customers
Consumer Politics
09/11/08 16:06 Filed in: Rants
When did the saying "The customer is always right" first come about? It's so engrained into consumer politics that for a party to disagree with it would be political, therefore economical, suicide.
It also seems that the bigger stores get, the louder customers feel they need to shout and stamp to be heard. Anyone else have a constant ringing in their ears?
For instance, before the friendly neighbourhood stores were driven out of business by the likes of Tesco, I can't imagine a customer going into their local corner shop effing and blinding to try and settle a dispute. The shopkeeper was quite possibly their neighbour so any disagreements could be resolved in person, and peacefully.
No need to ring their "customer helpline", or write to head office, or even Trading Standards; the guy behind the counter was probably "the man".
But now individual customers don't have the same hold over shops that they used to. Threatening to withdraw their custom doesn't have the same impact anymore. When a customer says to me "Well! I won't be shopping here anymore", I just think- yeah right. I'll just go and inform the manager that The Important Mrs. A will be shopping at Woolworths in future, but when you can't find that love seat anywhere else, you'll be back.
So customers resort to other tactics: threatening your job, threatening to ring Trading Standards, threatening to sue. I’m sure there’s always been people like this but it’s becoming more acceptable to be an asshole in public.
It’s ironic that as customers become more insecure, they deal with their problems in the least helpful way. Since when did being an A-hole gain you any empathy? I’m much more willing to help someone when they’re being civil rather than rude, and yet they still usually leave with what they wanted because it’s the only way to do business.
I know I sometimes struggle to keep it together myself. I recently got asked for ID even though I wasn’t even buying anything, but my boyfriend was buying alcohol. Since when have companies started asking not only the customer for ID, but every other person they’re with for ID too? I can sort of see where they’re coming from, but if they’re going to start doing that, where does it end? Will we need references soon?
True, the alcohol was for me and I’d taken my ID out my bag literally that morning so I was even more annoyed. It was my mistake and I didn’t take it out on the cashier. She was really nice too. Being rude to her would have gained nothing, but you shouldn’t have to work in retail to know that. It should be common sense.
I just wish Joe Public weren’t under the illusion that they are always right, and that companies didn’t indulge their stupid fantasy. There’s no give and take, just taking on both sides.
We take their money, they milk us for everything we’ve got.
It also seems that the bigger stores get, the louder customers feel they need to shout and stamp to be heard. Anyone else have a constant ringing in their ears?
For instance, before the friendly neighbourhood stores were driven out of business by the likes of Tesco, I can't imagine a customer going into their local corner shop effing and blinding to try and settle a dispute. The shopkeeper was quite possibly their neighbour so any disagreements could be resolved in person, and peacefully.
No need to ring their "customer helpline", or write to head office, or even Trading Standards; the guy behind the counter was probably "the man".
But now individual customers don't have the same hold over shops that they used to. Threatening to withdraw their custom doesn't have the same impact anymore. When a customer says to me "Well! I won't be shopping here anymore", I just think- yeah right. I'll just go and inform the manager that The Important Mrs. A will be shopping at Woolworths in future, but when you can't find that love seat anywhere else, you'll be back.
It’s ironic that as customers become more insecure, they deal with their problems in the least helpful way. Since when did being an A-hole gain you any empathy? I’m much more willing to help someone when they’re being civil rather than rude, and yet they still usually leave with what they wanted because it’s the only way to do business.
I know I sometimes struggle to keep it together myself. I recently got asked for ID even though I wasn’t even buying anything, but my boyfriend was buying alcohol. Since when have companies started asking not only the customer for ID, but every other person they’re with for ID too? I can sort of see where they’re coming from, but if they’re going to start doing that, where does it end? Will we need references soon?
True, the alcohol was for me and I’d taken my ID out my bag literally that morning so I was even more annoyed. It was my mistake and I didn’t take it out on the cashier. She was really nice too. Being rude to her would have gained nothing, but you shouldn’t have to work in retail to know that. It should be common sense.
