Tipping is not required for delivery. It is certainly a nice thing to do, but the shoppers/deliverers are getting paid for their work. Tipping is a bonus and in most cases means less to them than having a good rating/feedback on the software.
I’ve been filling in at the gas station for a couple days for a co-worker who is out on medical leave (she got mugged leaving her shift and broke her wrist, as well as having the crap scared out of her). Here are a couple of gas station stupidities I encountered, some of which overlap with retail in general.
Ladies who have artificial nails so long and thick, combined with teeny tiny purses/wallets with tight compartments resulting in someone being unable to extract money/ID’s/whatever from said purses/wallets.
If you know you look so young that you are likely to be carded for tobacco products, to the point you lean over the counter and ask “You’re going to card me for the tobacco, aren’t you?” have your proof of age ready. Seriously. Don’t leave it in the car. Maybe the gal I’m filling in for knows you as a regular but you can’t count on the counter people being your old friends because this is retail and schedules change. After I say yes, I’m going to card you don’t turn to your companion and announce “Hey, I need you to buy some Swisher Sweets for me” because I am not allowed to sell tobacco to someone else knowing they’re purchasing it for someone who is/might be underage. Yes, I know it’s hotter than hell out there and walking to and from the car is going to be miserable (and that was no hyperbole yesterday, it was horrible), but girl, you are an adult and you know better.
I have discovered that regular/heavy lottery players have a jargon all their own. Mumbling this at high speed makes filling your order a challenge. Don’t get pissy when we repeat back what you asked for. We’re not doing it to annoy you, we’re doing it to make sure you get what you ask for.
No, young man, we do not sell weed. That is the next state over, 5 miles that way, and not until next year. We are, however, happy to sell you as many snack food items as you desire.
Had a young guy show up asking for our cheapest lighter, which comes to $1.06 with tax. He only had 88 cents. He then asked if he could use one, then bring it back when he was done. :smack: No, you can’t, please put that back on the display rack. (He then went from car to car out by the pumps asking for a light. Because asking someone to flick on an open flame while re-fueling struck him as a really good idea or something.)
OH, and a long-standing pet peeve. When I can’t hear someone and I say “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that, could you say it again a little louder?” WTF is it with the people (usually, but not always old ladies) who then leaner closer and whisper the repeat? Sort of the opposite of “please speak louder”. Seriously, WTF is up with that?
Re ID for credit transactions:
Note that in most cases, merchants cannot (and therefore hopefully do not) require ID for a signed credit card. It’s part of the merchant agreement. Exceptions include places like UPS, who are taking something from you and shipping it, and therefore have a different relationship than simply selling you something.
Which doesn’t mean that clueless management hasn’t told cashiers to check ID for some/all transactions, so don’t yell at them if they do.
My pet peeve is stores rearranging the produce section constantly. I don’t mean for seasonal–that makes sense. I mean when they decide to move the lettuce from the left front to the right rear, apparently just because someone was bored.
I fail to see how this is good for anyone:
- makes the stockers have to relearn where to put stuff (with attendant errors)
- makes regular customers have to search for things that they were there to buy already
- does nothing good or bad for non-regular customers
I understand theories about “Make them tour the store so they buy more stuff”. But within a single section? I’d like to see some data that supports “rearranging increases sales”. If it exists, I’ll shut up. But I’ll still be irritated.
I bet one of those drug stores rhymes with BVS, right?
I often stop at the local Stater Bros. on my way home from work to pick up a necessity or two. I get off work at 10:30 p.m., and Stater Bros. closes at 11:00 p.m. Pretty sure they DON’T want me spending extra time in the store. They really ought to change the layout every night at about 10, so that when I get there (usually about 10:45) I can find my stuff and get out…
Yeah, that one mystifies me too.
Yesterday this guy came in and asked for cigarettes. I asked for his ID. It had expired the day before. Sorry, no can do. I’m not allowed to sell to anyone with an expired ID and my district manager was standing right behind me. Not that I would have done it, but really now.
