Retail Record

The End......at least for now.

2006-12-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

My new job is working out EXTREMELY WELL. My bosses seem to be just the right balance of hands-off while still directing. One is a little too concerned about making sure I'm comfortable with every step of the learning/doing process. Perhaps I should explain to her that the way I become comfortable with something is by doing it, even if it IS uncomfortable to start with.

I've had a big hand in the hiring. Being able to interview people with resumes and education is a nice change from high school students with no job experience. I've interviewed some very nice and competent people but also some really weird ones. I'm hiring only good people--no employees whose best quality is that their bodies are warm. I'm also planning on being proactive with hiring to avoid being stuck short-handed at critical times.

I had to sign probably a half-dozen agreements: confidentiality, non-compete, non-disclosure, etc. No non-blogging agreements, HOWEVER…….the nature of the business does require a level of privacy that the old one didn't. If someone did find me out, anything I wrote could severely impact the reputation of the business, perhaps in an irreversible way. In this business, reputation and trustworthiness of the staff are paramount. Even in the short time I've worked here, the owner has been entirely too good to me to risk all the time, money, and effort that she's put into the business over the last months even before opening.

I'd like to continue writing, but I don't see any way to do so without jeopardizing the privacy of our clients. Some of the situations I've already encountered are really private and no one's business, yet I have to know in order to perform the services for our clients. I'm trusted not to reveal the intricate details and problems that led them to need our services in the first place.

While anonymizing things, changing details, etc. could possibly work to protect the identities of the clients, there's still the issue of not disclosing our practices. There are a lot of company-specific terms and abbreviations that I've had to learn, so one mis-written word would make it obvious to those within the business that there was someone among them revealing company secrets and sales techniques. Even if if was in an anonymous way, I could be potentially hurting the business/my boss/a lot of other people with my writing.

So, I guess this is goodbye. I'll continue reading blogs and occasionally commenting, but writing one.....not at this time. I've enjoyed getting to "know" everyone. Have a great holiday!

No homework for me!

2006-12-04T15:25:00.000-08:00

I'm at a training conference. My boss gave me notes to review to "help" me with the training. Tonight's homework assignment? Her notes, nearly word for word. Guess who's going out on the (small) town tonight?

Goodbye Party

2006-11-24T11:07:00.000-08:00

About half the employees showed up to my goodbye party......the ones who liked me and I liked them. The person hosting the party may have even *forgotten* to invite a couple of employees who should have been fired weeks ago (if Boss had any kind of backbone).

We talked, joked, ate, drank (non-alcoholic drinks only, as the party was IN the store), and generally just had fun together. It's a tradition to do a late-night party for good employees when they leave. It's also a tradition to do bad things to the cars of aforementioned employees. Guess where I parked? RIGHT IN FRONT of the store where a quick glance outside could confirm that my car was SAFE and not being filled with packing peanuts or wrapped in saran wrap or having goofy things written on the windows or being wrapped in streamers or any of the other things that have been done in the past.

Everyone behaved inside the store, too. WOW! We had fun while still being grown-up! No water balloon fights or shaving cream explosions or ice down the shirt or anything along those lines. A nice goodbye. Bittersweet, but nice. Some really creative/cute stuff was written in the card and I received several funny gifts. A hug from Duh Boy, who will be leaving as soon as he confirms another job. We had some good times together.

I can't help thinking that it's Black Friday and they're all working with neurotic customers while I'm enjoying a Th-F paid holiday from New Job. I considered going out in the madness to shop, but my cozy home is so much nicer!

More Customers

2006-11-19T18:56:00.000-08:00

My last few days on the job were pretty smooth. However, as always, there were some customer issues.

One customer was upset because I wouldn't refund an item. The item was visibly used but the customer claimed she hadn't even taken it out of the package. Sure. I offered a store credit anyway. She didn't have a receipt and the packaging was over a year old, so I COULD NOT give a refund. That was unacceptable to the woman. Anything other than cash was "disgusting. Isn't there a manager around?" I'm a manager. "Well, then you should be able to refund my money NOW." Not without a receipt. "Who keeps receipts? That's ridiculous. I want to call someone RIGHT NOW!!" I gave her the corporate number and she wanted to use the store phone. I refused. That line is for INCOMING calls. Not letting her use my phone was "disgusting," too.

Another manager with her high maturity level threw something at an employee and it bounced off the employee and grazed a customer. Brilliant. I was next to her when she did it so the woman demanded both of our names. Great....that'll sound real good. "I'm outraged! Your employee THREW SOMETHING AT ME! It HIT ME!" What's the employee's name? "There were two girls, A and B." It just happened to be A's last day....maybe she was getting back at the customer.....let's not ever hire her again. Not that I'm planning on working for them again, but the door is/was open for that, and it's so stupid if the lady lumps me together with the immature manager.

Customers

2006-11-16T18:38:00.000-08:00

A woman stormed up to where I was straightening a shelf and whined, "Can't you open another register?" I glanced at the front and the lines were growing so I went to the front to open the register. The woman jumped in front of a couple of people who had been waiting for longer but they weren't paying attention so I went ahead and rang her. She had only one item, which she had a coupon to get free. She failed to read the small print that said "customer is responsible for sales tax." She had NO money on her so had to return to her vehicle and hold up the line still further.

Another woman was on hold for far longer than she should have been…..it was busy, an employee was on break, the nephew's friend was AWOL, and when I finally got around to the phone call (after attending to the customers IN THE STORE first), the woman complained about the wait and then asked her question, "How much are the {mumble mumble mumble}?" The what? "The e-nun-ci-ate eve-ry syl-la-ble. NEVER MIND" {click} So, why did she stay on hold for so long, then?

Not My Problem

2006-11-10T19:14:00.000-08:00

With one week left before starting my new job, I still arrive and leave on time, take my normal lunch break, and do my normal hard work, yet I don't want to start any involved projects or expend any extra effort. Even the routine tasks……I want to leave them in good shape so that my replacement doesn't have extra work, yet I have a strong feeling (having worked with her before) that she won't stay on top of things like I have. Why leave things in A condition if she'll keep them in C- condition?

My mindset towards problems has also changed. Things that used to annoy me and make me want to tear my hair out don't have the same effect because I know that before long I'll have a different set of things to deal with but with a more enlightened boss/company.

Customer upset because we've gone 8 consecutive weeks without a popular item, despite all manner of begging on our part to the vendor rep, corporate, and anyone else who will listen to try to get some of the item?

No longer my problem.

Vendor Rep G comes in and throws a fit about Product G not having the same amount of shelf space as the more popular Products A, B, C, D, E, F, and Q through Z and apparently because of some obscure contract language we have to give them equal space, yet that contract doesn't change the fact that we DON'T HAVE ANY space to give to them?

Not my problem.

Corporate institutes REALLY STUPID new way of doing necessary task?

Also not my problem. If they cared about their employees the way they say they do, they wouldn't even think of doing it this way. It will take about 3~4 times as long and be a ROYAL PITA this way. What were they thinking?!

Fat Girl gets progressively stinkier while also doing less and less each shift, but we can't get rid of her (Boss says) because she's cheap to pay and at least she shows up for her shifts?

Not my problem. (Unless I suffocate from the fumes in the next week. That's a possibility. But my breath-holding skills are up to a record high, so maybe I'll survive.)

New guy quits without notice and a junior manager is talking about leaving and there are NO decent applications AT ALL?

DEFINITELY not my problem!! I've been telling Boss for WEEKS that we need to hire people, primarily to get rid of Fat Girl and have some backup if someone gets sick or, what do you know, it's retail, QUITS WITHOUT NOTICE!!

Nephew's friend CANNOT tell time if his life depended on it, while discipline problems continue because he knows he's untouchable?

Not my problem.

MOST DEFINITELY NOT MY PROBLEM!!

LAG Returns

2006-11-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

I am trying REALLY HARD to be positive during my last two weeks on the job. But in the 1.4 seconds that it took for the news of my departure to spread, other dissatisfied employees flocked to me.

One of the junior managers (formally known as "Duh Boy") thinks it will be "weird" with me gone and is thinking about leaving the store himself. He often knocks heads with another of the senior-level managers (my level) who is well-known for being a hypocritical bitch.......I've had to intervene on several occasions because I was afraid things were going to come to physical blows. With me gone, it might be full-out war between the two.

Another employee came to me with a problem about how the shelves are being stocked. "Have you heard that I'm leaving soon?" Yes. "OK, so tell Boss because I can't do anything about it." Which is how it's been all along, really.......as essentially a shift manager I can only do so much while I'm working. If Boss doesn't care and doesn't do anything about sub-standard work on ALL shifts, then trying to change standards on just my shift is pointless.

LAG is returning to the store to fill my position. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA She originally left the store because she couldn't get along with the hypocritical bitch manager (HBM). LAG and I had our difficulties, but we acted like adults and took problems into the office and rationally discussed them until we came up with a solution. Sometimes the peace was tenuous, but we acted professionally most of the time.

LAG has a very strong personality that I GUARANTEE will rub lots of people, both customers and employees, the wrong way. How Boss thinks LAG and HBM will function as equals when Boss provides no leadership......I see a total staff change coming soon. And I don't think staffing will become stable again until either LAG or HBM leaves, or Boss leaves and a stronger or more involved manager comes to run the store. This should be very interesting……I'm glad I won't be around to witness it firsthand!! I'll have my spies update me on the progress of the war. : )

My New Job

2006-11-03T19:51:00.000-08:00

Continued from Why I Quit

I gave 2 weeks notice to a very surprised Boss. Under normal circumstances I would have given a month, considering my management position, but two weeks is expected and perfectly adequate and I'm ready to be gone. The first thing out of her mouth was, "Was it something I did?" Oh, how I wished I could say everything I wrote in the previous post. But don't burn bridges and all that. So I replied, "No, it's just time for a change and there have been a lot of little things lately and I think I could be more effective somewhere else." OK, so I got a little dig in. I wasn't sure if she'd accept the 2 weeks notice…..in our store usually employees are allowed to work the 2 weeks, but in another region there are rumors of managers being shown the door upon resignation.

What I wrote yesterday is what I've been considering for the last couple of weeks since a very appealing job opportunity fell into my lap. I wasn't looking for another job and hadn't seriously considered leaving, despite the escalating problems. But when a family member recommended me for a job in a completely different field but one that I've worked in and enjoyed before, making more money than I'm making now, with a different kind of stress (perhaps less?), more vacation days, paid holidays, more respect, more input into important decisions, better (although similar number of) hours, almost no physical strain/danger of throwing out your back/cutting off a finger/falling off a ladder/etc........I had to apply. (Downside: longer commute.)

After reviewing the rules for cover letters and resumes, I sent my info in. First came the phone interview, then the real interview, which lasted nearly 90 minutes. Then the tour of the facilities, and finally the background check, credit check, criminal record check, driver's record check, contact of references, confirmation of former employers, blood type, mother's maiden name, kindergarten teacher's fingerprints, and whatever else I signed they were allowed to do. FINALLY I got the call for a "lunch meeting." That's code talk for "salary negotiations." Fifty applicants, and I got the offer. When I want to sell something, I sell it.

It's a start-up business so there will be a lot of work involved, but I'm up for the challenge. There's also some risk that it could go under, but after examining the business model and meeting the owner and director, I don't think so. I'll be working with educated people instead of just the warm bodies that I'm sometimes forced to employ in retail. I'll go through an actual training program (in another, very-cool, near a good friend's house, state) instead of a guessing game as to how the higher-ups want things done. The owner would be on the premises much of the time, seeing how things work day-to-day, working and sweating side-by-side with the employees and thus not instituting impossible standards.

I feel the slightest bit guilty about leaving my store just before the holiday season starts. Not necessarily because of loyalty to the company, for it's been neglecting its employees for some time now. But because of leaving my good employees at the most stressful time of the year without me, one of the most productive and competent employees. (Am I vain? Maybe, but also truthful.)

I hadn't told ANYONE at work about ANYTHING leading up to this. It was hard not to share my excitement at each step towards getting the new job, but I knew it wasn't appropriate to share until I had the new job. Then I made sure Boss knew first. Another manager saw me leaving the office with Boss and asked what was up so we told her. By tomorrow everyone will know.

Why I Quit

2006-11-03T19:25:00.000-08:00

I've been getting really fed up with Boss. She is WAY too hands-off. She lets employees get away with everything--calling in "sick" whenever they feel like it, salaried employees coming in late and leaving early, people not doing their jobs yet there are no consequences. By not enforcing standards, managers are left to do a lot of the work that WE SHOULD NOT BE DOING. With proper training and standards, we wouldn't have to re-do a lot of the routine-anyone-can-do-them tasks instead of doing the tasks we get paid to do, like optimizing inventory numbers, increasing sales, merchandising more effectively, and SUPERVISING.

Employees' friends hang out at the store, personal cell phones are used on the sales floor for chit chat, etc. Boss apparently thinks that I'm too rough on employees. But I'm not…I just want them to do the jobs they're being paid to do! Further, she's hired another of the nephew's friends. Just two weeks, and there have already been problems. (And that's not counting the borderline sexual harassment or rumors of drugs. In a drug-free workplace. Right.)

Boss told me that she might be leaving next year. That would give me a good chance of being promoted and doubling my salary for very little extra work, especially since Boss is so disorganized and inefficient that I already do a lot of her work for her. Then she goes over the payroll budget by a MILE so I don't get a full bonus. If the employees weren't goofing off all day, then we could easily stay within budget. But that would require action on her part……to punish and perhaps fire the slackers. That would mean she would be unpopular…..that would be terrible. If I were to get the store, I could clean it up in 3 months, tops. Then again, they could bring someone in from another store or someone from outside the company. Possibly someone even worse than her. There are no guarantees.

Several stores in the chain have closed lately. The employees received NO NOTICE and no severance or anything. We're expected to give notice when we quit yet they can let everyone go whenever they feel like it? It doesn't show much respect for the employees. I do realize why they're doing it like that (to prevent the employees from stealing everything), but what about those with mortgages or whatever........NO notice?!

Further, the company's new customer service campaign is SO STUPID. It would work if we were some high-end store with entry restricted to only those who could afford to pay. But we're a store where lots of people browse, even more parents bring their kids as a form of entertainment, let the kids wreck the store and break things, take up lots of our time, and then leave without buying a SINGLE THING. Providing that level of service to every person who walks in the door is unreasonable.

Then I worked the whole weekend short-handed. One guy misread the schedule and I wasn't able to contact him, another guy called in "sick" (note the quotation marks—rumor has it he was nursing a hangover) and another employee worked a few hours and then quit because she was "too tired" to have a job anymore. (This just in……she quit so she could go to a local amusement park…….wait for it……with her best friend, the other manager—not Boss—who told me TO MY FACE that she didn't know anything about the girl quitting and hadn't seen or talked with her since their last shift together. Lied. To my face. Not cool.)

Retail will always have some incompetence and high turnover because, especially for the front-line crew, the pay sucks. Of course, it's not that great for me, either. Boss is the only one to get decent pay, especially considering what (little) she does.

Some of these problems are unique to my company; some aren't. Some of these problems are unique to my particular store; some aren't. There will always be shoplifters and unreasonable customers who lie to corporate to get free stuff. That's retail, anywhere. Now corporate believing the customer and rushing to chop off heads--that is, I hope, just a my company thing.

Am I willing to put up with all that? For a whole career? For another year, even?

Continued in My New Job

Minor Stuff

2006-10-31T20:31:00.000-08:00

Here's a little bit of the Extremely Minor Stuff that's been happening. I can't discuss the Major Stuff yet. Maybe later. Hopefully soon.

1. A customer thought she knew better than us how to do our jobs and if she didn't get her way she threatened to call a certain governmental agency that could cause us a lot of headaches. I checked with the regional manager, who confirmed that we were doing everything right, so if Miss Know-It-All wanted to call Big Bad Governmental Agency then let her. She wasn't getting her way. No matter what. No. And that's final. So far, no Big Scary Intimidating Official Visit. That's good.

2. We had both an ambulance and a full-sized fire truck show up in our parking lot. Crazy lady had been sitting in her car for so long that someone thought she was having a heart attack and called 911. Later she finally came in to shop, spending her normal three hours touching everything, moving things to where she thought they should be, and spending THIRTY MINUTES writing her check……I am NOT EXAGGERATING!!

3. We had a 3-page letter come in from a customer detailing how wonderful we are and how pleased she is by our service and how she will always shop with us from now on and never with Major Competitor because we're so much better. A copy went to our company president…..way to go us!

