'She was the most delusional customer I ever had': Karen tries to return costume the day after halloween, five years after she bought it

Typically, purchasing something means that you intend to keep that thing for the duration of its life or until you pass it on. This directly contrasts with renting something, where you lease it for a set period of time for a fee with the expectation that you will be returning that thing by the end of the period you have paid for it. Both arrangements have their advantages, by owning something it's yours and you can do whatever you want with it, but this usually requires a much higher buy-in cost, renting, on the other hand, is cheaper for a shorter period but becomes more expensive in the long run, where at a certain point you may as well have just purchased the thing you've been renting. 

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Author image for Brad Dickson Brad Dickson
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  • While this might sound like it's leading into a discussion about what a scam it is to be stuck renting accommodation (thanks to rising prices and interest rates that lock would-be buyers out of buying their first home), that's a topic for another day. But paying off someone else's asset for them, in perpetuity, just because you need a place to live, really is not ideal.

    No, the point here is that when you buy something, you're expected to keep it, not use it, and attempt to return it the next day. But, when you work retail, you see way too many people trying to use retailers as their own personal rental services. This is a headache for retail associates who are forced to follow company policy that is set by managers who don't want to deny customers anything, yet also don't want to be stuck with unsellable "black stock" from fraudulent returns. Usually, things will be returned with no questions asked and put back on the shelf for someone else to purchase. This is the reason why you really should wash your new clothing before wearing it for the first time.

    A certain three-letter outdoor co-op that has extremely flexible returns policies comes to mind here. While flexible returns are great when you need it, people take advantage of this, and the last two times I've purchased (supposedly) new equipment from them, I've received items that were obviously returned after being used, with a sleeping mat I purchased recently even having a dirty used electric razer shoved in the box with it… No thanks.

    This Karen thought herself clever when she went to return her kid's costume the day after Halloween—a day and five years after she first purchased it just because her youngest child refused to wear it—the audacity.

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    Cheezburger Image 9832479488
    via Jimmy Conover
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    r/TalesFromRetail u/textureworkshop . Posted by 2 hours ago Medium A A Halloween tale from retail past - the lady with the wonderful costume This happened over twenty years ago, how did I get this old? I was an assistant manager at a craft store. Our Halloween merchandise included costumes. The store doesn't sell them anymore. I can totally understand why not. They were always a mess.
    via u/textureworkshop
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    We had the usual return policies. You need a receipt. Purchased within 30 days. Things must be in their original packaging. But our manager was trying to enforce a new one: no returns on holiday merchandise within seven days of the holiday. Because this was a new policy, there were signs at every register and flyers we put in bags at checkout.
    via u/textureworkshop
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    We had a rock star for a head cashier. She could handle anything, but some customers just have to talk to a manager. I come to her register when called because she has an issue with a customer trying to return an item. The item is a costume. There is no receipt, there is no packaging, just a crumpled ball of cheap fabric tossed into one of our bags. I run through the issues, knowing full well that she
    via u/textureworkshop
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    has already heard all of this from the head cashier. Our customer isn't taking no for an answer. Finally I get to the point that it is two days before Halloween, and we are no longer taking returns on Halloween merchandise. She asks why. Silly me, I think she is a sane individual and take the time to explain to her our aggressive clearance policy on seasonal merchandise and that there was no way we would be able to sell it before Halloween. She
    via u/textureworkshop
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    thinks this is an opening to explain that we will surely be able to sell the costume, four out of five of her children have worn it and absolutely loved it. She doesn't understand why her youngest is refusing to wear it. But the fact that the other kids did, surely shows what a good costume it is and that we will have no problem selling it in the next two days. I take a moment... gather my thoughts and ask: so you are saying that you have had this costume for
    via u/textureworkshop
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    years and it has been worn no less than four times and because a fifth child is refusing to wear it, you think we should take it back? She shook her head enthusiastically, thinking she was finally making some progress. I gently offered her directions to the second hand store down the street. I know I got off easy, there is a lot more crazy out there in retail, but she was the most delusional customer I ever had... and always think of her and her son every Halloween.
    via u/textureworkshop
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    11 sandiercy 2 hr. ago no returns within 7 days of the holiday Gotta love the customers who treat you like a rental place. ↑ 17 17 ↓ Reply Share ●●●
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    velvet42 Super Cashier. Able to leap tall counters... Oof, that gives me flashbacks of working at a toy store that sold video game consoles. I remember literally telling one group of guys, who were asking about the return policy and weren't at all being subtle about their intentions of buying a system to abuse for a weekend and then returning it, that it's "because we're not in the business of renting out game systems, that's why" 28 Reply Share ●●●
    via u/textureworkshop
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    wdn We had a rock star for a head cashier. She could handle anything, but some customers just have to talk to a manager. This is why a lot of places have changed the title from head cashier to customer service manager. 21 Reply Share
    via u/textureworkshop
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    Klyco I just had a customer try and return a 2 year old PC to us that according to him, never worked. He says we should just give him a replacement and we would not lose any money in the replacement because the value of it has decreased by 75%. What good maths. 10 Reply Share
    via u/textureworkshop
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    2 CO Chillybrew. Probably a bit tangentially off topic, but in the (many) southern states I've lived in people will absolutely pillage the big box stores of water, soups, boxed food, milk and bread (why?), flashlights, batteries, and generators before a hurricane/tropical storm and then try to bring it all back the day after after the storm passes for a full refund. Most stores now have a no- return policy on bulk storm-related supplies for just this reason. Reply Share 4.1 7
    via u/textureworkshop

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