[quote name='Kuros']Allyourblood: As another retail employee speaking up here, since the online order has already paid for the item, they are entitled to it. It's pretty much the same concept as a reservation on a game, or slipping the maitre de a 20 so he will get you a really nice table.
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i'm not really arguing who
should get it, at least from each customers' point of view, but rather what should take place at the store in that situation. i'm siding with the average employee, and why he'll have an easier time giving the sale to the instore customer versus the online customer.
put it this way, Kuros: you're at a yard sale: you and another customer see a video game tagged $5, and you both want it, but approach it in two different ways:
you pick up the game and mosey around the yard, looking at other items before you complete the sale: the other customer walks up to the seller, hands them a five and asks for the game. it's literally in your hands: do you point out to the seller that you were already holding the game and preparing to purchase it, or do you relinquish it to the other buyer? anyone who claims the latter is just lying to themselves. it's in your hands, it's as good as
yours.
my point being, we don't know from the story how long the customer in the store had the items, or how long ago the person online paid for them. the person in store may have had them in-hand half an hour prior to the online purchase. just because the item is paid for, doesn't mean the online customer automatically deserves to go home with it. i don't know where everyone here lives, but in general, in America, people just don't "put up" with that kind of logic. not because they're dicks, but because it's unreasonable and that way of thinking is far too absolute.
possession isn't really nine tenths of the law, but the adage definitely applies here, and in real life, it tends to dictate the outcome in these types of situations.