There’s been a lot of good things said about customer service in Japan, but at the end of the day, the staff are all people too, and equally capable of being pushed over the edge in certain circumstances. Just ask the 22-year-old convenience store clerk in Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, who was arrested for assaulting a customer.
The incident took place at a Lawson store at 8 p.m. on July 25 when a 73-year-old man came in to buy a can of beer. While paying at the register, the customer told the clerk that he didn’t want a receipt, but the clerk handed him a receipt anyway. This angered the customer who then threw the receipt back at the clerk, in turn angering the clerk and triggering a heated argument.
While words were exchanged, the clerk knocked over the customer’s beer can and as things escalated they moved into the backroom of the store. While there, the clerk allegedly assaulted the customer. The extent of the assault isn’t clear but according to reports there was punching involved.
Police arrived shortly after and arrested the clerk for assault. The condition of the customer and his beer are unclear but both were believed to be free of serious injury.
The receipt game in Japanese convenience stores is surprisingly complex, making it difficult to establish who’s ultimately at fault here. Many stores still have clear plastic sheets hanging over the counter which can make verbal communication somewhat difficult and also makes it very possible that the clerk misheard or simply didn’t hear the customer.
The sheets were introduced during the pandemic, and a few stores continue to use them today.
Moreover, most convenience stores have little plastic boxes that you can simply toss unwanted receipts into right at the register. A majority of 7-Eleven stores take this one step further and have the register automatically spit out the receipt, leaving it up to the customer if they want to take it, and letting it fall into a plastic bin if they don’t. In this way, getting an unwanted receipt is hardly a headache for customers these days.
And on top of all that, it’s becoming increasingly common for convenience stores to print coupons for other items onto receipts.
That being said, it’s also entirely possible that the clerk simply wasn’t paying attention. There have been incidents in the past of in which elderly people have expressed dissatisfction with certain aspects of convenience store shopping, sometimes leading to violent outbursts, so it might very well be the case once again.
As a result, online comments have been mixed over who is to blame for this altercation.
“Don’t they have a little basket for unwanted receipts?”
“Always asking if someone wants a receipt is annoying for both people. All stores should do it the 7-Eleven way.”
“It is kind of strange for the clerk to hand him a receipt after he said he didn’t want it.”
“If you don’t want it, throw it away yourself. There’s no excuse for throwing it at the clerk.”
“Why did they go in the backroom? Did the customer work there too?”
“He’s demanding too much quality from a part-time worker.”
“I used to work at a convenience store and the customers can get really arrogant at times.”
“Of course, he can’t accept the cursed receipt. He would die from it.”
“I think the heat is getting to everyone.”
Regardless of the details, in the end, it’s probably fair to say both men crossed a line at certain points during this incident. At least with the advent of self-service convenience stores, there ought to be a decrease in customer-staff violence. Granted, there’ll probably be a sharp rise in customer-machine violence, but we’ll deal with that when the time comes.
Sources: Kobe Shimbun NEXT, Hachima Kiko
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- Japanese convenience stores showing “hardening of society” with touch-screen age verification?
-- Register Rage: Osaka City Official Arrested for Allegedly Punching Out Register’s LCD Display
-- How to use Japanese convenience store Lawson’s self-checkout terminals
- External Link
- https://soranews24.com/2023/07/30/convenience-store-clerk-arrested-for-punching-customer-over-receipt-in-hyogo-prefecture/
29 Comments
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sakurasuki
If anyone ignore that cashier giving away receipt, cashier just automatically put that receipt in their garbage can.
Paul
The world is getting crazier and crazier. Global conflicts are on the rise and people everywhere are on the edge. Future is not looking good!
Dango bong
I was a bit annoyed they didn't give me a spoon with my yogurt, but then again I didn't ask for one. Oh the burden of modern day problems can be so stressful.
shogun36
Please update us on the beer’s condition as soon as possible.
aaronagstring
shogun36Today 07:17 am JST
I gather it was a bit shaken, but still full of the fizz of life…
Trapped
At least the clerk didn't let him leave the store then call the cops claiming that the customer had stolen the beer. No receipt to prove his purchase.
La vie douce
"There have been incidents in the past of in which elderly people have expressed dissatisfction with certain aspects of convenience store shopping, sometimes leading to violent outbursts."
