Shortpacked! by David Willis

Discussion (31) ¬

1. 
   Noble Bear

   May 6, 2010 at 6:16 am | # | Reply

   I clerked at 7-11 for many years and among the millions of times I heard it, I always imagined a response about it not only being free but including a complimentary insertion of my entire mop in their orifice of choice.

   Murder, indeed.
2. 
   james

   September 11, 2010 at 11:03 am | # | Reply

   I always say “No, It means I can charge you as much as I want.”

   • 
     Gina Rose

     December 31, 2010 at 8:35 pm | # | Reply

     I saw a cashier do something similar to that the other day and had it backfire on them.

     this guy had an item that wouldn’t ring up and made the joke. After calling for a price check the cashier told him she’d have to add an extra 10% to the cost because of the joke. Much laughing ensues.

     Price check gets done, she rings him up, charges him the actual price + tax. Should end here but the guy actually gets pissed and demands to speak to a manager because she didn’t charge him the extra 10%. Needless to say, everyone in that line had huge WTF?!! looks on their faces.

     • 
       Mystere9

       April 26, 2011 at 12:37 am | # | Reply

       He probably didn’t have a sense of humor and wanted to get back at the cashier for his lack of humor by getting a manager involved. I’ve dealt with a lot of dim-witted individuals in my day.

       • 
         maggPi

         September 1, 2012 at 3:38 pm | # | Reply

         Oy.
3. 
   No0ne

   October 25, 2010 at 8:42 pm | # | Reply

   I work as a chashieer for Santa and the Easter Bunny at the mall and I don’t ever think this when people make this joke. That beind said I only work seasonal (duh) and so I really only hear it once or twice. That and we don’t really have barcodes on the pictures.
4. 
   Arkayen

   November 20, 2010 at 5:58 am | # | Reply

   I work in a Pound store (where everything is £1) and the stupid quips never end!

   “Urrr how much is this? Hurrr hurrr…”
   “Why scan it? I only have one item and you surely know the price of that!”
   *as I check any £5, £10, £20 notes* “I made that this morning!” or “Careful you don’t get your fingers wet, the ink is still drying!”

   I look at their goofy faces and after imagining whacking the smile off it with a cricket bat, I do the exact same thing…a laugh at their hilarity. I feel so unclean…

   • 
     Kasamari

     September 30, 2011 at 12:30 am | # | Reply

     I get these kinds of statements too. For the free thing I just say “Nope. Means I can’t sell it to you.” And for the just printed joke I tell them “That explains why my fingers are turning color. Thought I was gonna need a sick day.”

     • 
       maggPi

       September 1, 2012 at 3:45 pm | # | Reply

       I actually once started to make that joke myself, and remembered how it made me feel whenever it was made to me. So, what actually popped out of my mouth was, “I’m sorry!!” The cashier looked at me like I was nuts. I had to explain what I was apologising for. Then she started to laugh and we played a game of “Stupid Things Customers Say.” I felt better after that
       (Yes, the list included the “wet ink” one.)
5. 
   Michelle Alford

   December 13, 2010 at 3:31 pm | # | Reply

   I. Hate. That. Joke.

   I have heard it so many times.
6. 
   Yoto32

   December 16, 2010 at 1:18 am | # | Reply

   I’ve figured out how to beat that joke. Whenever a customer says it I respond, “No, it means I get to charge however much I want.” That usually shuts them up.
7. 
   Doctor Who

   April 19, 2011 at 10:37 am | # | Reply

   “No, but if the item is not in our database, there’s a non-zero chance it was planted here. You get that sometimes. I’ve put in a call to the bomb squad, they might want a statement from you.”
8. 
   Quantum Polagnus

   May 8, 2011 at 1:07 am | # | Reply

   I work at a Rite Aid and I’ve heard that about a hundred times, as well. I just smile sadly and say, “that’d be nice, but no; I don’t think the Company would look kindly on me giving stuff away.”

