Members Hotblack Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 I know that some HCBF members are working in retail stores and have to deal with the general public. Now that Christmas shopping season is here, they are dealing with larger crowd and more absurd behavior than normal. I thought it might be nice to give them a place to vent. Please, share some of the more trying experiences and sights of the holiday season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Renfield Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 I work for a supplier, so deal with the retailers at this time, it's not the same, but they can get right testy too. I often take a PT job iin retail for the holidays to help pay for Xmas, I am not this year but wish I had, money is SO tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wanderlusterer Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 Okay so I'm not in retail but I've gotta say that after going with this morning's experience, that people should do at least one thing. Take a {censored}ing shower. Some people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkee1 Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 Well you all know of my struggles. I have to help people find CDs that are in Alphabetical order. Every day for the last two weeks, someone has come in exasperatedly searching for the new Zac Brown Band CD. These individuals are amazed when I walk right up and find it in the first spot under "B" cause they had been looking under "Z". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Funkee1 Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 Okay so I'm not in retail but I've gotta say that after going with this morning's experience, that people should do at least one thing. Take a {censored}ing shower. Some people. What's worse is those weirdos who do not shower, but then douse themselves with cologne. That mixture gets stuck in my nose for hours! Jeebus, if you're not gonna bathe, just do that. Don't add cologne to an already funky body!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cpt. Spliff Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 When I started in retail, I was told that the customer's always right. In my book, the customer's always wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members has-sound Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 My business is strictly internet and believe me, folks can be much worse via email than face-to-face. All in all, this season hasn't been so bad. Maybe it's because business has been so down? Damned economy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Roger in the sky Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 im off to a jewelry store im pulling shifts at, so i should be back in about 6 hours looking like this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xOriginalNinjax Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 I'm soooo tired. We only had (believe it or not) 1 irate customer today. He came in almost 4 hours after we opened (knowing it had been that long) and was yelling at our Assistant Store Manager (as well as every employee he could find) about the fact that we were out of our $350 laptop. We literally had 19 of them, and had people line up at 2 AM to get them...but yet he wanted one, but wasn't willing to put out any effort for it....people are SO FREAKING STUPID. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jonathan_matos5 Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 i am a merchandiser (i restock shelves) so i do not really deal with customers, but i have about 4 supervisors that often contradict each other so that us annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sugarskull Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 I friggin' hate retail. People think that because you're behind a till that gives them the right to say anything to you including threatening your life. The only thing worse is banking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members db. Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 I'm soooo tired. We only had (believe it or not) 1 irate customer today. He came in almost 4 hours after we opened (knowing it had been that long) and was yelling at our Assistant Store Manager (as well as every employee he could find) about the fact that we were out of our $350 laptop. We literally had 19 of them, and had people line up at 2 AM to get them...but yet he wanted one, but wasn't willing to put out any effort for it....people are SO FREAKING STUPID. People. You gotta hate 'em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members P-Lyte Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 I spent many Christmas seasons hawking cameras at a specialty photo shop. I remember one irate customer who was demanding a cash refund but only had a photocopy of the receipt. As with most retailers, cash refunds were available with the original reciept only. The manager was offering him store credit but the customer was refusing to leave without cash. Tired of the customer making a scene during a busy time, the manager went in the back room, photocopied a bunch of $20 bills and said "Here's your cash refund. Now get the hell out of my store." Of course the manager got in a ton of trouble for it, but the customer had it coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thunderbroom Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 Every day for the last two weeks, someone has come in exasperatedly searching for the new Zac Brown Band CD. These individuals are amazed when I walk right up and find it in the first spot under "B" cause they had been looking under "Z". My band is doing "Chicken Fried". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members greenshag Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 not too shabby, extremely busy, but very few complaints, and none that I have not been able to resolve to the customers satisfaction, all in all, a damn good day IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flogger59 Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 I friggin' hate retail. People think that because you're behind a till that gives them the right to say anything to you including threatening your life. The only thing worse is banking. I have done both. One Christmas I took a flier on a customer who wanted a Ric, like John Lennons, so I ordered it with NO DEPOSIT! It finally showed up, I called him (a lawyer), and he showed up with a bimbo on each arm, paid cash in hundreds, and left me one as a tip. That was a good day. Working customer service for a credit card during the holidays was torture. I don't care if you think that you didn't spend $5k yesterday and ruptured your limit, YOU DID, and I have the details right here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guttermouth Posted November 28, 2008 Members Share Posted November 28, 2008 mrs guttermouth works in retail. needless to say we both start dreading the holidays about the first week in october. she'll average 65 - 70 hours a week untill january.i might as well be single for the next month... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t3ch Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 I got out of retail last year around november... Man it's nice. I friggin' hate retail. People think that because you're behind a till that gives them the right to say anything to you including threatening your life. The only thing worse is banking. I worked retail for several years and we would on occasion have people badmouth the cashiers, who are usually high school girls who are just there making a few bucks, and we would more or less put their items behind the counter and ask them to kindly GTFO before we had the cops escort them out. We've had people make pretty elaborate threats/wishes toward employees, and we didn't tolerate that {censored} at the stores I was at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Renfield Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 I got out of retail last year around november... Man it's nice. I worked retail for several years and we would on occasion have people badmouth the cashiers, who are usually high school girls who are just there making a few bucks, and we would more or less put their items behind the counter and ask them to kindly GTFO before we had the cops escort them out. We've had people make pretty elaborate threats/wishes toward employees, and we didn't tolerate that {censored} at the stores I was at. More than anything when I took a retail job to kill time between tours I always took it under the agreement that I don't do cash. Customers are amazingly nice when they need you to recommend them something, or need help finding something. They typically don't become asshats until they reach for the wallet. That and it's nice being the big guy on the floor. It's me that gets to give the beat downs to the shoplifters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Detox Posted November 30, 2008 Members Share Posted November 30, 2008 Life was hell during the holiday season when I managed the restaurant in a swanky department store. Had to get up extra early and then put up with all the gripes from customers and employees alike during the "Breakfast With Santa" thing we did. Not to mention the throngs of screeching little urchins. After that a call from two of our druggie waitresses, announcing that they wouldn't be in that day due to getting too loaded the night before, waking up in their car, and noticing that they were 250 miles from the store. Then getting pounded with customers all day, and having to fend off an itinerant group of retirees who would show up without warning, sing their barbershop-quartet Christmas carols right in the doorway of the restaurant, and generally gum the works. Being on salary, I ended each day washing dishes for two hours after the dishwasher guy left for the day, because I wasn't allowed to work him more than 40 hours a week (store had an anti-overtime policy). I got so sick of that {censored} that I gave our maintenance guy a free half-pound burger and fries to disconnect the frigging muzak speakers in the restaurant that blared "Deck the Halls" all damn day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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