Liars, Time-wasters, and Retail. Oh My!

I hate when people lie to me. Hate. Hate. Hate.

Yesterday, a man came in to the jewelry department. Softlines takes jewelry calls. He asks me to change the battery in his watch. Now, in the past, the 'mart has done this for watches purchased at the store. They changed the policy. Since I've been employed there, they have not. We also cannot change watch bands.

I kindly explain to the man that because of liability issues, the store's new policy will not allow me to change his watch battery for him. Instead, I offered to help him find the appropriate battery and explain how the process should be done. This is the conversation we had after my explanation:

"But I bought it here. You always used to change the battery."
"I know. The policy has changed, though, and we cannot do it even for watches purchased here."
"That's crap! I brought my wife's watch in here just a couple weeks ago and had it changed."
(He looks at me expectantly as if to say, "Whatcha got to say about that, missy?")
I continue, "Well, sir, I'm not sure who did that, but it is against our policy."

The look he gave me before turning and walking away was plain as day. I caught him in a lie, and he walked away saying nothing else.

I hate being lied to.

I also hate women who come to the jewelry counter to browse for themselves and make me open 3 cabinets over and over again to try on jewelry that they cannot afford. One ring, one necklace, sure. But once I ring up one 14K gold ring with a real diamond and it's beyond your price range, don't make me waste another 20 minutes while you have to look at seven other rings that are exactly the same! One in cabinet A, then B, then D, then back to A, on to C, then A again, and B, and so on, because I have to relock the cabinets after closing them. While I'm wasting my time as you "Ooo" and "Aah" over rings you're not going to buy, two other customers, who might have purchased something, have left because they're tired of waiting. They might have bought something, something on which I might have earned a commission.

Liars and Time-wasters. Boo.