In which I might overreact.

We all have those stories about the time we went some place and the customer service was so bad we thought we were on Candid Camera. (Is that even still around?) Well, yesterday I had the worst customer service ever and it was all over a coupon.

I started a scarf for myself Thursday night and as I reached the halfway mark on Sunday it became clear that I wasn't going to have enough wool to complete the pattern so off I went to Michaels Monday evening to buy some supplies. Karl waited in the car.

I went in and asked for some help finding the wool I needed. It had moved since I was last there. The lady who helped me was awesome, and a couple years ago she actually gave me coupons to get a smoking good deal on our Christmas tree. As in... ridiculously awesome good deal. I should find out her name so I can name my first child after her or something.

When I went up to the till there were two open. One of them had about four people in line and the other was empty. I went up to the woman and asked if she was open, expecting a no. She said yes, sounded busy and frazzled, and I was surprised she didn't just send me to the other till. It looked like she was trying to make sense of a receipt.

I pulled up my 40% off coupon on my phone, she scanned it, and I looked at the screen. It said the wool was $4.99 so, surprised, I asked her how much it was originally, thinking that I didn't remember it being almost $10 a ball. She told me it was $4.99. I asked again if that was the original price and she said, again, that it was $4.99.

I paid with my debit card, sure that my 40% off coupon hadn't worked, and looked at my receipt. I didn't see my coupon on it. I asked her where it said how much money I saved. She informed me that I didn't save any money because my wool was on sale so my coupon wouldn't work. I told her the reason I kept asking before about the original price was because I also had the 25% off sale coupon, in case my wool was on sale. She stared at me, in a what do you want me to do about it? way. I told her I would have used to the 25% off coupon if I'd known the wool was on sale, but didn't see a sign at the wool that said it was and that's what I had been asking.

"You gave me the wrong coupon."

"But I had the other one, you just didn't answer my question."

She rolled her eyes at me and sighed like a fourteen year old. "So you want me to give you a refund?"

"Well that's why I was asking..."

"I can't give you a refund. You'll have to go to the other till." She nodded towards the other till that had 8 people in line.

There were four people in line behind me. "You know what? It's fine. I'll just go."

I stomped out to the car, got in, used some less than loving language, and started crying. Karl asked me if I wanted to go back in and complain but I told him it wasn't worth it. I really wanted to go back and throw a fit, but for $1.25 and my pride it wasn't worth it. I'm better than that. Instead I tweeted my rage. And cried a little bit more.

Dear Michaels employee, I'm sorry for asking you a question, that you rolled your eyes, ripped me off, and that I didn't complain. You suck.
— Anna Morton (@annaleemorton) November 13, 2012

Last night as I was sitting in front of The Walking Dead, knitting my sorrows away, I decided that I didn't really need that extra ball of wool. I'd just make the pattern an inch shorter and no one would be the wiser. When I go back to return that wool, which I will, I'm going to make a point of telling the person doing the return how rude the woman was that sold it to me. All with be a little bit righter in the world.

Seriously, who rolls their eyes? It's not like your company doesn't print coupons for people to use them. It's not like that $1.25 comes directly out of your paycheque. It's not like you get paid by commission or how many people come through your till. 

It's not like $1.25 is going to break the bank. With us consistently overspending on groceries right now, though, it feels like it might. There is just something so incomprehensibly frustrating about a grown, 40-something year old woman rolling her eyes at you.

We've all been there, but I really just wanted to headbutt her. You know, between the tears.