Was I too upset @ "Car Section"?

[SilverOrb]

Last weekend I was at a car parts store I'll call "Car Section". I had an experience that really bothered me... I'm afraid I might be letting it upset me too much.

So I go into the store intent on purchasing what I need to fix my non working back blinker and my third break light. Namely 2 packages of bulbs. (A big project for me... I barely know how to check my oil )

My fiance was with me (forget to tell you guys... I'm getting married! Crazy, no?) Anyways, it comes time to pay and the cashier asks me if I want a small package of "bulb grease". You know, one of those little packets they sell at the register.

Standing at the register, I turn to the fiance.
"Do we need 'bulb grease'?"
"No." he says from half way down the aisle behind the registers.
I turn back to the cashier "No thank you." I say with a smile.

She rang me up, and I noticed an odd look from her. Thought nothing of it. The total at the end was a little bit higher than I thought, but the final total screen only showed the total, not the itemized total and tables. I pay and leave, then look at my receipt.

The 'ahem' person put the damn grease on there anyways! I went back in and demanded a manager, pissed, I tried to keep calm as she refunded the money, just blowing me off in the process.

I ended up calling the regional office... The regional manager called me... Apologized, promised to coach the employees, offered a gift card.

Anyways, I think it bothered me so much because integrity is so important to me. I am quick to forgive a small bit of rudeness, inconvenience, or ignorance. Dishonesty? No. I really do feel that the cashier did it on purpose... Thoughts?

[Slayer]

Totally agree with you. I'd have been a hell of a lot more pissed than that. I wonder how many people that cashier scammed.

[raudf]

Oh, HELL NO! I'd have had a hard time keeping my cool after what amounts to being stolen from by a padding little snit of a cashier. (This is me being nice...) It's one thing to offer an upsell, but it's a whole other wrestling match when the upsell item gets added to the ticket after she'd already been told a polite no. I'm also assuming that she did not put the grease in the bag after she'd made you pay for it. That right there would clue you into the fact that it wasn't a mistake on her part!

I have to wonder how many other people had stuff added to their tickets by this dishonest employee, because she seemed to know exactly how to pull it off.. I think the only form of "coaching" this girl needs is a boot to the rear as she's kicked out the door, her employment terminated. Grrrr....

[csquared]

If the manager doesn't care, she probably encourages it. I would have called corporate too. I would also consider taking my business to "Forward Car", "Vineyard" or "O"Malley's".

[Food Lady]

^ I admit I googled "auto parts" in order to figure those out.

[TheSHAD0W]

Next time, just go to Irish Auto, or 3 Brothers Auto. :-P

[Pixilated]

I thought it was an honest mistake until I re-read your post -- thought maybe she'd mis-heard your fiance. But since you repeated it and you were standing right in front of her ...

Congratulations, by the way.

[RealUnimportant]

Yes, that cashier was definitely sucktastic - however there might be a corporate upselling initiative though which is encouraging such "creative" selling.

I had to Google to be sure that bulb grease was even "a thing", sounded like an alternative blinker fluid... I've never heard of it in the UK.

[bainsidhe]

Hmm, I dunno. I say don't attribute to maliciousness what can be explained away by incompetence. I've had misrings happen, where I point out to the cashier that they double charged and they say they'll fix it. Then they don't. Sure it's upsetting and I'm frustrated at wasting my time to fix something that should never have happened. But it's probably because the cashier is sloppy or untrained, not because she had it in for you.

However, I WOULD expect the manager to at least act like he's paying attention when doing the credit. At least pretend that you care a problem happened and that you want to fix it. The manager's reaction really irked me.

[EvilEmpryss]

If it was a mistake (the cashier had assumed you would want it and had already rung it up before getting your answer), then it was compounded by not taking it off after.

No, you handled it perfectly.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Nope, you were right in how you reacted, especially after the Manager blew you off. It sounds to me like the Manager tells the employees to do that, then when caught they act like you're overreacting to - hopefully - avoid you going to corporate.

No, you did the right thing, especially going to corporate. Though, I wonder if this is a common occurrence, and no one noticed the discrepancy between how many "greases" got sold and how many they have in stock.

[PepperElf]

The 'ahem' person put the damn grease on there anyways! I went back in and demanded a manager, pissed, I tried to keep calm as she refunded the money, just blowing me off in the process.

I ended up calling the regional office... The regional manager called me... Apologized, promised to coach the employees, offered a gift card.

I guess I'm the odd man out here. I picked "a bit" because I'm not clear on how you were blown off if you received a refund.

Nor can I say if the cashier did it intentionally, as suggested, or if it was a simple brain fart like hitting the wrong button, or not hearing.

[Merriweather]

Sorry, I find NO excuses that work for the cashier. Sure, everyone makes mistakes. But when cashier asks "Do you want xxx?", and customer says "NO", then cashier proceeds to ring it up anyway, that's just wrong any way you look at it. Not paying attention? Nope, no excuse, the cashier asked the quesiton in the first place, not paying attention to the answer isn't an excuse. Didn't hear? Again, cashier asked the question, if she didn't hear the answer clearly, up to them to verify. No means No, period.

If item was in the bag, they may be under pressure to sell more, but still no excuse, I doubt they've been told to add it to orders against specific orders from customers. And if it wasn't in the bag, sounds like a nice scam to add small items to orders & pocket the difference.

I'd be complaining to every manager at the store, owner if local or franchise, and every level of management up to & including corporate.

It dishonesty, pure and simple.

[MoonCat]

I agree that the cashier was sucky. How can she misinterpret "No, thank you"? Doesn't sound much like "Yes, please" to me!

She probably is being urged to sell this stuff as an upsell, but that's no excuse for dishonesty.

We had a manager once who tried to get us to use the "assumptive sell." Basically you quote the item with the bells & whistles added, as though it's the regular price. You only take them off if the customer says, "How come it's $XX? Last week it was $Z?" or something like that. We hated that, and most of us did not practice it because we considered it a scam. Thank god that manager only lasted about 8 months. I wonder why?

[Carsomyr]

I really try to make allowances for new employees (everyone makes mistakes, there's no exception to that rule) or just a bad day - heck, even muscle memory or a confusing choice of words (hate to say that "yes, thank you" can really throw me off ), but it definitely comes off as intentional.

Just unfortunately a case of wasn't there, can't be sure. It sounds like you did the right thing regardless of wether it was an error or not - Get your refund, stay calm and inform regional. If it's an innocent mistake, no one's hurt. If not they'll fix it (they'd have to be making one heck of a profit off those to be worth the lost customers.. and I doubt they are).