4. And finally, a strange bit…..specialty stores carry their specialty items. We are not a grocery store or a general store. We are a SPECIALTY store. People come in and ask for the STRANGEST things—duct tape, batteries, snacks, TV guides, band-aids……what do they think we are?!

Off Topic

2006-10-30T20:38:00.000-08:00

Have you ever repeatedly translated a phrase from one language to another in one way and then met someone who translates it a different way and you think that while both translations make sense and are accurate, that knowing both translations adds something to the meaning of the phrase? Yeah, that happened to me today. Exciting. Thought I'd share.

Impatient and ???

2006-10-30T19:10:00.000-08:00

Another impatient person today. There was a short line (2~3 people) for the one open register. The impatient woman wanted another register open and was being quite vocal about it. She acted like anyone can open any register at any time whatsoever. No. Employees can only open registers that they've been cleared for or assigned to. Sharing of registers is a big no-no.

I went to the customer service counter to open a register. The lady complained about having to walk 10 feet. I cleared some paperwork out of the way and took more time than required to open the register. I signed onto the main menu, signed off the main menu, went into the payroll menu to see who was working today, then into the register menu. She continued to mutter under her breath as I rang her items.

When I told her the total she couldn't find her money. She searched through her purse as the other cashier began checking out the final person in the other line. Finally she found her money and paid. When I returned her change her hand was like a limp rag and she dropped the coins. Then she stared at me like I was disrespecting her. I apologized and when I returned her bills I placed them in her hand more carefully yet she still held her hand so the money would fall right off. I applied pressure to the money until she grabbed it. She had a disgusted look on her face and told her daughter that she was never shopping with us again. ??? I am SO confused!

A "Return"

2006-10-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

STUFF continues. For now, stories I've been saving up:

I was called to the front to process an exchange. The woman acted REALLY suspicious. She had no receipt and had already gathered the things she wanted to exchange for the item. She had figured it out nearly to the penny, already knowing that we don't give money back without a receipt, but also determined that she wasn't paying anything. At first she owed me a couple of dollars so she had me take off an item and then add another of her smaller items on until she ended up owing me 5 cents.

The item she "returned" was a bulky item with a medium-sized price. The cashier couldn't remember if the woman entered the store with the item or not. Usually I have people leave returns in the front and only THEN go and gather what they want instead. It would have been very easy for the woman to pick up the "return" as she was gathering the things she was "exchanging" it for. That cashier MUST pay better attention to the doors!!

New Post Coming Soon......

2006-10-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

I've been busy with Stuff. Will be back soon.

Price Changes

2006-10-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

Price changes are a PAIN. It seems they're constantly changing; I see inflation in action all the time.

Gas prices went up, so vendors charged fuel surcharge, so prices went up. Then gas prices went down (slightly) but vendors continued charging fuel surcharges so prices stayed level.
A popular item was constantly sold out, so the company got greedy and upped the price so much that demand decreased to practically nothing. So then they lowered the price considerably.

Each time prices change, something gets missed. Maybe we change the price on the shelf but miss it on a special display. Or perhaps it's an item that is priced individually so we re-price most of them but miss a few that are cross-merchandised in another section. Very few customers realize the pricing error until AFTER the transaction is finished or until they get home. Then there's the trouble of doing a return and reselling the item at the price listed on the shelf, then changing the shelf label.

My wish: change prices quarterly or better, twice yearly, as needed. Any more often than that, and it gets out of hand.

Confidential to George

2006-10-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

Apparently you have never:

Had someone steal an expensive item, bring it back and demand a refund, then pitch a fit when the refund was refused. Then literally pitch the item itself AT YOUR HEAD for refusing the refund.
Had the power go off with only 2 cashiers in the building and a line that grows to more than 10 people in each line before the power (and cash registers) resume, and listen to the curses, threats, and blame the whole time, despite doing your best at getting prices for 20,000+ items and calculating by hand the whole time.
Had someone break into your store 10 minutes after you left for the night.
Had drunk, drugged, or mentally ill customers who tried to hurt you, sexually harass/assault you, steal merchandise, urinate in an aisle, run the cash register themselves, walk around the store yelling at their "friend," aggressively panhandle right outside your door and refuse to leave until the police arrived, ran full-tilt with a cart and shoved it into the plate-glass window, shattering the whole thing……….shall I go on?
Had counterfeit bills used (and deducted from your paycheck, as the office sees fit).
Had counterfeit traveler's checks used (see above).
Had stolen checks or credit cards attempted to be used, then getting yelled at because you asked for ID. Of course, people with non-stolen checks or credit cards yell at you for requesting ID, too.
Had people pitch a fit because their credit card was declined, "It can't be declined! I'm going to sue you! It's your fault! You made it be declined!"
Had forged coupons used, then when we found out and stopped accepting them, getting yelled at for that, too.

I'm glad you live in such a safe universe with such nice and non-violent customers. I don't. Forgive me if I'm a little cynical.

To respond to your comments:

1. I said I tried to extricate myself from the life story. The customer WOULD NOT ALLOW me to leave.

2. A person who has not bought anything from my store after 5+ interactions is unlikely to. They are not a customer. They are a time-waster and CHEAP.

3. Nowhere in my job description does it say that I have to laugh at stupid jokes. Do you expect me to laugh at racist jokes, too?

4. How many hours is your store open for? I bet mine has yours beat by a mile. Do you sleep at your store, too? So you can serve anyone who stops by and is "just looking, thanks" at any time, day or night?

The computers that I am required to use for EACH AND EVERY SALE take about 20 minutes to start up and a couple of minutes to count into and later about 10 minutes to count out of and 20 minutes to close. After they're closed for the night, I can not restart the system, NO MATTER WHAT.

So say I let someone in early--ignoring the security risk of having my safe open with someone in the store--what if they're ready to check out before 25 minutes has passed? Do you think they're going to wait patiently until the computer is ready? No….been there, done that. And an after-hours sale? Even if I broke the OWNER'S RULES and recorded a sale by hand to enter in the computer the next day, it's just entirely too dangerous to have someone in the store that late. There have been WAY too many robberies in the area lately from people who "just want one thing." They can wait until the next day to get that one thing. It's not worth the risk to the employees or the store.

Wow. I sure feel better. Because, you know, that's what this blog is for me......a way to release stress. You should see the comments and letters I get from customers praising the job that I do each and every day. The good customers don't need to be written about. They were pleasureable interactions but don't make for very good stories. The bad customers........the things I can't say to them, I write. Here. And thus relieve my stress and feel so much better. The bad customers, they make for good stories. That's why this blog is full of them. Make your own judgement about the job that I do or my suitability for my job. My boss, my boss's boss, my employees, and most importantly, I myself know the value of my work.

Good vs. Bad: Auto Repairs

2006-10-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

Recently I took my vehicle to get its oil changed. A day or two later someone pointed out a huge pool of liquid under the vehicle. I checked the oil, and it was low. I returned the vehicle to the dealership's service department and they corrected whatever they hadn't done before and replaced the oil. I was getting ready to leave on a 2500+ mile road trip. I don't notice things like pools of liquid under vehicles. If that friend hadn't pointed out the problem, I might have been a couple of hundred miles down the road, in the middle of nowhere and in unfamiliar territory, before the oil warning light came on. I could have been stuck in an area with no cellular service and/or had severe engine damage. I was NOT happy. Having to make TWO trips to the dealership in the final days before my trip does not make me want to visit them again anytime soon.

Another day, I was on the first leg of the extremely long road trip. My travel companion plugged one too many things into the cigarette lighter and blew a fuse. A fuse that controlled not only the cigarette lighter, but also the side mirrors and the RADIO/CD PLAYER. A long road trip with no music? Impossible! Luckily we knew where a {my vehicle dealership} was and stopped by, hoping for a quick fix but realizing that it might take a while.

The person I was traveling with *thought* he could fix the problem himself if he had the fuse. Well, fuses are harder to get to than you would think! An employee from the parts department came out to the vehicle to see if he could determine what size fuse was needed. It took him a couple of trips inside to consult his book before even he could find where the blown fuse was. With some difficulty he changed the fuse. No appointment, a busy service department, and the employee went above and beyond to help us, getting us in and out in half an hour. On top of all that, he refused any payment AT ALL. Then he wished us a good trip before returning to his official job. Impressive! They EXCEEDED my expectations. Unfortunately, this dealership is too far away for me to visit regularly. But not too far away to consider using when I need a new vehicle.

Good vs. Bad: Department Stores

2006-10-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

I walked into a {mid-range department store} to return an item. Though it was in the store's bag and I had a receipt, I was hesitant to go into the store very far with the return. I walked to the unattended service desk, pushed the "help" button, and waited. And waited. I looked around, saw not a single person, and waited.

Finally I saw some sign of life from the far side of the store so walked toward the movement. I found two associates who were talking about their weekend plans. When I approached, they stopped talking and one offered to help. As she did the return she talked, and talked, and talked. She commented on my recent purchases. She asked about the store where I worked. She talked about the weather. I wasn't interested in talking. I had a long list of errands to do and then I had to go to my store and do a lot of things there. Yet she talked, and talked. I was not happy with the service because they fell far short of my expectations. I expected to have someone nearby when I entered the store, and I expected to get in and out quickly.

Another day I entered a {different mid-range department store} in need of a single item. I was out of town and the weather had changed unexpectedly and I was in desperate need of a warm jacket. The associates were visible, though helping customers. The jackets were conspicuously displayed and they had something I liked in my size. I very easily found a place to pay. In and out. While I didn't receive assistance from the employees, I could see where they were (and that they were busy) if I did need help. A satisfactory experience. Not great, but satisfactory.

Good Service vs. Bad Service

2006-10-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

I've been on the receiving end of lots of customer service lately. Some was good, some was mediocre, while some was bad. Being at the receiving end reinforced what customers are looking for. I'll definitely keep these experiences in mind when I'm working. To make for manageable reading, I've broken it into three parts.

Hotels: of course you're going to get a better room when you pay more money. The difference between a $40 room and a $90 room is HUGE. (Hint: $40 rooms are a little scary!) But at the cheaper hotel the desk clerk said the room number aloud not once, but twice, with another person nearby. At the moderately priced hotel the clerk gave us directions to the room by drawing a line on the hotel map, circling the room number, and writing it on the bottom of the map. That's the way it's done. If I had been traveling by myself, at the first place I would have refused the room (even though it was the last of its type). With a companion, it was only slightly unsafe, and we were tired.

Restaurants: two nationally known chains, both moderately nice places. At the one with the better reputation, the waiter was overly attentive to the point of being annoying, and then argued over prices when the menu was unclear. The manager ended up revising the ticket, but will I be back? Probably not soon. The restaurant known more for family meals had a waiter who pointed out the specials, warned us that the kitchen was a little backed up, but if we were in a hurry he could speed our order through. No, we're on vacation. No hurry. Take your time. The food arrived just as fast as at the other place, with a clear menu/ticket. The restaurant had better lighting, better food, and was a better experience. The waiter was attentive, but let us have a nice conversation without interrupting every five minutes. I had never been there before, but if there's one in my area, I will definitely be back.

Life Story

2006-10-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

Here's the situation: it was a busy day. No kidding. It's Saturday. Every Saturday is insanely busy with every type of customer imaginable, plus all the crazies who are kept locked up during the week. There were customers everywhere buying lots of stuff so there were lots of empty shelves to fill, things to clean up, etc. in between helping customers.

I was helping a woman, her problem was solved, and it was at the point in the sale where she should proceed to the registers and pay. However, she felt the need to tell me her life story.

Three times.

Every attempt by me to get her to the registers and out the door failed. Her story was so important that she must tell it to me.

Three times.

By the middle of the third time, I stopped responding and just stood there, waiting for her to finish and hoping she wouldn't start on a fourth time. When she finally noticed that I wasn't listening in rapt attention and instead was slouched over, yawning, and dying of boredom, she became angry and accused me of poor customer service. Yeah. Sure. The ten customers waiting for my assistance would probably love to receive ANY customer service if you'd stop WASTING MY TIME!

New Blog

2006-10-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

Several interesting things have happened lately. Now, you know what "interesting" means, right? They make for really good stories, but stories that are so specific to my particular store that I can't share them right now.

In the meantime, check out this blog for the behind-the-counter view from a Pizza Hut in the UK.

Confusion

2006-09-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

I have many confused customers.

One man returned an item because it was "torn" when he bought it. Then he discovered that it was the wrong item and he wasn't sure which the right item was. He wanted to open packages until he found the one that he usually buys. I let him open a couple but then told him that I couldn't let him open all of the packages because no one will buy them once they've been open. (He had NO IDEA which of the 20~30 items he was looking for.)

But really, manufacturers, please listen: See-through packages! They're the thing of the future! Or a picture of the item on the outside of the package! That would work, too. Help make many lives easier by making everyone less confused!

Debit or Credit?

2006-09-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

I was manning a register during a busy period. The customer scanned her card through our machine and then waited while I continued ringing her items. Since it was a small transaction, I didn't need to see/hold the card, though I got a glimpse of it. When I finished with her items, I prompted her, "Is that a credit?" since our machines don't know the difference between a credit and a debit unless we tell them.

"No, it's a discover."

Well, that would be considered a credit!

Other customers with bank cards have NO IDEA how they work. I ask, "Credit or debit?" They respond:

"I don't know. It's an ATM card." OK....debit.
"The bank gave it to me." Right. Do you want to use it as a debit or a credit? "What's the difference?" It depends on your bank. Some banks charge depending on how you use the card. "Well, which is cheaper?" It varies. Bank A charges each time you enter your PIN. Bank B charges a percentage of the sale if you use it as a credit. Bank C doesn't charge at all. "I use Bank D. What's their policy?" I don't know.....I've never had an account at Bank D. {That is, of course, poor customer service to not know Bank D's policy.}
"Debit." Sure. {Hit appropriate button.} Go ahead and enter your PIN. "PIN? I don't have one of those!" So it's a credit? "No! I don't want to use it as a credit." : 0 Well, you have two choices: debit.....or......credit. "Can't you just bill my office?" No.

A14

2006-09-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

Customer: I need {Company A's Product 11} but in a smaller package.

I think: That manufacturer doesn't MAKE that in a smaller package.

I say: Are you sure it wasn't made by {Company B} or maybe it was {Company A's Product 14}?

Customer: Oh, I'm POSITIVE. It was {Company A's Product 11}. I ALWAYS buy it here. It used to be on this aisle but you've moved everything around.

Me: What did it look like?

Customer: Just like this (holding up a package)! Where's the smaller package?! I ALWAYS get it here!

Me: Follow me. Is this it?

Customer: YES! That's it!

For the record: It was Company A's Product 14 that the customer was looking for, NOT Company A's Product 11. Product 14 does, indeed, come in a small package. Product 11 does not. The two products are entirely different and in entirely different packages. The customer never realized that there was a difference. Spaceship? Ship to sail in the sea? They're the same thing, right?

Busy, Busy

2006-09-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday. It's retail. It's busy.

A man came in with a school-aged kid and found all of our shopping carts being used. He shouted out in a disgusted tone of voice to no one in particular, "This is ridiculous! We're going to {Main Competitor}!" Fine. You'll pay more. I could understand the man leaving if he was with a baby or young children where a cart would be necessary just to control the children, but especially to shop. But the school-aged kid could have helped carry stuff.

After they walked out, several employees and customers shook their heads in disbelief. How petty!

Waste of Time

2006-09-22T16:29:00.000-07:00

A woman left a cart FULL of stuff at the customer service desk. She had forgotten a coupon so she wanted us to hold her items while she returned home to get it. "I'll be right back!" she promised.

Two hours later she still had not returned, so we returned everything to the shelves. Five hours after that she returned and was upset that she had to gather the merchandise again. She arrived at the check-out, presented her coupon, and wrote a check....that was declined (due to a history of writing bad checks, though I never tell the customer what the string of numbers translates into).

What a fit she threw!

"My check is good! This is so embarrassing! You HAVE TO take my check because it's the law! I want to talk to a manager! {I am the manager.} Oh. {Pause} What's YOUR boss's name? I want your corporate phone number! NOW! All of this is YOUR fault! You wasted my time because you made me go home to get my coupon! I asked you to hold my stuff but you put it away! That is SO WRONG! Now you WON'T TAKE MY CHECK! WHAT A WASTE OF TIME! I'm NEVER SHOPPING HERE AGAIN!"

Then she stormed out the door. I didn't try to respond to her diatribe because A) she didn't really give me a chance, B) the check-out area was empty at the time so she wasn't disturbing other customers, and C) nothing I said would have made a difference. Talk about a waste of time--after she left we had to put her cart full of stuff away. Again.

