57 Minutes I'll Never See Again

Saturday afternoon. Department store.  

Two dresses. Cashier off her game.  Did not offer me the opportunity to save 15% by opening a store card. Paid cash and gift card.

Children's department cashier a little smarter.  Offered me the 15%.  But - said it was too late to get 15% on purchases I'd made earlier that day.  Paid with my own credit card.

Third cashier (hey, don't look at me like that, everything was on sale) was persistent.  

Sure, she said, I could get 15% off my spring status bag and satin clutch very important and crucial items from her department and 15% off the women's and children's department.

I bit.

Manually returned all items from first purchase.  Took a gift card out of her drawer and put the total gift card amount back on the gift card.  Refunded the rest of the purchase.

Manually charged each item to new 15% off card.

People behind me in line thrilled.

Manually returned all items from second purchase.

I am making a lot of friends.

Charged total to new 15% card - one item at a time.

Card rejected. 

Rejected? You just sold it to me.

She calls Customer Service.

I am asked to verify my identity.

The identity that I just gave them during this very same transaction.  The identity that is still on a piece of paper in front of the cashier.

I gently point out that they rejected my card less than twelve minutes after approving it.

Asked me for my mother's maiden name.

Choose a Moral for This Story:  

1. You can save money with an in-store credit card, but you won't win a popularity contest

2.  No amount of money saved is worth waiting an hour for endless manual transactions

3. Customer service reps do not always make sense

4. Is it time to buy your spring status bag already?