Edd Mills’s Blog

Retail really does bring out the most interesting people in society. I say interesting, socially inept is probably more the phrasing, but there you go.  For a while now, we’ve had this Asian guy coming into the store quite regularly. He always came across as a bit gay to me and always gives me a wave when he comes in and leaves (which is horribly disconcerting to say the least.)

However, the other week, he came in and told me that he had left his card in the chip and pin reader. If you’re unsure about the chip and pin system, it’s basically how we accept credit card payments; the customer inserts their card into a little reader and inputs their pin number before removing their card. All too often, people forget to take their cards. I do my best to remind them as I hand over the receipt but I’m only one man!

So, he came up to my till and the conversation went a little like this (For the purpose of this, the Asian man will be known as Mr. Blue):

Mr. Blue: “Errrr okay I don’t speak very good English. I have err lost my card.”

Me: [I ask him for details from the card, when he lost it etc.]

Mr. Blue: “It was err last week, it is blue!”

Me: Okay, I’ll just ring up to the admin office to find out if we have it.

So, I phone up the office and give over his details who reply that they did have it, but it has been sent back to the bank because he took so long dragging his ass back to the store to pick the thing up (What did he do without his debit card all week?)  So it came down to me to explain to the guy what had happened to his card. Why is it me that always ends up with these jobs?

Me: “We’ve had to send your card back to the bank because you didn’t come and pick it up within a week. You’ll need to go to your bank, tell them what happened, and request a new card is sent out to you, alright?”

Mr. Blue: (Looking completely bewildered) “Errr I um don’t speak err very good English. Can you err say that again more slowly?”

Me: “Your card, is gone. We sent it back to the bank. You need, to go, and get a NEW card.”

Mr. Blue: “You have my card?”

Me: “No, we had to send it back to your bank, you have to get a new one”

Mr. Blue: (Looking even more confused) “It is blue!”

Well to be quite honest, I almost laughed in his face. “It is blue”. Oh how I had to control myself. I actually had to tell him that it was “Destroyed” and do scissor cutting actions with my fingers on an imaginary credit card. I’m not too sure whether he caught on to what had actually happened but he went in the end.

Oh how I laughed. “it is blue”; what a fantastic response to being told that your card has gone.