Unusual But Good

2006-09-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

Overheard: a mother/grandmother admonished her 6-year-old boy for doing something he wasn't supposed to do. The youngster whined that he didn't do it. The woman replied that another customer reported the bad behavior and she had to believe the grown-up over the child. Now that's a good parent!

Customer Responses to the New Store

2006-09-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

Although it will be some time until we're really finished putting things as we like them, the renovations are officially over. The changes are huge and the customers have lots to say about the changes.

Some responses are extremely positive.

An 8-year-old regular entered the store with his parents. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "What happened?!" He then explored the store with a look of awe and as he left, he told the cashier how much he liked the store.
Customers who were at the store when things were most chaotic have returned with comments like, "I bet you're glad it's over! The store looks really good."
Some customers who missed the chaotic period walk in, stop, and some then walk out of the store to check what name is on the sign. "Am I in the right place?" they think, and sometimes ask out loud. "Wow! Things have really changed!"

Of course there are lots of complaints, too. Some people just don't like change.

"I can't find anything!"
"Why did you have to move the {item}?"
"I liked the store how it was before!"
"You moved the {popular item} to the back of the store?! I can't walk that far!" Now think about it.......from a store standpoint, it makes PERFECT sense to put the popular items in the back so the customers have to walk past the accessories and less popular items to get to and from the popular items. I didn't draw up the blueprints, I can't change them, now STOP COMPLAINING!

Other people are completely oblivious that anything has changed. This is despite the new walls, floors, registers, shelves, color scheme......EVERYTHING! They walk to the area where the {item they always buy} used to be, then look around that area in an attempt to find the {item they always buy}. The fact that they're looking for {books} in what used to be the {books} department in what is now the {refrigerator} department doesn't register in their minds. "Refrigerators, refrigerators everywhere, my book must be in here somewhere."

Associates are still trying to find things. Sometimes I'll ask 3~4 of my people before someone can tell me the general area where the {obscure item} now is. We haven't NOT found anything yet, though. It just takes lots of searching and lots of asking for directions.

Progress

2006-09-10T19:14:00.000-07:00

Two weeks has come and gone and they're not done yet. Much, much closer to being done, but not done. Probably another 3~4 days and the corporate people will leave. Then we can change things to how WE like them!

Progress:

The floor is done.
The painting is done, though they ran out of paint partway through so had to get more and it doesn't quite match.
All of the shelves are in place.
The counters/registers are in place, with much more storage space than we expected.
Many of the products have permanent locations.
All of the dirty tasks are complete so we can begin to clean.

Left to do:

Some of the products are still in carts, baskets, boxes, thrown in a pile on the floor......and there's not much room left to put the aforementioned products.
The office area is quite disordered. Luckily our files were undisturbed. But office supplies? It would be faster to drive to the store and buy new ones than to find what you need when you need it.
MONTHS ago when the store was originally measured, Mr. King-of-Resume-Doctoring measured incorrectly. This led to the blueprints being off (they also weren't to scale and had a pillar and a door in the wrong place), which means we're a little crunched for space and may have to take out some of the planned shelves to be 100% ADA-compliant. That means more homeless items that WE, the store staff, will have to find homes for, long after all of the corporate merchandising experts have moved on to the next remodel.
Learn where everything is.

That last one, I fear, may take MONTHS. I had my pattern down with the old store.....if a person needed an entire set-up, I could lead them from one item to another in the most efficient way (especially the older customers who have trouble walking). Now we go to one item in the front, them go to the back, then all the way to the other side, then back to the front corner, then into the middle.....I apologize for all the walking and most people don't mind. Sometimes I explain that I'm not quite sure where we put that item, so would you like to wait here while I find it, or follow me along on a tour of the store? I get some of both types of customers.

So we're close, but not quite there. My schedule's back to normal. And I can BREATHE! We're going to be cleaning up for WEEKS, though. The air conditioning filters were so dirty (and we do change them regularly) that they became completely clogged and started whistling songs. They work much better now that they have clean filters! : )

CHAOS

2006-09-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

There's a mess everywhere I look! We're renovating my store--EVERYTHING is changing. New floors, new shelves, new paint, new signs, new counters, holes in the wall patched up, entire departments trading places=CHAOS. Many of our items have been moved to storage; other items are in the store but in unlabeled boxes or thrown together into carts. Aisles have disappeared as shelves are shoved together, leaving perhaps a 2-foot space to get through. Dust and dirt swirl through the air; a layer of grime coats EVERYTHING. When shelves are moved several mice skeletons are discovered.

Despite the MESS.....EVERYWHERE.....we remain open to customers. Only some of the comments we've received:

"Your store is really dirty!" Yes. We know. "You should clean it up." We will. Once the carpenters/painters/floor layers/etc. finish making it dirty.
"Where is the ___?" Your guess is as good as mine. Items change locations on a daily basis.
"I need ___." Sorry, that's in storage. "But I need it NOW!" Sorry, storage. "NOW!" Storage. {No matter how much you bug me or no matter how many people you ask, there is NO WAY we can get what you "need" right now.}
"How much is this? This? This? You know, you really should put prices on your products. It's very difficult for me to shop when there are no prices." {Silence from me. Every day, all day, it's difficult for me to work. Do you not see the disorder around you?! Merchandise not having prices is the least of my worries.}
"I can't stand the smell {of the paint/glue/whatever}! Can you get {these 20 items} for me while I wait in the front?" {I can't stand the smell, either. But I don't have a choice. I'm here all day, every day. With an air conditioner that's not working. Sure I'll do your shopping for you. You can see very clearly that there's absolutely nothing else for me to be doing. Right.}

Many days I work 12 hours. When I arrive home, grime coats my hair and skin and the inside of my lungs. I'm exhausted, yet I can't sleep well because I can't BREATHE. Dirty laundry and dishes pile up to create chaos at home, too. Friends? Family? What's that?

There have been rumors that the renovation was coming for 5+ years. It was BADLY needed. Actually, it was badly needed five years ago. Six months ago we were told that it was coming in "a month or two". When it came, we had only a week's notice.

A week left (or so they say). I have trouble believing that they'll have everything put away by then. When it's over, the store will have entered the 21st century (or at least the 20th). The vastly improved layout of the store will lead to monstrously better business. There's even the possibility that we'll be able to drive our main competitor out of business! Wouldn't that be something!

A "Slow" Day

2006-08-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week both on the work and home fronts, thus the lack of updates. The most notable weekend event:

It was a somewhat slow day (for a weekend, anyway) and plenty of associates were working. My cashier rather curiously paged me to the back of the store. Huh? Where? Why? Assuming she was mistaken or I misheard, I headed to the front to see what she needed. Partway there she saw me and somewhat desperately shouted out, "The back of the store! Don't ask questions! Just go! Hurry!"

Ok......do I want to know what I'm going to find when I arrive at the back of the store?!

The back door was propped open, not unusual since the smokers take advantage of the rare weekend moments slow enough to get off the sales floor. Outside, one of my most trusted employees was being interrogated by a police officer. A police helicopter circled the building. Another policeman/car surveyed the front of the store.

Apparently our alarm system malfunctioned and sent a message that we were being burglarized. Now usually our alarm company will call us first before calling the police. But either they couldn't get through on our always-busy phone lines or they assumed that since it was regular business hours that we must be in trouble, thus the call to the police.

My trusted employee told me later that just as he was exiting the building the police officer was rounding the corner. The officer radioed the dispatcher with my employee's description as he kept his gun-hand ready for action. The employee offered to go and get me, the manager on duty, but the policeman quickly refused as his hand moved a little closer to his gun and he insisted that the employee step away from the building/door. The officer radioed the dispatcher again for them to call our store and send the manager to the back.....thus the cashier's mysterious page.

We quickly sorted it out. Apparently the policeman thought the employee might have been involved in a robbery or taking merchandise out the back door or who knows what. No, no illegal action here.

The policeman went back to his car and drove around to the side of the building, where he met up with the other officer to chat for at least a half hour.......must have been a slow day for them, too.

Creatures of Habit

2006-08-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

Why do companies have to change the packaging their items are in?!

I know they probably think it keeps the items modern-looking and fresh and NEW! and IMPROVED!

But.....

It confuses customers (and occasionally the salespeople, too).

Several of our big vendors recently redesigned their ENTIRE LINE OF PRODUCTS. Within the last week I can't even begin to count how many confused people I assisted.

One lady tried to narrow the search for her favorite product, "It was purple." Key word being WAS......it may very well be a new color now. Do you know the NAME of the product? One brand has 30 different but similar items. "It was purple" is not a big help. There are two purple ones, one purple patterned, one maroon, and one dark pink that some people consider purple. After I showed her all of those choices, to hear her respond, "No, that's not it," to EACH ONE, suddenly she remembered that the product she was looking for was actually GREEN, her husband's favorite was purple. Then we started all over with the 5~10 shades of green products.....that all have names......that have not changed. Only she didn't remember the name.

Another woman wanted to know the difference between two products. I flipped them over, saw that the item numbers were identical, and told her they were the same items in different packaging. "They don't look the same," she insisted as she demanded to know the difference between them and which one was better. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE, only different packaging. REALLY! I PROMISE!

Yet another woman (are men not as picky about getting the same item each time?) was looking for some {soap}. What kind of soap? Liquid? Bar? Hand? Antibacterial? With lotion? Can we be more specific?? When we finally narrowed it down to the lavender body wash with massaging beads, there was still the choice of dry or oily skin. In the past they only made one formula for all skin types. She acted like it was my fault that they changed the products. "I want what I always buy!" Well, they don't make that product anymore. This is what they make now. Still angry, she wanted to know the difference in ingredients between the old product and the two new ones. Well, since we don't have any of the old product left, we can't compare them now, can we?

WWW Safety

2006-08-18T21:10:00.000-07:00

I came across one of my employee's m123y123s123p123a123c123e page. It had his FULL NAME, a partial picture, interests, his workplace, his school name, his grade. Then he linked to another of my employees and a former employee. All are teenagers. The current employee had a very safe page…..a picture, but only her first name and no detailed information. The former employee (under 18) had a picture up in her UNDERWEAR. Does her parental figure know about this???

You don't carry it?!

2006-08-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

A man asked me for "this product" (while holding up a 50 ounce bottle) in a 10 ounce bottle. There was no space on the shelf for it so I was 99% sure that we no longer carried it. I checked with another employee and found that we had NEVER carried that item in that size. When I told the man this he was indignant.

"Don't tell me that!! I buy it here every month!" To his wife..."Can you believe this? I buy it here all the time but she's telling me that they've NEVER carried it!"

I showed him the industrial-strength carpet cleaner in the 50 and 100 ounce sizes, to hear him complain that he would never use that much of it. I explained that most people who need a carpet cleaner that strong need a large quantity of it, as well, the reason we carried the sizes that we do.

"I don't need a strong cleaner. This is just for my home. Why would I want a strong cleaner?!"

Then it dawned on me.....he wanted the home-strength carpet cleaner, which DOES come in a 10-ounce size. At that point I was needed to perform a management function so I asked another employee to show him to the correct product. That employee later told me that the man asked him if I was new since I didn't know anything about the products that we carry. ??? The man apparently never understood that he had been asking for the wrong product.

{We also may or may not carry carpet cleaner. OK, we don't. This product substitution doesn't make quite as much sense as Monday's.}

Super Sharp Pencils

2006-08-14T17:25:00.000-07:00

A woman came in and asked where the Super Sharp Pencils were. Trying to clarify what she wanted, I asked, "Is that a type of pencil or the name brand?"

"That's the name of it! Super Sharp Pencil!"

We've never sold a product called Super Sharp Pencil. We sell some pretty sharp pencils, but none with that brand name.

"I buy it here all the time! SUPER SHARP PENCIL.....it's in a red package with blue writing. Does someone else know more about the products?"

How do you respond to that? She was asking for a name brand product that I knew we did not carry. She assumed I was the stupid retail employee who knew nothing.

"Is it possibly Major Brand Name Pencil? In a red package with blue writing?"

Sure enough, when we got to the pencil aisle we found the Major Brand Name Pencil with the advertising phrase "Super Sharp" on it. It was NOT the name of the product. It was an advertising phrase. An advertising phrase shared by a dozen different pencil companies.

We had one package left and I could tell from the shelf label that we wouldn't be carrying the item anymore. I thought I'd be helpful and let the woman know so she could start thinking about what product to get in the future.

I shouldn't have been helpful.

"Why aren't you going to carry it anymore?! That's the only pencil I've ever used! Can't you order it for me?"

"No, I'm sorry. Either our company or Major Brand Name company made the decision to stop carrying/making the product. I am unable to order any of them."

The unhappy customer used the common threat, "Well I guess I'm going to have to find a new place to shop."

Do you really think your threat is going to change the reality of me not being able to order the product?!

Even more senseless, she didn't even buy the one we had left. Maybe it was a punishment for us not going to carry it anymore, or perhaps it was because she had such a hard time finding what she wanted or maybe it was because she had such an unknowledgeable sales associate. What has customer service come to....no one knows how to provide excellent service anymore. Poor customers.

{We may or may not sell pencils. It's just an example of a real situation I recently encountered.}

My Morning

2006-08-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

A cashier paged me to the front where a uniformed man was waiting impatiently. He pulled me to the side and quietly informed me that the store's power would be turned off if the bill wasn't paid by the time he got back from his (early) lunch. Uh…….thanks for the warning? By the way, how much is the bill? (Maybe I can pay it out of store funds?) HOW MUCH??? I don't have access to that much money!

I called the office…..no answer. They never answer their phones. Voicemail…no good, I need action now! OK, try again, so when the power gets shut off I can at least point to the fact that I left a message and tried to do something. Called the office again, same extension number…..and someone answered. I quickly explained the problem and was told that they would "look into it." What part of "OUR POWER WILL BE TURNED OFF IN LESS THAN AN HOUR IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER AND PAY THE BILL" did you not understand?????

So that was a lot of help. Hmmm……Boss is away….again….what do you know. Better let regional manager know what's going on.

Voicemail. Lovely. "Big Boss! Help!"

Wait. Wait. Wait some more.

Thirty minutes left. Office calls. "We called the utility company but they haven't called us back yet. We're still working on it."

I am SO not impressed with the people who work in the office.

Twenty minutes left until we have no cash registers. No credit card machines. No phones. No air conditioning. No LIGHTS. Twenty minutes until we close our doors and stop making money.

Is there anyone else that I can call? No, not really. Looking back, I guess I could have gotten the VP involved, but that would mean some angry office personnel and make my life more difficult in the long run.

Fifteen minutes left and Big Boss calls, seeming unsurprised at both the size of the bill and the situation (and the response from the office staff. After all, it wasn't THEIR power that was about to be cut). Speaking with her made me feel a lot better about things getting taken care of. However, I wasn't so sure about her being able to take care of things in only fifteen minutes.

Five minutes left and I was positive that we were about to be in darkness and SEVERE HEAT. Then the office called….."Big Boss is paying the bill. If the utility employee comes back, tell him that the bill's being paid and he shouldn't turn off the power." Yeah. Right. He gives us an hour's warning (which wasn't required) and then he's going to come back into the store to warn us, AGAIN, and listen to pleas and lame excuses? I don't think so.

The deadline arrives…..hold your breath, cross your fingers…….the lights are still on. Five minutes later…..still have power. Ten minutes….cash registers continue to work. Big Boss calls, "Is your power still on?" Yes, thanks for checking. She gave me the payment confirmation number in case we had problems later on and we agreed that the office staff SUCK (not in so many words, but in those things that you can't say but you understand what the other person means anyway).

Another day. Another crisis averted. Can I go home yet?

Irrelevant

2006-08-11T20:16:00.000-07:00

Check out the comment on this post. Anonymous has serious problems if he thinks that I meant that as a serious quiz!

Search Terms

2006-08-08T20:16:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how many shoplifters there are out there! Lots of people visit my blog through searches for how long shoplifting stays on their record, if they're a minor is it on their record at all, etc. I DON'T KNOW! I just try to prevent shoplifting and call the police if I witness it (which has only happened once because they're too sly).

One person searched for "get me a job, maybe driving, perhaps something in customer services, or possibly, if its a tuesday, e"…….the search engine cut them off, yet still gave search results. My advice: go out and look for a job instead of doing a wacky internet search!

