Like most stores we have a large warehouse area that has our entire excess inventory as well as items that need to be sent for repair. One day, the battery in one of the laptops exploded and as a result the area that this laptop was locked in caught on fire. You could clearly see from the main shopping area that there was a large amount of smoke coming out from the warehouse.

We immediately tried to direct customers out of the building as the alarms began to go off and eventually people from the fire department started to arrive. There was this one lady that had an item that she wanted to return for a refund and she actually ran into the store and then lined up at the returns and exchange desk as if nothing was wrong.

Of course, we mentioned how we couldn’t process anything and that she needed to leave the store for her safety. She insisted that we process her request though and then went on a rant on how we are just trying prevent her from getting a refund. With the alarms still going and more smoke slowly coming out onto the shopping area, at this point even one of the firemen told the lady to leave.

Amazingly, she then began to argue with him as well on how it shouldn’t be a big deal as the process should be fairly quick. Fortunately, we were stern enough to get her to leave eventually.

One day a person came in asking for the game NBA Live as she wanted to buy it for a present. She wasn’t too sure which game console system her nephew had. After speaking to her, we determined that her nephew had a Gamecube and so I showed her the game that she was looking for.

At about the same time, she saw the PS2 version of the same game which was about $5 cheaper as it was on sale. She then questioned why I didn’t show her that one first as it was the same game except cheaper. I then explained how that game will not be playable on her nephew’s system as these games will only play on specific game systems.

She then questioned my knowledge and mentioned how I was just trying to get her to pay more because I was a typical commissioned based sales person. I mentioned that this was not a commission based department and that I am just trying to help her purchase the correct item. Still, she refused to believe me and purchased the PS2 version of the game instead.

A few days later, she returns to the store and complains that the game is faulty as the disc is too big and wouldn’t fit in her nephew’s system.

A lady came into the store with her son as she wanted to buy a Game Boy Advance SP system for him. She came up to me and expressed how she wished to buy a new Game Boy Advance SP system. Without hesitation, I acknowledged it and simply asked which color she wanted and she pointed at it.

I then opened up the case and grabbed the one she had asked for. She immediately gives me an attitude and says how she had asked for a new one. A little confused, I mentioned how all of the systems there were brand new. She insisted that I was not telling the truth and how she wanted the one in the far back as only that was new. Not wanting to make a big deal, I grabbed the one from the far back and proceeded to process it.

However, she then stopped me and again mentioned how it may not be a new product and demanded that I let her touch the box first. I did so and sure enough she began to rub the whole box as her way to see if it was new. I then politely asked if she was satisfied and ready to purchase the item.

She said no and then told her son to do the same as that is how you tell if a product is new or not. Sure enough, her son started to rub the whole box. She then asked if he thought it was new and he just said that it seemed like it was. I was then finally able to process the sale.

My brother works for one of the big telecom companies, and a customer once called in because he tried cleaning the phone in the dishwasher.

“We kept asking the guy if he was joking,” he told me.

“And we had to somehow tell this guy we couldn’t cover the phone under warranty without making him feel stupid.”