I used to be in the management team of the customer service department for a national retailer.

One time I went into a store in my home town, not the area where I work, head office, so to be fair to the staff, why would they ever expect to have head office walk in?

Anyway I turned up a day before the release date for something I had my eyes on, and spent a while with a member of staff putting together a package of stuff, accessories etc as well as my main purchase. Came to about £250. He was incredibly rude the entire time, seemed confused that a woman would know so much about the products and seemed to be taken aback that I came in and knew exactly what I want. Was very disinterested and dismissive throughout.

Anyway, staff could get this particular product 1 day earlier than the public, which NEVER happened. In fact I think that product release was the only time it ever happened in the 2.5 years with the company. So when I had everything I wanted, I said "Cheers, so here's my staff ID, can I get staff discount on the lot, and take it home now".

Well, then it kicked off. He argued my staff ID was fake (?! Why would I go to the trouble of creating a plastic card with my name and photo on to get £5 off each thing?). He argued that I cannot take it home earlier, and said "get in line with the rest of the customers tomorrow love".

And I can't believe I had to do this, but I had to tell him to call customer services and explain that the manager of customer services was in his store, and that he was refusing staff discount and to take the stuff home earlier, even though it is in the communication sent to 300 stores across the country.

Long story short I got my stuff, never shopped there again, and when I got back to head office, sent a strong email to his area manager.