Its always the oyajis casuing trouble, I,m sure this one was particularly nasty for the clerk to snap. How hard is it to treat frontline staff decently?
kiwi07
I blinked in surprise last week when I only bought a bottle of wine and the clerk asked me if I wanted a straw with it.
Speed
If a customer says they don't want the receipt, don't give it to him. Basic common sense and courtesy. It's called good service.
John
Lawson is generally a bad store with poor service. I once waited in a line long time. When it was my turn, the clark closed the counter and moved to other one and started calling customers from that line. After 2 customers he didn’t asked me. I got angry as i belived the old clark did that because i am not a japanese. When i complained to the lawson company, they said because it was after 6pm that cashier was self cashier. It wasn’t 6pm when i was there he served other customer by taking about 30 min and time passed 6pm. Since than i have not been in a lawson shop over a year even though there are 2 of them near my place.
Hercolobus
I always say that people are looking for ways not to be happy or to start an argument. Their sense of self-righteousness overpower their thinking abilities.
virusrex
It is not difficult at all, the person that escalated things to physical violence is at fault.
CaptDingleheimer
Well played. Good writing.
opheliajadefeldt
The condition of the customer and his beer are unclear but both were believed to be free of serious injury................Thank dog for that!! I was a bit worried that the beer spilled all over the floor.
Sam Watters
If the customer followed the clerk to the back of the store, then the customer is at fault. If the clerk dragged the customer to the back room….highly unlikely….then the clerk is to blame.
OssanAmerica
Glad to hear the beer was not injured.
timeon
As a beer lover, I must correct this article: judging from the price, that was not beer, but the foul-tasting, horrible beer-like thing concoction (happoshu)
jforce
Everyone has a bad day. Being a clerk in a convenience store is not easy with all the riffraff and annoyances coming in. I side with the clerk.
Martimurano
I hope the store-clerk is charged and prosecuted for his unacceptable violent conduct - why he thinks he's entitled to use physical violence against another human-being in any circumstances is a mystery which the judge will no doubt look into before jailing the thug. Uncivilised behaviour like this must be addressed seriously, a single-punch can often turn out to be a fatal blow, and the suspect then faces a murder or manslaughter charge...... this young man must learn to keep his fists to himself at all times.
Jim
It seems that the writer of this article has done their best to make the store Clerk look like innocent despite the fact that he assaulted a person! In many sentences you can read how the writer tries to give excuses for the store Clerk despicable actions! The store Clerk was at fault in this situation from the very beginning to the end! The customer had already told him that he didn’t want the receipt but despite this the store Clerk forced the receipt on him! Convenience store customer services are really getting bad in Japan! I hope this violent person gets a real prison sentence instead of the crappy suspended one!
falseflagsteve
What a terribly queer affair. Dunno about that plastic sheet part, not seen one of those unhygienic is and annoying things for donkey’s.
Amagasaki can be a bit lively don’t you know, few rough areas around there. Not keen on that area myself and theres a few crackpots and piss heads about. Wonder if the old boy had been on a bender that day or something like that, lol
Lepyon
The beer can was shaken by the frothy incident, but was not thought to be "ale"-ing after things came to a head in this "draft" encounter.
timeon
Later edit: forget my comment about the receipt, looking more carefully at the photo, it has nothing to do with the story, it is a receipt for ice coffee from May 2018, from a Lawson store in Shinjuku Sanchome
raincloud
@Speed
By that same token, if the guy gives you the receipt anyway, don't have a tantrum and throw it at him. Just smile and toss it into the bin. It's called not being a psychopath.
njca4
I wonder how many beers the old guy had drank before the arguement started ... Alcohol always plays a big part in people losing their tempers (me in the last too, I'm no saint).
kurisupisu
A lot of clerks these days are foreigners.
Was there a case of the old guy taking out his frustrations on the clerk due to this?
CarlosTakanakana
Yea the receipts are annoying, but worse are the stickers. C'est la vie.
Yohan
I always accept receipts in stores, even in case of small amounts, and throw them away after arriving at home.
This helps to prevent being accused unintentionally of shoplifting.
starpunk
Absolutely ridiculous, and even a little laughable. The clerk could've just tossed the receipt in a recycler, yet some receipts also have coupons and discounts for the 'next time'.
And it came to blows, over this! DUMB on both parties' part.