英语小故事第347期：The Refund (2)

The checker called the bag girl over, who went back to aisle 4 to do a price check. She returned shortly; $5.32 was indeed the correct price. The checker gave Delbert 64 cents to cover the overcharge and the tax. He told her that he thought he was supposed to get the item free if Ralfs overcharged him for it. She said, “Oh, we don’t do that anymore.”

That figures, Delbert thought. Just before he got to the store exit, he saw an assistant manager. Delbert asked him about the overcharge policy. The man said, “Yes, for most items, if you’re overcharged, you’ll get the item for free. Let me get the manager for you.”

When the manager arrived, Delbert explained his situation. Silently, the manager looked at the receipt and then asked for Delbert's 64 cents. The manager went to aisle 4 to check the price tag. He returned to Delbert about five minutes later. He gave him $5.32. Delbert thanked him. The manager said “You’re welcome,” but he didn’t say it in a friendly manner.

Delbert didn’t feel sorry for the manager, the clerk, or the store. Their overcharge policy wasn’t posted anywhere for customers to see. The employees knew nothing about it, or else were told to keep quiet about it. Delbert had spent way too much time over the last 15 years trying to figure out Ralfs’ tricky and confusing price tags. They owed him a lot more than $5.32 for all his wasted time over all those years.