WAIT YOUR TURN

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

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?

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

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?

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.