Had a kid come in about a month ago with his girlfriend and try to buy tobacco. His girlfriend was underage, so the manager who was at the register refused him. He goes outside with the girlfriend, walks in with another friend who was old enough. Didn’t even get to the register when I yelled “NO” and we started laughing at him. Just fucking dumb.
Yup, I stop people and tell them to wait while I get the last couple of things they said. Some of them get pissy about it. Too fucking bad. I can’t remember all of the 8 different things you rattled off in 5 seconds and I’ve learned my lesson in printing off the wrong on-line games.
And I really, really, REALLY FUCKING HATE scratch-off players who walk up to the counter, sigh heavily and start looking over the possible games. Especially when there’s a line of people behind them. NO, I’m not going to allow you to stand at my register for 10+ minutes slowly picking out scratch-off cards during the height of the after-work rush. No, I don’t give a fuck if you get mad and stomp out saying you’ll complain about me or never come back. Fuck off and go away with that shit. I’ve probably had a half-dozen people say they’ll complain to corporate about me in the last year and you know what? Corporate has never come to me with any customer complaints.
Had a guy walk into the store a couple of months ago and ask me for a plastic bag. Proceeded to pull out a bag with about a half pound of weed in it and put it in the bag I gave him. Then go out in the parking lot, hang out and try to sell it. I had to go out and tell him to GTFO store property or I’d call the cops.
Yup, heard that a few times.
That’s where I completely ignore what they’ve said and move on. Most of the time they don’t say anything more.
Previous store I worked at didn’t have any parking spots directly in front of the store due to the small-lot layout. I had to tell morons they couldn’t park in the clearly marked NO PARKING ZONE in front of our doors several times a day. No, I don’t give a fuck if you’re just buying a soda or a pack of cigs. I give negative fucks if you’re just coming in to use the restroom and not buy anything. You don’t get to park 4’ from our front door because you’re a lazy, entitled motherfucker.
If you’re hanging around the store for 20-30 minutes and keep walking back and forth down the same aisles, or worse, every damned aisle, you’re fucking shoplifting. You know it, I know it. Don’t pretend you’re waiting for a friend or have time to kill. Don’t get mad when I and my co-workers start mysteriously having to ‘work’ in every area where you’re walking until you leave the store.
If you keep looking at me while you’re walking around the store, you’re fucking shoplifting. Try to be less obviously guilty.
No, we’re not going to break that $20 or $100 bill for you without you buying anything. We had a rash of counterfeits last winter and we’re not a fucking bank. Likewise, don’t walk up and ask me if you can ‘buy’ rolls of quarters. We get them for change, not for giving them away. Again, we’re not your bank. Conversely, don’t ask me to accept your rolls of coins in payment. I have no idea if there’s actually $10 in quarters in that roll or only $9.25.
For ID silliness, I once had a guy produce a letter from the Israeli embassy, and try to use that as proof of age to buy alcohol. He really wouldn’t take no for an answer either and kept claiming it was as good as a passport.
Chimera, I managed to convince several of the security guys in multiple local supermarkets that I was shoplifting- I used to work security myself, and I always automatically checked who was there in case it was someone I used to work with… Turns out this looks very suspicious, especially if it’s a guy who looks really like a former co-worker, so I looked for several seconds, but isn’t. Oops. Got followed round the whole store every time I went, but didn’t think an explanation would help.
One store that I shop at often has some items that are in stupid locations. Like some of the pet stuff (some cat & dog treats, cat litter, dog leashes, fish & fish tank supplies) is in the very front of the store on one side of the store. While, the other pet supplies (dog & cat food, some more treats) is on the other side of the store, in the grocery section, near the back.
Also, for a long time, feminine hygiene products were in the grocery section across from the milk. I use to work for the card company in this store, and I was asked several times where the pads/ tampons were. They have since been moved closer to the other health & beauty section.
Another weird thing about this store is that some of electronics/ office supply stuff is in the very front of the store, while most of the stuff is in the back.
I guess whoever designed the step up this store wanted shoppers to have to walk throughout the whole store looking for items they needed in hopes they would buy other stuff. There has been talk that the store was going to be remolded for at least the last 10 years.
