Some rules at work are based on the trust between an employee and employer. You can’t check if they are actually followed or not, but the employer expects you to. But on special occasions, employees might bend those rules, especially if it doesn’t hurt them and makes someone else’s day.
This is perfectly applicable to retail workers who have means to give a discount if it doesn’t require official documents filled in, because it truly makes the customer respect the worker for being so nice and it’s a good feeling to do good.
Image credits: ebenbenson
This post may include affiliate links.
Me: *receiving the drinks. May your life be brightened again. Good luck.
There are many examples of retail workers giving student or senior discounts to people who are not students or seniors. Twitter user Apex Redditor actually got a military discount after he told the cashier that he is, in fact, not in the military. The cashier pretended not to hear that and allowed the person to save some money.
The tweet went pretty viral and inspired other people to share their own stories. There were people who also got military discounts just for knowing someone who is in the military or because the reason for buying certain things made the retail workers laugh. Retail workers would insist on finding an excuse to give something for free or at a lower price.
It doesn’t seem like it would be beneficial to a company to make exceptions for customers as they are losing money. Userlike agrees that “Allowing customers to return clothes past their due date or buy insurance after they drop their new laptop could be seen as irresponsible.”
But what actually happens is that the more profitable approach is just to be super friendly to the customer. A study showed that when a company had a relaxed and easy return process, customers were more likely to make a purchase but not return their item. But with a stricter model, the store noticed an 11.2 percent drop in sales.
It makes the customer appreciate the company and the people working for it because they realize that the worker isn’t supposed to do what they are doing and they might get in trouble if their managers or colleagues are strict rule followers, but they still do it for the sake of the customer.
I went into JB Hifi and asked about PCs and they said for gaming I should get one built and it will do anything I need it to for school still. I'm 36 and haven't been in school for 20 years this year.
At the same time, you can’t do that all the time and the customer can’t expect the same treatment the next time they come in. The workers actually can get in trouble for that and a cashier on Reddit started a thread where they asked “don't demand the same discount with another member of staff next time, we were feeling kind, don't get us in trouble.”
If the worker does this too many times, someone will notice. Most of the time workers give special treatment to people who they see are feeling down or who are friendly with them. There was actually another Twitter thread started by a woman who used to work at Hobby Lobby and would give discounts whenever she could to people if they complimented her.
I have the head of a bull... are the Chicago Bulls in the NFL??
The Grays were a professional Negro League baseball team from Providence, RI MENSgraysC...ef0e9a.jpg 
Dayum, I haven't been to a Tom Thumb in decades... totally unrelated, I know, but nostalgic.
I don't care if it's fur, feathers, or scaly skin; *everybody* deserves scritchins at some point, and I'm the lady for the job!
Is this a thing everywhere? My wife is a teacher and we are looking for a new mattress
But there is the other side as well. It was also mentioned in one of the tweets in this list that sometimes cashiers just don’t care. They don’t care if the business suffers a loss, they don’t care if they will get caught and get in trouble for bending the rules.
It’s a monotonous job that causes mental fatigue but it’s also physically draining and the compensation is too little to leave extra money after covering the most necessary living expenses.
Nonetheless, it makes the customer feel like they are lucky that day and lifts their spirits, especially if they had a rough day. All the Twitter users who told their stories were pretty positive about their experiences and were grateful for the unexpected treat.
Have you ever got a great deal out of nowhere? Were you especially nice to the retail worker that day? Maybe you are a retail worker and want to share what it’s like from your perspective? Tell us all about it in the comments.
Were you referring to the Terry Pratchett novel? Because some people have referred to the US/Afghanistan/Iraq war as "The Long War."
Shoutout to the lady at the bodega who gave me a free coffee because I didn’t have cash and she didn’t want to do a
Giving people discounts is fine, but not scanning things is theft because it screws up your inventory, wastes time while you look for that inventory later because you forgot about that, then gets marked off as actual theft. And if you're employer decides to check the till camera, you'll get canned and have theft on your record. Do discounts, but don't do this.
