Retailer Asks If They Owe A Military Spouse The Military Discount

This is a rare r/AmItheA–hole where I don’t really agree with the commenters, but it’s definitely outside my area of expertise.

Redditor u/zeus_thunderc–k is a retail worker who lives in an area with a lot of military personnel and I do not, so the issue of who does or does not deserve a discount has never come up for me.

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Here is their perspective:

The store the OP works at offers ten percent off to service members. Technically, they’re not supposed to give any discount to spouses, but some of the OP’s co-workers ignore this rule and do it anyway when they feel like it after someone says they’re a “dependent of a service member,” or a “dependa.”

“I don’t because I’m a bit worried if I don’t follow the rules I’ll get in trouble,” the OP says. “My manager is write-up happy.”

This became an issue when a woman asked for a military discount and the OP asked to see her IS or proof of service:

She told me she was entitled to the discount as the wife, daughter, and sister of service members. I told her my store only applies the discount to those who were enlisted and served. The woman got upset and said that every other time she’d been in she’d been given the discount and she didn’t see why this time should be different. I told her the policy, even showed her the handbook where the policy is listed.

The woman told me it wasn’t her problem and that I need to honor what had been given every other time she’d been in. I told the woman she wasn’t entitled to anything and I wouldn’t be giving her the discount. The lady cussed at me as she left.

Was I an a–hole for just not sucking it up and giving her the discount?

The vast majority of people in the comments thought the OP did the right thing and many of them were service members themselves. They said they never asked for the discount or at least never at small retail places.

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Others said that the people who ask for discounts are the absolute worst:

Except I kind of agree with these hesitant detractors, who point out a lot of military families are not doing great financially. It can also be hard to hold down a job when you’re moving around a lot which many of these families do, too:

It seems like the wife or spouse would be the person shopping for the family in general, too, so the discount benefits the service member anyway. It’s understandable the OP didn’t want to risk their job, but I don’t think it’s such a big deal to give someone ten percent off. What do you think?

More customer service jobs:

Retail Worker Asks AITA For Refusing To Give A Discount To A Military Spouse, Debate Erupts

Here is their perspective:

This became an issue when a woman asked for a military discount and the OP asked to see her IS or proof of service:

The vast majority of people in the comments thought the OP did the right thing and many of them were service members themselves. They said they never asked for the discount or at least never at small retail places.

Except I kind of agree with these hesitant detractors, who point out a lot of military families are not doing great financially. It can also be hard to hold down a job when you’re moving around a lot which many of these families do, too:

Aimeé Lutkin