Time Warp

A few days before Christmas (so, before our post Christmas 20% off sale...) a woman wanted to buy a calendar (a kitten calendar, for those who are curious...) The wrapper had been taken off, so there was no price tag... so I rang it up for half of the list price (our calendars are always half of the publisher price). But she had some concerns about the format of the calendar...

Customer: Is this a 2005 calendar or a 2006 calendar? There is a page with 2005 on it...

Me: It’s what’s called a “sixteen month calendar”. Calendar companies make them so that they can start selling them earlier in the year; they are good for students because it includes the beginning of the school year, or good for someone who forgot to buy a calendar at the beginning of the year...

Customer: But there is an extra page with extra months on it. I don’t NEED this extra page; 2005 is almost over.

Me: It’s a standard 2006 calendar with one page representing the last four months of 2005...

After going back and forth like this for a minute or so, the customer decides to buy the calendar... She’s heading towards the door, but stops and comes back.

Customer: (pointing to the 20% sale reminder Post-its) you didn’t give me the sale price!

Me: The sale starts the day after Christmas. Those Post-its are just advertising the sale coming up.

Customer: But it says here that everything is an extra 20% off!

Me: and the dates of the sale are ALSO on the Post-it... the sale starts after Christmas.

Customer: So... not ONLY did you sell me a calendar with extra months, you didn’t give me the sale price!

Me: sale starts after Christmas. The Post-it says so... and the calendar is a normal 2006 calendar...

Customer: Well, I don’t need THIS calendar yet! I HAVE a 2005 calendar already!

Now, remember... the date the customer is in the store is December 23rd. The New Year is in about a week... She doesn’t want this 2006 calendar because it is still 2005 for a few days... And don’t even THINK about asking her to pay for “extra months”! So, I’m curious what kind of calendar she WAS looking for if she’s not ready to buy a 2006 calendar that she will need in just a little over a week...

I gave her a refund. She returned a couple hours later to re-buy the same exact calendar because it took her that long to realize that she DID want a 2006 calendar, even if it DID contain “extra months”...