I was on the phone with AT&T b/c my phone bill was so high (I used it in Ireland for a family emergency). All I wanted was a payment plan, but once I explained the situation, the gentleman put me on a short overseas plan and marked as starting the day before I left the US. Hundreds of dollars suddenly became $50. I wanted to write a thank you letter but he said he’d get in trouble for doing it. When I asked why he did it, he said two reasons: you didn’t try to weasel you way out of paying and you were really polite instead of yelling like most customers.
Most of the time, politeness and honesty will get you a lot of help in these situations.
Load More Replies...
I had a really, really bad day and then on top my train was late and I got stuck at the train station, so I decided to get some Burger King. The employee just looked into my tired face and not only made me a fresh burger instead of just taking the last one on the tray, he also wiped his employee card and gave me his discount and free fries. I truly and honestly loved him for that at that moment. It was the only good thing happening that day.
one christmas many yrs ago my husband was laid off & savings was low. eventually you have to choose who to pay & who has to wait until next month. one creditor called right before christmas. explained why no payment yet but would get them next. he asked if my child was having christmas. told him yes but a slim one. he put me on hold then came back & said, thank you for being a [blank] customer. your account is now fully up to date with enough on acct for next month. i asked for his name & he laughed, said no way and hung up. bless that man.
I used to work a mall photo studio and across the way was a candy store where I was always friendly with one of the cashiers. She would always lift up the bag when weighing it so I paid 1/4 of what they were charging ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ <3
We got free drinks at a Subway in London once. My husband and I were talking in our mother tongue and he spoke the same language. And I guess he was just missing home and chatted with us, and then gave us free drinks.
I got my entire order at Chick Fil-A for free because i was the last customer of the day and they had shut down the cash registers.
It's nice of them that they did that, but also, please don't show up right before they're about to close, especially if you're paying in cash XD
Load More Replies...
About twenty years ago, I worked at Target and would sell open boxed merchandise at a discount. If a guest brought it to me and asked if we had one that was not opened, I would ask how much is it worth to them. I would make a new product code and price with the price gun. It's better than it ending up in a landfill.
I live in a military town. As a 6 foot tall guy with a buzz cut, this sort of thing happens several times a month. I've never even thought about joining the military.
An employee at The vape shop that I used to go to got fired because he would always give discounts just because he wanted to.
My friend's sister worked at a grocery store & she was so ridiculous with scanning only like 1 in 10 of my items, that I refused to go through her line. I might be able to overlook her not scanning one or two things but I am not ok with paying $20 for $300 worth of groceries. That sh@! is too obvious. I don't want to go to jail. Just let me pay for my stuff & go home 😩
In my country, many market and mall will require you to do bargaining. So one day I want to buy a cute backpack. I went to the store and found one with small cartoon elephants print on it. The owner saw me and we started talking. I said that it was a pity because there's no cat print as I love cats very much. Apparently, the owner also loves cat. He asked me if I owned one and I said my 17 years old cat just died the week before so I had none (at that time) and just doing street feeding. The owner suddenly gave the backpack to me for free because he was sorry that he didn't have one in cat print and he was sorry for my cat. It was 10 years ago, and I still have that backpack.
As a veteran retail worker: I gave out discounts constantly unless I was at a store that was struggling or it was something that could get me fired. I think most of us do. Then I worked at a bank call center and management gave us all the rule that we could forgive up to $75 of overdraft fees at our discretion to anyone who called and I did it for anyone who wasn't actively mean or rude to me, and I think my coworkers did the same.
I don't know how, but I ended up with free food at the Ikea two days ago. My plate was the first on the cart thingy and yet my meal, drink and side salad were not on the bill Edit for clarification: I was there with my parents, they did pay for their meal
I got a senior discount while in the BK drive thru. Before I even got to the window she determined I was eligible. I was not. But thanks BK girl!
At a Younkers department store I asked if a $70 sweater happened to hopefully be on sale. The cashier said no, but that “nothing in this store is worth that much money” and she gave me a discount.
