Pet Peeves of retail workers

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

The past two months or so I have worked in retail for the first time. In that very short amount of time, I have lost alot of faith in the human race, and also developed some new pet peeves:
-being demanded a discount becuase something had dust on it
-people dumping stuff on my counter, and continuing to shop
-being belittled by some bitch on a power trip
-people shopping on their lunch hour, then yelling at me becuase they are late
-returning stuff that obviously isnt from the store
-the phrase “the customer is always right”. The customer is always wrong and annoying!
-Having to do a price check, and then being yelled at by the customer becuase they are not happy with the price
-Peolple who ignore the “we are now closing” announcements
-Mother fuckers who act like my sole purpose in life is to be their personal servant
-having to tell people what the combination to the bathroom is when it’s posted right on the door!

Ugh. I have to work tomorrow. on a sunday. I’m sure I can add to this after work!

2

Well, I put my time in as a retail worker, and I can understand the frustrations with that generally underpaid job. But I’m not sure I agree with some of your complaints. So here’s a response from the customer’s viewpoint:

-being demanded a discount becuase something had dust on it
Why should I pay full full price for a dirty item? And isn’t keeping the stock clean part of your job?

*-people dumping stuff on my counter, and continuing to shop *
Maybe if your store had some shopping baskets handy…

-being belittled by some bitch on a power trip
Annoying, but get used to it. It’s just part of the job. And you get to make fun of her, after she leaves.

-people shopping on their lunch hour, then yelling at me becuase they are late
I doubt they are yelling about being late while shopping. It’s when they have to wait in line at the checkout counter that they yell at you. If your store had enough staff, like putting on extra people at lunch hour, you wouldn’t make your customers late.

-the phrase “the customer is always right”. The customer is always wrong and annoying!
Maybe, but how long would your job last if there were no customers?

-Having to do a price check, and then being yelled at by the customer becuase they are not happy with the price
You have to do a price check because you (or someone in your store) failed to mark the price on the item in the first place. If the price was on the item, customers would not yell at you if they were unhappy with it, they would just leave it on the shelf.

-having to tell people what the combination to the bathroom is when it’s posted right on the door!
So why do you have a lock on your bathroom door? It’s rather pointless, if the combination is posted right there! If you left the door unlocked, you wouldn’t be annoyed by these questions, so it’s your own fault.

And how does your store get away with that–I think it’d be illegal for a public facility to do that here.

In fact, working in retail will bring you into contact with hundreds of people every day.
Some percentage of them will be real pains. Get used to it!

If you let the jerks get to you, it will make the job so stressful your health will suffer. If, instead, you think of it as an opportunity to accumulate funny stories about “the latest idiot I had to help today”, you will find your job much more enjoyable. And it certainly won’t be dull!

3

Well, I put my time in as a retail worker, and I can understand the frustrations with that generally underpaid job. But I’m not sure I agree with some of your complaints. So here’s a response from the customer’s viewpoint:

-being demanded a discount becuase something had dust on it
Why should I pay full full price for a dirty item? And isn’t keeping the stock clean part of your job?

*-people dumping stuff on my counter, and continuing to shop *
Maybe if your store had some shopping baskets handy…

-being belittled by some bitch on a power trip
Annoying, but get used to it. It’s just part of the job. And you get to make fun of her, after she leaves.

-people shopping on their lunch hour, then yelling at me becuase they are late
I doubt they are yelling about being late while shopping. It’s when they have to wait in line at the checkout counter that they yell at you. If your store had enough staff, like putting on extra people at lunch hour, you wouldn’t make your customers late.

-the phrase “the customer is always right”. The customer is always wrong and annoying!
Maybe, but how long would your job last if there were no customers?

-Having to do a price check, and then being yelled at by the customer becuase they are not happy with the price
You have to do a price check because you (or someone in your store) failed to mark the price on the item in the first place. If the price was on the item, customers would not yell at you if they were unhappy with it, they would just leave it on the shelf.

-having to tell people what the combination to the bathroom is when it’s posted right on the door!
So why do you have a lock on your bathroom door? It’s rather pointless, if the combination is posted right there! If you left the door unlocked, you wouldn’t be annoyed by these questions, so it’s your own fault.

And how does your store get away with that–I think it’d be illegal for a public facility to do that here.

In fact, working in retail will bring you into contact with hundreds of people every day.
Some percentage of them will be real pains. Get used to it!

