Using disability to try to get want you want.

Unintentional

Hello MSE. For the first time since working in retail I refused to continue serving a customer and walked away. Here's the story.

This lady who looked late 50's early 60's walked up to customer services with a weighing scale. She said it was faulty and no longer works. She had a reciept. The scales were 4 months old and she paid around £12 for them.

I apologised to her and looked into a replacement scales for her. But unfortunately we no longer did those scales so I asked her what she would like to do. She looked in the catalogue and pointed at another set and claimed that they were the same scales. They were not and they were priced at 19.99. I told her she could put some money towards this set but she said she didn't see a reason why she should have to pay more since the scales were faulty.

When I told her I couldn't swap it for a more expensive scale without her paying the difference she got angry and demanded a refund. So I accepted and started to process a refund for her. This is where the problem started. She paid by card and she gave me her husbands card to refund it on. I told her that a refund requires the cardholders signature so I couldn't Refund it on to that card. She told me he was disabled so she would sign it for him, I told her there was no way I would allow that.

She then yelled at me 'Didn't you !!!!ing hear me? I said he was disabled! how is he supposed to walk here and sign for the refund? Just let me sign it'

At this point I said to her that this was fraud and I wouldn't allow her to sign on behalf of her husband. She then proceeded to call me an idiot and that I was being unsympathetic towards her husband being disabled.

I got angry at this point but kept my cool and told her that if she didn't calm down I would refuse to keep serving her, but she kept going so I told her I'm not being spoke to and treated like that and walked away. She then picked up her scales and shouted at me: 'I hope when you get older, you can't walk then you'll know what it feels like!'

This really annoys me when people use 'I'm disabled' or he/she's disabled to try and do something which you're clearly not allowed to do. Being disabled doesn't give you the right to do everything you want so I really wish people would stop acting like they deserve special treatment just because of it. And before people say I'm being harsh. I work with disabled people every day and yes they need a little extra help with things but I'm more then happy to help them If I'm able to. But being shouted and swore at because I won't let her forge her husbands signature is completely unacceptable and that woman should be ashamed of herself.

Rant over.

hoyles10

Fortunately when I was unable to get about especially around the shops and my wife needed to use my card for buying or returning things she only needed to used the chip and pin facility for the card rather than signing for things, I much prefer the chip and pin system now rather than signing for things as it makes it easier to send the missus out with my card rather than transferring money if I can't get out.

PinkLipgloss

and breathe....

Could she explain how her husband purchased the scales in the first place? Did she admit to using the card in his absence?

Gotta feel sorry for the guy having a wife like that!

xangeleyes

See I can understnad her point of view if her husband is actually disabled and unable to get to the store, however, I understand yours too.
You were correct in not allowing her to sign for it.
Couldn't it have been given to her in cash?
PLUS, it's 4 months old! Was there a warranty on it?

You did right to walk away, well done

TudorRose

Chip & Pin is great BUT to get a refund on a card the receipt for the refund transaction needs to be signed & the signature compared to that on the card.
Also you are meant to check the name printed on the card & if it has a man's name on it and a woman presents it or vice versa it should be refused &/or reported to the card machine provider such as Streamline.

hippygran

OP - you were only doing your job.

She was trying to break the law.

You only have her say so that her husband is disabled - he may or may not be.

In any case, it was not the alleged disabled person who was coming it - it was his perfectly able-bodied wife!

So the disabled person was not using his disability to get what he wants - more of a case of her trying to play the disabled card to get what she wants. There is every chance the absent husband is no more disabled than she was!

This was plain and simply, and obnoxious and rude woman who was prepared to use any excuse to get her own way. You acted appropriately, she acted very badly.

Forget it all now, don't let her annoy/upset you further, because I would bet you anything that she won't give it another thought!

hoyles10

TudorRose wrote: »

Chip & Pin is great BUT to get a refund on a card the receipt for the refund transaction needs to be signed & the signature compared to that on the card.
Also you are meant to check the name printed on the card & if it has a man's name on it and a woman presents it or vice versa it should be refused &/or reported to the card machine provider such as Streamline.

I never knew that. The only 2 occasions where i've needed a refund 1 was from Tesco, I can't remember where the other was but I only needed to put my card into the chip and pin thing, I never actually had to sign anything.