I just wish Joe Public weren’t under the illusion that they are always right, and that companies didn’t indulge their stupid fantasy. There’s no give and take, just taking on both sides.
We take their money, they milk us for everything we’ve got.
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Superbitch-Winner!
20/10/08 14:01 Filed in: Stories
I’d probably say around 60% of customers are bad customers. By bad I mean: narky, ungrateful, rude, impatient and just generally unhappy about something. The majority of these customers I can deal with, they just go over my head and they’ll forget about me as soon as they’re out the door. The ones I really can’t stand are the ones that make it personal. It’s your fault somethings gone wrong and you’re a bad person for not living up to their standards and expectations.
Today I had a bitch of a customer. I wasn’t even serving her, but her friend had asked me how she could find out how much a dog bed was. That’s important-she asked “How can I...”, not “Can you...”. So I said she could use the price checker at the end of the aisle or take it to customer service. Had my hands not been full of rubbish I would have done it for her, but I was busy at the time and she hadn’t asked me to anyway. (I know she really meant “Can you...”. When do customers not mean “Can you do my shopping for me?”). But while I’m still standing in front of them, this bitch on steroids turns to her friend and says sarcastically “Oh, I’ll take it to customer service for you” and rolled her eyes.
What! What the hell was her problem?! All they needed to do was ask...properly.
I know I should have just left it, walked away, but I couldn’t let them leave thinking I’d done a bad job. I couldn’t let them walk out thinking I was the ignorant, good-for-nothing high school drop-out they had me labelled as just for working there. I had to redeem myself in what little way I could. I know it’s my job to help people, the customer always comes first, but when I literally can’t pick anything up, what can I do? You just can’t win.
While the Superbitch walked off, I literally dropped what I was doing and said to her friend that if she waited where she was, I’d go and scan it for her. I asked her to wait there because I’d already had one frustrating experience with two old ladies who went walk-about while I checked the price of a “cat house” for them earlier that day.
In the end she wasn’t even grateful anyway. Why did I fucking bother?
I will know if I see them again though. Superbitch was a proper winner-a winner of the fat and ugly game. And why was she fat? Because she refuses to walk anywhere unnecessarily, like the few meters to the price checker.
WARNING: throwing your toys out your pram like a big baby might occasionally get you your own way, but it also makes you look like a tit, a grade A GG tit.
Today I had a bitch of a customer. I wasn’t even serving her, but her friend had asked me how she could find out how much a dog bed was. That’s important-she asked “How can I...”, not “Can you...”. So I said she could use the price checker at the end of the aisle or take it to customer service. Had my hands not been full of rubbish I would have done it for her, but I was busy at the time and she hadn’t asked me to anyway. (I know she really meant “Can you...”. When do customers not mean “Can you do my shopping for me?”). But while I’m still standing in front of them, this bitch on steroids turns to her friend and says sarcastically “Oh, I’ll take it to customer service for you” and rolled her eyes.
What! What the hell was her problem?! All they needed to do was ask...properly.
While the Superbitch walked off, I literally dropped what I was doing and said to her friend that if she waited where she was, I’d go and scan it for her. I asked her to wait there because I’d already had one frustrating experience with two old ladies who went walk-about while I checked the price of a “cat house” for them earlier that day.
In the end she wasn’t even grateful anyway. Why did I fucking bother?
I will know if I see them again though. Superbitch was a proper winner-a winner of the fat and ugly game. And why was she fat? Because she refuses to walk anywhere unnecessarily, like the few meters to the price checker.
WARNING: throwing your toys out your pram like a big baby might occasionally get you your own way, but it also makes you look like a tit, a grade A GG tit.
Shit, shit and more shit.
18/10/08 12:34 Filed in: Stories
Last Sunday night I went in after closing time to help tidy up a few departments; basically wiping other peoples asses because they can't do their job properly, including the incompetent manager who messed up A&C last week. We were there until after 10pm cleaning up their shit. It could have been worse though, there could have been customers.