An indecisive customer/web searcher wanted to know "laws about retail store return policy." I say, make up your mind about what to buy BEFORE buying it! Find out the return policy of that store BEFORE buying it! Yes it's legal for us to refuse the return! Go ahead, sue me! Sue the store! It's not against the law!

These people: "customer approaches unreasonable request what do you do" and "how to handle an insubordinate employee I can't fire"…..let me know when you find out.

Apparently someone was either having after-thoughts or was planning something: "retail manager fired for pushing an employee"……that sounds right. Completely hands-off is always safer!

And finally, "can a retail company fire employee for cursing at customer"….Yep. Been there. Done that. It was his first job, he was only 16, but he still should have known better. Curse at them after they leave the store. Make fun of them with co-workers after they leave the store. Make fun of them on the web after they leave the store. Doing it to their face is a really bad idea....if you want to keep your job.

Threats

2006-08-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

Another new employee from last week is gone: I worked one day with him and knew he wasn't going to work out. At that point it's stupid to waste time training him further, but Boss said, "Give him a chance." Well, I did. I gave him a chance to do what I said, then when it wasn't done I gave him another chance, then I had to remind him a THIRD time of what he was supposed to be doing. He was polite enough with the customers, but extremely lazy and didn't know much about our specialty area.

A few days after he began working for us we seemed to be short on a certain item. Hmm….what timing. I ran an inventory list of what we should have vs. what we did have and unless the items got up and walked away on their own from the employees-only area, then it looked like the new employee was to blame. I expressed my concern to Boss, knowing that she might tell me I wasn't giving the new employee a chance by making such an accusation. But I was careful of how I phrased it. I showed her the inventory shortage and suggested keeping an eye on that particular item and perhaps that employee because the shortages began occurring just after he started work.

She agreed that it was suspicious and that we should be more alert.
We informed the other managers of the problem with that specific item and asked them to be particularly watchful, especially of new employees. No names were used, no accusations made.

A few days later the problem took care of itself. The employee came in to work in a foul mood, did a poor job all shift, then started an argument with a co-worker over an extremely petty matter. Luckily a manager saw the whole thing, including the part where the new employee threatened to harm his co-worker. You can't do that! You're fired!

The co-worker who was threatened wasn't at all at fault…..the petty matter wasn't anything he did wrong. When the new employee began shouting, it was clear that he wasn't logical or anything…..the co-worker kept silent in an attempt to diffuse the situation. While that didn't work, the fact that there was no physical contact is pure luck.

(May I note that I did not hire this guy or the people in the two previous posts? That's right, someone else did.)

No Notice

2006-08-04T19:51:00.000-07:00

We have another new employee who's been with us a few weeks. She seemed to like the job and we liked her. However, she had a full-time job somewhere else. She worked at our store part-time for extra money. One day she called to get her work schedule and the very next day, just 30 minutes before scheduled to work, she called to quit. ??? If it was too much for her to work two jobs or not enough money or whatever, what's wrong with GIVING NOTICE so we weren't stuck short-handed?!

Excuses

2006-08-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

Back to hiring.....and firing. We have lots of long-term employees (long-term for retail, anyway) but when one of them leaves or increased business leads to the need for more employees, we go through SO MANY employees until we find someone who will stick around. Many times if we need one employee then I'll hire two because chances are at least one of them won't stay.

Last week's new employee: worked one week with perfect attendance and more or less punctual. He did an adequate job with minimal training, but did only what he was asked to do instead of looking around to see what needed to be done. That's OK, we can fix that.

Week two…..first day he called in sick. O…..K……personally, if I was sick with a new job I'd go to work anyway. I've had many people out "sick" for a day or two while they decide if they want to quit or not. On the second day there was a death in the family (half-brother's grandmother's sister's sister-in-law's great-nephew's wife's dad's dog) so he couldn't come to work. I've been down "excuse road" before.....at that point I started interviewing to replace him.

On the third day he actually showed up, more or less on time, and did his adequate job again. On the fourth day he didn't show up or call at all until after his shift was scheduled to begin. He claimed that his alarm didn't go off so he didn't get up on time but that his dad needed help with yardwork so he couldn't come to work at all that day…??? You're fired!

Weekend Trip

2006-08-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just need to get away. I had the weekend off and was so bored of this city that I used MapQuest to plot a trip out of town.

I went to a well-known place on Saturday. It was super super hot and very sunny. I tried to stay out of the sun as much as possible; during the hottest part of the day I visited the museums and saw the outside stuff when the sun wasn't quite as strong. I used a friend's vacation home that night.

The original plan was to visit a less well-known place but bigger city on Sunday but instead I relaxed in the outdoors with some non work-related reading. It was a nice bit of nature and much needed peace and quiet instead of the heat and noise that the big city would have involved.

After the weekend away it felt like I was playing catch-up this week.....piled up laundry and cleaning, grocery shopping, etc. that I usually do when I'm off. But it was totally worth it to get away and do something different, even if it was just for a couple of days.

Decisions

2006-07-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

Some people have a major problem with making decisions.

The other day a couple spent THREE HOURS in the store deciding whether to buy something. An associate was with them for well over an hour. Seventy-five percent of that time the associate just stood there while the people hemmed and hawed about buying.

Another day a family wanted to make a big purchase. I initially helped them. At first they just wanted to get some basic info, take some measurements, and then check a couple of other stores. Fine. They came back later that day (just before close) and spent an hour with both myself and another employee. We got out late that night, but with such a large purchase, I wasn't complaining. It's our job to help them, even if they stay late. It's also our job to load the rather large and heavy items into their truck. No problem.

The VERY NEXT DAY they returned the whole grouping of items, minus a box and the price tags. That is a problem. They exchanged it for a rather less expensive model. Their excuse? It was too big. Funny......then why did they bother measuring on their first trip? Also, the less expensive model was essentially the same size. If they had room for either of the rather large (and heavy) items, then the slight difference in size wouldn't make a difference.

So we unloaded the (did I say HEAVY?) items, returned them to the sales floor (where they later had to be repriced), helped them with the other set, and then loaded the new items into their truck.

!!!

Yet another day a woman came in to look at {items in a certain department}. Four different {licensed, very highly trained professionals} had told her essentially four different things so she wanted another opinion. From me?! A retail manager?! I showed her what we had, told her my opinion and what other people often did for the same problem, but that if the professionals, with their YEARS AND YEARS of education, couldn't come to a consensus and suggest something to help her, then I wasn't going to be able to help her any better than them.

Then the hemming and hawing began from her as she looked at different products. Finally I used one of my "I'm leaving" lines to escape from, essentially, just standing there while she tried to get me to guarantee that a particular product would solve her problem or otherwise give advice that I'm in no way qualified to give.

I know she wanted/expected me to continue standing there and was not pleased when I left. But my line was perfectly respectful and she obviously knew that she was wasting my time and if there had been any kind of legitimate reason for me to stay then she could have asked me to stay. She knew that. I could tell from her demeanor that she knew that. So she let me go. Grudgingly. She eventually bought one small item and left.

What's that sound?

2006-07-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

I was filling in on register while a cashier took a break. The customer was wacky. I heard a strange noise in the background and thought maybe it was on the radio or something. After a minute or so the customer suddenly asked what the sound was as if she were surprised or scared or something.

I replied that I didn't know. Then the sound stopped. The customer continued to wonder, aloud, what that sound could have been. I just wanted her to leave so I could ring out the people behind her. As she put her wallet back into her purse suddenly the strange sound started again, louder this time......her cell phone, with some kind of wacky ring that sounded like bubbles rising out of water, bloop, bloop, bloop.

I like it!

2006-07-23T13:41:00.000-07:00

Great idea.....can I start handing out signs to certain customers?

New Blogs

2006-07-20T18:37:00.000-07:00

Time for the when-I-think-about-it updating of the links. New-to-me blogs: Confessions of a Retail Queen, who's also in retail management; Supermarket Follies, who works in a UK supermarket (in management, or maybe just a long-term employee); and Musings on an ordinary life, who works in a call center and writes about a variety of subjects, not just work. They're all entertaining and well-written. Check them out.

A Question

2006-07-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

A question for the retail world from an anonymous commenter:

what can a employee do if she find out ofter three years that her former boss put on her record that she quit without notice when she did not. she gave her two weeks notice and work up to the last day.

My response:

Are you sure it wasn't a mistake? At my store when an employee quits or is fired I have to fill out a form with different check boxes with, among other things, whether notice was given. If I'm taking care of a lot of paperwork at one time or it's late in the day or I'm tired or something, I might accidentally check the wrong box.

Assuming it wasn't a mistake and instead it was a vindictive thing….did you give notice verbally or in writing? Were there any witnesses? Are old work schedules kept that could show you working up to the last day and not scheduled the next week……depending on the relationship between when your last day was and when the schedules are made.

I don't understand from the question whether this happened after three years of working there or it's three years after you quit and you just found out about it. If it's three years later and you're just now finding this out, I assume you've been working somewhere else since then. Does it really matter at this point how the records indicate that you quit? If you plan on ever working for that company again, it probably does matter. Otherwise, your record at your current job should count for more than a previous job.

If you feel the need to have the record changed, then contact the head office and see if they show any interest in cooperating. If you had trouble with that boss, perhaps others did too. Perhaps a regional manager or a shift manager would vouch for your character. This is assuming that you have an otherwise good record with the company. Personally if an unknown previous employee came to me with your complaint, I would be much more likely to investigate if the employee had an otherwise stellar file. If the employee had frequent disciplinary actions, a bad attendance record, poor reviews, etc……I don't know that I would do anything at all.

If the head office isn't willing to investigate, you could try contacting your local equivalent of a labor board or a lawyer, but if there were no witnesses to your giving notice and it's been three years, I don't know that anyone will do much of anything.

Other advice?

WAIT YOUR TURN

2006-07-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

It was quite a busy weekend. At one point all registers were open with lines of people waiting to check out, I was doing an exchange, two people were waiting with returns, another customer needed a heavy item carried to her car, all of the salespeople were busy.....this was the chaos we were just barely controlling when an older woman entered the store. She approached my register, where I was *actively helping another customer*, to ask a "quick question." When they specify that it's a "quick" question, then it never is.

My response: "I'll help you when I'm done with these other people who've been patiently waiting." (Or something like that.)

The lady was ANGRY.

In between returns I ran the heavy item out to a customer's car and the woman tried to stop me to ask where something was. Without stopping (remember, I was carrying something HEAVY) I gave her a general location, knowing that she expected to be led to it. I also knew that several people who were THERE BEFORE SHE WAS and had TRIED TO HELP THEMSELVES ALREADY were still waiting for assistance. Really, she hadn't even tried looking for it in the appropriate section. She just came in the door and expected us to drop everything for her majestic presence. Yeah. Sure.

Miracle of miracles.....she found the item. By herself. WOW. It had slowed just slightly when she came to check out, where she spent the whole time bitching to the cashier about how rude I was and how embarrassed she was because of how I treated her, etc. I SO wanted to say, "You embarrassed yourself with your behavior."

As the lady left she damned me to hell. Yeah, that's real mature of you. First you skip to the front of the line and then get embarrassed/angry at me when I point this out (in front of all the people waiting in line who were there BEFORE YOU).

The whole situation was a lot like this one. I didn't handle it perfectly. I'll admit that. But when so many people are waiting for help and someone skips in line expecting help IMMEDIATELY, then how else should I have handled it? Really, everyone had a "quick question" or a "quick" return or a "quick" run their item to their car. But despite it being "quick," when there are 5~10 of them and one of me......do the math and you'll find that you MUST WAIT YOUR TURN.

Terminology

2006-07-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

A phone call was transferred to me on the sales floor. According to my employee, the caller needed information/prices on {something I'd never heard of before}. The employee sounded like he knew what it was, so I asked, "Price on a WHAT?"

"A {still not sounding familiar}. You know, it's an accessory for a {item we carry}."

"A {term that I know}? Oh, never heard it called {the other term} before."

"Sure, when I first started in this business that used to be the only name for them." (Employee is quite a bit older than me.)

I got on the phone with the customer and determined that what my employee said the term meant wasn't what the customer wanted. Instead of explaining what she wanted, she got angry. "A {ANCIENT TERM THAT NO ONE USES ANY MORE}! DO YOU HAVE ANY OF THEM?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you mean by a {ancient term}."

"A {SAME ANCIENT TERM}! {SAME ANCIENT TERM}!

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, can you explain it to me, please? I'm not familiar with that word."

The whole time she treated me like an idiot. What, because I didn't know a term that hasn't been used in my lifetime?! We finally got on the same page and I was able to tell her that we, in fact, definitely did NOT carry that item, which was actually a part to an item that we do sell. Further, I had never seen that part being sold ANYWHERE.

Could I suggest a place for her to find it? Sure, I can suggest you call around to the other stores in the area but use the modern term for the item when you ask for it.

Why do you ask?

2006-07-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

Usually I can't stand it when customers interrupt when I'm helping another customer. But I was helping an old lady and she went ON AND ON AND ON AND ON.....how long was I helping her with her simple issue, anyway? Twenty minutes? More?

At least 5 people interrupted us, mostly just to ask where something was. I didn't mind because it meant escaping for a minute or two and the old lady didn't seem to mind. After all, I wasn't really helping her much at that point. It was mostly just her telling me her life story because she was lonely.

What DID annoy me, though, was that each time when I returned to the old lady she had to ask a question about the other customer's question/product they were looking for. After the second or third time I felt like asking the old woman, "Why do you ask? Does it matter?! The item you're looking at is COMPLETELY different from what they're looking at!"

It would be like if the old lady had a lamp that she needed a bulb for while the other customers needed a replacement panel for a solar roof or some violin strings or industrial strength fertilizer.....very specialized items that the lady would never need. She was asking questions purely to satisfy her curiosity, although it seemed as if she was asking purely to waste my time.

Holiday

2006-07-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

I had to work the 4th. Another holiday. Another holiday that we should have been closed because there's virtually NO BUSINESS. Everyone's having parties, drinking beer, shooting off fireworks…..they don't want to go shopping!

We had a third of normal business for a Tuesday. Sure we got a lot of store maintenance done, but I would much rather we close and let the employees enjoy the holiday!

Do you need help, or not?

2006-07-03T17:52:00.000-07:00

In the appliance section

Me: Can I help you?

Customer: Yes. Where are the pens and the pencils and the poster board? Oh yeah, I also need computer disks and maybe some towels and probably a hat.

Me: O……K……..You can find most of that in the office supplies section, then the towels are with home supplies and the hat is with the accessories. ??? (Does she expect me to walk her to EACH AND EVERY ITEM?) Do you need me to show you to those sections?

Customer: No, that's OK. I think I can find everything.

Me: O..K...........let us know if we can help you with anything else.

"Regulars"

2006-06-29T19:50:00.000-07:00

Some of my regular customers are really cool. We joke, give advice, recommend new restaurants, discuss local problems and possible solutions, etc. It's all as time permits, too. If it's really busy, my regulars understand and do their best to stay out of my hair.

Then there are the annoying regulars who are demanding no matter what and threaten to call my boss/corporate EVERY TIME THEY SHOP because it makes them feel special and powerful. Well, you're not special and you're not powerful. You're idiots.

We also have quite a few special needs customers. Some are awesome. They know they need extra help but do what they can to HELP THEMSELVES before requesting assistance. We learn to recognize them and remember what help they need and what they can do themselves.

Other people with special needs are TERRIBLE. They come in barking orders and don't lift a finger. I've had some people fling a list at me and expect me to do their shopping for them, plus know which of the 500 shampoos is the one on their list. Some people throw a fit because we don't have chairs for them to sit in while they wait for a spouse to shop. I barely have room for merchandise! You want a waiting area, too?!

The people who need extra assistance because of their weight REALLY annoy me. You don't get to be 300+ pounds overnight. Don't expect everyone to cater to you because you can't walk or lift stuff. You're a drain on society. Medical costs…..on disability in many cases….take some responsibility and do something about your problem.

For our nice regulars (even the semi-nice ones) we really go above and beyond. One regular was recovering from surgery and his wife doesn't drive at all so I delivered to their home several times (completely off the clock and non-company sanctioned and totally out of my way). We often hold merchandise, sometimes for far longer than we should, because we know that the regular will be in to make the purchase. I've stayed open late or let a regular sneak in a little before we open to shop, especially if I know they won't be a bother.

My store is big enough to have what you need yet small enough to know you. Now if a stranger asked me to bring something to their home or hold a large quantity of an item for a length of time or stay open late, I'd say NO WAY. Absolutely not. But for my regulars (especially the nice ones) I'll attempt any reasonable request.

