So, I got a free shirt
Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 4:32 pm
Monday, my wife wanted to go to a mall that's a bit out of the way, since a women's clothing store there was closing. I walked around and went into Hot Topic. They had some t-shirts on clearance, as they normally do, and I found a cool Grimlock shirt. (It's got the Hasbro packaging artwork on the front, and the "Me Grimlock kick butt!" quote on the back.) It was marked at $8.98.
There was one employee at the counter, an older teenaged girl (she looked and acted high school age, but it was during school hours, so I assume she was older). I'd seen another, older woman leave while I was there. There were no other customers. I took it to the register to get it. Because I need a damned seventh Transformers shirt.
The girl was friendly and had decent customer service skills, unlike most of the "cooler than you" Hot Topic employees I've encountered. But we both did a double take when it rang up at $0.01.
I put my hand in my pocket to get a dime (the only change I had). She kinda got worried, and said, "I don't think we're supposed to sell them for that much," and was acting a bit confused.
"That's okay. I expected it to be $9 anyway."
She told me she didn't know how to override prices, and the woman who'd left was apparently the manager. After a few seconds, she said, "It's coming up at a penny. Don't tell anyone I did this, but just take it," and put it in a bag. Again, I told her I was fine paying for it. I figured she was going to take a penny from the "take a penny" thingy on the counter. But she canceled the transaction.
So, I took the shirt. I wouldn't even think about stealing something, but this was a really unusual situation--the store employee just giving me something. I was kinda taken off guard and wondered a few minutes later if I should've just told her to forget it. The only thing I can figure is that she didn't want a $0.01 transaction because she was afraid her manager might think she marked something down for a friend, so, instead, she simply gave it away.
It's a cool shirt, but I have this crazy feeling that girl won't be working there very long if she does stuff like that.
There was one employee at the counter, an older teenaged girl (she looked and acted high school age, but it was during school hours, so I assume she was older). I'd seen another, older woman leave while I was there. There were no other customers. I took it to the register to get it. Because I need a damned seventh Transformers shirt.
The girl was friendly and had decent customer service skills, unlike most of the "cooler than you" Hot Topic employees I've encountered. But we both did a double take when it rang up at $0.01.
I put my hand in my pocket to get a dime (the only change I had). She kinda got worried, and said, "I don't think we're supposed to sell them for that much," and was acting a bit confused.
"That's okay. I expected it to be $9 anyway."
She told me she didn't know how to override prices, and the woman who'd left was apparently the manager. After a few seconds, she said, "It's coming up at a penny. Don't tell anyone I did this, but just take it," and put it in a bag. Again, I told her I was fine paying for it. I figured she was going to take a penny from the "take a penny" thingy on the counter. But she canceled the transaction.
So, I took the shirt. I wouldn't even think about stealing something, but this was a really unusual situation--the store employee just giving me something. I was kinda taken off guard and wondered a few minutes later if I should've just told her to forget it. The only thing I can figure is that she didn't want a $0.01 transaction because she was afraid her manager might think she marked something down for a friend, so, instead, she simply gave it away.
It's a cool shirt, but I have this crazy feeling that girl won't be working there very long if she does stuff like that.