Speaking of that manager, he is still on A&C, and will be for the foreseeable future. He's just going to destroy everything, although I didn't tell him he was flying low one day last week so he was walking around for half the day with a tuft of shirt coming through his fly, lol. A small compensation.
Anyway, on Sunday night, totally unprovoked by me, the store manager started talking about shitty customers. Not too long ago he'd had a woman shouting in his face about the state of the customer toilets, complaining they hadn't been cleaned and should be closed to the public.
He inspected the lady's toilets and found someone had missed the toilet while taking a shit, then decided to try and scrape it off the seat with their fingers, leaving a right royal smeary mess.
He had a picture on his phone, I'll try and get hold of it but seeing as my phone doesn't accept picture messages, that might be kinda hard. For now, here’s my artistic representation>>
In the end he told the woman that she was shouting at the wrong gender and should look to her own kind to blame; and to be completely honest, it does seem to be women who leave the dirtiest messes.
For instance, as well as one woman sticking her used sanitary towel to one of the toilet pipes, another woman decided to flick her used tampon onto the wall, where it dried up and stayed until the cleaner came and scraped it off with a spatular.
That's an image that's even making me feel sick. I’ll leave you with that.
Speaking of that manager, he is still on A&C, and will be for the foreseeable future. He's just going to destroy everything, although I didn't tell him he was flying low one day last week so he was walking around for half the day with a tuft of shirt coming through his fly, lol. A small compensation.
Anyway, on Sunday night, totally unprovoked by me, the store manager started talking about shitty customers. Not too long ago he'd had a woman shouting in his face about the state of the customer toilets, complaining they hadn't been cleaned and should be closed to the public.
He had a picture on his phone, I'll try and get hold of it but seeing as my phone doesn't accept picture messages, that might be kinda hard. For now, here’s my artistic representation>>
In the end he told the woman that she was shouting at the wrong gender and should look to her own kind to blame; and to be completely honest, it does seem to be women who leave the dirtiest messes.
For instance, as well as one woman sticking her used sanitary towel to one of the toilet pipes, another woman decided to flick her used tampon onto the wall, where it dried up and stayed until the cleaner came and scraped it off with a spatular.
That's an image that's even making me feel sick. I’ll leave you with that.
Diagnosis: Psychosis
13/10/08 18:29 Filed in: Rants
I don’t know why it is that some people simply forget how to read when they go shopping, but I no longer feel it only applies to stores. More and more I’ve noticed that people become illiterate as soon as they leave the house; or maybe I’ve been mislead in thinking people are generally better educated these days and their illiteracy actually has nothing to do with fresh air or price tags.
I see this phenomenon almost daily, on my way to work.
One of the buses I can get to work doubles back on itself for part of it’s route, so no matter which way you’re going, buses traveling to either destination stop at the same stops, on the same side of the road, sometimes at the same time down the same stretch of road before splitting up and going their own separate ways again. Good job they have their destination displayed on the front otherwise you wouldn’t know which one was which.
You’d think.
So often people try and get on the wrong bus and it’s only because they have to state where they’re getting off that they get rumbled. The drivers must despair. I despair!
Yesterday a man got on with a free pass. He didn’t have to say where he was going so the driver couldn’t save him the trouble of jumping out his seat as soon as we got round the corner and getting off at the next stop because he’s got on the wrong bus.
I would have thought that people getting on on that stretch of road would be a little more observant, seeing as there’s a 50/50 chance the bus is going the opposite way to where they’re going.
However, looking at the front of the bus doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve paid any attention. I saw one woman who was absolutely adamant she’d got on the right bus even though all signs told her otherwise.
As further testament to peoples blind stupidity, we’ve recently moved a few of our departments round and despite having to walk past shelf upon shelf of pictures frames and dodge displays of mirrors on their way in, customers still get upstairs and ask where Gallery went. There’s even notices on the front door stating there’s been a refit and the new location of certain departments.