2,996

2006-06-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

2,996......the official count of dead/missing from the 9/11 attacks.

There will be a tribute 9/11/06 with 2,996 bloggers each remembering one of the victims. Sign up here: A Tribute to the Victims of 9/11.

I will most likely NOT be participating.

Certainly 9/11 was a national tragedy. I will always remember where I was when I first heard the news. It was an emotional event because it made us realize we were at risk and how much some people/countries hate us. It made us fear for our own family's safety.

However, there have been other national tragedies and other bombings and other disasters. We make a big deal out of this one day while some countries have attacks DAILY (Israel is one example) and other countries have people starving to death (many African countries, North Korea), and natural disasters kill far more than 2,996 people.

Waving the flag is great, but know what it stands for and don't sacrifice freedoms just so you can feel more secure (because you're not really that much more secure). I wholeheartedly agree with the quote sometimes attributed to Benjamin Franklin: "He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither."

I say this after having lived in a country where censorship was alive and well and you'd better have your ID card with you when you went out. The government believed it was protecting its people. What are we, children? I think I can decide what I can view on the internet, read, or watch on TV/video. I don't need a government doing it for me. And if we're not allowed to criticize the government and its actions, then how can things improve?

American officials are heading in a dangerous direction and in some cases disregarding the Bill of Rights to try to make us just a little safer from future terrorist attacks. There will always be a risk of attacks, and I'd much rather there be a slightly greater risk and have freedom than for it to be safer but less free. And where does it stop? Today wiretaps, tomorrow tracking your movements? Controlling what job you have?

As long as the USA is rich, powerful, and arrogant, there will be those who hate us. Yes, us. I am an American. I do feel patriotism and am grateful to those who serve(d) in the military. But I feel that the everyday American blindly accepts what they're told as fact. They wave the flag and say we live in such a great country and then they go and treat each other like dirt.

Most of the 2,996 were not heroes. They were victims. Like victims of a murder or a car crash or a disease. Should they be memorialized by the whole country? You decide. All nationalities welcome: A Tribute to the Victims of 9/11.

This is how you run a company?

2006-06-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

I continue to feel like my company is either having financial problems or is EXTREMELY POORLY RUN at the corporate level.

We find out about important things at the last minute, have limited quantities of merchandise that's on sale, have shelves that are nearly empty of some items but overflowing with others, we leave messages that don't get returned (certain departments usually return calls, certain ones rarely do, certain ones NEVER do), we get memo's from different departments telling us OPPOSITE things to do, we get essentially the SAME memo from 4+ departments, shelves are empty and finally a month later I find out that we won't be carrying that item anymore, tons of new items come in yet we don't have fixtures (ordered three months ago) to display them, other new items aren't recognized by the computer so we don't even know how much to charge for the items, ETC.

Latest bungle: HR asked for paperwork from an employee who quit SIX MONTHS AGO! Their excuse: "We didn't receive the termination paperwork." Uh huh. Sure. I PERSONALLY sent it to you.....twice......once when the employee resigned and again a month later since you lost the first one. OK, let's make it three times. Like I don't have anything else to do.

Negligence

2006-06-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

There are so many stories that I haven't shared because it would expose my specialty area. Other stories are barely understandable because important details had to be left out. I've decided that sharing occasional stories isn't that risky as long as I don't use search engine-friendly words. To avoid the search engines, the wording might be strange, but you should be able to get the point.

In my line of work I deal with non-human beings frequently. Today one of these non-human beings was injured and needed medical attention. We took him to the appropriate professional (starts with a "v") to be attended to. A few hours laters the professional (I use that term loosely) called to say that he had died "before he had a chance to look at him." The professional LEFT HIM TO DIE WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING AT HIM.

Gross negligence. A needless death. See if we recommend you to our customers, EVER again! It's your fault that he died. We expressed the urgency of his condition and yet you WAITED to even look at him?! You even charged a fee to dispose of his body!!

It's not worth it trying to get reimbursed for the money we lost because of the death, but we will be negotiating a contract with a new professional IMMEDIATELY.

Shrinking payroll dollars

2006-06-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

Amazing what the office expects us to do with a smaller and smaller payroll budget.

One problem is that minimum wage has risen far higher than it should have. What's wrong with a high school student making $5.15 an hour? Or someone with limited skills, or someone we're training.....for a while there I was blowing my payroll on incompetent dolts. Now everyone knows what they're doing, more or less. Pay should be based on skills, not on the cost of living.

So what does corporate expect us to do? Let's see......the most important thing is to provide a level of service that you might expect at Tiffany's or other exclusive stores. Problem is, we're not all that exclusive. We are, yet we're not. We get people from all walks of life. Some spend a few dollars while some spend a thousand dollars. Some people want help while others want to be left alone. We're to provide one-on-one attention to all.

Some customers are lonely and pretend to need help so they can chat a while. The majority of our less-affluent customers have a limited intellect such that it takes two or three times longer to explain things to them than to a normal person. There are more returns from them, many due to using the product wrong or deciding that they spent too much. Shoplifting has gotten completely out of control.

People come in seeking advice and after we've spent considerable time with them they go somewhere like Wal-mart to buy. THEN they come back to us and expect us to trouble-shoot why their item isn't working as advertised. "Because you bought the cheapest model out there" doesn't satisfy them. They come to us for replacement parts and are angry because we can't tell them which part fits their generic item....different companies, different size parts....I'm not familiar with Wal-mart's inferior products. There is a reason that our products cost more--QUALITY. So my employees are also helping people who aren't even buying anything in our store, all out of my small payroll budget.

Then there are all the children using our store as a playground/zoo. The parents shop or talk with friends while the children RUN through the aisles, terrorize the staff, pull items off shelves, break things, SCREAM AT THE TOP OF THEIR LUNGS, climb up shelves, and otherwise use staff time. There's the time we spend telling the children to WALK, use their "inside voices," "find your parents, NOW!" and cleaning up the mess they leave behind.

Other things corporate expects us to do are reasonable enough, I guess, but with so few employee hours we're usually rushing around like madmen to try to get everything done. Last week was a rare quiet moment. What with all the ordering, stocking, cleaning, merchandising, pest/rodent control, paperwork.....there's a lot to do but few people to do it. Many days I feel that we can take care of the customers well or we can take care of the physical store well, but we can't do both. So we end up doing a shitty job on both and getting flak from customers and corporate.

Are there any executives reading?? We're humans, not robots! There's a limit to what we can do! Give us the necessary resources and see how much we can accomplish. Let it stand as it is and spend more money recruiting and training new employees when the current employees find higher paying jobs or less stressful ones.

I'm a klutz.

2006-06-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

Boss is away for the week on business, my best cashier is on vacation, and I go and hurt myself at work. Fantastic timing.

The injury happened at the end of a LONG day and the last thing I felt like doing was sitting in the ER for who knows how many hours. I also hoped that perhaps it wasn't so bad and would resolve itself overnight. Nope. Got worse. So the next day I went to work in street clothes to file the necessary paperwork and get authorization to go to a walk-in clinic.

The manager on duty helped with the mounds of required paperwork. She was on the phone with the insurance company, I was filling out papers (in STREET CLOTHES, did I mention?) and MULTIPLE customers entered the employees-only area to ask for help. She finished on the phone and returned to the sales floor to assist customers, and people CONTINUED to approach me (IN STREET CLOTHES) to ask me where something was or what accessories they needed, etc. DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M WORKING?! I actually said something like that to one lady and she asked me to find someone who was working. I CAN BARELY WALK. I AM IN PAIN. LEAVE ME ALONE.

I went for the drug test first since they have limited hours, then to the doctor. Go figure.....we have to make sure I'm not on illegal drugs before I can even get treated for an injury! Then, unfortunately, it was back to work. With Boss gone I have to work more than normal…..not going to work is not an option. Death MIGHT be an excuse, but injury is not. Can you imagine working retail on crutches……not fun.

Surprisingly, customers were a little nicer and less demanding than normal. With my limited mobility I'm relying on the junior managers a LOT. I'm delegating more than normal and trusting my employees to do the job like they know they're supposed to. So far it's working well. As far as I can tell they're not taking advantage, but I'm not giving them much chance to, either. I've asked for frequent progress reports and hobble over for a surprise inspection every now and then.

This is going to be a very long week.

Regular vs. Sale Price

2006-06-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

A customer brought in her receipt and an advertisement from our main competitor. Her complaint? The item was supposed to be on sale but we charged her full price. I pointed out that it wasn't OUR ad, but that we do match prices. She was surprised that it wasn't our ad, even though both her receipt from our store and the ad from the competitor had the store names clearly marked. The ad didn't say what the regular price was on that item, it just said how much the discount was. I had my suspicions, but I called anyway.

After going through several menu options I finally reached a live person, asked the price of the item (pretending to be a customer, of course), and was put on hold. I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally I got the price and my suspicions were confirmed….our REGULAR price is cheaper than their SALE price.

I told the customer that and she seemed upset. She asked, "So I'm not going to get any money back?"

No, because even with the discount they charge more than we do.

"Wait. I don't understand."

Their REGULAR price is $39. With the discount, they're selling it for $35. Our REGULAR price is $32.

I could tell from her face that she still wasn't getting it, so I slowed it down and made it simple.

Their price: $35. Our price: $32. Our price is already lower so if I matched their price you would owe me money.

"Oh, I understand now."

GOOD

We're cheaper on almost everything, even the sale items. I guess the competitor needs to charge more to afford all their advertisements. We don't advertise in the newspaper very often…..we rely mostly on our regular customers returning and spreading the news about our greatness to their friends. Occasionally we'll be out of something and our regulars admit that since they need the item so badly they'll visit the competitor, but that they hate shopping there. That's what we like to hear!

Vendor Representatives

2006-06-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

I like 90% of our vendor representatives; most visit the store monthly. Others come quarterly or once or twice a year or only when business is down. Their job is to put out coupons or signs drawing attention to their products, make sure we're displaying their items correctly, check expiration dates, report inventory problems, check for price tags, inform us about new products, and answer any questions or concerns we might have.

Today one of my favorite vendors was in. We've been working together, as in an hour once a month, for probably six years or so. While we don't work for the same company or see each other much, she's someone I could imagine myself working with/for. She's extremely conscientious with her work and despite our vast age difference she's not at all condescending or paternalistic like some people I've worked with/for.

I was exceptionally bored today (few customers, no paperwork, no projects, no stocking, everything was clean.....there was NOTHING to do). Since what she was doing wasn't something that I could help with, I hung around while she did her thing. We talked more than normal. It was clear that she was having a bad day, yet she was still professional and friendly. It sounds like she's overworked, although she didn't get into details about whatever's going on with that company. Sharing their issues wouldn't help the situation, so why be all negative about it? This is a lesson that I've mostly learned but am still working on at times.

Last week a different vendor mentioned problems he was having with our main competitor. I started to (wanted to) say something along the lines of, "And you're surprised? That's nothing new, they've always been bad at that," etc. But I bit my tongue. Criticizing Competitor would accomplish nothing. Instead I said, "Yeah? (long pause as I thought).....I'd better not comment on that." He laughed, I laughed, I didn't have to say it because we both knew it......Competitor sucks and we're great. Everyone knows that. There's no reason for me to rub it in or bad-mouth Competitor. They take care of that all by themselves. When customers say something about the poor service or high prices or whatever at Competitor, I say little. "I've heard that." "Hmm."

666

2006-06-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

The whole thing of people being afraid of 6/6/6 is STUPID. Not wanting a total or change of $6.66.....STUPID. Not wanting to live at 666 Main Street......STUPID. Not wanting your child to be born on 6/6/6 because you're afraid he'll be "cursed"....STUPID.

People are misinterpreting Revelations. They're taking it literally when it wasn't meant that way. The whole book is an allegory, like Pilgrim's Progress or 1984. They're not to be taken literally. They're full of images and symbols and if John worked for me I think I'd be sending him on a drug test.

Revelations was written in the 1st century when Nero was persecuting practically everybody, but especially Christians. Could they write a book/letter about how terrible Nero was? Not if they wanted to live. Instead they wrote a "book of prophecy" with the devil's son as the main character. Nero's name in their system or their code or whatever came to "666."

For those who think that this date is the beginning of the end or the anti-Christ will be born today or something along those lines: "No one knows about that day or hour.......only the Father.........Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." (Matthew 24:36-42)

With all of that said, today WAS, indeed, a wacky day with craziness everywhere and I'm glad it's over!

Out of School

2006-06-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

With the kids out of school it's quite a bit louder at work these days. Busier during the week and slightly less busy on the weekends. Parents are already complaining that they have to take care of their kids instead of sending them off to school each day.

My high school employees can work almost any time and for as many hours as we want them (fewer child labor law limitations than during the school year), so the schedule is a lot easier to do.

While the vast majority of kids run around like idiots (yes, RUN, in the store, bumping into both merchandise and customers), there are a few whose parents attempt to control them. Today it went one step further and there were several polite kids who asked intelligent questions, were well-spoken, and waited their turn for help. Borderline old enough to be allowed to shop alone (parents in the car) but after seeing their behavior, obviously mature for their age.

One kid, perhaps 6 years old, was not old enough to shop alone. While he was well behaved, he lingered in the area where I was maintaining some displays. He began to share his life story with me, along with his opinion of our products and his plans for world domination. Finally his of-driving-age sister came and took him away, saving me and my ears. I'm a complete stranger.....that's not very safe for a kid that young.

WAIT YOUR TURN

2006-06-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

NO ONE could wait their turn today! Four, maybe five times I was finishing up with a customer when another customer rudely interrupted.

"Do you work here?"
"Excuse me, I need some help."
"Where are the widgets?"

I made a special point to ask the first customers if there was anything else they needed or if they had any more questions before turning to the RUDE PERSON to ask how I could help. I love how you can be totally polite while at the same time point out someone's rudeness. Most of the people today got my point. Because of the way I did it, they weren't mad, though.

WAIT YOUR TURN is a lesson not many adults know. They need to return to kindergarten because I don't see how they could have passed.

Graduations

2006-06-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

It's June…..graduation season. A LOT of my employees are graduating from high school. That means they need A LOT of time off from work (and usually all of them on the same day!).

There's the baccalaureate, senior breakfast, day of graduation (hair/makeup, then the graduation, then the after party), then usually the day after graduation because, really, who waits until they're 21 to drink? So we're short staffed all week.

Now that it's the last week of school, teenagers have started coming in looking for summer jobs. Yeah, well, you're a little late! All the places that have summer positions have already filled them. In my store, as a general rule, I don't hire for summer-only positions. There's just too much to learn for an employee to be any good to me over the short 2~3 month break. I'll always let people apply, because it's retail………you never know when a position will open up.

We may have a few positions open later in the summer as the high school graduates move away for college. But right now, we're fully staffed.

Bewilderment

2006-05-31T19:54:00.000-07:00

Today I was getting ready for work and had a little extra time so I switched on the computer to check out the blog updates for the day.

I was late for work, for what I found on one blog took several readings.

A few years back when a family member died, it was tough, but expected because of old age. A little later another family member was killed in an accident, but it was a life well lived so it was somehow acceptable.

Today I read of an acquaintance's death by suicide. Someone young, seemingly happy, with not any more than a normal person's share of troubles. A friend of a friend of a friend, really, but still, I feel like I knew him through his blog.

There's no way to make sense of it. Someone my age. Not that unlike me. Dead. By his own hand. No sense at all. It hit me hard and I didn't even know him that well. What his family and close friends must be feeling is unfathomable.

At work I went about the normal routines while trying to process the information. A customer complaint about being out of stock.....who cares. The cashier needs change.....ok....stocking....cleaning....handling staff issues....doing paperwork....all on auto-pilot.....why did he do it? A bright future, a loud yet clear voice, unfulfilled dreams.....forever darkened, silenced, and unfulfilled. Why?

Intelligence

2006-05-30T20:41:00.000-07:00

A woman approached the register that I was running, ASSISTING A CUSTOMER, to ask for help. It was obvious from the start that she would be nothing but trouble. I informed her, "I'm helping this person right now, but I'll get someone to help you if you'll wait a moment."

Someone was close by so she got the help right away. When the employee returned to the front with the customer, it was obvious that the employee was PISSED OFF and trying to keep from:

a) using inappropriate language with the customer and

b) running at her with a knife and repeatedly stabbing her until she shut up.

Lucky me, it was still busy so I got to ring the lady's sale. She complained about EVERYTHING and then she took forever to write her check. She asked me something and I wasn't really paying attention (since I was nearly asleep from standing there waiting so long) so I just repeated the total. She snottily replied, "I asked for the DATE." Oh. {Scan my computer screen, looking for the date....why should I know it any better than her?} "Who do I make it out to?" {My store.} (Do you need me to spell everything for you, too?)

