It's the PRINCIPLE I tell you!

[Dreamstalker]

So my store stopped giving bag credits; SM told me Corp does a direct donation (to environmental groups) instead. On one hand I think the timing in the wake of the plastic-bag ban is a bad idea, on the other hand it was subject to a LOT of abuse on selfscan (SCs using it to avoid paying the bottle deposit, using it as a free coupon for anything, and every once in awhile the system would let you enter one bag per item).

I'd thought I'd heard all the objections, until this 'lady'.

Watching self-scan again last night. One of the kiosks is yammering "PLEASE STAND BY, HELP IS ON THE WAY"; I finish up with the other one I'm helping out (with a legitimate issue) and go over.

Me:
CBL: Crazy bag lady
ASM: My boss

Me: "Yes?"
CBL: "I have bags to use, your machine's not letting me use them!"
Me: "You can use your own bags."
CBL: "But I want five cents for them! The other [store] I go to lets me do it ALLLL the time!"
Me: "I'm sorry, we don't give the bag credits. [Store] stopped that back in October."
CBL: "I'm in a hurry! I want my bag credit! [Other store location] lets me do it!"

Lather, rinse, repeat for what seems like ten minutes. All the while she's repeating "I'm in a hurry! I'm too busy for this!" (then why the hell are you standing here arguing with me?). Other selfscans are flashing, but she won't let me go help them (in coming over to where I could see the screen, I unwisely let myself get blocked between her and her cart).

CBL: "Go get me a manager!"
ASM and all the frontend managers are busy, so I can't call ASM away from his register but I can go over and ask. Unfortunately I'm not wearing a purple shirt, so I can't tell her I'm a manager (which ASM would happily back me up on).

ASM: "We don't give bag credits anymore. None of our stores do."
Me: "That's what I've been trying to tell her." *goes back*

Me: "We don't give bag credits anymore. None of the stores do."
CBL: "Well, this is ridiculous! Just take back my whole order then, I brought these bags with me and spent all this time! I'm in a hurry!"
Me: "I'm sorry you feel that way. Of course I can cancel the order."
Alrighty then, you don't want your groceries over five cents? Happy to oblige
CBL breezes off, but not before trying--and failing--to stuff the block of cheese in her bag. I'm able to grab all the items before she can do much more than touch them. Shoots me an "I showed YOU" look as she leaves (oh NOEZ! you fail at shoplifting!...wait, this is supposed to scare me?)

What was her big order? Two bottles of water and the aforementioned block of cheap cheese. About $4.

FEM: "WTF was that about?"
Me: "Some lady mad that we weren't doing the bag credit."
FEM: "So she left her shopping over five cents?"
R (another manager): "The other store probably just gave her the five cents to shut her up."

[Bright_Star]

Why do people like that assume the store is going to suffer if they cancel their order? Acting as if ONE person is going to make the store go out of business.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Especially when the order is two water bottles and a cheap brand block of cheese.

It always seems to be the people who spend the least amount of money who pull out the "Well now you aren't getting my business card, NYAH!"

[FenigDurak]

Wait... She stole cheese?

[protege]

At least she didn't cut it...

[siskaren]

Wait... She stole cheese?

Yeah, I'm confused about that, too. You said she demanded that the order be canceled, but then shoved the block of cheese in her bag.

[Dreamstalker]

Wait... She stole cheese?

She didn't actually get away with it (shoplifting rule #1: if you're going to stash something in a bag, make sure said bag is actually open first).

[Hermione]

What do you want to bet she thought she was entitled to the free cheese because it was the least they could do and she deserved it for cheating her out of her 5 cent bag credit?

[Jester]

Only once in my working career have I seen a customer that was very particular about a few cents where it was for a good reason. And by good reason, I don't mean "the principle."

One of my very first jobs, way back in my senior year of high school, was at a pizza chain. We would have a regular who would come in and drink two pitchers of beer. Never ate, never drank less or more...simply sat there and drank two pitchers of beer, one after the other. Very nice guy. The total, if I remember correctly, came to something like $9.90 for the two pitchers. Or something like that. This was 1987, so I may be forgetting the exact price.

In any case, while he was a nice guy and tipped well enough, he absolutely had to have the ten cents change. Why, you ask? Good question. I asked my fellow employees about it myself. What was his deal with those few cents?

My coworkers told me that he gave those to his very young grandchildren, who he loved dearly.

Even at 17, I knew this was really, really cool, and I never questioned it again, nor did I ever fail to make sure he had those ten cents.

[PepperElf]

yep. so much in a hurry that she had time to bitch over 5 cents

and then she tried to shoplift?

[MoonCat]

I think if I'd been on a checkout near her I'd have handed her a nickel: "Here, lady, you're obviously in desperate need."

[Dreamstalker]

If I'd had my usual pocketful of extra change I would have done just that. *note to self: must keep nickels in pockets from now on*

Given that plastic bags will be outlawed by the end of this year, I predict people will start hoarding them. Today I had an SC say that it was so great that Town was banning them...then she demanded triple-plastic bags for everything (none of her purchases were heavy enough to warrant even double-bagging)

I don't double-bag now unless a customer specifically asks.

[TechieGirl87]

Why do people like that assume the store is going to suffer if they cancel their order? Acting as if ONE person is going to make the store go out of business.

Does the words 'entitlement whore' ring a bell? Customers think they can get away with murder and once someone calls them out on their shit, they pull the "I want a manager!" card on you. Happens ALL the time.

[protege]

My coworkers told me that he gave those to his very young grandchildren, who he loved dearly.

My grandmother did that with her pennies. She hated how heavy those coins made her purse, and was always giving me pennies. For nearly 30 years, until she could no longer take care of herself, I got those coins. I'm sure it annoyed the bank when I'd "cash in" about $45 dollars in pennies, but oh well

[Dreamstalker]

My grandmother did that as well. I have a baggie somewhere with about 2 pounds of wheatback pennies, half a tube of mercury dimes, and what I thought was a copper slug but turned out to be an 1885 V nickel O_o (uniform heavy brown toning, but as far as details go I'd say the condition is fine or better)