Sure, let me risk my job so you can have free stuff!

[XCashier]

A customer came up to the cutting counter, wanting five yards of fleece. Problem was, this roll had several pieces on it*, none of them close to five yards. Customer said she can take it in two 2½-yard pieces, so I measured the fleece out. One piece was about one yard and twenty-four inches, one piece was about two yards and twenty-six inches, one piece was about three yards, sixteen inches.

SC: Cut me a deal. I'll take the two larger pieces for the price of five yards.
ME: I can't give fabric away. I can give you the end-of-bolt price for the remainders, which is 50% of the current price, but I can't give it to you for free.

I rang up the ticket and showed her how I gave her the remainders for the end-of-bolt price.

SC: (huffy) Well, I guess we don't have a deal! (flounces off)

I told her what I could and could not do, and the discount still wasn't good enough for her. Corporate is cracking down on fabric discrepancies, and believe me, they'd notice more than a yard of fabric going missing. I am not going to risk my job so the customer can have over a yard of free fabric!

*When a bolt of fabric gets low, but not low enough to make a remnant, we roll the remainder onto a new bolt of the same fabric to save room and hopefully, sell the remainder. Sometimes you end up with several pieces on the same bolt, but it takes less room than several nearly-empty bolts.

[Primer]

hmmm...she should have taken your offer. 6 yd 4 in at half price would be equivalent to 3 yd 2 in at full price. Yet she wanted to pay 5 yards full price worth.... I'd have taken her money and fixed the discrepancy later. Sodas for the staff!

[Aethian]

She so didnt think that through.

[XCashier]

hmmm...she should have taken your offer. 6 yd 4 in at half price would be equivalent to 3 yd 2 in at full price. Yet she wanted to pay 5 yards full price worth....

Whoops, let me clarify that...the end of bolt means the last bit of fabric. On most fabrics, it's less than a yard; on fleece, it's less than a yard and a half.

If there were three and a third yards of fleece left on a bolt, we sell the first two yards for regular price and the last yard and a third for the end of bolt price.

In this case, she could've gotten the three yards, sixteen inch piece, paid regular price for the first two yards and gotten the last yard and sixteen inches for EOB. For the two yards and twenty-six inch piece, I would've sold her one and a quarter yard for regular price and one and seventeen inches for EOB.

But since she wanted free fabric, that still wasn't good enough.

[meghann]

Whoops, let me clarify that...the end of bolt means the last bit of fabric. On most fabrics, it's less than a yard; on fleece, it's less than a yard and a half.

If there were three and a third yards of fleece left on a bolt, we sell the first two yards for regular price and the last yard and a third for the end of bolt price.

In this case, she could've gotten the three yards, sixteen inch piece, paid regular price for the first two yards and gotten the last yard and sixteen inches for EOB. For the two yards and twenty-six inch piece, I would've sold her one and a quarter yard for regular price and one and seventeen inches for EOB.

But since she wanted free fabric, that still wasn't good enough.

Still would have been cheaper than paying full price for 5 yards, I think.

She would have bought 3 1/4 yards at full price & just shy of 3 yards at half price. Her total would have been the equivalent to just under 4 3/4 yards at full price, unless my math is really off.

[MadMike]

I had to deal with something like that at my last job. A guy came in wanting x feet of carpet. I unrolled the roll, and there was the amount he wanted plus an extra foot. I was about to cut it, when he told me, "I'll take that last foot too!"

That was all well and good for me, since now I wouldn't have to cut anything. Only problem was, he expected me to give him the last foot for free. He was quite offended when I priced it for the actual amount. He started arguing with me, telling me that no one would buy just one foot of carpet, and that I should just give it to him. I told him we'd had a few people who did buy a single foot to line something like a shelf, and that it wasn't my call to make. I offered to get a manager, but he grumbled and said not to bother. I don't remember if he had me cut off the last foot, or if he just paid the full price.

[PepperElf]

meh. i'd have taken the deal. then again i'm not a jerk and would have found a use for the extra inches.

making bandanas for the pooch i've had leftovers... turned one into 3 strips of fabric, braided them tightly and had a dog toy for her for a little while. not sure if it's dead yet though. she did like tug of war with it tho

[Lace Neil Singer]

At the garden centre, I remember an SC who bought a plant that was part of a display; the plants that made up displays were for sale, tho the pots they were standing in were priced separately. This SC wanted the decorative pot (the plant was in a plastic pot, by the way) for free. The manager said no, and she threw a total bitch fit over not being given this rather pricy display pot for free.

[MoonCat]

I must be weird, because I don't think I have EVER asked a store to give me anything for free. If it was damaged, I just didn't buy it. If it was the last one, I paid whatever it was marked. If it was a display model, I paid what it was marked and didn't expect extras to go with it. Obviously I must be doing it all wrong, hey?