Come over , every body ,get your pats or strokes. The line firms on the left
20 years ago, I was working at a now defunct home improvement chain. When we learned that the liquidator was not going to provide the aforementioned bonuses to the management staff. Sooo, when loss prevention came in and removed the cameras, the employee after dark bonus shopping began. Look, I am not into theft, but with the higher ups at corporate laughing at us as we struggled to keep our chins up, and the liquidator was a huge POS , it felt justified.
I'll never understand the people who think getting a senior discount is insulting. My hair went grey when I was 45. Saving money never bothered me!
So many mixed feelings reading this list. Mostly blessings on these workers who have it rough from both sides, quietly punishing their greedy corporate masters while rewarding the customers who don't suck. Also the whole thing about discounts/freebies just for being nice and treating them like another human? Holy hell things must've gotten even worse since my days as a cashier.. "the customer is always right" has been taken to some extreme levels of entitlement
A Starbucks opened by my house went there till I moved. I got to know all the employees and it wasn't unusual for my drink to be free even tried paying for them but nope. A st Vincent de Paul thrift shop discounted my purchase +not a big one* under the $5 min for a card, because while I was in line sort theu my items I helped a mother with stroller take hangers off clothes and let 2 more people go ahead and helped them with their hangers. I didn't have cash so they said we could go ahead and charge the $5 and I think they would give me cash but I told them to keep the difference for the food bank because they've helped me with food.
I used to regularly get an iced coffee from a drive thru coffee place near me on the way to work. They'd regularly make it wrong so that they could go 'ooops, oh well, give it to one of your colleagues instead'. They'd also give me my drink free as well for making it wrong. I think mostly because I was nice to them, talked to them like human beings and was not an abusive d**k. I was also given a discount at McDonald's because I was wearing my ambulance uniform. They said they're not supposed to unless the customer is in a liveried vehicle (I was in my personal car in the drive thru) but they gave it to me anyway.
@shyla Bouche. I am not cheating on you! There is plenty of affection for everyone. Come join us, get your share.
Now, Bouche. All good boys and girls deserve love and pats. Don't be jealous. Come get you share.
I was on the phone with AT&T b/c my phone bill was so high (I used it in Ireland for a family emergency). All I wanted was a payment plan, but once I explained the situation, the gentleman put me on a short overseas plan and marked as starting the day before I left the US. Hundreds of dollars suddenly became $50. I wanted to write a thank you letter but he said he’d get in trouble for doing it. When I asked why he did it, he said two reasons: you didn’t try to weasel you way out of paying and you were really polite instead of yelling like most customers.
Most of the time, politeness and honesty will get you a lot of help in these situations.
Load More Replies... I had a really, really bad day and then on top my train was late and I got stuck at the train station, so I decided to get some Burger King. The employee just looked into my tired face and not only made me a fresh burger instead of just taking the last one on the tray, he also wiped his employee card and gave me his discount and free fries. I truly and honestly loved him for that at that moment. It was the only good thing happening that day.
one christmas many yrs ago my husband was laid off & savings was low. eventually you have to choose who to pay & who has to wait until next month. one creditor called right before christmas. explained why no payment yet but would get them next. he asked if my child was having christmas. told him yes but a slim one. he put me on hold then came back & said, thank you for being a [blank] customer. your account is now fully up to date with enough on acct for next month. i asked for his name & he laughed, said no way and hung up. bless that man.
I used to work a mall photo studio and across the way was a candy store where I was always friendly with one of the cashiers. She would always lift up the bag when weighing it so I paid 1/4 of what they were charging ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ <3
We got free drinks at a Subway in London once. My husband and I were talking in our mother tongue and he spoke the same language. And I guess he was just missing home and chatted with us, and then gave us free drinks.
I got my entire order at Chick Fil-A for free because i was the last customer of the day and they had shut down the cash registers.
It's nice of them that they did that, but also, please don't show up right before they're about to close, especially if you're paying in cash XD
Load More Replies... About twenty years ago, I worked at Target and would sell open boxed merchandise at a discount. If a guest brought it to me and asked if we had one that was not opened, I would ask how much is it worth to them. I would make a new product code and price with the price gun. It's better than it ending up in a landfill.
