Tales from the World of Retail

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Pennies

The bank we use has a "change request form" for businesses to use. There's a grid for bills and a grid for coins, each with their own subtotal box, and a grand total box at the bottom.

In the coin request box, they have a column for "number of rolls" and a column for "dollar amount." So, for quarters I might list 3 rolls, $30. For dimes, 2 rolls, $10.

For pennies, I often request 4 rolls, $2. For some bizarre reason, the bank tellers are often confused, and I have no idea why. It's their form! They're used to dealing with rolls of coin!

But time and time again, I've had tellers pause when they get to the pennies, as they try to figure out how many rolls to give me. (Here's a hint: Look at the number in the "number of rolls" column!)

Once I even had a teller think that I gave her too much money, because she looked at the dollar amount and thought that was the number of rolls.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Burn on the Boss! (Take Two)

me: We're out of stickers for the tagging guns.

boss: So, where did out supply system break down?

me: I'm pretty sure I asked for them before, although I may not have...

boss: Ah. That answers that question. You need a better supplier.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Dude, No.

Today a new guy started. He's a college student who's just here to help out during the summer. He showed up for his first day at a brand new job wearing a slightly ratty long-sleeved t-shirt (with sunglasses tucked in the collar), a baggy pair of shorts, and flip-flops.

To be fair, he said he asked the boss about flip-flops and was told they were ok. We think she didn't know what flip-flops were. (She's a little clueless sometimes, and probably thought they were real sandals.)

Saturday, July 12, 2008

One Cent

A little boy came up to the register, held up a penny, and asked what he could buy for one cent. When we told him there was nothing for sale for a penny, he held up another and asked if he could buy something for two cents. Sadly, we had to tell him that the cheapest items in the store were 50 cents.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

So Close, But Oh-So-Far

As a mom, kid, and grandma were leaving the store, mom and grandma noticed that the kid was carrying something that they hadn't paid for. I overheard them telling the kid that they couldn't take it home because they hadn't bought it. So far, so good, right?

Shortly after they left, I found the aforementioned item lying five feet inside the front door of the store.

So close to teaching a good lesson! But no.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

"I Got a Stamp."

kid: I got a stamp. I can stamp Dad and her.

mom: I'm "her", huh? I'm not "Mom" anymore?

kid: [panicked] You're not Mom anymore??

Monday, June 23, 2008

Logic

"I'm three so I can carry three robots."