Horrible retail experience and question for those in retail

[Newyearkiss]

I took something back to a well-known high street store yesterday, and the young girl behind the counter had to call her manager over. There was a slight query on my return and her manager was totally hostile, to the point that I actually walked out of the shop shaking after (eventually) getting a refund. I don’t know if she was running on the adrenaline of the sales and was taking a ‘no-nonsense from customers’ approach (it was heaving in there and had a jumble sale in January type vibe), but I don’t think anyone has ever made me feel so awful. I was mortified as well in front of this young girl. The manager was just so abrasive and aggressive. I’m normally quite able to hold my own but she totally blindsided me.

I was actually thinking I might put in a complaint although I signed my name on the returns receipt. Does anyone know what happens to those bits of paper at the end of each day? I would prefer this woman not to be able to access my name and potentially trace me online.

I only worked on a high street customer returns desk for a few months, but it was a real eye-opener into the realities of dealing with the general public. Some memorable returns included a ten-year-old suit, a bunch of dead flowers and a used toilet brush. A common scam in January was people buying heavily discounted, high-ticket sale items and deliberately damaging them to demand a full statutory cash refund at the pre-sale price (no receipt needed for “faulty” items).

I have no doubt that you were completely genuine OP but this is the sort of thing we were up against on a daily basis and it does grind you down.

I think for the customer it might be their only retail experience that day. So if it's bad, that person goes away and thinks about it and worries about it and overthinks what they could have said and how rude the sales person was. Whereas for the shop floor worker, it's just one of maybe hundreds of interactions they will have in a day. So it has assumed a much bigger importance for OP than it will have done for the shopworkers, for whom a mildly unpleasant interaction will instantly have been driven out by infinitely worse interactions almost immediately.

Many shops ask for feedback either online or an address on receipt to contact them , maybe complaint on that .

if it was zara I am surprised you actually got served by someone- my local one is all self checkouts now after they completed gutted it and did it up
i was able to return on the machine too as i had an email reciept just to note that for future you can ask for your receipt to be emailed now so won't be faded

I’m not sure if you read the update.

Anyways, don’t waste your time writing google reviews. They don’t matter unless you’re a local business. You can write feedback using their forms, and in some bigger retailers that’s an actual KPI, but they won’t even open google.

You are not entitled to a refund unless the item is faulty. However most stores offer no questions refunds over Christmas or have generous returns policies. You are entitled to a refund of the full amount in either case. Any suggestions that you can only have the sale price is incorrect.

She could've offered you an exchange or gift vouchers to the value if she was particularly grumpy. However... If she refunded based on barcode I suspect she may be pulling a well known scam where the difference between sale price and the price you paid is refunded in cash... That goes into her pocket. It also means the store won't have a deficit in profits due to the refund if she did only refund the sale price. I'd be contacting Head Office about that part. And also that she didn't need to be rude/hostile.

Is there a chance you're being a bit dramatic here? I understand wanting to put a complaint in, but worrying the manager is going to track you down is a bit crackers. Been watching too many crime dramas I reckon.

You had no valid proof of purchase you were entitled to nothing

tbh the manager went above and beyond ( probably just to get rid of you as they were busy)
so just refunded at what the barcode scanned at
what you described as a small query is actually a major issue

I returned my daughter's trainers to sports direct, completely unworn with tags still on and had receipt, they refused and said they had been worn as they had dirt on the soles, the dirt was just from their floor where they had been tried on that's all, no refund had to just accept it, put me off sports direct, I was a good customer before that happened, was meant to say some managers are just a@#£&-+(/. I'm sure no-one will ever check receipts as they go to accountants in retail

You had no right to a refund in that circumstance. They were quite within their rights to refuse it.

Rudeness is perceptive. I work in retail, have done for 19 years, I’ve come across every type of customer you can think of. I’m nice, polite engaging… the minute a customer is rude to me, I turn into a sarcastic little shit. Now I’m not a saying that op was in the wrong ( because there are plenty of retail workers who are damn rude) but what many need to realise is we don’t make the policy’s, yes we enforce them because it’s our literal job.
in regards to your name on the receipt, I doubt anyone is going looking for it, especially this time of year when it’s the busiest for returns they’ll be too many slips to look through. I think you’re overthinking it. Also why would she go through to look at your name unless you were a complete bitch she wouldn’t have a reason.,..

Everyone knows sports direct doesn’t give refunds… the law states they don’t actually have to unless the product is manufactured faulty and a credit note is actually a gesture of goodwill …. Basically no one is forcing you to shop there…

Why do you care if she can access your name? I’d make a formal complaint in writing. I doubt the manager is going to hunt you down and exact some kind of revenge.
Why were you returning the item? Was it faulty or did you change your mind? That impacts your legal rights.

@Newyearkiss Primark?!
I had a VERY similar experience!

I think it’s designed so you don’t take stuff back.
in fact I left a basket of other stuff I was going to buy and didn’t on the basis I wasn’t spending any more money in there. I have since (teen DD). But not that store.

Well I am assuming that is the store that rhymes with text. And I have never found them rude or unaccommodating when making returns so I can only presume there was something wrong with it and that you were then subsequently rude to the manager OR you had been rude to the managers member of staff. Assuming that someone is going to stalk you makes me think I am right and that you are a little bit cray cray.

I worked for a major supermarket chain for over 30 years. Reading between the lines, I'm guessing that the OP has lost their temper at not getting what they wanted & been nasty to the manager. Why on earth would OP be worried about manager looking for them online unless they feel they would stand out in the manager's memory at the end of the day?

Unfortunately customers who consistently take the piss has jaded many a retail worker meaning that many honest customers get short shrift. I am currently dealing with a customer who wants a fitted sheet replacing with a new one because the elastic has gone. The elastic has actually perished and the label is so faded not a single word can be read on it, the sheet could be from anywhere. It must be a very old sheet but she will not let this go. I have also had toilet paper returned because the texture wasn't good, toothpaste returned because there was blue bits in it, chopping boards warped (that absolutely had NOT being left in water), chilled items with mold growing all over them (that absolutely HAD being stored in the fridge), the list goes on. As for your refund, you should get back what you paid (as given on the receipt). If you had no receipt and the item is in the sale then you get back that price, if the retailer allows no receipt refunds (not many do now due to theft).

I have a feeling they probably did go down the no receipt return route since the receipt was faded and couldn’t be scanned. That’s why it actually came up with the discounted price as they basically scanned the barcode in.

sports direct don’t refund anyway … exchange or credit note only.

Id have accepted anything, it was literally the next day but nevermind, I work in retail and was not going to say anything cause I'm not confrontational, I just felt sad that it was their dirty floor that stopped me having a credit of some kind.

I don't think you should let it go. This unpleasant Manager really upset you and no customer should have to put up with that. I wouldn't worry about her tracking you on the internet, I mean she isn't going to send thugs to your front door. Is she??

Ha, should have told them that!! Need to get the mop out.