If you let the jerks get to you, it will make the job so stressful your health will suffer. If, instead, you think of it as an opportunity to accumulate funny stories about “the latest idiot I had to help today”, you will find your job much more enjoyable. And it certainly won’t be dull!

4

And I have an issue with your issues, t-bonham@scc.net.

It doesn’t matter what the customer is frustrated about or whether or not there’s a legitimate reason for the frustration - yelling at, insulting, demeaning or otherwise being rude to the employee is never, ever called for. People seem to lose a lot of their manners when they go into a store - or else people just don’t have manners.

5

All too often, people look down on those who perform services for them, i.e. Retail workers, waitstaff, garbagemen. I suppose some people find it easy to look at them as menial laborers; subordinates there to take orders without question. The fact is, they’re people, too. They’re performing a service for me of their own volition. Granted, they’re getting paid, but that’s all the more reason not to treat them like slaves. Construction worker or CEO, I am no better a person than they are and vice versa. It doesn’t take a humanitarian to treat humans humanely. I’d add a few more adjectives, but I can’t think of any other words that begin with ‘human’.

Besides, a friend of mine works for (a major supermarKet chain). He has a story of a ‘customer’ changing out feminine hygene products and neither purchasing the fresh item nor cleaning up the used. Ick. I feel nauseus just thinking about it.

6

I have always been told that store bathrooms are not public property, they are owned by the store. But I have always wondered about that.

7

Magayuk, I think why they say it’s not public property as in it’s only for actual customers. Not just somebody who had to go to the bathroom and just decided to use theirs instead of looking for actual public ones.

** t-bonham@scc.net** what you said is true, I can see from the customer’s point of view, & I know how frustrating it is for them in certain conditions, but it doesn’t make it easier on the employee.

I mean I would also want my frustrations to be heard, but I’d rather talk, not shout, to the manager or customer complaints counter (or survey paper)… because I know that the employee behind the counter is not at fault for certain things (not liking the prices, understaffed=more waiting in line, an object I need is not on the shelf due to backorder or lateness in delivery).

The employees would be happier to serve you if you show them that you respect them like you do other people.

8

Sorry, your Username hyperlinked automatically…

9

Don’t get me started!

10

And always remember… there is NO need for the customer to get naked in front of you, rub their tinglies in public, try out flavored lube in the store, or stalk you!

What a world we live in…

11

The bathrooms at the store where I work are labeled “for employees only” but we’ll let people use them to try on clothing, and whenever we’re feeling nice. I’ll always let anyone with a small child use them.

We also have shopping baskets, stacked right by the front door, but people will still load up their arms, drop the stuff on the counter and then keep shopping.

More peeves:

People who come in five minutes before closing, say “Oh, we’re just looking” and proceed to wander around the store, oblivious to the employees shutting down registers and staring longingly at the clock.

People who apparently believe that making a story longer will convince me to make an exception in their case. You’re more than welcome to keep talking-I’m here for the same amount of time no matter what I’m doing-but once you’ve been told to talk to the manager, there’s nothing I can do to help you.

I have no psychic abilities. I’m sorry, but I don’t. I really can’t say if that shirt will fit the toddler you have in mind, or your brother in Arizona, or, in one very memorable occasion, whether that grill cover will fit your relative’s barbecue pit.

12

Do I need therapy from my many years as a porn peddling clerk at an adult store? I…

think… I…

do.

13

Hi y’all,

as a proud manager of Walgreens, I can tell you that some customers are f*g annoying, like a toadler in a tantrum. It becomes especially true when the customer misread the labels.

example : we have generic drugs, usually called WAL-something where you save a couple of bucks compared to the real product. So we have labels advertising it, saying “you save” with let’s say, “$1.00”. So what’s happenning? At the register the f*g blind and illiterate customer bitches because the product is not riging at $1.00 … So you take all your patience not to scream “IT"S WHAT YOU SAVE ! DUMBASS!” and explain one more time to deaf ears what it’s all about…

other example : “buy more and save”. The item is $2.99, but if you buy 2 it’s 2/$5.00, rewarding the quatity buy. Well, they want 1 for $2.50, even if the label is very clear…

As a neighborhood store you know your good customers, the only-coupon-sales chasers and the assholes bitching paranoids (and there is often a correlation between the last 2…). I always reward my good customers, even giving them prices when they don;t ask. Because they’re nice with me, all the time. And they’re good customers.
The others? I follow the law. if the labeling is in their favor, I give it to them. if not, they have a nice smile :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

So ** sandalfeet ** best wishes to you. retail ain’t a sleek consulting computer desk job. but you can get it to be very interesting. and we DO have nice customers.

