1) The cashiers at Dairy Queen.
While traveling through Tennessee recently we stopped at a Dairy Queen to use the restrooms and grab a quick bite. My friend ordered a sandwich and small fry. The total came to $3.52. She gave the cashier four dollars. The cashier stood there in panic for a moment before she began digging under the counter.
My friend asked what was wrong and the cashier, still clutching the four dollars, with the order total clearly visible on the register, said she did not know how much change to give her because the register had run out of receipt paper.
Eventually two other employees joined her in searching for the elusive paper. Thankfully after printing the receipt they were able to determine that my friend was owed 48 cents.
2) The Subway employee who rang up my order.
She charged me for a tuna sub instead of a deli tuna, which have a 90 cents difference in price. After realizing her mistake and saying that she couldn’t void the order and start over, she offered me the difference in cash. “The price of the deli tuna is $2.71 with tax. I subtracted that from the menu price of the tuna sub, so I owe you 68 cents.”
Umm, no. I explained that she couldn’t subtract a taxed item from a menu price. I said, “You have to use either the taxed price of both items or the menu price of both. You can’t mix and match, it won’t come out right.”
She just looked at me blankly. I dropped it.
3) The store manager at the local K-Mart.
As I looked through a sale display of children’s clothing I noticed a group of employees were preparing displays of patio furniture for a big sale the next morning. Their preparations caught the eye of a couple walking by, who stopped to look at a table and chair set. “What will the sale price be tomorrow?” they asked the manager.
She was more than happy to help. “Let’s see… it’s a hundred dollars right now and it’ll be fifteen percent off in the morning. Hmmm… fifteen percent of a hundred dollars is… wait right here and I’ll go get a calculator.”
4) The customer service representatives at Ragu.
I wrote them to determine whether the Garden Style Super Chunky Mushroom pasta sauce sitting in my fridge contained gluten (a type of protein found in many grains). Two ingredients were very vague – modified food starch, which can come from corn, wheat, or any number of other grains, and “natural flavorings” which can be anything under the sun.
They replied: Because our products are formulated for use by the majority of our consumers, and not specifically for those on restricted diets, it is possible our product formulations may change at any time. Therefore, we suggest reading all ingredient labels carefully.
How very helpful, I didn’t realize this. Thank you for pointing this out.
I wrote them back: You advised me to read the product label carefully, obviously I do this already or I would not have contacted your company for additional information. I specifically asked if your Garden Variety pasta sauce contains any source of gluten. I understand products change, so of course I am asking about the ingredients of this product as it is formulated at the present time. I need a YES or NO answer to my question in order to determine if it is a safe product to feed my family.
They responded: We sincerely understand your concerns and would like very much to assist you. We certainly do not want to give you misinformation which may afterwards be detrimental to you. Subsequently, we are asking you to use your judgement in your decision regarding the use of our products for your family.
Congratulations, that’s a lot of big words for such a stupid reply.
ha ha ha ha…extreme brilliance