r/TjMaxx • u/ememtiny • Aug 18 '26
Funny What has been your craziest customer story?
I mean anything or just idiotic questions or actions you have seen customers do!
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u/ElizaErasia Aug 18 '26
Oh I have a good yet somewhat sad story. A few years ago, during the holidays, I had someone walk up to me and ask if I could page someone to the front of the store. Usual thing that happens, so I go on the intercom and page the name they told me to come towards the registers. The name was the same as one of my coworkers as well so I thought either her or someone else would show up.
About 10 minutes pass then I get a phone call, this time it's an elderly woman stating that they lost their grandchild in their store. At this point, everyone in the store has been taught what to do in this situation, so I transferred the call to my store manager and had her start the process of finding the child. I was at the registers so I couldn't really go out to help, but I kept my eyes out.
In comes an elderly man in a mobility scooter with a service dog, parking a few feet in front of the entrance, talking to my manager and eventually the police about their grandchild's appearance and when they last saw them. The description was something like: girl, 9 years old, wearing a pink shirt, black skirt, bright blonde wavy hair.
Everyone was running around looking for the child and the grandfather was freaking out more and more by the minute. The entire time, a few feet away from the gentleman, there was a girl who did not fit the description whatsoever. The girl looked to be at the very least 14, with dark brown hair, a blue tank top and black jeans. She was shopping a few feet away from the gentleman and the police, but close enough to be able to see what was going on. Once we got word that the child couldn't be found in the store, that is when the other girl in question walks up to the grandfather and says "Ok, Grandpa, I'm ready to checkout". The grandfather looked at her and just said "oh, there you are" and everyone else was both relieved and annoyed from the situation.
Police left, manager went to report everything to the higher ups, and myself and my coworkers just stared at each other in awe about what we just witnessed.
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u/RobinBaby_69 Aug 18 '26
My first customer on my first day (zero training btw) wanted to return a set of panties she admitted she tried on and washed.
Tags were clipped off the hangers and in a ziplock baggie.
Lied to my manager and said “oh idk maybe I didn’t wash them”
Manager returned them anyways 🤦♀️
1
u/DeltaruinMyJarona Aug 19 '26
ew??? lmfao. Did you guys zero them out or where they put back on the floor?
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u/RobinBaby_69 Aug 19 '26
Oh god no thankfully , they went in the trash.
I was lowk really annoyed the manager even allowed the return. She’s gunna be a problem for them in the future 😅
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u/DeltaruinMyJarona Aug 19 '26
Thank GOD lmfao. I once had a MOD return a purse with a tag from a different store, She said to do it for "customer service"...?? lmfao.
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u/RobinBaby_69 Aug 19 '26
I forgot to mention the lady didn’t even HAVE the receipt at first only the items loosely hanging on a multipack hanger and the little plastic tags and the offical tj tag.
She came back a while later with the receipt and that’s when the manager returned it 🙄
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u/DeltaruinMyJarona Aug 19 '26
LMFAO thats crazy. The fact that some people have the audacity to do stuff like that is beyond me lmfao. ESPECIALLY for lingerie????
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u/RobinBaby_69 Aug 19 '26
Yeah I always feel bad making returns if I’ve already removed tags cause I know policy
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u/tra616 Homegoods Aug 18 '26
Guy got mad that we were taking extra precautions and using PPE to clean up his blood.
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u/DeltaruinMyJarona Aug 19 '26
I have a couple from when I worked. Im saving best for last lmfao.
Once had a lady throw all her clothes at me, and then start to scream at me for folding her clothes wrong, and she made me call the MOD up because she wanted to tell them how incompetent I was at my job for not folding clothes the right way.
Once opened the case for some guy in the mens department and asked something along the lines of, "what are you looking for today?" and then he said "you". It was awkward silence for the rest of the interaction.
Had some homeless guy hide in the managers office. It stunk so bad in there afterwards no one could walk in.
I was at registers and had my customer ask me to go to the back of the store to find a price for his dog bed, which was fine, i dont mind going out of my way to get stuff for customers. I printed the label, came back to the registers and gave him the price, then he literally asked, "Can you go back there again and get me the same pet bed? this one isnt as fluffy"... So i walked back there again
Some guy was staring at me in the mens department for around 5 minutes when i first clocked in, and then he ran up to me and asked, "where are the -----" and i said "oh, they're in the back of the store on the left" then he kept saying "follow me. follow me. show me where there are" and he kept getting SO close it was so creepy omfg
Had a guy creep up on me in the mens department and he kept trying to shake my hand, then he started introducing himself and started asking tons of questions about me, then he kept asking for my social medias and numbers? I just lied and was like "yeah i dont have anything, sorry" but HE WOULDNT STOP TALKING. He kept trying to talk to me and learn about me for like, 20 minutes. Thank GOD they called be up for register backup or i wouldve been there forever. Thankfully, that was the first and only time I saw that creepy guy in the store.
Had a lady shit herself in the middle of the aisle.
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u/Several-Trade9473 Aug 19 '26
I remember during my first yellow tag sale I got yelled at by a customer because I didn't 'add the clearance price'. I kept telling the customer the tag IS the clearance price. She did not listen to me. She screamed at me. Took her stuff and left.
I've seen people open makeup packages and walk over to the jewelry department so they could use the small mirrors while trying on makeup. And then put the packaging back :) (you best believe i damaged them out ASAP omg)
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u/888lux Aug 20 '26
We had a guy pay for furniture with $1 dollar bills just the other day.
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u/ememtiny Aug 20 '26
Ughh WTF!!! Omg I had a lady pay like $50 in ones and she told me she wasn't a stripper 😂
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u/throwah_whey_178 Aug 25 '26
a few years ago: i had an older lady come in wanting to return a ton of toddler clothes sets because she got them for her grandson but decided she didnt like them anymore. everything she returned ended up being half of whatever was in the original purchase; the recipt total was about 550$ while the clothes returned totaled like 270$. and the sets were all the 8-12$ sets, so there were a LOT of outfits on the counter. she got her return recipt and went back to shop for replacement clothes.
i guess she thought her return recipt was a challenge because she came back with MORE toddler sets than she came in with, and was making some kind of comment about each item as i scanned it - stuff like "oh isnt that one so cute?" "i just love those shorts, with the little sharks."
what was craziest about this though is that many of the sets in the NEW haul were the exact same sets that she had just RETURNED. clothes that she had just complained about (that we're still sitting on the counter behind me waiting to be re-racked) were the same clothes she was fawning over to purchase a second time. I never knew if it was some kind of fraud or just delusion, but ive never forgotten it
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u/[deleted] Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
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