Apart from not seeing the wood for the trees, is it just laziness or do people seriously think that all these signs and notices don’t apply to them? In their universe the bus is going where they want and Gallery is still found upstairs because they’re the customer (or passenger) and they are always right, even when they’re wrong.
If only it was as easy as Adam Savage makes it sound: “I reject your reality and substitute my own”.
I see this phenomenon almost daily, on my way to work.
One of the buses I can get to work doubles back on itself for part of it’s route, so no matter which way you’re going, buses traveling to either destination stop at the same stops, on the same side of the road, sometimes at the same time down the same stretch of road before splitting up and going their own separate ways again. Good job they have their destination displayed on the front otherwise you wouldn’t know which one was which.
You’d think.
So often people try and get on the wrong bus and it’s only because they have to state where they’re getting off that they get rumbled. The drivers must despair. I despair!
Yesterday a man got on with a free pass. He didn’t have to say where he was going so the driver couldn’t save him the trouble of jumping out his seat as soon as we got round the corner and getting off at the next stop because he’s got on the wrong bus.
I would have thought that people getting on on that stretch of road would be a little more observant, seeing as there’s a 50/50 chance the bus is going the opposite way to where they’re going.
However, looking at the front of the bus doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve paid any attention. I saw one woman who was absolutely adamant she’d got on the right bus even though all signs told her otherwise.
As further testament to peoples blind stupidity, we’ve recently moved a few of our departments round and despite having to walk past shelf upon shelf of pictures frames and dodge displays of mirrors on their way in, customers still get upstairs and ask where Gallery went. There’s even notices on the front door stating there’s been a refit and the new location of certain departments.
Apart from not seeing the wood for the trees, is it just laziness or do people seriously think that all these signs and notices don’t apply to them? In their universe the bus is going where they want and Gallery is still found upstairs because they’re the customer (or passenger) and they are always right, even when they’re wrong.
If only it was as easy as Adam Savage makes it sound: “I reject your reality and substitute my own”.
Even Cats Know Better
27/09/08 20:26 Filed in: Rants
Yesterday, something struck me at work. It wasn't a canvas this time, just a thought I'd had and forgotten several times before.
Why do customers think it's okay to destroy stock and demand unreasonable compensation from stores because they think "these big corporate companies" can afford it?
I know they're trying to hurt the fat cats where it hurts-their wallet, but if the company I work for starts making a loss, it's going to start closing stores, and who's that going to affect? Us.
The big CEOs at the top will always try to make sure they're left with as much money in their pockets as possible, while the people at the bottom are left with no job, and before long, no money.
Why don't customers realise this?! By destroying stock they're only making more work and more losses for our store. Their argument would be "Well, that's what you get paid for", but how is that an excuse?
Yes, we have to tidy up after piggy customers all day so.....what? That's a reason to rip things apart, crumple things up and tread on them? You think you're doing us a favour by creating more work and keeping us in a job?
The only thing you're really doing is jeopardising my livelihood and making yourself look like a dick.
(Only stupider!)
These thoughts were triggered yesterday when I went to tidy the cross-stitch/knitting area and found every single box of the beginner knitting sets had been ripped open. They're sealed in several places with tape and when they can't pick the tape off, the customers resort to ripping around them. What I don't get is why every single one had been opened. It's as if customers come along, see that someone's touched the box already and have to open another one as if the first ones unclean.
I also found an A2 piece of pastel paper that had been rolled up and folded, and then whoever the culprit was had decided it wasn't what they were looking for after all and left it in an unsellable mess on top of the paper stand.
I know stuff gets broken, accidents happen, but deliberately damaging something you have no intention of buying, just because you think you have the right as a customer, is nothing short of vandalism. If you want to mess with that Fimo, you fucking buy it first. You’re not a retard, this isn’t play group, by the time you were seven you should have learnt breaking stuff that wasn’t yours was wrong.
And you’re not going to get a refund on something because you accidentally sat on it at home. You broke! We don’t pay!