I live in a military town. As a 6 foot tall guy with a buzz cut, this sort of thing happens several times a month. I've never even thought about joining the military.
An employee at The vape shop that I used to go to got fired because he would always give discounts just because he wanted to.
My friend's sister worked at a grocery store & she was so ridiculous with scanning only like 1 in 10 of my items, that I refused to go through her line. I might be able to overlook her not scanning one or two things but I am not ok with paying $20 for $300 worth of groceries. That sh@! is too obvious. I don't want to go to jail. Just let me pay for my stuff & go home 😩
In my country, many market and mall will require you to do bargaining. So one day I want to buy a cute backpack. I went to the store and found one with small cartoon elephants print on it. The owner saw me and we started talking. I said that it was a pity because there's no cat print as I love cats very much. Apparently, the owner also loves cat. He asked me if I owned one and I said my 17 years old cat just died the week before so I had none (at that time) and just doing street feeding. The owner suddenly gave the backpack to me for free because he was sorry that he didn't have one in cat print and he was sorry for my cat. It was 10 years ago, and I still have that backpack.
As a veteran retail worker: I gave out discounts constantly unless I was at a store that was struggling or it was something that could get me fired. I think most of us do. Then I worked at a bank call center and management gave us all the rule that we could forgive up to $75 of overdraft fees at our discretion to anyone who called and I did it for anyone who wasn't actively mean or rude to me, and I think my coworkers did the same.
I don't know how, but I ended up with free food at the Ikea two days ago. My plate was the first on the cart thingy and yet my meal, drink and side salad were not on the bill Edit for clarification: I was there with my parents, they did pay for their meal
I got a senior discount while in the BK drive thru. Before I even got to the window she determined I was eligible. I was not. But thanks BK girl!
At a Younkers department store I asked if a $70 sweater happened to hopefully be on sale. The cashier said no, but that “nothing in this store is worth that much money” and she gave me a discount.
Come over , every body ,get your pats or strokes. The line firms on the left
20 years ago, I was working at a now defunct home improvement chain. When we learned that the liquidator was not going to provide the aforementioned bonuses to the management staff. Sooo, when loss prevention came in and removed the cameras, the employee after dark bonus shopping began. Look, I am not into theft, but with the higher ups at corporate laughing at us as we struggled to keep our chins up, and the liquidator was a huge POS , it felt justified.
I'll never understand the people who think getting a senior discount is insulting. My hair went grey when I was 45. Saving money never bothered me!
So many mixed feelings reading this list. Mostly blessings on these workers who have it rough from both sides, quietly punishing their greedy corporate masters while rewarding the customers who don't suck. Also the whole thing about discounts/freebies just for being nice and treating them like another human? Holy hell things must've gotten even worse since my days as a cashier.. "the customer is always right" has been taken to some extreme levels of entitlement
A Starbucks opened by my house went there till I moved. I got to know all the employees and it wasn't unusual for my drink to be free even tried paying for them but nope. A st Vincent de Paul thrift shop discounted my purchase +not a big one* under the $5 min for a card, because while I was in line sort theu my items I helped a mother with stroller take hangers off clothes and let 2 more people go ahead and helped them with their hangers. I didn't have cash so they said we could go ahead and charge the $5 and I think they would give me cash but I told them to keep the difference for the food bank because they've helped me with food.
I used to regularly get an iced coffee from a drive thru coffee place near me on the way to work. They'd regularly make it wrong so that they could go 'ooops, oh well, give it to one of your colleagues instead'. They'd also give me my drink free as well for making it wrong. I think mostly because I was nice to them, talked to them like human beings and was not an abusive d**k. I was also given a discount at McDonald's because I was wearing my ambulance uniform. They said they're not supposed to unless the customer is in a liveried vehicle (I was in my personal car in the drive thru) but they gave it to me anyway.
@shyla Bouche. I am not cheating on you! There is plenty of affection for everyone. Come join us, get your share.
Now, Bouche. All good boys and girls deserve love and pats. Don't be jealous. Come get you share.
