At what age can one technically shop and be considered a
customer? So, here’s the scenario: I was at a local craft store and in line
behind a mom and her son. He was
probably 9 or 10. Anyhow, he was buying
a Star Wars model to assemble and had a 50% off coupon. While we were waiting, I was chatting with
him because Gav has the same model.
When it was his turn, he sat his purchase down, along with
his coupon, and waited to be rung up with his Batman wallet in hand. The cashier asked the mom if she also had a
coupon and she replied she did. The
cashier then went on to say that only one of them could use a coupon, because
he wasn’t old enough to shop alone. The
store policy is only one coupon per customer per day and he wasn’t considered a
customer because he wasn’t old enough to be one- never mind the fact he had
money in hand. The boy sighed and told
his mom he’d wait to buy his model. His
mom asked if she could pay for her stuff and wait outside while he paid, and she
was still told no. The boy insisted it
was no big deal and his mom bought her stuff, telling him she’d have his dad
bring him back later to buy the model. I
even asked if I could buy it, but because I too had a coupon, it didn’t make a
difference.
When it was finally my turn, I asked the cashier how old one
has to be to be considered a customer.
She said she didn’t know, but if a person can’t drive yet, they probably
aren’t old enough. Being slightly
annoyed by the situation, I told her my mom doesn’t drive. Knowing that, does that mean she isn’t a
customer? You could tell she was getting
flustered and was glad my purchase was bagged so I’d leave.
On the way out I met the boy, his mom, and a friend she ran
into in the parking lot. Guess
what? Friend was buying the model with
the boy’s money and coupon, while mom watched from the door. The cashier still tried to refuse it! At that point, I was about to buy the kid the
model myself just on principle, when up came the manager. Amazingly enough with a manager standing
nearby, the cashier dropped the issue, rang up the model, took the coupon, and
cash.
I guess my whole issue with the scenario is here we have a
mom who is teaching her son by example about managing money. It wasn’t like she was trying to commit some
huge coupon fraud or hoarding 50 bottles of ketchup. And I’m still annoyed by the fact I never did
get a real answer on how old one has to be to be considered a customer.
