Nail this!

Two of us are working the service desk during the lunch rush Sunday. The line is a mile long, stretching all the way back out to register 14.

This guy comes up and throws some sort of big tool kit on the counter. It looks like it has been through hell, then dropped off a ten-story building. No receipt.

I look at it, then look at him. I sigh inside, because I know this is going to be a difficult one. Turns out it is a battery-operated nail gun. A VERY USED battery-operated nail gun.

"Sir, do you have your receipt for this item?" Of course not.

"Do you have any of the packaging for this item?" No, because you bought it months ago.

"Sir, without the box, the packaging or the receipt, we can only allow you to exchange it for the exact same item." Well, OK.

He goes off to look for one.

Ten minutes later he's back. No more out there. I look it up in the computer and find out it went on clearance in May, marked down from $149 to $110. And we didn't have any more.

I tell him that. He wants a store credit. I refuse because the item is in such poor condition and offer him the warranty information. He gets angry and tells me he wants a nail gun. Then he tells me "you start callling Wal-Marts until you find one."

So I start calling. Four Wal-Marts later, I tell him what I knew in the beginning. No nail guns.

Then he goes "Why can't I get a credit?"

"Because this item has obviously been used. It is in a very poor condition. If you find the receipt we will take it back. Otherwise, we're happy to give you the manufacturer's warranty information."

He goes "But I work in construction. I leave the box open. It gets dirty." And that has precisely what to do with the question?

He yells at me "Thanks for nothing." And then walks off.

Fifteen minutes later the phone at the Service Desk rings. It's him. I answer and he yells "I don't want to talk to you. I want a (expletive) manager." I page for a manager and hang up.

Then I leave for my lunch. When I get to the back, I see someone else who tells me that he called all angry wanting to know why he couldn't return that nail gun. The manager told him that when he found the receipt, he could return it.

So when I get back from lunch, who's up at customer service? This guy, with a receipt dated May 12. Which is just within the 90 days.

So he used the nail gun for 74 days. Used it until it broke. Then returned it and got his $110 dollars back. And he had the receipt all the time.

And he got all angry at me for nothing. Because I was doing my job? Trash. I hope he nailed his hand.