Boxes

The weirdest people come in on the weekends. Or maybe there are just so many people, PERIOD, that the little things build up until I can't stand it anymore!

A family was asking about an item. According to them, they were in last week and the item was $60 and now it's $120. Why is that, they wanted to know.

First off, prices DO go up......minimum wage increases, fuel surcharges, ridiculous electric and water increases, etc. But items don't go up THAT much THAT fast, or we'd all be in serious trouble.

"It must have been a different item that was $60, ma'am."

"Oh, no, it was THAT EXACT ITEM."

"That item comes in several different sizes and varieties. One of those varieties is $60. The one you're looking at is $120."

Whey they FINALLY realized they couldn't get me to mistakenly sell them the more expensive item at the cheaper price, they moved on.

"Do you have any [of the item] in boxes?"

"No, we only sell them put together." (Since most NORMAL people want them pre-assembled and would break them trying to put them together themselves.)

"Well do we get a discount since it's the floor model?"

"No," (while gritting teeth and taking deep breaths), "this is how we sell them. Put together. We don't sell them in boxes. This is it."

"So there's no discount?"

"No." (What, am I not speaking English?!)

They went over to the next aisle and started looking at other items so I went to the front to do some returns. A few minutes later they came to the front and asked for a box so they could **take the item apart and put the pieces in the box.** (It wouldn't fit in their small car put together.) I told them we don't have boxes that big. (My store has way too many items crammed in already. We don't have room for spare boxes on the off chance that someone will want to take apart the item that an employee put together just a few days ago.)

They hemmed and hawed and the woman asked me, AGAIN, "Are you SURE you don't have a box?"

Remember that this was on a SATURDAY. The day that we do more than TWICE as much business as on a normal weekday. There were lots of other people who needed help with NORMAL stuff.

"Yes, I'm sure."

As the family left, the woman shouted, "I guess you don't want the sale then, do you?"

I wouldn't mind making the sale TO REASONABLE PEOPLE.

(I sold the item the next day. Put together. Without a discount. Or a spare box.)