Then our check approval system wasn't working perfectly. The customer wanted to know, "What's the problem with your system?" I casually explained, "Oh, there was just a communication problem with the bank the first time." The customer accusingly replied, "Oh, it wasn't MY bank's problem. It was YOUR system." (Fine, whatever. Doesn't matter. Just leave.)

She left, ignoring my goodbye.

A few minutes later, she was back....with an exchange.

"Apparently the boy wasn't **intelligent enough** to know that I wanted the same colors. Why would I want this color? I want to exchange this."

"OK.....that's fine....." (what are you waiting for????).

"I don't remember what aisle they were on."

"Shall I get it for you?" I HATE THIS FAKE SUBSERVIENCE!! But with this woman, I was totally "respectful" while being sarcastic and matching her attitude. Nothing I could get in trouble for, but just enough of an edge so she couldn't take advantage of me.

The employee she was referring to is actually quite smart. Later I asked him about it, just curiosity, not because I believed he did anything wrong. He explained that she SPECIFICALLY REQUESTED the color that she originally bought to match something else that she already owned, not to match the other item that she was buying.

There's a 90% chance that she'll return everything she bought. It was that kind of sale. Waste his time, my time, then my time again for a small sale. Intelligent? My employee gave her the color that she asked for. He wasn't intelligent enough to read her mind that she really and truly wanted the other color?! Please!

Back to Work

2006-05-29T17:36:00.000-07:00

Did I not say that I was going on vacation? Oops, guess not. So....I went on vacation last week. Had fun. Rested. Got burnt to a crisp and spent all my money. Normal vacation stuff.

My first day back was mostly good. I felt refreshed and was much more patient with customers. I assisted several regulars who I hadn't seen for awhile. I also had several problem employees where it was to the point of my practically beating them to get them to do ANYTHING.

Most of the employees (at least the good ones) were glad to see me back…..let's just say that there were a few "issues" while I was gone. So much so that according to the other managers, I'm not allowed to take any more vacations. Yeah, well, I still have some vacation days left! It's not my fault that those issues happened while I was gone. It just would have made it a little easier having another manager to spread the stress around.

Back to work......I'm sure I'll have some more stories soon!

Happy

2006-05-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

One of my best employees got a disturbing phone call at work. Luckily I was already in the area to take over her for her while she took the call. She NEVER gets personal calls, so I suspected it was something bad from the start.

Sure enough, when she emerged from the office a few minutes later she looked pretty shaken. She apologized for the personal call. (Are you kidding me? Emergencies are fine. It's the employees who have friends calling ten times a day every day to make evening plans who get disciplined.) When she explained what was going on she began crying in the "I'm at work and I don't want my boss or my co-workers to see me upset" kind of way. All I could say was, "I'm sorry. Do you need a few minutes?" "Would that be all right?" Uh, yeah!

Now I hate drama in the workplace and people who can't handle things and "oh, my boyfriend broke up with me for the tenth time this week, the world is ending" and all that kind of nonsense. But this was entirely different.

It was so hard to see this particular employee upset. She's normally cheerful and enthusiastic and even the most annoying customer doesn't phase her. She's optimistic and improves the mood of everyone around her. (Except for in the morning. There IS a thing called being too cheerful in the morning. It's early-thirty. I'm not even awake yet. SHUT UP and STOP SMILING. She has gotten better at that, though, realizing that I need a couple of hours to wake up before having any kind of meaningful conversation.)

She handles customers beautifully, gets along with all of her co-workers, is well-liked, works hard, thoroughly does anything you ask of her in a timely manner without complaint, does things WITHOUT BEING TOLD TO, etc. I've NEVER seen her in even a slightly bad mood or anything. But with this news it was hard for her to hold it together.

But she did……more or less. She tried hard. Some employees will call in with a "I can't come to work today. My third cousin sprained his ankle a month ago. I have to go visit him at his house instead of coming to work." But she was extremely accommodating. She didn't want to leave us short-handed, so we arranged for her to leave early when a replacement could come in. She did her job, but the issue obviously weighed heavily on her mind.

The next day I half expected her to call in, but she showed up. She showed up with swollen eyes from being up most of the night, but she was there. Again, she left early, but it was a true give-and-take that left both sides satisfied.

She was scheduled off the next few days. The next time I saw her I wasn't sure how to handle it. Should I ask her about it? Should I wait? I don't want her to think I forgot or don't care, but I also don't want to get her upset again. After all, if it was good news wouldn't she have shared it right away? Later in the day she shared the bad news, the news we were half expecting. A tear or two escaped, this time without the embarrassment of the first day. She tried to put a positive spin on it…….that's the employee I remember! I again expressed my regrets, genuine regrets. You know…..there's the people that you say "I'm sorry" to because you're expected to, and then there's the people that you really do feel sorry. You feel their pain because you know them so well or perhaps because you've been there yourself.

Funny thing, wait, poor choice of words, weird thing is…..I feel like we got to know each other a lot better through this situation. We saw a side of each other that we haven't seen before. Because of the transitory nature of the retail worker, I don't get to know people until they've been here awhile. Seriously, no personal questions until they've worked at least a month or two. It's just not worth the energy to get to know someone who might be gone tomorrow.

Anyway, the way she handled the situation showed her commitment to the store and a strength that I didn't realize she had. We've been considering her for a management position, but weren't sure about it. I didn't feel that she was ready and favored Duh boy instead (who has improved immensely). After this, I've become a lot more open to her as a manager. It's possible. She needs lots of practice on some of the technical aspects of the job, but on the interpersonal aspects, she's light years ahead of Duh boy.

We had a few touchy days with an ultimately bad outcome, yet a good outcome for the store and for relationships. I can almost see us as friends, but then there's the boss-employee thing. I'm never sure where that boundary lies. Ultimately I feel like I handled the situation as best I could and was I imagining it or was she glad that I was on duty and not one of the other managers when all of this happened?

Perhaps she needs a nickname. I've already got a "Friendly," so for her, I think she should be called "Happy."

CRAZY

2006-05-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

I spent a lot of time with an old woman today. She couldn't remember what she usually buys, couldn't lift anything WHATSOEVER, and after each item I had to walk it (and her) to the cashier before she decided that she needed help with more stuff …..blah blah blah……strictly her talking for 10 minutes about nothing related to anything in my store. At that point she needed help with something else in a far part of the store but the cashier needed change and another customer needed help with a truly heavy item.

I asked her to go on back to that section and I'd be there in a minute (knowing it would take her a lot longer to walk there than me). I carried the heavy item to the customer's car, got the change, then took a phone call regarding a supposedly defective item. (The man hadn't read the directions. Amazing what a difference that makes.)

I was on my way to see what else the lady needed when I heard her back in the front complaining to the cashier that no one had come to help her. Augh! Shall I strangle you now, or wait until you need help to your car with your 5 pounds worth of stuff and do it then???

There are some old people that I absolutely love (and not just family members). But others…….they drive me CRAZY! They think they're entitled to my undivided attention for as long as they want it. They have nowhere to go and nothing to do, and think that I don't, either. When you combine a store full of ancients who all think that the world revolves around them with a few time-starved baby boomers who want to get IN and OUT FAST with a limited number of employees and you have a problem!

Inspection

2006-05-18T19:51:00.000-07:00

We got a surprise visit from the fire marshall. Was this guy ever strange! When I saw him coming I got the attention of another manager across the store, pointed the official out, and mouthed a few key words to get her started fixing something that we routinely do that we shouldn't.

I distracted him while she took care of that, yet he still found a violation. The violation was, THANK GOD, something that people at the store level have absolutely no control of nor responsibility for. He also made a few suggestions for improvements, but nothing that was legally required.

Had it been busy or had I not seen him, then both Boss and I would have been in trouble (from our company, not the fire department).....her as the store manager for permitting the improper behavior and me as the manager on duty for, basically, permitting the improper behavior on my shift.

We'll have to be on our best behavior until they come to re-inspect. Then it's back to normal. After all, how often do they come? Every third year or something? Well maybe a little more often than that, but....who follows the rules all the time, anyway?

Search Terms: Weird

2006-05-17T18:19:00.000-07:00

The last of the searches used to find my page.........the Weird, unclassifiable searches.

The person who searched for "beautiful bruises" is a little out there.

I'm not sure what the Brit who queried "record waste in retail" wanted. Waste? Like employees wasting time goofing off/doing nothing? The waste that results from taking returns that have to be returned to the manufacturer for destruction? When we destroy old employees' records? The change from records to tapes to CDs and all the waste that resulted from that? I don't get it.

"insubordination firing retail"—Besides the grammatical combination of that search…..I agree that if they're insubordinate, FIRE THEM.

"items that normal people can't afford" ???

"Retail theft laws in Indiana"….What makes you think I'm in Indiana? Indiana? Where's that? : )

Search Terms: Employees

2006-05-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

A student at Delaware University wanted to know "how to quit a retail job without notice." My advice is, DON'T. It's cowardly and disloyal and totally wrong to quit without notice. Besides, you might want to put it on your job history and no matter what reason you put, it'll make you look bad. I've had job applicants put "disagreement with management" as a reason for quitting without notice. Well, likely you're a trouble-maker yourself, but even if it was a legitimate management issue, the solution is to give notice, work a fairly miserable two weeks, and then you're free. Another put, "moved." Didn't you know you were moving ahead of time?? Or, "death in family." So you just walk out, never to return? Not the kind of employee I want. Give AND work your notice. That's only fair.

"employee insubordination" I just about quit over that. Start out tough and loosen up if you can later on. If they're insubordinate, don't wait until it gets out of hand before doing anything. At the first sign, DO SOMETHING. Whether it's an informal chat or a formal disciplinary action, don't let the employee get away with it because it will only get worse.

"boss ignores me" I've felt like that before. Stand up for yourself. Make a contribution so when you're not around it's obvious what you do. Make waves when it makes sense.

Someone wanted to know "how to be a good employee." Gee, that's a post by itself. In a nutshell, show up consistently and on time, do what's asked of you plus some, have a good attitude, make an effort.

For the person who "had to fire someone"………….yeah, sucks, doesn't it? Definitely my least favorite part of the job.

Search Terms: Store Policies

2006-05-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

More search terms:

Wanting to know what the "retail break policy" is? I sense an aversion to work. I guess you'd have to check with the store. Labor laws give some guidelines that are applied to every job, but jobs vary widely in what breaks they give. As long as they don't take advantage of the policy, I'm fairly flexible with my employees' breaks. On slow days they can break a little longer. On busy days, it's totally by the book. I need them on the sales floor.

"Can I ask store to reprint receipt?" Ask away. Some stores can, while some can't. Why do you want a reprint? If it's immediately after the purchase it shouldn't be much of a problem. But if it's a week later and you've lost the original receipt and swear that you bought it last Thursday, I WILL NOT search the computer for it. I've tried to be the nice guy in the past and have learned that chances are, it wasn't Thursday. It might have been Wednesday, or Saturday, or two weeks ago Thursday, or a month ago, or at another store, and I have lots to do besides searching for something you can't remember.

"What retail stores don't hire children under 18?" You expected to find a list? If you're under 18 and looking for a job, ask when you apply if they'll hire you. Otherwise, why does it matter?

"refund retail policy" There are a million different stores with a million different refund policies. ASK what the policy is BEFORE you buy. That helps all of us.

"inventory prep" How to prep for inventory? Start early. Get like items together. Pull out all of the hidden merchandise. Make sure all defective items and returns are processed properly. Don't wait until the last minute to do all of this. START EARLY.

Search Terms: Laws

2006-05-14T15:56:00.000-07:00

The 200th post and I have nothing momentous to write.

I have been collecting some of the search terms used to find my blog. I've divided them into four groups: Laws, Store Policies, Employees, and just plain Weird. The first installment is today.

Laws:

Someone wanted to know whether they should put a shoplifting history on their job application. Answer: in my store, yes. We ask if you have a criminal history, so if you say "no" and we find out later, we have the right to fire you on the spot for lying on your application. Of course, if you put the shoplifting history on the application, we won't hire you. People don't easily change. Shoplifting is only easier when you're an employee. So definitely, save us both the trouble and put it on the application. Or better yet, don't apply at all. Go work in a restaurant or an office where there's not much to steal.

A student in Pennsylvania asked, "will retail theft go on my record." I sure hope it goes on your record…..theft is theft. Retail theft is no different than any other kind of theft, you just didn't use violence. You're still hurting my store, its employees, and every customer who has to pay higher prices to cover the missing merchandise.

"Is it illegal for cashiers to ask for id if the card is signed." Hmm….probably not, but who knows? We've got some pretty weird laws. I would think if it's a store policy that's applied consistently, then it's probably perfectly legal. But if the cashier only asks Eskimos for ID, then it is probably illegal. I usually ask for ID if it's a big purchase or the signature on the card is a squiggle that would be easy to copy, or if I get a funny feeling or if it's a guy's name and a woman's using the card.

Someone in Indiana wanted to know, "Is it illegal to take merchandise that the cashier didn't ring?" Well, did you pay for it? No, so did the store give it to you? No, so it's practically the same as stealing unless you go back and pay for it, right?

"fire marshall fines store or manager" We're both lucky that the fines go to the store. But I suspect that if it was something the manager did that caused the violation/fine, then the manager would be subject to disciplinary action/dismissal. Example: store merchandise in front of the fire exit, and I'm pretty sure that while the store would pay the fine, they would NOT be happy with the manager.

Impulse Buys

2006-05-10T20:28:00.000-07:00

Impulse buys are sometimes a good thing—it adds to the bottom line and customers might have needed the item anyway and the merchant is just "reminding" them of that. However, impulse buys are sometimes a VERY BAD THING. Perhaps it's too expensive or you haven't fully considered where you're going to put it or how you're going to maintain it.

You shouldn't just walk into an antique store and think, "WOW! I love that armoire! It's on sale for $2000 so I think I'll buy it." You get it delivered and find that while your ceilings are only 7 feet tall, the armoire is 8 feet tall. Of course you have to return it, but then get angry because the delivery fee is non-refundable and there's a 10% restocking fee. Maybe you should have thought about it and measured the armoire and ceiling first?

You shouldn't go to a computer store and buy a computer because you like the shape of the monitor. When you get it home you use it for a while and then your son comes home from university and you find that he can't play his games on it because the sound card sucks. You want to return it but it's been a few weeks and perhaps you've got a virus on it, who knows? No, there are no exceptions just for you. Some things cannot be returned.
We have a lot of impulse buys at my store. People think the return policy doesn't apply to them. Some impulse buys are good. But when it's a big or potentially life-changing purchase, THINK BEFORE BUYING.

Why are you harassing me?

2006-05-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

Lots of times I recognize customers—sometimes it's a good feeling, but often it's a bad feeling. (Regulars who don't make waves aren't as memorable.) Saturday I recognized a customer, and while I didn't remember the specifics, it was definitely a bad feeling.

The woman attempted to return {something that isn't a normal product that if you knew what it was it would make a lot more sense} that didn't comply with our policies. When she explained the problem, I remembered the specifics of why I knew her…….she's done this before, and I said no (before). She threw a fit. I made a ONE TIME EXCEPTION, making it very clear that this was a ONE TIME THING. Well, Saturday she did the same thing again. I said no. She threw a fit. I said no and explained what she'd have to do to comply with our policies, which wouldn't be very difficult if it was legitimate. She threw a fit. I said no. She threw a fit. I said no.

"Why are you harassing me?!" she SCREAMED AT ME (after the second time of saying no, I believe).

I said nothing. Nothing I was thinking was anywhere near what wouldn't get me disciplined/fired.

She counted to ten, OUT LOUD, and then asked, again, "Why are you harassing me?"

Yeah. I'm harassing you. Sure. Who's the one yelling?! I calmly replied, "This is what you can do to comply with our policies. Otherwise, I can't do anything for you."

Now perhaps it was a mistake to make the one time exception, but Boss frequently does this and expects us to do so, at our discretion. Thing is, it's a ONE TIME thing. Not a whenever-you-feel-like-it thing. This customer is taking advantage of the store.

With a threatening tone, she demanded, "What's your corporate number?!"

I gladly gave it to her……….but not the 1-800 one. The other one. Where she'd have to pay for the call.

She huffed and puffed a little more, surprised that her demand for our corporate number didn't get her what she wanted. Finally she left.

