A Mistake
Yesterday at 4pm at my husband's shop, something happened....
This old lady came to the shop and wanted to try the battery operated lanterns that she bought elsewhere to see if they were still working. My worker (cashier) was testing them using our batteries. Since we had other customers waiting, she got on with her work as I took over and attended to the old lady.
I saw that she was holding her purse and wanted to take out her money as she wanted to buy our batteries.
I commented that those lanterns were so dirty and I was cleaning up for her. Suddenly, when my worker asked her to pay, she insisted that she had put a 10 ringgit note on the counter.
Since I was not sure if she was telling the truth, I checked the cctv. She became hysterical and cried that we had cheated her. She made so much noise so I just gave her the 4 batteries that she intended to buy. She asked for the balance again. I refused and told her to come back after 6pm whereby I would have checked the cashier sales for the day.
She stormed out angrily and shouted that she would never come back to our shop again.
At the meantime, I was browsing the cctv again. Then the cashier told me that she sold something to another customer who paid her a 10 ringgit note.
I was curious and focused on that time when she did that sales. True enough, she just took the note from the counter and gave the change to the customer.
When she recalled back, she realized that the customer was in a hurry and even denied a plastic bag.
This old lady came to the shop and wanted to try the battery operated lanterns that she bought elsewhere to see if they were still working. My worker (cashier) was testing them using our batteries. Since we had other customers waiting, she got on with her work as I took over and attended to the old lady.
I saw that she was holding her purse and wanted to take out her money as she wanted to buy our batteries.
I commented that those lanterns were so dirty and I was cleaning up for her. Suddenly, when my worker asked her to pay, she insisted that she had put a 10 ringgit note on the counter.
Since I was not sure if she was telling the truth, I checked the cctv. She became hysterical and cried that we had cheated her. She made so much noise so I just gave her the 4 batteries that she intended to buy. She asked for the balance again. I refused and told her to come back after 6pm whereby I would have checked the cashier sales for the day.
She stormed out angrily and shouted that she would never come back to our shop again.
At the meantime, I was browsing the cctv again. Then the cashier told me that she sold something to another customer who paid her a 10 ringgit note.
I was curious and focused on that time when she did that sales. True enough, she just took the note from the counter and gave the change to the customer.
When she recalled back, she realized that the customer was in a hurry and even denied a plastic bag.
What does that conclude?
Oppsss....like that how to make it right with the old lady ?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletesorry deleted earlier comment due to initial misunderstanding with the story... it is an unintentional mistake and you've offer to check but the lady perhaps is in hurry too so became agitate. Hopefully, thing will turn good soon.
ReplyDeleteSo the old lady wasn't lying. But perhaps you could have given the change to her even though you were not sure she's telling the truth, since it involved less than RM10 and not a very huge sum : )
ReplyDeletewell wishes to you and to her
ReplyDeleteWarm Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
aduh, i know customers like this. she will never come back n will spread the word. i am afred it would b difficult to make amends. but in modern living we just got to live with the fact we make mistakes n console ourselves that it was unintentional
ReplyDeleteI'm agreed with Bengbeng.
ReplyDeletesmallkucing, if I see the old lady again, I will definitely return her the balance.
ReplyDeleteBen, she was indeed in a hurry so I couldn't find out the reality on time.
ReplyDeletefoongpc, I can't do that as I hv experienced many occasion where the customers cheated so I got to be cautious.
ReplyDeleteBengbeng, this kind of matter happened occasionally and it's not easy though to see to it.
ReplyDeleteWell, perhaps it's better to have one person handling cash at a specific time instead of anyone at anytime.
ReplyDeleteI, too, have left hurriedly without taking my change and the product! Came back later laughing when I remembered. Luckily I got my change and the product. LOL!
I understand your caution always as I was in trading before. It's the intention that counts and you never intended to cheat at all so, take it easy. The old lady should return later in the evening to settle the matter. Even if she spread the news, not all wise people would believe her blindly. Would you?
ReplyDeleteI dont really understand.. i read 2 times.. so meaning..did the old lady paid or not paid? your cashier accepted a 10 note from another customer, right? not from the old lady, right? so meaning the old lady didnt pay... or was it that the other customer didnt pay and hurriedly went off with the change as well?
