Archived Tried a return today...nothing worked...felt about the guy...so gave him money out of my own pocket.

[in4ar3d]

Long story short, we were trying to do a return for a guy, wasnt working, but at any rate I felt bad for the guy and I ended up giving him $20 of my own money...its on my conscious though. Would you guys do this?

 

[Producer]

umm....

 

[redandkhaki]

no way in hell. You should never ever do that.

 

[evilSF]

I would do the same. I have actually done something of the sort. Sometimes little things make a huge difference. That's great!

 

[commiecorvus]

No not really.
There are all kinds of tricks you can use to make it work, you just needed to find someone who knew them.

I might buy people food if they were hungry but I wouldn't do a return like that.

 

[Producer]

What kind of scumbag would accept $20 from a minimum wage employee because they couldn't fulfill their fraudulent return?

 

[evilSF]

I have a good grasp on scammers and people going through unfortunate times. I work because I like to, like to shop and enjoy helping others. I spend a quarter of my paycheck helping others. I feel doing good deeds comes back to you, even if it's just your outlook on life.

I was working one day and saw a guest buying groceries. I knew she was struggling from casually talking to her and watching her purchases. I walked over to her, asked how she was doing and then swiped my card. She started saying no over and over and crying. She then hugged me and I told her to use the money she saved on something else she needed.


Not trying to hijack the good deed the op did, but I love when I hear others doing such things. Twenty bucks to some, is basically nothing to others, while a hundred dollars to others.

 

[NitroKing2110]

At my store, there isn't even the question of would you do it.

You can't, not at my store. AP would be on you like angry on a wet cat. If an ETL or the STL wanted to do that, that's more allowed. It's a "customer service" issue but only to a point, and I don't consider myself high enough up the chain to use personal money to do my job. It blurs the lines between work and not-work too much for me.

 

[thatcashierdude]

It would never come out of my pocket. At most I'd make them a $20 giftcard through the register, but no way in hell would I give someone my own money for one of their items. It's easier for me to just decline them over and over again until it gets through their skull than to give up any amount of my own money. In this case it isn't my money, so if you want to give up 2.5 hours of work to a stranger then that's your decision.

 

[Nauzhror]

There's no such thing as a return you can't make go through.

It might require supervisor #'s. It might require faking it and returning it as "merchandise", but it'll work if you want it to.

Whether the scenario called for forcing it through is debateable, but you can always make it work.

 

[redeye58]

A girl (late teens~early 20s) had ordered a drink then swiped her SB gift card.
Zero balance.
"What?! I just got this for my birthday! My Grandma sent it to me!"
Shows attached card with birthday wishes written on it; continuous wheedling as I keyed it in; still zero.
"What am I gonna do?"
I suggested she call the 800 number on the back, key in the number & see if she could get a transaction history.
She looked at the finished drink but offered no other method of payment; I tossed it in the trash & she walked off distraught.
Talking with the other baristas, she'd pulled the same stunt with 3 of them & they ended up paying for her drink.

 

[in4ar3d]

At my store, there isn't even the question of would you do it.

You can't, not at my store. AP would be on you like angry on a wet cat. If an ETL or the STL wanted to do that, that's more allowed. It's a "customer service" issue but only to a point, and I don't consider myself high enough up the chain to use personal money to do my job. It blurs the lines between work and not-work too much for me.

Not sure if it's an ap thing if it's your own money

 

[StaticSun]

Not sure if trolling...

 

[Flabbergasted]

Yes, it certainly can be an AP issue if you are pulling money out of your pocket and putting it in the drawer to pay for someone else's items. A cashier at my store was coached for that.

 

[Guest]

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

There was no evidence stating that a gsa or Gstl was called for assistance with this guest's return. The tm needs some additional training. It's like doing a no receipt return without your drivers license, you did drive to get spot, didn't you?

 

[buliSBI]

For one thing, you are going to offset inventory by returning an item and giving back your own money.

Two, if you are going to work Guest Services, you need to follow procedure. Yes you might have to be a little cold. You have to keep your emotions out of it or the guest is going to walk all over you.

 

[Bosch]

A girl (late teens~early 20s) had ordered a drink then swiped her SB gift card.
Zero balance.
"What?! I just got this for my birthday! My Grandma sent it to me!"
Shows attached card with birthday wishes written on it; continuous wheedling as I keyed it in; still zero.
"What am I gonna do?"
I suggested she call the 800 number on the back, key in the number & see if she could get a transaction history.
She looked at the finished drink but offered no other method of payment; I tossed it in the trash & she walked off distraught.
Talking with the other baristas, she'd pulled the same stunt with 3 of them & they ended up paying for her drink.

Good Barista!

And to the OP, Fuck no!

 

[Flabbergasted]

I am curious as to the specifics of the situation that lead to OP giving away 2+ hours of min. wage work to a random stranger. Do tell. 'Cause I can't think of a damn thing.

 

[FormerTM]

More details needed...did you just buy the item from him for cash? Im unclear.

 

[Retail Girl]

There is no return that cannot somehow be forced through by a supervisor if the situation really warrants it. Especially a $20 item. And if there is, we can 979 a gift card.

There is no way this is true, folks. If it is, the OP's training is seriously lacking.

 

[buliSBI]

Years ago before Vibe, there were times a guest would come to return baby registry items due to the lose of the baby, and needed to return the items. And they were trying to return items that had outdated (3-6months more) receipts or no receipts at all. With some of the items no longer in the system.

I did what I could by procedure, trying what I could what they had and without receipts, and gave them the Guest Experience business card. I strongly encouraged them to call the number to explain the situation.

 

[Nauzhror]

Hmm, 979, I assume that's an account #. What is that used for exactly? I am guessing from context it's for requisitioning things for a guest, in the past I'd always just couponed gift cards to make them free when necessary, but if there's an account specifically for that I suppose I should be doing it that way instead.

The only scenario I can think of where a return "can't" be done is if the guest lacks a valid ID.

I used my ID to return an item for a fellow TM once because she has no drivers license (she's rode her bike to work for as long as I've worked here, I assume she lost her license to a DUI). She had a passport ID, but the system doesn't accept that to do a return off of it.

Even then I had another cashier log in for the transaction and oversee the transaction so I wasn't returning things to my own ID while logged in as myself.

 

[watchdog9000]

Years ago before Vibe, there were times a guest came to return baby registry items and reports the lose of the baby, and needed to do returns. And they were trying to return items that had outdated (3-6months more) or no receipts. Even some of the items were no longer in the system.

I did what I could by procedure, trying what I could what they had and without receipts, and gave them the Guest Experience business card. I strongly encouraged them to call the number to explain the situation.

I ran into the same situation, the guest came back a few days later to thank me. She actually called GE and they issued her a gift card for the items we were unable to process.

 

[Retail Girl]

Hmm, 979, I assume that's an account #. What is that used for exactly? I am guessing from context it's for requisitioning things for a guest, in the past I'd always just couponed gift cards to make them free when necessary, but if there's an account specifically for that I suppose I should be doing it that way instead.

The only scenario I can think of where a return "can't" be done is if the guest lacks a valid ID.

I used my ID to return an item for a fellow TM once because she has no drivers license (she's rode her bike to work for as long as I've worked here, I assume she lost her license to a DUI). She had a passport ID, but the system doesn't accept that to do a return off of it.

Even then I had another cashier log in for the transaction and oversee the transaction so I wasn't returning things to my own ID while logged in as myself.

979 is the "make the guest happy" account.

And yes, you can use a passport to do returns. Go to K1 for "key ID" and then select the k key for passport.