If we could read customers minds, maybe this is what we'd see-"You work in shop. You stupid. You deserve bad. I broke something. I want money back. Customer always right. Big company listen to me. I warn them. I no shop here no more unless you give me money".....something like that.
So don’t be a dick, just ask or leave stuff the fuck alone, okay?!
Why do customers think it's okay to destroy stock and demand unreasonable compensation from stores because they think "these big corporate companies" can afford it?
I know they're trying to hurt the fat cats where it hurts-their wallet, but if the company I work for starts making a loss, it's going to start closing stores, and who's that going to affect? Us.
The big CEOs at the top will always try to make sure they're left with as much money in their pockets as possible, while the people at the bottom are left with no job, and before long, no money.
Why don't customers realise this?! By destroying stock they're only making more work and more losses for our store. Their argument would be "Well, that's what you get paid for", but how is that an excuse?
Yes, we have to tidy up after piggy customers all day so.....what? That's a reason to rip things apart, crumple things up and tread on them? You think you're doing us a favour by creating more work and keeping us in a job?
The only thing you're really doing is jeopardising my livelihood and making yourself look like a dick.
(Only stupider!)These thoughts were triggered yesterday when I went to tidy the cross-stitch/knitting area and found every single box of the beginner knitting sets had been ripped open. They're sealed in several places with tape and when they can't pick the tape off, the customers resort to ripping around them. What I don't get is why every single one had been opened. It's as if customers come along, see that someone's touched the box already and have to open another one as if the first ones unclean.
I also found an A2 piece of pastel paper that had been rolled up and folded, and then whoever the culprit was had decided it wasn't what they were looking for after all and left it in an unsellable mess on top of the paper stand.
I know stuff gets broken, accidents happen, but deliberately damaging something you have no intention of buying, just because you think you have the right as a customer, is nothing short of vandalism. If you want to mess with that Fimo, you fucking buy it first. You’re not a retard, this isn’t play group, by the time you were seven you should have learnt breaking stuff that wasn’t yours was wrong.
And you’re not going to get a refund on something because you accidentally sat on it at home. You broke! We don’t pay!
If we could read customers minds, maybe this is what we'd see-"You work in shop. You stupid. You deserve bad. I broke something. I want money back. Customer always right. Big company listen to me. I warn them. I no shop here no more unless you give me money".....something like that.
So don’t be a dick, just ask or leave stuff the fuck alone, okay?!
Adrenaline Junkies
15/09/08 11:14 Filed in: Stories
I don’t know if some customers like to get their kicks by frightening me, of if they just can’t find any other way to be dangerous.
Even though we have a customer lift (a weird one at that), some customers still choose to take their kids up and down the escalators in prams. On Sunday I saw one daddy take his daughter down, pram first, without even strapping her in!
Maybe people don’t think about consequences, or maybe I worry too much, but when I see people taking their kids down the escalator, sometimes not even in prams but just not holding their hand, I can’t help thinking they’re going to fall. I tell every customer I see that looks like they’re going to attempt taking a pram on the escalator that there’s a customer lift. Thankfully most people say “Oh right, thankyou”, but others have said stuff like “Oh no, we don’t like the lift” and take the escalator anyway, and one woman said “Oh, it’s ok, I wasn’t going to anyway. People who do that are just lazy”. Lazy? Don’t you mean dangerous?
People are so protective over their kids when it comes to other people, but it’s ok for them to risk their lives. Like that woman in Boots who tried to buy medicine for her baby, even after she was told that it had recently been deemed potentially harmful, it didn’t matter, it was her baby so she could do what she wanted.
Another thing, quite a while ago now, we used to have a bead stand that held little plastic cylinders of beads and the ones at the back would always get stuck. One woman was after a particular type of bead that just so happened to be stuck and were the last ones we had of that type. I tried to get it out using my safety knife and a knitting needle but that wasn’t enough for her. She disappeared for a while and then I saw her walking back with a kitchen knife in her hand. I don’t know how she got a knife on it’s own, she must have had to open a set to get just the one and it had no cover on it or anything. That was pretty scary, having a customer hell bent on getting beads walk straight towards you with a knife. She didn’t seem to realise what she looked like, or that she was lucky not to injure someone.
