Really?!

Saturday night I was working. I was in lumber. I hate being there, in part because the pukes they have working on the floor are, well, pukes. If I wanted to be ignored by children, I could stay home and be ignored by my own children, wearing comfortable pj's.

Anyway, this couple comes in, asks numerous questions regarding patio blocks, and then goes on their merry way to gather whatever it is they need from building materials.

When they return to my register, Mister says, "Those sheets of insulation should be $12." I respond, "Okay, why?"

He pulls out a receipt and says, "They matched the price before when I got them."

Okay. "Could I see the receipt." He obviously didn't want me to see it, up close and personal-like. Once I saw it, I knew why...it was from last April.

"Sir, this receipt is from last April. Do you have a more recent receipt?"

"No. Match that. The guy said you'd match it when I came back."

"I'm sorry sir, but I can't match a price from that long ago. Were we matching a price back in April?"

"Yes, and that guy said you'd match it when I came back."

"Well, yes, if you'd come back in during the month of April, we would have. Do you remember whose price we were matching? I can call them now and match today's price for you."

"uhm, I don't know. maybe. I don't know. That guy didn't call anyone last time."

"No, sir, he wouldn't necessarily need to. He may have already known that their price was lower than ours. Are you sure it was ?"

"No, I'm not sure. They didn't call before. And they said you'd match it when I came back to finish my project."

"Sir, I'm sorry. Did you tell them it'd be six months before you'd be back?"

"No, I didn't. They said they'd match it, when I came back. They didn't call anyone, they didn't do this. You have a price match policy."

"Yessir, we do have that policy. And as I've said, they may have already been aware of the competitor's price difference, because they'd already called before you came in. Our price match policy is generally good for about 2 weeks, and that price is from last April. I need a more recent price in order to match it."

"Call the manager of this department. He'll match it." (I already know that they will NOT match a price from 6 months ago. We're desperate for sales, but we're not here as a Name-Yer-Own-Pricing kind of place. DUH)

"The department manager isn't here tonight, and the guys I have on the floor can't match a price without calling the store whose price we're matching."

"Then call another manager. They didn't do this before. They said they could match it when I came back."

"Okay, I'll call the store manager, but I doubt he'll match a price from anywhere from six months ago." I call the manager on duty, explain that I have a receipt from April 4, this year, and the customer says that at that time, we matched pricing. Manager says that he didn't know carried insulation, and that we will not match a price from six months ago. If the customer can name a business that carries this product, and I can call that business tonight, we will match today's price. The customer can hear what I'm saying, and I am repeating what the manager says, sentence by sentence.

"Sir, I talked with the store manager, and says that I can call to verify today's pricing at the store we previously matched, but I have to call tonight. He cannot match a price from six months ago."

Mister is now getting pissy, and says, "But they said they'd match it when I came back."

"Yes, sir, I understand. But I cannot go against what the manager says and match a price from six months ago."

Mister paid our price. He wasn't happy, but he paid it.