DCFC79

hoyles10 wrote: »

I never knew that. The only 2 occasions where i've needed a refund 1 was from Tesco, I can't remember where the other was but I only needed to put my card into the chip and pin thing, I never actually had to sign anything.

yes tesco are like that as i got a refund and didnt sign anything,

OP you did what you are trained to do,

peachyprice

hoyles10 wrote: »

I never knew that. The only 2 occasions where i've needed a refund 1 was from Tesco, I can't remember where the other was but I only needed to put my card into the chip and pin thing, I never actually had to sign anything.

Perhaps shops are tightening up. It happened to me in Sainsbury's the other day, but I can't remember it having happened in the past. I was quite suprised when the assistant actually asked to check the signature after I'd taken it out of the C&P machine.

AsknAnswer2

It annoys the hell out of me too. One particular day when we were shopping, myself and my children (one of whom is disabled) nipped into a shopping centre. The centre is a small one and has one toilet which is for staff use only, as there are other public toilets in the town centre. They do allow children and disabled people to use it though. Anyway, she was bursting to go, so we went to the office to ask the caretaker for the key. As we did so, this older man approched and pushed right in front of us saying "toilet key". No 'please can I have'. The caretaker rightly said that we had asked first and politely advised the man that he'd need to wait. He immediately played the card. "But I'm disabled", and lifted his stick, as if to produce evidence of his disability status. The caretaker didn't even ask if we minded waiting, but gave the key to this idiot. On entering the toilet afterward, the ignorant man had piddled all over the seat and hadn't flushed - yuck! Filthy so and so didn't even bother to wash his hands. I had to clean up his mess, while my poor daughter stood there, in desperation and almost wet herself.

Later on, we were having a spot of lunch when we encountered the same man and witnessed him pushing past someone else to get to the last seat in the cafe, which happened to be right next to us. When he was questioned, he played the card again, saying that he was disabled, and needed to sit down because his legs were in pain, waving his stick about like a prize idiot. The customer who had been heading for the table gracefully let him have the seat. When presented with his bill, he handed the waitress some money. She explained to him that he needed to take his bill to the counter and pay on the way out. He picked up his stick. But he didn't get up, just lifted it. Then proceeded on the same speech again. He was disabled, he had pain in his legs and couldn't possibly walk to the counter (why I don't know, you pass it on the way out, he wasn't going to sit there forever!). He asked the girl to take the money and bring him his change. And she did. Within seconds of her handing him his change, a bus went by the window. Well, he shouted "My bus!", and I can tell you there was very little wrong with his legs at that moment, because he picked up his jacket and ran out of the cafe and down the road to the bus stop to catch his bus.

GemJar_2

AsknAnswer2 wrote: »

It annoys the hell out of me too. One particular day when we were shopping, myself and my children (one of whom is disabled) nipped into a shopping centre. The centre is a small one and has one toilet which is for staff use only, as there are other public toilets in the town centre. They do allow children and disabled people to use it though. Anyway, she was bursting to go, so we went to the office to ask the caretaker for the key. As we did so, this older man approched and pushed right in front of us saying "toilet key". No 'please can I have'. The caretaker rightly said that we had asked first and politely advised the man that he'd need to wait. He immediately played the card. "But I'm disabled", and lifted his stick, as if to produce evidence of his disability status. The caretaker didn't even ask if we minded waiting, but gave the key to this idiot. On entering the toilet afterward, the ignorant man had piddled all over the seat and hadn't flushed - yuck! Filthy so and so didn't even bother to wash his hands. I had to clean up his mess, while my poor daughter stood there, in desperation and almost wet herself.

Later on, we were having a spot of lunch when we encountered the same man and witnessed him pushing past someone else to get to the last seat in the cafe, which happened to be right next to us. When he was questioned, he played the card again, saying that he was disabled, and needed to sit down because his legs were in pain, waving his stick about like a prize idiot. The customer who had been heading for the table gracefully let him have the seat. When presented with his bill, he handed the waitress some money. She explained to him that he needed to take his bill to the counter and pay on the way out. He picked up his stick. But he didn't get up, just lifted it. Then proceeded on the same speech again. He was disabled, he had pain in his legs and couldn't possibly walk to the counter (why I don't know, you pass it on the way out, he wasn't going to sit there forever!). He asked the girl to take the money and bring him his change. And she did. Within seconds of her handing him his change, a bus went by the window. Well, he shouted "My bus!", and I can tell you there was very little wrong with his legs at that moment, because he picked up his jacket and ran out of the cafe and down the road to the bus stop to catch his bus.

I got annoyed reading that. Some people are just bloody rude!