Ten minutes later, she was back to yell some more. She accused, "That's not the right number! It's only a recording! You gave me the wrong number!"

"It's Saturday. The office is closed. You can leave a message or call them on Monday."

Not satisfied with that, she made more demands, "When will the other manager be in?"

"Monday." I said nothing more. I still seethed, still thought terrible things, still bit my tongue so hard it was practically bleeding.

She left again.

When Boss came in today I mentioned the situation to her, but apparently she didn't listen because when I stepped out to do some store errands the woman came in. And made demands. And Boss gave her what she wanted……..as a ONE TIME THING.

When I heard about it, I was livid. "Boss! How could you?! Weren't you listening?! She's done this before. She comes in and causes a childish scene and gets what she wants REPEATEDLY; she's taking advantage of the store in a big way. We're LOSING MONEY because she's our customer."

"Oh, you didn't tell me all that."

YES!!!! I did!!!! You weren't listening!!!!!!!!

Boss says the woman won't be allowed to do that again. We'll see. We have some of the classiest customers (in all economic groups); we also have THE trashiest, "get something for nothing" customers (rich and poor). Boss is entirely too lenient with customers, not wanting to cause waves. If it came down to it, I could see Boss giving in. As I said, we'll see.

With Boss's approval, I won't give in to the woman's demands. If I'm not here, my two cashiers from the "throwing a fit" day know what she looks like. Boss recognizes her. The other manager knows about her and agrees completely with me that she's taking advantage of the store and should be stopped. She knows the woman's physical description, repeated problem, and story (that changes frequently). But, now the woman's gotten her way three times by throwing fits. Next time I can only imagine that the fit will be worse. I can foresee a "step out or I'll call the police" moment coming.

Leave Now!

2006-05-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

I had to call the police today, right at the end of my shift. There was a very aggressive panhandler approaching cars and demanding money. This particular guy was in an electronic wheelchair going back and forth between several stores and restaurants. I could just see someone hitting him.......on our property.......what a mess that would be. I went out and told him he needed to leave. He responded that he was "waiting for someone." Yeah. Right.

A few minutes later a customer came in and complained about him wheeling up to the car and knocking on the door to ask for money. We tried the nice way. Now let's try another way.

I called the non-emergency number for the police department and explained the problem.....my worries about the man's safety and my customers' annoyance, safety issues, etc. The dispatcher agreed to send someone out.

Then it was time for me to leave, so like many times, I don't know how the story ended..........did he leave before the police arrived, did the police "requesting" him to leave work a little better than my request, or did they have to be more forceful?

Un Dia Sin Immigrantes

2006-05-04T20:10:00.000-07:00

This is a belated response to the May 1 "A Day Without Immigrants" event. For those not in the USA, the day was an attempt to influence legislator's decisions regarding impending immigration law changes. It was basically a boycott in which immigrants were absent from school and work and refused to buy anything.

***I want to make sure that I'm understood. I don't have a problem with immigrants or minorities. What I do have a problem with is people who break the law to enter or stay in the country.***

The May 1 event didn't affect my store....AT ALL. Everyone came to work, we made a normal amount of money for the day, and life continued as normal. After work I accidentally ended up in the middle of a rally that drew quite a few people, but it was peaceful, with almost a party-like atmosphere.

I do not support amnesty for those here illegally. They broke the law, and should not be given the easy route to citizenship when it took many years for others to become citizens while following the law. Do we need illegals? Well, cleaning hotel rooms, picking fruit, gardening, doing heavy construction work.....not on most people's favorites list. But, perhaps paired with welfare reform, those now milking the unemployment or disability systems could take over some of the undesirable jobs.

Historically, Americans haven't handled immigration well. I was recently reading about immigration in the 1890s-1920s; many of the same issues debated in that time period are being debated now.

I know one person here illegally (most people are fairly quiet about their status). He makes more money than I do, yet doesn't pay a single cent in income taxes. However, he can't get health insurance because of his legal status. If he's sick, he uses the local emergency room or walk-in clinic. For everyday things, he pays out-of-pocket. But if he were to be seriously injured, he wouldn't be able to pay. Yet the hospital would still have to treat him, then end up charging more to everyone else, leading to an increase in insurance premiums.

Schools are already full beyond full, struggling to provide even an adequate level of education; social services are stretched thin; in many ways we're having trouble taking care of the people already here. There are legal ways to come to the USA. Certainly it's a long and complicated process, but it is possible in some cases. It's not our fault that Mexico's economy is in bad shape. They shouldn't make their poor our responsibility.

A related issue is what language the immigrants should speak. A long time ago English was chosen as our language. Ballots should NOT be printed in any other language, since English proficiency is necessary to become a citizen and only citizens can vote. With the possible exception of visa applications, government forms should NOT be printed in any other language. Hospitals and schools should NOT have to provide a translator. It's called English. If you live in the USA, LEARN IT.

(I speak, to some degree, two other languages, so I'm not the stereotypical American who can only speak English. But it's impractical to provide translations/translators in every language and if you only provide translations in some languages, then that's not equal......it becomes problematic.)

That's only a tiny bit of what's going on. The issues are complicated and will continue to be discussed both in and out of legislative chambers.

Any thoughts?

!@#$%

2006-05-01T05:16:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else have those rich women customers who've never worked a day in their lives who come in with their doting husbands? The women take forever to pick out what they want, TOTALLY indecisive. The men don't help out AT ALL. It's all, "Whatever you want, honey," or "It doesn't matter to me." No attempts to hurry her along or make her DECIDE SOMETHING this DECADE.

Of course they came in when it was busy and people were out sick. They were nice enough, which made it even more difficult to hurry them along. I tried, "Well, I'll let you talk about it for a while." She responds, "Oh no, we've almost decided. What were the differences between {Items A, B, C, D, E, F, and G} again?" And again. And again.

!@#$%

YES EVERY SINGLE ONE

2006-04-29T05:43:00.000-07:00

My friend the manager of another store called to ask about something. In the course of our conversation she mentioned that her closing manager somehow lost the key to one of their fire exits. So her store was open but the fire exit was locked........whoa, totally illegal. If the fire marshall showed up, that'd be a huge fine.

Some customers just can't read. A woman asked me THREE TIMES if various items were on sale. Are the blue ones on sale, too? What about this large size? Is this style on sale, too? YES!!!! ALL of the ___ are on sale, as the sign clearly states. ALL OF THEM.

Little Shoplifter

2006-04-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

There's nothing like working a double, especially when it's the busiest day of the week as far as incoming merchandise. Luckily today's shipment was smaller than normal. Boss's trip is halfway through so soon I'll have a little rest.

To liven up the day, I had a mother bring in her little 5-year-old shoplifter. They'd been in the day before and he'd taken a small item worth a couple of dollars. A former law enforcement officer herself, she flipped out and the kid's probably traumatized for life. He apologized, returned the item, and I gave him a lecture using my sternest voice and straightest face about how important it is to not steal so the police don't take you to jail. I tried to make the point sink in while not being too rough. After all, theft is a real problem. If I can scare one kid into not stealing, great.

Serial Returner

2006-04-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

An hour to close and a woman comes in with two HUGE bags of stuff to return. I was finishing an exchange for someone else so she dropped off the bags and said she'd be back later. Wait! Do you have a receipt? "They're in the bag," she said, as she continued out the door.

I thought it was strange, but I didn't recognize her at that point. The cashier did. It was the woman with mental issues.

When I finished with the exchange I opened the bags and was knocked over by the smell. What must her house smell like?! I breathed through my mouth as I picked through the contents: open merchandise, visibly used/very worn items with no packaging, expired items, merchandise with packaging more than a year old.........I took a look at the receipts. They were in an envelope........all 50 of them. Some of the receipts were from last year, the year before, all the way back to 2000. Some of the items expired as far back as 2002. (It IS 2006 now, right?)

Very few of the items were in sellable condition, while none were defective, so there was no legitimate reason for the return. There were 4 of the same half-empty item and everything was WAY past the return policy, if you could even find it on the receipts. Further, the last 1~2 years of receipts were exchanges or store credits because she had previously brought items back without a receipt.

I know in the past the then-store manager allowed all of her returns, but stuff that expired years ago?! Multiple packages of the same thing that are half-empty?! She couldn't argue that she didn't like the item, because she bought it on 4 separate occasions!

Complicating things is that about a week ago a man called and explained that he and his wife no longer had need of our products because of some lifestyle changes and asked if he could return certain items. I asked a few questions and said yes. If this is the same couple, then he left out some important parts of his story. "You told me yes on the phone!" isn't going to happen. This is ridiculous.

The written return policy is very rarely followed. Managers are supposed to use their judgment about what to return or not. How stupid is that? If I follow the written policy too closely then the customer gets upset and I get in trouble from the customer service department (and have to do the return anyway). If I deviate too far from the written policy the customer is happy but I get in trouble from the part of the office that processes the returns paperwork (and the store loses money). Before I went any further with this return, I wanted approval from someone higher up. Yes, that's right, pass the buck also means cover your ass.

The store manager is away again, so there's no one higher than me in the store. While the manager is still available for life-and-death, the-store-is-on-fire issues, for other things I go on up to the regional manager. I explained the whole thing to her and how long this customer has been doing this, that it's costing us a lot of money, etc. She agreed with my assessment that it's time for this to stop. She told me to give store credit on the things that were like new and could be resold, but on the expired, open, SMELLY stuff.....NO NO NO. Awesome! We so rarely completely agree!

By the time I went through the merchandise (and then disinfected my hands) and talked with the regional manager it was a half hour until close (when most of the other stores in the area close, too). Twenty 'til, quarter 'til, ten 'til, five 'til, CLOSED. Even though there were no other customers in the store, I waited five minutes to close the registers. I already had bad news that was going to upset the customer; I didn't want her to have any ammunition against me (like claiming that I closed early, which I never do).

We closed the registers, finished all the closing duties, and prepared to leave. The employees were waiting at the front while I checked the back and side doors; just as I got to the front she came up to the door. I told her we were closed and surprisingly she didn't argue and wasn't upset. She said she'd be back "tomorrow" to complete the returns.

Well, it's four days later and still no sign of her. The returned items are divided into two bags, returnable and not, and the "not" bag is double-bagged to keep the contamination from killing us all.

Satisfaction guaranteed.....for how long?

2006-04-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

A woman came in to return an item that she bought a year ago. ONE YEAR AGO. I explained that our return policy was X amount of time but since the item was like new I would give her a store credit for the amount.

She began arguing that the item said "satisfaction guaranteed" on it, but when I refused to budge she ended up with a cheaper item (from the same manufacturer) and the remainder in the form of a store credit. Our return policy is somewhat flexible, but a YEAR? Had I done it, the office would most definitely be calling to have a little chat with me.

Less than an hour later the manufacturer of the item called. The woman had called to complain and told them that we wouldn't refund her money and that we had kept the receipt. The customer service rep needed the receipt so he could give the customer her money back. Well, yes I have the receipt but the customer already has her money back, in a manner of speaking. The woman hadn't mentioned that she had gotten merchandise and a store credit for the remainder. The rep was rather surprised and thanked me for the info.

I didn't mention that EVERY SINGLE TIME that woman has shopped in our store, she has had some type of major problem. If I owned the place, I would tell her to find someplace else to shop because considering the amount of time we have to spend on her, we're not making a profit. We make a few bucks here and there, but not enough to cover the headaches she causes.

Poor Planning

2006-04-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

Closing procedures.......there are a lot of things to do before we can leave. So in order to go home at any kind of decent hour (since we have customer-friendly hours), we start early. By the time it's a quarter 'til close we have most stuff done and only one register open. Usually, that's OK and totally adequate. But tonight we had four times the normal number of last minute shoppers. I HATE last minute shoppers!!

One woman was having a fit because she "had to get to another store before they close!" They closed at the same time as us.....there was no way she was making it. Not only was she impatient, she also skipped in line, which luckily didn't cause a riot, just some murderous stares. The teenage cashier had already begun ringing her up before I could correct the out-of-turn issue and it would have taken longer to void the started sale than just to continue.

But suddenly her sale wasn't very easy or fast. She was buying something (and accessories) that she really shouldn't have been buying that late at night. It was a totally unnecessary item that required extra paperwork and getting a couple of items that she had missed because she had no idea what she needed because it was an impulse buy that she should have bought earlier in the day! (Did you get all that? I'm too tired to make it any clearer.) Pretend she bought a cell phone with the case but forgot the battery and the charger and then had to sign up for the calling plan and warranty. Well, not quite that much paperwork, but more than what most sales require.

So she's complaining about the wait even though she didn't really have to wait since she butted in line, the customers behind her are killing her with their stares, with a few of the evil looks going to the cashier, a few to me, and a few to the guy cleaning the front.

It being ten 'til close, none of the other customers said anything about opening another register (at least not that I heard). So the paperwork and sale were finally done and the lady rushed out with five minutes left to load her purchases in her car and drive to the other store before they closed. Impossible. The other customers were checked out quickly and efficiently, and amazingly enough, we managed to leave the store on time.

Read the Directions!

2006-04-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Today I was called to the front to handle a customer complaint. The customer insisted that one of our items had been recalled and demanded to know why we were still selling them. The item was so dangerous and she should report us for endangering the public with the item.

In fact, her 3rd cousin's high school teacher's wife's uncle's brother-in-law had almost died because of this item. I explained to her that we were aware of the issues/possible problems/news reports about this item but that IF USED CORRECTLY, it's not dangerous. If you use a hair dryer in the shower or drive a car with no brakes or take a whole bottle of Advil, then you might be injured or killed. If you use the item AS THE INSTRUCTIONS STATE, then there's no problem and no danger.

The customer looked at me like I was stupid and just making things up to make her leave. (Me?! Would I do that?) She countered, "No, I heard on the news that these are really dangerous and aren't being sold anymore." She picked up the package and I pointed out to her where it said "Do this" and "Don't do that." I offered to show her the news release from the manufacturer stating that the product is still safe WHEN USED AS DIRECTED.

She's not the only one to take the recent news reports as fact. It's getting really annoying. Sales of that item, previously brisk, have slowed quite a bit.

Hey newspeople..........when you're reporting these injuries/deaths, how about say that the product was used totally incorrectly and the injured/dead person was at fault. I still use the product, because I'm smart enough to READ THE DIRECTIONS!

Drugs

2006-04-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

My gut is turning out to be pretty good.

The guy with the disability failed the drug test. I do NOT understand why the guy applied at our store. He knows we're a drug-free workplace. Now, personally, I don't care if employees do that particular drug on their own time as long as I don't hear about it (because then I'm forced to do something about it). We've had lots of employees who smoked a little (or a lot) and it didn't affect their job performance. (So I knew about it, but I didn't really know about it, so no official action was necessary.)

Is it so hard to stop for 30 days or whatever it takes to pass the test and get the job?! It also makes the employee who recommended him look bad……..poor judgment, on drugs himself? But anyway, now we won't have any problems with him, and I can hire the high school kid.

It's the kid's first job. He's 16, but looks to be about 12. Everyone who has seen him asked me if he was old enough, did I know child labor laws existed, was he out of elementary school yet, etc. I'll have to watch to make sure that he's not teased too much. I may also have to ease him into the physical side of the job to give his body time to adjust.

What is reasonable?

2006-04-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

Further in the hiring business……….the high school student has a somewhat limited schedule, so Boss would prefer someone who can work a more varied schedule. One of our employees has an acquaintance who has been looking for a job for a long time. The problem is, he has a disability. I very much realize that it's illegal to discriminate based on a disability. However, we only have to make a reasonable accommodation. What is reasonable?

If he was a quadriplegic, there'd be no question. He could not do the job functions, which include stocking shelves, climbing a ladder, running a cash register, etc. Not possible. So no. But this guy has a borderline disability. He might be able to do the job, but there's a good chance that he won't be able to. If it came to firing him, what reason would we give? Maybe he was making a good effort, but he was simply unable to do the job because of his disability. Could we fire him? How?

There were other things that bothered me, too. Transportation that was less than ideal (he was an hour late to the interview), a totally unrelated job history, and just a gut feeling that he'd be problems. When a current employee recommends someone, it's turned out to be a 50/50 chance of getting a good employee. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it works really well. Sometimes it's the worst thing ever.

Had the current employee not recommended the applicant so strongly, I would have said no right away. But that employee is good and if he thinks the applicant will be a good match for our workplace, then it's worth a shot, right?

But then there's that gut feeling.

I was up in the air. Boss checked with another store and they basically told her that because he has a disability we have to hire him. Uh, no…..that's not how it works. We can't refuse to hire him because of his disability, but we can not hire him because of other reasons.

