and so I just told him how much it was going to cost and then he asked for a discount. I said, "Why?"
He said, "For being your last customer of the evening!"
I told him no, there's no reason for giving out that kind of a discount and besides, we weren't closed yet. There might be other customers, you know. He might not have been the last one that night and besides, it costs what it costs. He told me again that he had to get out of his pyjamas, get dressed and come to the store to buy this item. He paid full price for all his troubles.
| Mr_A
Soiled goods
Giphy
A customer brought back a jumpsuit for a refund because it had poop in it. Apparently it had been like that when she bought it. It stank so bad that you could smell it through the taped up plastic bags that she had put it in. It was impossible that it would have gone unnoticed by changing room staff, to then be put on the shop floor, to then be picked up by the customer, to then pass through checkout.
The worst part is some idiot on the refunds counter downstairs actually accepted it and put it on top of the trolley full of other returned items for us to put back upstairs — complete with a note stapled to it that said, "Warning: Feces inside.”
| MateriaBubbles
Not so secret
Giphy
I used to work at Victoria’s Secret when I was in high school. A lady brings a bra over and, as I’m about to scan it and take the tags off, she asks if she can get some kind of discount because it’s stained.
I look over it and it looks like there’s bright blue icing on it. My eyes then trail over to her child who is eating a cupcake with bright blue icing. So I go, “Ohhhh this is from the cupcake,” and she goes, “Yeah, any discount like half off or something?”
And I swear to God, I just looked at her for a solid five seconds until I could spit the polite response out because in my brain I was going, “Did you really just ask me for a discount on an item YOU just ruined as you brought it to the cash register???” Instead, I politely told her I can’t sell damaged items.
Like???? Let me just smash the window of a brand new car and get $15,000 off because that makes sense.
| mekelarje
Wicked game
Giphy
When I was a cashier at Walmart, someone came through my line with an assortment of items. All was normal until I got to this coffee maker.
Immediately upon picking it up, I knew something was fishy. The weight was off and there was clearly some slight shifting inside. When I scanned it, the device that deactivates the security tags went off. But it KEPT GOING OFF. Clearly not deactivating whatever set it off.
So I opened it up and it was PACKED with a bunch of games still inside the plastic security cases that need to be popped open to remove the game. I told the customer I wouldn't be able to let them leave with the "coffee maker" and proceeded to sell them the rest of the items while putting the box full of games under my till.
I alerted my manager afterwards and they came to retrieve the games. I stopped the customer from stealing around $300 worth of games in this coffee maker box and got a small reward in the form of a Walmart gift card. Don't know why they thought they'd get out of the store with that box full of those security cases though.
| TJP8ZL
This pilfering pair
gifer.com
Some dude came in with his pregnant wife. We knew him and he was dodgy but he'd been in a few times and hadn't caused trouble.
Anyway, he asks to see a pre-owned PS3, which was in the back in its box. My colleague brought it out and got it out to show him its condition. While he was studying it, he asked my colleague if he had any other pre-owned controllers, and my friend went in the back, stupidly leaving him alone with the console, to check.
When my friend came back, the guy had returned the console to its box and closed it. He asked how much the pre-owned controller would be and then said he might come in later with cash to buy them both.
He never came back.
A day later, somebody else was interested in the console and when we opened it, it was full of books.
We checked the security cameras. Turns out, during the 20 or so seconds my colleague was away from the desk, the “pregnant wife” pulled out around three or four books from her stomach from under her dress and stuffed the console into this hidden pregnancy pouch under her dress, the books went in the box and the traveller closed it.
Thankfully, he was too stupid to notice the camera. We called the police and they caught him in half a day, we got the console back and he got some prison time. It was his third offence.
| schabe
For attempted murder
Tenor
I worked at an upscale treats shop, so chocolates, biscuits, etc. We’re having a clearance sale (red price — sales are final) on boxes of our nut biscuits that were going out of season and one woman buys the last nine boxes we have. I’m the cashier, so I ring up the sale as normal and she leaves.
Two days later, I’m the opener and this woman is WAITING at the gate for us to open. I let her in to get her gone so I can prep for the day, and she accused me of ATTEMPTED MURDER.
Like, she was threatening to get the police involved. As she tells it, she ate a whole box of the CLEARLY LABELED nut biscuits in one sitting and then her throat got tight and she was itching all over. But no way in hell does she have a mild nut allergy, she’s claiming we poisoned them. Demands a full refund as well as equal value in merchandise as an apology for trying to kill her.
By the time I‘d convinced her she had a nut allergy, her claim shifted to us intentionally not labeling allergens on our packaging. At which point I took one of the boxes from her and, with a sharpie, circled the three places on the front of the box saying they were assorted nut biscuits, as well as the warning on the back of all the possible allergens they may have come in contact with. Her final play that set me off was her just throwing her hands in the air and screaming, “FINE, just give me the refund then! I don’t want any more products from you!” Because, you know, the refund was totally on the table.
She didn’t even have a receipt, and, when asked for it, she said I must have stolen it. I broke and said fine but I’ll need to text my manager since I can’t process returns, texted a buddy in the security office what was happening and they called the real police since apparently she’d been caught trying to steal several times in the mall.
What really made my day though was that when they tried to escort her away from my store, she slapped one of the REAL cops. They busted out the handcuffs and I was just so happy to see her squirm.
| Caitsyth
