Retail Mock Interview
Practice 30 Retail interview questions covering customer service, sales scenarios, and team dynamics.
Question 16 of 30
The credit card machine is broken. What do you say to the customers?
Entry Level
Experienced
How to Answer
Example Answer
Community Answers
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"I am sure that you have the policy to follow for a situation like that. My first instinct would be to let the customer know that we value their business and if they were willing to take out cash to pay for their purchase, we would give them a small discount to offset the bank fees and inconvenience."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"The last thing we would want, in a situation like this, is for customers to walk out of the store without a purchase, because of the credit card machine. If possible, and in alignment with store policy, I would use the manual credit-card imprinter, making a carbon copy of the credit card and later submitting it to the bank. I would give options for the closest cash machine, and I would suggest putting items on hold with the customers' cell number so that I could call them the moment the machine was back up and running."
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
This question is situational-based, and the interviewer is looking to see if you have the ability to problem-solve, even in high-pressure situations. Show that you can troubleshoot while remaining helpful to others.
Rachelle Enns is an interview coach and job search expert. She works with candidates to perform their best in employment, medical, and post-secondary admission interviews.
"If we had a broken credit card machine, I would first try to restart the system. A reboot will usually fix a point of sale quickly. If that did not work, I would call the company to see what they could do on their end. In the meantime, I would give customers options on how to pay, or ask to put their purchase on hold until the situation was worked out."
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Anonymous Answer
I am sure that you have the policy to follow for a situation like that, will be trained for that.
Based on previous experience, I would first try to restart the system,
apologize, and advise other payment ways-cash-nearest ATM or
put the product on hold-instead of walking out without a purchase.
Rachelle's Feedback
Great thinking! I like that you give the nod to the company's policy/training while also displaying confidence in your problem-solving ability. The fact that you mention not losing the sale is a great value-add to your reply :)
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