(no subject)
Nov. 11th, 2005 06:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sethrakShort, sweet (or not), and if I had more material to add I'd try my very first post to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
customers_suck.
To start off: Register 1 is the only register with tobacco products and cans of formula. We keep it staffed at all times, and according to the store manager's policy, it's never staffed with anyone under 21. It gets heavy traffic because of the tobacco, the formula, the ability to buy alcohol, and its proximity to the grocery side of the store. I started out as a part time cashier, but recently got promoted to Candy Associate. I keep the gum and candy racks full, as well as the batteries and sundry items you see as you wait in line at checkout. I root out the stale candy every month and send it to 605, who log wasted/unsalable merchandise and dispose of same. I order new supplies. And when needed, I get stuck back as a cashier if there's a rush of customers, or they're shortstaffed and need an extra body to give somebody a break or send someone home.
At four o'clock they sent me over to register 1 with a fresh till to relieve a cashier I shall call Sethra One, because we have the same first name, and she had the job as candy replenisher before me. (She's taking college courses now, so she doesn't want to work the fulltime hours required of Candy Associate.)
Sethra One had a slightly trapped look on her face, and a very elderly man standing at her counter. I didn't catch any of their conversation, but I had a feeling this guy was going to be a problem customer. Guy stayed put, fiddling with a check, while we switched tills and Sethra One headed off to the front desk to count her money. I got my till set up, and asked him brightly "How may I help you?" Guy wants some Virginia Slims. I get them out of the locked case behind me, ring them up, and wait for payment.
He starts signing the back of the check.
My eyebrows raced towards my hairline. I asked him why he was signing the back of the check. Normally one does that when endorsing a check for deposit at a bank. K-Mart is many things, but it is not a bank. He mumbled something along the lines of "So you can take this check". I was extremely puzzled.
Upon closer inspection, the check was made out to the same name he'd endorsed on the back of the check, from a joint account belonging to people with different names than his, and signed by one of the people who owned the joint account. The check was for sixty dollars. His bill was for less than ten dollars. It didn't even have today's date.
"Okaaaayyyyyy," I thought to myself, "where do I begin to explain to the gentleman why we can't take this?"
The check was not made out to K-Mart. The check was for over the cost of the bill - we CANNOT take checks for over the amount of your bill. End of story. He was not the signatory of the check. He was not one of the account holders.
I settled for "Sir, we can't take checks for over the amount of your bill, I'm very sorry," and waited for him to offer another form of payment. He attempted to take out another check of the same nature as the first one he'd offered, explaining that his daughter sends him money every so often, and he's been allowed to use them at our store before. Bull. Pure bull. Even if it were for the exact amount, and if it were made out to K-Mart, and if it had the correct date, he isn't named as an account holder on the check nor is he the person who signed it. We have no way to prove he didn't just steal someone's checkbook and fill it out himself. Obviously I couldn't tell him all that. We're not allowed to make customers think that we think they are thieves, even if the evidence is more compelling than what I've described. (No, I don't really think he stole it, I'm just saying.)
I sighed internally and repeated that we. Could. NOT. Take checks for more than the amount of the bill. I told him that really the only place he could use that check was a bank. He looked grumpy and confused, and said that it was too late in the day for him to go to a bank, because they weren't open this late.
It was 4:05 at this point. >_<
I shrugged helplessly at him, repeated we couldn't take the check, and told him that most banks are generally open until 5 pm. I apologized for the inconvenience. He continued to look grumpy, and said he didn't even know where the nearest Bank of America branch was, then stomped off.
I sighed, bit my lip on a stream of less than complimentary remarks, and voided out the cigarettes. Then I pasted a smile on for the next guest in line.
Later on Sethra One came by to get a sweater she'd left behind the counter. I asked her if he'd tried to use the check with her, and described it. She got bug-eyed and said "Noooooo". She was just as puzzled as I was.
customers_suck. To start off: Register 1 is the only register with tobacco products and cans of formula. We keep it staffed at all times, and according to the store manager's policy, it's never staffed with anyone under 21. It gets heavy traffic because of the tobacco, the formula, the ability to buy alcohol, and its proximity to the grocery side of the store. I started out as a part time cashier, but recently got promoted to Candy Associate. I keep the gum and candy racks full, as well as the batteries and sundry items you see as you wait in line at checkout. I root out the stale candy every month and send it to 605, who log wasted/unsalable merchandise and dispose of same. I order new supplies. And when needed, I get stuck back as a cashier if there's a rush of customers, or they're shortstaffed and need an extra body to give somebody a break or send someone home.
At four o'clock they sent me over to register 1 with a fresh till to relieve a cashier I shall call Sethra One, because we have the same first name, and she had the job as candy replenisher before me. (She's taking college courses now, so she doesn't want to work the fulltime hours required of Candy Associate.)
Sethra One had a slightly trapped look on her face, and a very elderly man standing at her counter. I didn't catch any of their conversation, but I had a feeling this guy was going to be a problem customer. Guy stayed put, fiddling with a check, while we switched tills and Sethra One headed off to the front desk to count her money. I got my till set up, and asked him brightly "How may I help you?" Guy wants some Virginia Slims. I get them out of the locked case behind me, ring them up, and wait for payment.
He starts signing the back of the check.
My eyebrows raced towards my hairline. I asked him why he was signing the back of the check. Normally one does that when endorsing a check for deposit at a bank. K-Mart is many things, but it is not a bank. He mumbled something along the lines of "So you can take this check". I was extremely puzzled.
Upon closer inspection, the check was made out to the same name he'd endorsed on the back of the check, from a joint account belonging to people with different names than his, and signed by one of the people who owned the joint account. The check was for sixty dollars. His bill was for less than ten dollars. It didn't even have today's date.
"Okaaaayyyyyy," I thought to myself, "where do I begin to explain to the gentleman why we can't take this?"
The check was not made out to K-Mart. The check was for over the cost of the bill - we CANNOT take checks for over the amount of your bill. End of story. He was not the signatory of the check. He was not one of the account holders.
I settled for "Sir, we can't take checks for over the amount of your bill, I'm very sorry," and waited for him to offer another form of payment. He attempted to take out another check of the same nature as the first one he'd offered, explaining that his daughter sends him money every so often, and he's been allowed to use them at our store before. Bull. Pure bull. Even if it were for the exact amount, and if it were made out to K-Mart, and if it had the correct date, he isn't named as an account holder on the check nor is he the person who signed it. We have no way to prove he didn't just steal someone's checkbook and fill it out himself. Obviously I couldn't tell him all that. We're not allowed to make customers think that we think they are thieves, even if the evidence is more compelling than what I've described. (No, I don't really think he stole it, I'm just saying.)
I sighed internally and repeated that we. Could. NOT. Take checks for more than the amount of the bill. I told him that really the only place he could use that check was a bank. He looked grumpy and confused, and said that it was too late in the day for him to go to a bank, because they weren't open this late.
It was 4:05 at this point. >_<
I shrugged helplessly at him, repeated we couldn't take the check, and told him that most banks are generally open until 5 pm. I apologized for the inconvenience. He continued to look grumpy, and said he didn't even know where the nearest Bank of America branch was, then stomped off.
I sighed, bit my lip on a stream of less than complimentary remarks, and voided out the cigarettes. Then I pasted a smile on for the next guest in line.
Later on Sethra One came by to get a sweater she'd left behind the counter. I asked her if he'd tried to use the check with her, and described it. She got bug-eyed and said "Noooooo". She was just as puzzled as I was.