   • 
     Snoodude

     November 4, 2011 at 3:27 pm | # | Reply

     OMG I also work at a Rite Aid (‘for all your ritualistic needs!’) and yes, I also hear this a bajillion times a day. My favorite reply is to say “Actually, that means it costs double.” That’s usually worth a laugh, and it’s a fairly effective litmus test for how good of a sense of humor the customer has.
9. 
   Summer

   July 10, 2011 at 4:29 am | # | Reply

   I work selling Keno at a casino (think lottery tickets if you don’t know what Keno is). The amount of people who come up laughing and buy a ticket after specifying that I needed to give them the winning one reaches the double digits every day. If I could control who wins, I would have a enough money not to work selling you these tickets.
10. 
    Megan

    July 23, 2011 at 11:53 am | # | Reply

    That’s pretty much the MOST FREQUENT COMMENT ever made when something won’t ring up. Also “They don’t know their stupid”. Heh. Love.
11. 
    AndyB

    August 5, 2011 at 12:27 pm | # | Reply

    I feel like cashiers need to give the customer a little bit of a break. Sure you hear it a lot. You WORK THERE. That doesn’t make customer-cashier interaction any less awkward for the customers. What are they supposed to say when that happens? “Try harder.”? “I’m going to submit a formal complaint.”? “What are you telling me for?”? Its awkward and humor is supposed to alleviate that a bit.
12. 
    Plasma Mongoose

    August 19, 2011 at 7:02 am | # | Reply

    A lot of stores have the policy that if the price is wrong, the first one is free and the rest are charged at normal price.

    • 
      stikibunn

      September 26, 2011 at 8:40 am | # | Reply

      Its under the “Scanning Code of Practice,” at least here in Australia. Not sure where exactly. I only had to say what the “code of practice” was not what’s in it during training!

      • 
        foL

        April 18, 2013 at 8:45 am | # | Reply

        I find it ironic that your avatar is Captain America.
13. 
    SherrySamy

    August 23, 2011 at 8:08 pm | # | Reply

    so this is another hint of why Amber and Mike are meant to be. So many Bitters

    • 
      Twigs

      November 2, 2011 at 3:39 pm | # | Reply

      Together they make a pint of bitter. That is why they are love-drunk.

      That’s almost a joke, right? =D
14. 
    merlanthe

    December 26, 2011 at 7:56 pm | # | Reply

    I get that a lot cause half the stuff in the shop where i work has faulty barcodes (not including all the no scan fruit and veg) but i usually respond with ‘Sorry this is Spar nothing is ever free BWA HA HA’….then they stare at me weirdly…
15. 
    newHelm

    August 27, 2012 at 1:13 am | # | Reply

    I had a guy get pissed because he wasn’t joking, he was serious and my boss got pissed because it was his uncle, and thought I should have given it for free. He would have been pissed if it happened to anyone else. Than again, he was taking money out of the safe and blamed me. He was fired and he owned the place.

    • 
      Valdrax

      April 7, 2013 at 10:20 am | # | Reply

      Wait. How?
16. 
    maggPi

    September 1, 2012 at 3:56 pm | # | Reply

    I worked in a place where none of the info was entered in the same way. So, if a barcode was changed by the supplier because the product got a new label design, we couldn’t go by “category; brand-name; product name” it was “random; box colour; label graphics; sexual identity of sales rep. who got promoted 5 years before I even got hired here.”
    Obviously, I exaggerate, but it was a challenge to serve customers efficiently.
17. 
    BlueRam

    October 10, 2012 at 10:54 pm | # | Reply

    EVERY. GOD. DAMN. TIME. *eye twitch*

    Seriously though, does EVERYONE that reads this comic have some sort of retail experience? That might explain how we’re all so messed up in the head.

    • 
      Valdrax

      April 7, 2013 at 10:22 am | # | Reply

      Nope. I do have customer support experience, but most of my time in business has been in the lofty reaches of white collar cubicle-land away from the masses (and often any sense that what I do affects anyone).
18. 
    Yarrr

    February 13, 2013 at 10:39 am | # | Reply

    That and ‘last of the big spenders’. Damn I can hardly type that I hate it so much.

    It makes it that much better when you get someone overly sarcastic and/or funny, you can snipe along with them.
19. 
    Steve

    March 26, 2013 at 3:09 am | # | Reply

    When people say that to me I tell them it’s God trying to protect them from making a mistake and do they really want to go against God’s Will?
20. 
    Lis

    May 13, 2013 at 3:34 am | # | Reply

    I don’t work retail but I’m a survey caller. I actually get more of the annoying remarks when I tell people what I do for a living. Same for being a lifeguard (my other job)