Yahoo Lifestyle "They Thought I Wasn’t Going To Open The Box": 13 Stories From Retail Workers Of Customers Trying To Pull A Fast One
Whenever I try to return something earnestly with a legitimate story at a store, I wonder if the cashiers think I'm trying to pull a fast one. I don't blame them since they probably often see customers trying to scam the store or take advantage of a store's policy. Retail workers of the BuzzFeed Community are sharing wild scams and white lies they've witnessed customers pulling, and I'm at a loss for words. Here is what they said:
Note: Some of these responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
1."Someone came into Kmart when I worked there with a Target brand item and I refused the return. The manager came up and overrode me. I was so pissed."
2."I was a general manager for a major restaurant chain. It rhymes with Schmidays. People would call me and complain about some experience they had. Once I knew they were just trying to scam me, the story did not make sense; I would say let me have your address, and I'll put a gift card in the mail to you. Then I would walk to the other chain restaurant nearby, buy a gift card and send it to them. Stay away from me. I do not want your business."
3."I worked in customer service at Walmart in the 2000s. So many people tried to return empty Xbox or PlayStation boxes. We had to scan the serial number on the receipt, box, and device and then call it into the company to make sure it qualified for a return. They thought I wasn’t going to open the box."
"We also had three guys who stole a TV. They went to the one high school in town, and they were a grade below me. We all knew them. They tried to return it the next day. I had to fake problems with my register until the cops arrived. It was just dumb."
4."There seems to be an online 'ADHD healthcare company' scam on TikTok. A patient came to my office and requested a prescription for amphetamines (ADHD medication). I’m not a psychiatrist. I’m a specialty surgeon. I don’t treat ADHD or any other psychiatric conditions."
"Basically, this woman has paid $350 to some 'telehealth company' that specializes in ADHD. They did testing and a telehealth visit with the doctor. They did everything EXCEPT write a prescription for the medication. That’s what makes this company a scam. They just told her, 'Take our records to your regular doctor, and he or she will write the prescription for you.' As you can imagine, doing that would be blatant negligence. It’s a one-way ticket to a malpractice lawsuit and loss of license. So it’s really just a scam. I felt so sorry for this patient. I referred her to a legitimate psychiatrist. And, of course, I didn’t charge her for my time."
5."When I worked at Subway in college, a girl ordered a salad combo. I rang up her salad and turned around to get her drink. When I had the drink, she and the salad were gone."
6."Sears, early 2000s. Large screen TVs returned after the Super Bowl (picture unsatisfactory), video cameras returned after two to three weeks (did you have a nice vacation?), water heaters with big dents (did this happen before or after it fell down the basement stairs?), box for a large TV returned with bricks in it (that's how the customer received it), and merch from Penney's (they insisted it was purchased at Sears)."
7."I lucked out when I worked retail. I only had one real cuckoo. I was shopping in a shoe store when this woman came in with a ripped-up pair of kids' shoes in a box. She explained to the clerks that her dog had ripped apart the kid's shoes she had bought the day before, and she expected them to replace them. I had to go to the back of the store since I couldn’t stop laughing. The last I saw on my way out was the manager trying to explain that the store's return policy did not cover acts of the dogs."
8."I worked at a pizza chain in high school, and one story sticks out to me. We had a guy come in about 30 minutes to close and order a custom pizza with a ton of toppings and very little sauce. This last part was told to me with clear enunciation. We made the pizza using those instructions, and the guy left with his pizza. He returns in five minutes to close with his half-eaten pizza and demands a refund and a remade pizza with NO sauce. He did not get a refund, but I did have to spend another 30 minutes past closing time, making his extremely complicated order with no sauce."
9."A colleague of mine used to work at Asda (similar to Walmart) when their 'no-questions-asked' refund policy was in force. A woman brought back a box of used fireworks and said they scared her children and scorched her lawn, so they had to refund her money. Until I worked in retail myself, I had no idea what went on behind the scenes. We had some lovely regulars, but in general, it put me off people altogether."
10."I worked at a department store for a while, and we had a customer who was a price switcher. She had her own tagging gun and would take the tags off of cheaper store brand items and put them on designer items, then try to check out in a different department, hoping the cashier wouldn't know the difference. She took the tag off a $20 pair of jeans, put them on a $200 pair of jeans, and then tried to check out in the lingerie department. Her picture was up in the break room, but she still tried to pull that scam every few months."
11."I worked at Walmart at the service desk. A couple came in wanting a refund on a character Jeep (think motorized car for kids) for which they didn’t have a receipt, yet they could tell us how they purchased it (cash) and the date they made the purchase. We were able to find the receipt, and they got their refund. A few weeks later, she comes in trying to return something, stating the price was $20 less now than when she bought it a week earlier. I asked her if she had a receipt, which she told me she did. I was new, and her story changed when a manager came over. No receipt. Realizing I’m new, she comes back attempting to return something with an old return receipt, has no ID, and leaves her friend to take the fall. I pretended that my register froze, giving my manager time to call security. We believed she was stealing from the store when no greeters were around and attempting to make returns. My manager complimented me on my quick thinking, and we never saw her again."
12."I used to work in jewelry. I had a guy come in and try to return a completely smashed $4,000 Gucci watch, claiming he had it in his backpack on his motorcycle and the watch 'just vibrated apart.' The dude did not get his refund, but he did threaten to follow me out to my car. Not my favorite day."
13."I worked at a small mom-and-pop grocery type store, and one day, two boys about 12 came in. I was busy with other stuff and did not pay them much attention until they walked past my counter and toward the door. One of the boys had his shoulders slightly hunched, and I could see a rectangular outline on the front of his shirt. I got my manager, and he confronted the boys and made them lift their shirts. They had a couple of Playboy magazines stuffed in their shorts! My manager called the police, and when they arrived, the parents, who had been patiently waiting in the car, came rushing in, realizing, too late, something was up with the boys. The cops gave them a stern lecture, and my manager and I laughed a good bit after they left."
Do you have a story of a customer trying to pull a fast one? If so, share it with me in the comments below!
