When the Seemingly Simple is Anything But

This past Saturday, I purchased some Christmas cards at Hallmark. Long story short, I don't need them anymore. This morning I set out to return them...

As I entered Hallmark and stepped up to the counter, a young man came up to help me. While there's nothing particularly wrong with that, it doesn't immediately inspire the confidence that you get when you are helped by an older lady who had clearly worked there for years. However, he's who I got so I proceeded. The following took place between myself and the Young Hallmark Man (YHM).

MC: "Good Morning! I'd like to return these boxes of cards."

I produced the three boxes of cards along with my receipt. YHM stared at the receipt for probably a full two minutes.

YHM: "You used a Gold Crown Rewards Coupon with this."

MC: "Yes, I purchased the cards and used a $2 rewards coupon that I had."

YHM: "If you return these, you'll lose the rewards bonus."

MC: "That's fine."

YHM: (rather shocked) "Really?"

MC: "Yes, it's only $2 and I really don't need the cards."

He quickly-but-not-imperceptibly shook his head; then he logged on to his register and pushed a few buttons. More looking at the receipt. More looking at the register.

This was taking a long time. Probably seven minutes had passed at this point. I was really starting to get impatient. I can't stand incompetence and clearly YHM had no idea how to deal with this situation. I was about three seconds away from laying into him and then I saw it...a Jesus pin on his smock. Holy Crap! I can't yell at the Jesus man!! I tried so hard to be patient. But seriously, if you don't know how to handle a transaction, ask for help!

While all of these thoughts were running through my head you know what was doing? He was still staring at the register. My blood pressure was now reaching unhealthy limits. I've been a cashier and I'm reasonably certain that alternately staring at a receipt and the register doesn't make things happen. Ever heard of a manual price adjustment? I'm so not kidding. It had now been twelve minutes.

Just as I was about to walk behind the counter and figure out the register myself, he produced a binder with some magical bar codes which he started scanning. Then he punched in some numbers. Then he voided what he did. Then some more scanning, a few more numbers and finally he came up with a return receipt for me to sign. The amount looked right, I honestly didn't recall what the exact number was. I thanked him (much more sweetly than I felt) and left the store. I wonder if people could see the smoke coming out of my ears. The Jesus pin had left me no outlet for my exasperation.

At the bottom of the escalator, I decided that I'd better check my refund receipt against my original just to make sure that I didn't get cheated. I pulled everything out of my wallet, examined it and.... he refunded me 32 cents more than I paid originally!!!

Wanting to do the right thing and not wanting him to get in trouble (stupid Jesus pin), I went back upstairs, entered Hallmark and approached the counter for the second time in twenty minutes.

Me: "Excuse me..."

YHM: "Oh, hi."

Me: "I just looked at these receipts and realized that you refunded me more than I originally paid."

YHM: (with a bewildered look on his face) "I know. I don't know how to make it work."

Me: "Um, okay. I don't want you to be short or anything. I can buy something small so that you'll at least come out ahead..."

YHM: "No. That's fine, you don't have to. It just won't work."

The moral of this story: sometimes it literally does pay to go back and point out an error. Also, YHM is going to be eaten alive working retail through a holiday season.