ReplyDeleteblur me..
the chair speaks, we hv 3 cashiers including me. This cashier was a little blur as whether the note belonged to the old lady or the other customer since it was already on the counter.
ReplyDeletetwilight, thanks for yr understanding but it's not nice when she spread the news about it.
ReplyDeletehmmm, sorry i still didn't manage to get the picture.. did you mean the cashier took the old lady's money and paid the other customer??
ReplyDeleteclaire, the lady insisted that she had put the note on the counter. Another customer stood beside her with a single product. I don't think she had handed the money to my cashier yet but my cashier presumed it was hers (the other customer).
ReplyDeletemaybe next time one staff handle one customer from start to end, so any misunderstanding can be avoided. Sure that old lady will spread bad news about your shop. Hopefully next you see the lady, you apologise and return the change to her! Good luck.
ReplyDeleteAnd Happy Mid Autumn to you and family
wenn... now i get it.. so the other customer didnt pay and took the change and product as well whereas the old lady took the batteries without the change.. ok.. yeah, hope to come across her.. and hope no shouting from her too! worrying hor.. business is like that.. experiences all kinds.. what u did was also reasonable.. if i were the old lady, i leave my hp and wait for u to call me.. :)
ReplyDeleteHope there's a happy ending- Anyway wishing you & family a happy mooncake festival
ReplyDeleteoh dear... the customer who went off in a huff without the plastic is so bad.. :( that poor old lady got mistaken pulaks.. sigh..
ReplyDeleteOh dear....hope you will bound into this old lady again someday and return her the changes. Let all the misunderstanding be cleared.
ReplyDeletejust a not-so-good day..hopefully there will be a chance in the future...
ReplyDeleteWell, there is good in the bad,and bad in the good... i bet you will bump into her again to make amend,this what i truly believe,,,,,,,then a chance is presented right?
ReplyDeleteGee a very common case of mistaken identity & wrong ownership..hope things turned for the better. Happy Zongqiujie.
ReplyDeleteWow, better make a public apology lah. If the old lady spread bad remarks, consider yourself lucky lah. What if she make a police report that she got cheated or even worst, hire Along to seek revenge.
ReplyDeleteYou have made a mistake, now it's time to fix the mistake. Don't just hope that you'll meet the old lady...make sure you take the action to find that poor old lady. Ayoo, so kesian that lady bah...
P/s Just an honest opinion, if you want to delete this, so be it.
SK, the cashier took for granted that the note belonged to the other customer as it was near her item.
ReplyDeleteRose, in fact we hv a cashier to a cash machine. I just helped her to check the lanterns as she has other customers waiting for her.
ReplyDeleteclaire, u are right.
ReplyDeletemerryn, the other customer shouldn't hv accepted the change even if the cashier had mistaken the note as hers.
ReplyDeletemnhl, I hope to see the old lady some day.
ReplyDeletemanglish, eugene n bananaz, I do hope to clear this matter soon.
ReplyDeleteshy reader, thx for yr concern. I can only hope to bump into her somewhere so that I can explain the matter to her.
ReplyDeleteBtw, it's not my fault. It's my cashier's fault. I had reminded her to be alert next time. Also I will make sure customers don't simply put money on the counter unless we ask for payment.
ReplyDeleteWe learnt a lesson n we will definitely serve better in future.
It is hard but have to learn in a hard way.
ReplyDeleteowh...that's bad..but the old lady also wrong i think, if she could have been a bit more understanding and patient, everything will turn out well...but the other customer is bad, he/she took advantage of others!
ReplyDeleterainfield, I learn a lot about people since I work in the shop.
ReplyDeleteGabriel, u understood the situation very well.
ReplyDeleteWenn, in my humble opinion, if the old lady didn't do it, then I agree with Super Shy. If I am the old lady, I would feel very very embarassed and loose face during that incident, perhaps that's why she created a scene. Even if I don't spread bad news, I will never go back to the shop again - no face mah. I know how it feels if I am being accused for something bad that I didn't do.
ReplyDeleteIt was not your fault but your cashier's but you are the boss. Like we look upon/expect our boss/elders to deliver the solutions (or superior is responsible for subordinate's actions), IMO, if you can find the poor old lady and apologise to her for the mistake, it will make her feel better and you being such a kind person, I'm sure you'll feel better too.
Belle, I will definitely made the ammend should I see her again. Thx for yr kind comment.
ReplyDelete