I Think of this very nice 98 years old lady that comes walking do her shopping (she more in shape than me!), this mother of 4, always asking very nicely for the restrooms, or this guy, a little bit simple, but very friendly coming regularly in the photo department… I’m here for them.

Well, it’s sunday, I got to go to work :wink:

14

Since I work at a Pharmacy (not in a shopping mall), we close at the time we do. The manager gets one of the floor employees to lock the front door 5-4minutes before closing time. We announce that the store is indeed closing: to head the cashregister, and we close 1/2 of the lights.

Of course, you’ll always have a rare breed that would come in through the exit door (as the customers are leaving) saying it’s an emergency and turns out he just wanted chips. grrrr…
Or those that run to us (as the small group of employees left gather around the manager outside as he locks the doors for the night) that plead to open then doors.
“Sorry,” we say.” The pharmacist is already gone, so it’s against the law to reopen the pharmacy. Why don’t you head down to the next street where there is another Pharmacy that opens till the wee-hours of the morning."

15

i never yell at a retail workers or anyone a like.
even IF they do anything stupid, all i may do is just feel frustrated. Most of the time they feel bad themselves for doing things wrong, so i just give them a break, no ones perfect.

If im in a hurry most of the time ill help myself, instead of asking for help.

16

People who get to the front of the queue, watch you scan their purchases and place them into the bag, and then wait till you ask them for the money before they start rummaging in their pockets/bag for cash, sure ly they realised there was gonna be a need to pay?

Not quite retail, but from my time in McDonalds, people would often stand in line waiting to be served when we were busy, then only at the end of their 5 minute wait, when they get to the front of the line and you ask them ‘can i take your order?’ do they start looking at the menu, as if it wasn’t visible while they were waiting, the thing is on a huge lit up panel, which they have been staring at for 5 mins but didnt think to start thinking about what they were going to order.

phew, rant over, go about you business.:smiley:

17

I’ve never had anyone demand a discount on something because it was dusty. I have had people ask for discounts on clothing because it isn’t their size, however, and that baffles me. Dust, while sort of a petty thing to be irritated by, is something that I could have taken care of. I can see that. But I can’t alter the fact that the clothes don’t fit the person. Shouldn’t they really be looking for something that does fit in the first place?

As far as locked bathrooms go - I don’t think that stores are required by law to provide bathrooms, because, as stated above, they’re technically private property. However, I’m not surprised that people don’t read the sign with the combination on it. It’s been my experience that only about 10% of people ever read signs, regardless of what the signs say, where they are, what size they are, or the rest of it. So you’d better get used to that one, sandalfeet

18

Such behavior is indeed uncalled for. But it’s really just part of the retail world. You really have to be able to stand that – if you can’t get beyond the rudeness of (some) customers, you should find another field. Because you’ll never be able to stand it in retail.

19

You think that bugs you, think about the people in line behind that idiot!

I once had a McDonalds worker (a nice white-haired lady, probably in her 60’s) who dealt with this situation by saying nicely “Oh, don’t rush, sir; you just take your time and decide. Meanwhile I’ll take care of this man behind you while you’re looking.” And she did! Only time I’ve ever offered a tip in a McDonalds!

20

Urgh. I get people asking for discounts for dusty things quite often. While I understand the customer not wanting to pay full price for something that’s dirty, I have to take issue with the “Isn’t it your job to keep the stock clean” comment. At the clothing store I work at, we sweep every day, and every day there are dust bunnies the size of your fist under all the clothing fixtures. I am not joking or exaggerating.

Retail clothing shop get insanely dusty, huge quantites of clothing are being moved (and shedding fibres) all the time, and the only way to keep anything from getting a little dusty is to dust it all the time. I don’t have time to do that- there’s a woman at the cash shouting at me and five others waiting for changerooms. So I do sympathize, and generally give a 10% discount, but it’s a bit irritating to have someone point at a very tiny dust mark on a black shirt and say, “It’s dirty! Can I get 50% off?”

Most of our customers are quite nice and polite, but we do have occasional scary and rude ones. One of our regulars was attempting to bond with me today- poor soul, she’s got “needy” practically written on her forehead, has a shifty expression, returns things all the time, and divulges personal details to us because she figures salespeople are polite to her because she’s so charming and friendly, and not because we’re paid to be.