There are things retail workers deal with that defy comprehension. Sometimes those things just happen to be customers. Everyone has had an experience, at some point in his or her life, where someone just couldn't understand what was being explained. The customer service desk is a hotbed of lunacy, where those who don't, can't, or won't understand somehow seem to congregate. During my time working a customer service desk, I had to explain things that were obvious to me, but not to my customers. Like, where the bathroom is. Hint: it was under the gigantic red sign that says "Restrooms" clearly visible from the desk, less than a hundred feet away.
In this instance, though, I'm going to tell a story of a woman who took up three hours of time because she chose not to understand the process of returning something and then buying something different. Commonly referred to as a refund/re-bill, it's basically where an item is returned and then the customer is charged for a completely different item. She purchased a set of patio furniture. It was too big for her patio, so she came in to return it. We helped her find a set that would fit on her patio, returned the old one, and then charged her for the new one. Simple, right?
Not for her.
She started off confused because her return and her purchase were on separate receipts. I explained that because the items she was buying were not same as the things she had originally bought, we had to return her old set and charge her for the new set. Somehow this confused her. She couldn't grasp why we didn't just exchange it. I again explained that an exchange is when an item is defective and we swap it out for another of the same thing. She did not want another of the original patio set; she wanted a different one. So it couldn't be exchanged. It had to be returned. Over and over and over I told her this. Five separate times I told her we refunded the original purchase and charged her for the new items.
She still didn't get it.
Then she got upset because her credit card balance wasn't being displayed on her receipt. Now, I have worked in retail a long time. I have never seen anyone display credit card balances on receipts. Gift card balances, sure, but not a credit card. Not only do retailers not have access to that information, but it would be a massive breach of privacy to just print that out on a piece of paper anyone could get their hands on and abuse. Telling someone the balance on their card without prompting is as much a social faux pas as commenting on someone's physical appearance. You just don't do it.
These things seem simple and self-evident to me. They're things everyone should just be aware of unless they're under the age of twelve. But for her, it took four different people three hours to explain to her that we didn't mess up, we didn't double-charge her, and we weren't going to be able to tell her how much money she had on her credit card. I try to look at these situations with sympathy as much as possible. Maybe she had a learning disability I was unaware of. Maybe she literally had never been shopping before, and had no idea how it worked. Maybe she was just really, really tired. Hindsight allows us the grace to find reasons to forgive the sheer ridiculousness of some customers.
At the time, though, the only thing a retail employee feels is frustration.
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