Customer who wanted to get a replacement item

[snugglegirl05]

It was busy at the grocery store I work at as a cashier.

I worked from 1:45 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. I was told that it began getting busy at 8 a.m. It slowed down roughly around 6 p.m.

This incident happened while it was busy, and there were several customers waiting in line, at the register I was assigned to, to be checked out.

A mom and her young daughter came to my line. One of the items she purchased was 3 bags of frozen shrimp... 2 jumbo and 1 medium. There was a sale on the shrimp... buy 2 get one free, but you had to buy 3 of the exact same size.

So my customer asked me if she got one of the frozen shrimp for free. When I hit the total button, she did not. There was supervisor in training who was bagging her groceries, and he looked at all 3 bags and noticed that one bag was medium shrimp. So I scanned one of the jumbo bags of shrimp again, hit total, and it came up free. The supervisor told her that she has to get 3 of the same size. So she told me that she was taking her daughter with her to go to the other end of the store, which is huge, to get the correct size. I was almost finished with her order, and there were several customers waiting behind her. So I told her "I am almost done with your order. What you can do is to pay and then go get what you need."

Well, she was not happy with that, and it showed on her face. She said "I want to make sure that there is another jumbo size shrimp back there for me to get." I was already done with her order, and there were still other customers waiting in line.

So I again I told her "what you can do is to pay and then go get what you need."

She repeated what she said with an annoyed look on her face.

At that point the person who was bagging her groceries, an employee in training to be in a supervisory role, repeated what I had told her twice adding the fact that she would have to go to the other side of the store to get it. She still had an annoyed look on her face.

She then said with a long sigh "then can I get the medium size shrimp for free so I do not have to go to the other side of the store?"

He said "sure, I just have to override it for inventory purposes." He did not have an override key with him, and so he asked me if I knew how to override it without a key. I said yes.

But then she wanted to argue with him about his having to override it for inventory purposes. He explained to her the reason why, but she continued to argue with him.

So one of the assistant managers, who was bagging groceries for the cashier who was at the register in front of me, told her the same thing he said.

So I was finally able to override the medium bag of shrimp, and she got it for free.

She paid for her groceries and left.

Good grief.

[Bright_Star]

SC's tend to complicate things that shouldn't be complicated.

[earl colby pottinger]

So

So she ended up getting a medium bag for free, when she could have gone a large bag for free.

She because she had to be stubborn she got less than she could have for the same money. Unless she is on a strict diet that is just plain dumb.

[drjonah]

oh how I loathe those kind of sales because SCs of course never read signs and the cashiers end up with the giant headaches and shopping carts full of merchandise to put back.

[notalwaysright]

So lazy! Didn't read the sale sign, doesn't want to walk back through the store. So the store is big? And excuse me, she's going to get what she wants but now she argues about needing an override? She just wanted you to say "fine take it."

Once I forgot parsley, and I realized at the register. So I said I'd go get it and pay separately. The cashier said she'd put the code in that transaction so it was paid for and I could grab it on the way out without another trip to the registers. (the produce section was near the doors) Very simple, the whole interaction took like 20 seconds and she didn't have any down time where she wasn't scanning or typing something in the register.

[snugglegirl05]

So lazy! Didn't read the sale sign, doesn't want to walk back through the store. So the store is big? And excuse me, she's going to get what she wants but now she argues about needing an override? She just wanted you to say "fine take it."

Once I forgot parsley, and I realized at the register. So I said I'd go get it and pay separately. The cashier said she'd put the code in that transaction so it was paid for and I could grab it on the way out without another trip to the registers. (the produce section was near the doors) Very simple, the whole interaction took like 20 seconds and she didn't have any down time where she wasn't scanning or typing something in the register.

The supervisor in training scanned one of the jumbo bags of shrimp after I rang up the other 2, and it came out as free. But she wanted to leave the line, take her daughter with her, and go get it before paying for her order. If she would have done that, there would have been downtime where I was not scanning any groceries or payment was not processing. I was not about to let that happen.

Neither one of us wanted her to do that because there were also other customers waiting in line behind her. Yet she continued to argue and be stubborn.

At least there was a supervisor in training as well as an assistant manager who can say what really happened if she complains.

I would not be surprised if she does.

[ReadyToRetire]

So she ended up getting a medium bag for free, when she could have gone a large bag for free.

She because she had to be stubborn she got less than she could have for the same money. Unless she is on a strict diet that is just plain dumb.

If it's like the stores in my area the medium and jumbo labels refer to the size of the shrimp, not the size of the bag. So, the bags could be the same weight with only the number of the shrimp in each bag differing.

[EricKei]

RTR: That is the standard way of doing it. If the bags were all the same weight, they'd still normally have different prices (higher count = more shrimp per pound = lower cost per pound). Counts tend to vary by market, I presume -- generally anything from Jumbo (8-10/lb) down to those tiny little crappy shrimp used in shrimp-fried rice (50/lb?). Large and Medium seem to be the most popular in non-coastal areas, though The coastal locals pounce on the Jumbos whenever they're available, still fresh off the boat; generally cheaper than frozen/store-bought, too.