Layout that irrational would prompt me to take my business to competing stores with filing systems that at least looked like a rational being had put even a few seconds’ thought into the matter, rather than letting a drunk chimp throw darts to decide what went where.
If it’s cooler section, some parts of the cooler aren’t functioning correctly (too cool or warm) and they’re moving the produce to accommodate that. If it’s the shelf areas, I’ve seen fruits moved around for sales or when they’re not planning to replenish the stock, moving them to a smaller section.
Otherwise they’re just messing with you! 
Co-worker: If the one dollar bill has MOVIE STUDIO MONEY printed in a banner across the top of the bill it is NOT a real dollar bill. *>sigh< * Yes, I know, no one every really looks at a one, but still…
It has been added to our collection of Things To Look Out For, part of the training for new cashiers.
Conversely, I had to convince a customer yesterday that yes, those are real $10 bills and yes, they are orange-ish. I didn’t just hand you three fakes.
But then, I’ve had a fair number of recent immigrants/refugees and the occasional tourist ask me what their coins are worth. Had to point out that the gold coin the size of the quarter was not another quarter, it was a dollar coin. (And tell another, No, your five nickels won’t pay for that cup of coffee.)
Some of those things can be valuable collectors’ items. I’d be happy to be paid in them for face value.
I used to be there quite often with no problems, but now when I go to the site I get “malicious site” warnings. I usually go there anyway, but it is disconcerting.
I’m a librarian, although my branch doesn’t get a lot of action for books, we’re always full of people using the public computers. We’re a very small, single room building, and you can see every computer when you walk in the front door. At least twice a day somebody walks in and asks me if we have any computers available. I always have to stifle the urge to stand up and broadly gesture to the clearly visible computers right in front of us. Do you see any computers that aren’t occupied? Well, there’s your answer.
We also sell cheap-o ear buds for a dollar. Kids buy them like candy. I have no idea why they don’t just keep the ones they bought the day before. They go through them like kleenex. The ear buds come in four colors: red, white, blue, and pink. I always ask them what color they want. Yesterday a kid asked for the pink ones, then reconsidered after I handed her a pair. She asked me “What do the white ones look like?”. That’s…kind of a question that answers itself.
Egnu, is there a time limit on computer use at your library? Ours used to be hard to get to, even though we have a lot, because folks would camp out on the for hours at a time. Now there is a three hour daily limit, and you have to be a registered library user. You enter your code and when three hours rolls around it cuts you off. People still bitch about it, even though time warnings show up on your screen. And if you come in for the first time at one hour before closing,** NO, YOU DO NOT GET TO STAY TWO HOURS PAST CLOSING!!!**
Baker, we don’t have a daily limit. You’re guaranteed an hour, and if nobody else is waiting in line you can stay on as long as you like. You do need a library card to use the computers, but I have a couple of guest cards for people visiting from out of town. The whole operation is run through a central computer, and if there aren’t any currently open computers, you can log in to that and make a reservation for the next available one. That’s when the hour time limit kicks in. If there’s a waiting list of reservations, the first person to reach the end of their hour gets kicked off in favor of the next person in line. It does give you a time limit warning, but nobody ever pays any attention to them.
Thankfully, the computers automatically shut down five minutes before the library closes. Of course, despite the fact that we close at the same time every day, and make closing announcements 30, 15, and 5 minutes before we close, we still occasionally get the patron who rolls up to the checkout desk at one minute til closing who wants to check out a stack of books and videos despite not having their library card with them. When you look it up (providing they have ID), it will invariably have expired five years ago, and they have $350 in fines from lost items. This person is invariably “close friends with the mayor”, and will be indignant if we don’t stay there half an hour past closing straightening out their mess and cancelling all their fines.
I don’t know why people don’t have their credit or debit card out before they come to the register, or at least check to make sure they have easy access. I’m no fan of ringing up a bunch of merchandise, then having someone say “Oh, I left my wallet in the car.” I have to stand there doing nothing while you go get it.
While the half dozen or more others in line are glaring at the cashier as if it’s his/her fault. Some registers do not allow suspending the transaction so the next person in line can be helped, people!