Okay, it’s been a while since my last post. Nothing really blog-worthy has happened lately. Until today.
Time for another episode of “More from the Store”.
A teenage girl came into the store earlier today to buy a birthday card. Cost: $4.19. About an hour later, the same girl came back to the store to tell me she had lost the card, and would I be able to give her a replacement. For free. She thought that because she still had the receipt that this would be acceptable. I kind of stared at her for a moment, wondering if the girl was serious. She was. I very politely told her that once she purchased the card and left my store, the card was her responsibility and I was under no obligation to replace it. For free. She was so upset. And I sort of felt bad for her. But I don’t think she had really thought through what she was asking. Let’s say I bought a new iPod at Best Buy and then lost it somewhere before I got home. I’m pretty sure that Best Buy wouldn’t give me another one – for free – even if I had the receipt in my hand.
Wow.
Shortly after the above incident, a mother and father and little girl came in. For some reason, people with kids always gravitate to the gift ware department – not to the kids’ room like they should. This family was no exception. We have received quite a few new items in our gift ware, all of them very breakable, and we have clearly posted “PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH – ASK FOR ASSISTANCE” signs everywhere. Either these people could not read English, or they chose to deliberately ignore the signs. Within five minutes, they had handled nearly every piece of porcelain and even dropped a few (thank goodness, no serious damage). They obviously had no intention of buying anything so why, why WHY must they touch?!?!?!
Can’t you tell I’m having a good day?
Inside the Writer 
Judging from this and past posts on experiences you've had with customers in your store, I can only say you meet all different types, many not at all like us. Maybe you need a separate blog just to record these sorts of things. Maybe you could turn it into a book, just like a waiter down in the States did, who wrote about his experiences with customers in the high-end restaurant where he used to work. Made for some interesting and humorous reading.