I interviewed someone last year who had a similar but not nearly as pronounced disability and I decided two minutes in that he was a definite no. Why? Besides being an asshole, he trashed his former employer, had a negative attitude, and was a know-it-all. Bad combination. Anyway, Boss got scared of a lawsuit and hired the guy. I don't feel good about this.

More Interviews

2006-04-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

"Probably yes" didn't return from the drug test. After I read over my notes from the "maybe" people, I didn't find anything great, while I did find some red flags that I didn't see in the initial interviews. So, back to the drawing board.

One of the interviews that the other manager did was good. Since it was one of her first times interviewing someone, I interviewed the high school student too. When I called to schedule the second interview, he was still in school so I talked with his mother. She had good phone manners and showed some intelligence—a good sign.

The kid showed up right on time for his interview. He was a little on the quiet side, but it was a nervous kind of quiet. He was well-spoken and gave good answers, demonstrated the problem-solving skills I like so much, and was extremely polite and respectful. All right! Got to get final approval from Boss, but as far as I'm concerned, he's hired!

Interviews

2006-04-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

Interview time! But since we've been working the last two weeks without Mr. Problem, it's not particularly pressing for me to hire a replacement. We can run the store short that position for as long as it takes to find a GOOD person, not just any person. We also have a couple of other positions that have been unfilled for a few weeks. So might as well do a lot of interviews at once.

I went through the applications and arranged for quite a few interviews, all in one day. Two were no-shows, one a definite no, two probably no, two maybes (I want another manager to interview them for a second opinion), and one probably yes.

Another manager (who is new at interviewing so I was training her) asked me what makes for a definite no, since I scheduled two interviews for her to do the following day (my day off). Well, the biggest thing to make me NOT hire someone is a blah personality with no enthusiasm AT ALL. Other things are someone who doesn't smile a single time during the interview, is a know-it-all, wants an impossible amount of money or impossible schedule (you MUST work at least one weekend day!), or demonstrates no problem-solving skills or common sense or brain power.

Sure it's only retail, but finding a good salesperson isn't easy. Our store is very fast-paced and if you can't multi-task and do things without a manager overseeing your every move, then you won't do well here. I also look at how I think the person will fit in with the current employees—will they get along, will they work together well, will they enjoy working together (if possible)?

Being nervous is ok……..most people are during an interview. Most of these interviews were high school students on their first job interview, so they were especially nervous. That actually worked well for me because I got more honest answers to my questions since they haven't heard them before or practiced how to interview.

"Why do you want to work here?"………"Because I think it seems like a fun place to work." In and of itself, not a completely disqualifying answer, but when it was obvious by further questioning that "fun" was the most important part of a job to the applicant………we don't always have fun here, so perhaps you should work at a carnival or something.

Being a little on the quiet/shy side is ok. But if I have to drag words out of you……..you don't belong here. There's a LOT of talking that you have to do with customers, co-workers, vendors, on the phone……

The "probably yes" person is very enthusiastic, positive, friendly, had all the right answers (yet I think they were honest answers), and will fit in perfectly.

Finally Gone

2006-04-04T20:01:00.000-07:00

The problem employee I mentioned at the end of this post is FINALLY gone. I won't go into many details, but here's a summary of what this employee has been over the last months:

huge insubordination, my story vs. his story, him lying to the boss in front of me about what happened, the boss not supporting me as strongly as I would have liked, him then claiming both harassment and discrimination; finding out that he's Mr. Tax Evasion Expert with 6 invisible kids and 15 years of not filing taxes equaling upwards of $50,000; boss finally starting to see how big a liar he is; continued coming in late or not at all which boss ignores; disappears from the galaxy for two weeks and boss finally decides to fire him, which surprises him. "I was sick!" says he as he plans his trip to the unemployment office to further defraud the government while he works his under-the-table job.

I was close to quitting several times in those months……..so many headaches and a boss who did nothing. I know you have to be careful when firing someone, but when an employee messes up, DOCUMENT IT. If they mess up again, DOCUMENT IT AGAIN. Establish a pattern, and then FIRE THEM. Throughout it all, I was determined that he WOULD NOT force me to leave. He's finally gone but it's not as satisfying as I thought it would be. Oh well, at least the headaches are gone. Chances are another headache will come along before too long, but as long as I'm doing the hiring, hopefully they'll be minor ones.

Defective or Misuse?

2006-04-02T19:21:00.000-07:00

All the crazy people come out on the weekend.

There was a girl trying to return an item that was MONTHS old (well past our return policy). She didn't want a replacement; she wanted a refund. According to her, the item was defective. I agreed that there was obviously something wrong with it. But the problem was more than likely due to her misuse of the item. If it had been like that to start with, then she should have returned it earlier.

I told her that because it had been so long, we couldn't take it back. First she protested, then she threatened to sue.....the item was defective, it's our fault, the employee who sold it to her sold her the wrong accessories, etc. The whole "I'm going to sue you!" line was particularly funny because she didn't have a receipt or any proof that she bought it in our store. She probably did get it at our store; she might even have bought it, but with no receipt, there was no way to know.

She, surprisingly enough, knew the name of the employee who "sold" it to her. (I use that term very loosely because I'm not sure that any money changed hands.) When there's a problem with an employee telling a customer the wrong thing, most customers barely remember if it was a male or female employee. They don't remember the name, or even if the employee was short or tall, what color hair…………NOTHING. So the fact that she remembered the name of the former employee who was fired more than three months ago is not only surprising, it's also a little suspicious. (She wanted a REFUND, not a replacement. Yet no receipt..........)

Just to cover myself, I called the regional manager to advise her of the situation. She agreed that at this point, MONTHS later, we have no responsibility for this particular item. So the girl can call the office or try to sue us or whatever……..it's not our fault nor our responsibility. Doesn't sound too customer-oriented, huh? Trust me, my company loves to please the customer, even if the customer is completely unreasonable. But let me give you some examples.

If you buy a car and never change the oil, it will eventually explode (or something like that). If you buy a bird and don't feed it, it will die. If you buy a wood table and throw it in your swimming pool and get it out two months later, then it will probably be rotten. If it's several months after the purchase, how do we know if you maintained the item properly or if it's a defect? We don't. That's what warranties are for, covering appropriate items for appropriate lengths of time. No warranty would cover this type of item for this length of time. Sorry, you're out of luck. Go away.

Inventory

2006-03-30T09:02:00.000-08:00

I am sooooooooooo tired. We've been getting ready for inventory all month. This week we did more inventory prep, PLUS normal stuff. Then the actual inventory, which involved staying up nearly all night, after working a full day. It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't great either. The inventory service that we used has an ok reputation, but some of their employees were extremely slow. We double-checked some of their numbers and they weren't the most accurate, either.

Anyway, it's done for now. In a week or two the office will send a list of stuff for us to recount. If the variance of what we have vs. what we should have is too far off of the company average then…………..we get to do the whole thing over again! Cross your fingers that THAT doesn't happen!

Sob Stories

2006-03-24T18:40:00.000-08:00

The neighborhood I'm in, I hear sob stories almost every day. I have NO SYMPATHY for people who buy unnecessary stuff that they can't afford. It's called responsibility and self-control. I'm cynical and don't believe any of the people asking for money, either. Here are just a few of the stories I hear:

There are the obvious cons from walk-ins who would never buy anything:

the man with a gas can who needs just a few more dollars to get gas so he can walk back to his stranded wife and daughter and drive them to safety;
the ex-drug addict who needs money to stay in his outpatient program;
the woman who just escaped from her husband who beat her and she needs money to bring her 12 kids to live with her;
the guy who needs money for bus fare to get to his job or they'll fire him.

Then there are the "customers" who are trying to get money out of us:

the woman who left her wallet at home and wants us to extend credit for her *large* purchase since she has no way of getting to our store for another month;
the "short-change artists" who work to confuse the cashier so they get back more change than they're supposed to;
the shoplifter who never got a receipt for the item they need a REFUND for! NOW! Or I'll call your corporate office!

Then there are the sometimes legitimate customers who drive me crazy trying to save a buck:

Do you have a senior citizen discount? Why not?
Don't you have coupons for that?
If I buy 10 of these, can I get a discount?
It rang up $11.99. The shelf said $4.99. (That's for the SMALL size.)
The total is too much. How much was this? This? That? This? (Don't forget the tax.) Oh, I guess that's right.
I spent a lot today; can't you throw in a little something extra? (No.) Oh, come on, no one would ever know....(Are you asking me to give you free merchandise? That's illegal.) Oh, never mind.

Buy it yourself

2006-03-23T18:45:00.000-08:00

Today I was helping a WEIRD, WEIRD woman. She collected many items in her cart and I was with her a long time. When it was time for her to pay it had gotten busy so I was the one to ring her up.

When I told her the total, she looked shocked. Then she explained that she didn't have a job right now and she had a lot of bills to pay and she had been sick so the total was a lot for her. Then she just looked at me, expectantly.

What?! I'm not paying for it! No discount, no free product. Ninety percent of the stuff was not at all necessary, especially for someone without a job. Her total was not small, but not huge, either. Perhaps ten or twenty percent of customers have a higher total than her. Do you want the stuff, or not?

I, of course, said nothing. I do a lot of thinking stuff I wish I could say, though.

She sighed and got out her checkbook. I inwardly groaned, looking at the line of people waiting. I suspected that the check would be declined, but surprise….approved. What are the chances she returns the items within a week?

Boxes

2006-03-20T17:30:00.000-08:00

The weirdest people come in on the weekends. Or maybe there are just so many people, PERIOD, that the little things build up until I can't stand it anymore!

A family was asking about an item. According to them, they were in last week and the item was $60 and now it's $120. Why is that, they wanted to know.

First off, prices DO go up......minimum wage increases, fuel surcharges, ridiculous electric and water increases, etc. But items don't go up THAT much THAT fast, or we'd all be in serious trouble.

"It must have been a different item that was $60, ma'am."

"Oh, no, it was THAT EXACT ITEM."

"That item comes in several different sizes and varieties. One of those varieties is $60. The one you're looking at is $120."

Whey they FINALLY realized they couldn't get me to mistakenly sell them the more expensive item at the cheaper price, they moved on.

"Do you have any [of the item] in boxes?"

"No, we only sell them put together." (Since most NORMAL people want them pre-assembled and would break them trying to put them together themselves.)

"Well do we get a discount since it's the floor model?"

"No," (while gritting teeth and taking deep breaths), "this is how we sell them. Put together. We don't sell them in boxes. This is it."

"So there's no discount?"

"No." (What, am I not speaking English?!)

They went over to the next aisle and started looking at other items so I went to the front to do some returns. A few minutes later they came to the front and asked for a box so they could **take the item apart and put the pieces in the box.** (It wouldn't fit in their small car put together.) I told them we don't have boxes that big. (My store has way too many items crammed in already. We don't have room for spare boxes on the off chance that someone will want to take apart the item that an employee put together just a few days ago.)

They hemmed and hawed and the woman asked me, AGAIN, "Are you SURE you don't have a box?"

Remember that this was on a SATURDAY. The day that we do more than TWICE as much business as on a normal weekday. There were lots of other people who needed help with NORMAL stuff.

"Yes, I'm sure."

As the family left, the woman shouted, "I guess you don't want the sale then, do you?"

I wouldn't mind making the sale TO REASONABLE PEOPLE.

(I sold the item the next day. Put together. Without a discount. Or a spare box.)

You were a WHAT?!

2006-03-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

I was called to the front this evening to open another register because a single customer was taking FOREVER to tell her life story to the cashier, ask the total a dozen times, finally finish writing her check, etc.

What I heard of the life story: she was forced to retire last year from her job because of severe depression that left her unable to work. It's so hard for her to get out of bed some days that she nearly runs out of supplies before she makes it to the store..............there was a lot more to her story, but I was trying to get through the line of people before a riot began. I checked out at least 6 people while my cashier took care of her and only her.

When she left, the cashier and I just looked at each other. She retired only LAST year? How long was she this messed up before that??

So, what was her job, you may be wondering. Someone's secretary, maybe a musician, what kind of job would FORCE her to retire?

She was a **public defender** up to one year ago. There are probably poor innocent people in jail because of her. The cashier and I both decided then and there that if we ever need a lawyer, we'll do everything possible to make sure we don't get a public defender!

Refund Policy

2006-03-13T19:27:00.000-08:00

I was doing a return this weekend and saw that I wouldn't be able to give a refund in the store. It's a controversial but essential part of our return policy, to protect against employee theft: for large purchases made in certain tenders, the head office must issue the refund, not the store.

When I told the customer this, she did a 180 and turned from a well-spoken lady into a cursing devil. "I just bought these 2 hours ago! I changed my mind! You WILL refund my money NOW!" I backed away from her, startled and scared.

I explained the policy again, pointed out the policy hanging next to the register and the policy printed on the receipt, wondering if I should call someone. It's a Saturday night.......the office is closed, and like the store manager/regional manager want to be bothered with something like this. I'm just following store policy. Is there a way to get around the policy to satisfy this woman and get her OUT OF HERE?

But the woman didn't give me a chance to call anyone, look into alternatives, or even THINK. All she could do was curse and order me around. I was close to telling her to leave without doing anything for her, but she kept it PG-13 rated as she demanded a partial refund and our main office number.

The partial refund is within our rules, with the full refund coming from the office. As for the office number, sure........call them. They'll be glad to hear I'm following the policies that THEY set to protect the COMPANY.

So the woman left. And apparently first thing this morning, called the office. Because by 11 AM we were being faxed a customer complaint with a note from the regional manager for the store manager to call her. So from 8 AM (when the office opened) to 11 the customer called the office, they emailed the regional manager, and she faxed the complaint to us.

Guess what? The customer left off some VERY IMPORTANT details in her complaint. She didn't lie, but she certainly didn't mention the high dollar amount of the return. She made it sound like it was $10 or something, instead of $100. When the store manager told the regional manager the amount and the woman's behavior, the regional manager had no problem with how I handled it. It also helped that I had an employee who witnessed the whole thing and another employee who saw the latter (loud) part of it.

Another day. Another irate customer causing headaches. Oh well.

What's your problem?

2006-03-10T19:40:00.000-08:00

Today a woman asked me for help. She didn't ask particularly politely, but it's my job to help her regardless of whether she passed the "please and thank you" part of kindergarten. So I tried to help her. But I couldn't quite tell what she wanted because she was asking for help for her FRIEND's problem. The friend hadn't asked her for help, so the woman didn't know ANYTHING about her friend's problem. So how was I supposed to help her?! I couldn't help her. AT ALL.

Pretend my store is a shoe store. The woman wanted shoe inserts to correct her friend's foot problem, yet didn't know the friend's shoe size or what her specific problem was. Further, it's a PERSONAL thing that if the friend wanted the help, the FRIEND would have gone shopping and ASKED for help. What a busybody.

So the woman was all pissed off because I couldn't show her anything to help her friend's problem even though she didn't really know what the friend's problem was. Yep, all my fault. I'm a terrible employee. NOW LEAVE AND LET ME HELP OTHER PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT THEIR PROBLEM IS!!

Beware

2006-03-07T20:26:00.000-08:00

On a personal note, may I remind everyone that little quirks about people will only get worse as they get older. If it's slightly annoying now, in 20 years it will drive you CRAZY!

Creepy Guy

2006-03-05T17:37:00.000-08:00

What is it about retail that makes some men think they can say/do anything they want to female clerks??

I think I actually prefer the not-funny jokes of a sexual nature from the older guy (which stopped after I spoke with him) than the general creepiness of today's guy. He commented on various things without really asking for my help but whenever I tried to go somewhere else, he'd follow me. He also didn't get the concept of (or didn't care about) personal space and STAYING AWAY FROM ME so I took a break far away from the sales floor until he left.

After he checked out, the cashier asked if he needed help out with his large but manageable purchases (WHY DID SHE ASK HIM THAT?). He said yes and requested me. I got halfway to the front and saw that it was him requesting assistance. I asked a male employee to carry the items for him. When the customer saw the male employee, he refused the help. Then he came and found me before he left to get in some more creepiness. Nothing specific that I can point to as "sexual harassment," but he made me uncomfortable in a way that he wouldn't have done to a guy.

I know, there were other people in the parking lot, but he had a foot and hundred pounds on me..........I wasn't going anywhere NEAR his car!

Now occasionally we'll have only women working. Usually not, but sometimes. What would I have done in that case? Told the guy I wasn't able to help him? Had two women walk out with him? Hmmm..........