"Karen" > wrote in message
...
On Jul 10, 1:39 pm, Mark Thorson > wrote:
> If this isn't the most absurd situation I've seen
> in a checkout line, it's close. Maybe it ties with
> the kid who threw the phoniest temper tantrum I've
> ever seen in front of a doormat mother who obviously
> lost control of her kid when he was very young.
>
> There were two Chinese women in front of me, an
> elderly one and a middle-aged one. The younger one
> was translating for the older one, and as it turned
> out, she didn't know her. She just volunteered to
> translate, because the older woman didn't speak
> any English at all.
>
> As I stood there and learned more of the story,
> it appeared the older woman was trying to return
> a watch battery. She had the original packaging
> for the battery, and the watch that the battery
> was put into, but the problem was that the battery
> was inside the watch. Nobody knew how to get the
> battery out of the watch, and the clerk didn't want
> to give a refund without getting the battery back.
>
> Fortunately, the clerk rang up my bottle of beer
> and can of olives while the women were making their
> case for a refund. I don't know how it was resolved,
> but I did give the poor clerk a smile in sympathy
> with her dilemma.

The counter people who sell batteries for watches will not remove or
replace the battery unless you sign a waiver saying they're not
responsible for damage if they open up the watch. If they even offer
that.

Karen

------------------------------------------------------

One clerk destroyed my watch by squeezing the sides where the buttons were
so hard that he broke the springs in the buttons. I had no recourse and
would have had to pay to have the springs replaced, and I didn't know of any
other repair shops, so I threw the watch out on a matter of principle.