In the end, I think the beads stayed stuck and she left. I tried to take the knife off her but she said she’d return it herself.
Some people really do lose all rational thought when they enter shops, but that’s a different kind of stupid.
Even though we have a customer lift (a weird one at that), some customers still choose to take their kids up and down the escalators in prams. On Sunday I saw one daddy take his daughter down, pram first, without even strapping her in!
Maybe people don’t think about consequences, or maybe I worry too much, but when I see people taking their kids down the escalator, sometimes not even in prams but just not holding their hand, I can’t help thinking they’re going to fall. I tell every customer I see that looks like they’re going to attempt taking a pram on the escalator that there’s a customer lift. Thankfully most people say “Oh right, thankyou”, but others have said stuff like “Oh no, we don’t like the lift” and take the escalator anyway, and one woman said “Oh, it’s ok, I wasn’t going to anyway. People who do that are just lazy”. Lazy? Don’t you mean dangerous?
People are so protective over their kids when it comes to other people, but it’s ok for them to risk their lives. Like that woman in Boots who tried to buy medicine for her baby, even after she was told that it had recently been deemed potentially harmful, it didn’t matter, it was her baby so she could do what she wanted.
Another thing, quite a while ago now, we used to have a bead stand that held little plastic cylinders of beads and the ones at the back would always get stuck. One woman was after a particular type of bead that just so happened to be stuck and were the last ones we had of that type. I tried to get it out using my safety knife and a knitting needle but that wasn’t enough for her. She disappeared for a while and then I saw her walking back with a kitchen knife in her hand. I don’t know how she got a knife on it’s own, she must have had to open a set to get just the one and it had no cover on it or anything. That was pretty scary, having a customer hell bent on getting beads walk straight towards you with a knife. She didn’t seem to realise what she looked like, or that she was lucky not to injure someone.
In the end, I think the beads stayed stuck and she left. I tried to take the knife off her but she said she’d return it herself.
Some people really do lose all rational thought when they enter shops, but that’s a different kind of stupid.
A Case of the Back Seat Customer
09/09/08 15:41 Filed in: Rants
Ever had a case where a couple comes in and one half asks you for help while the other half hangs around and contradicts your suggestions?
It happened to me last week when a woman asked me for help on finding “B pencils”. That’s all I had to go on-B pencils. So I picked out a set of 12 for her with pencils from 9B to HB, along with F and H. What more could you need, but she still wasn’t sure. Maybe she was looking for bee pencils but we don’t sell pencils with bees on.
Cue husband, who comes in and points to nearly every single other pack of pencils we sell saying stuff like “What about these?” or “This set has B pencils” and “You don’t need all those ones”, which I had to counter with “Yes, that set has B pencils in but also a lot of H pencils in, which you don’t need” or “Those are charcoal”.
This went on for a few minutes and in the end they chose the smallest, cheapest pack of pencils we sell.
Maybe it’s just me, because I’m young and blonde some customers like to lord over me and flex their egos because they don’t get the chance to do it anywhere else. In some cases I think it boils down to sexism, subconscious or not, because it’s usually the men that like to do the contradicting. Men don’t like to ask for help but don’t mind dishing it out where it’s not needed because they think I don’t have the capacity to tell B pencils from Parker pens. Sorry guys.
Anyway, it doesn’t happen to me that much. I just find it really annoying when I’m trying to serve someone, say I’m helping them with fabric paints, and their friend keeps interrupting, or worse, telling me what I already know. I’ll be showing them the Dylon paints, which are next to the Anita’s acrylic paints, and Friend will say “Here! These say you can use them on fabrics too!” and I just wish I could say “I know! I was getting to those! Butt out! You interfering, know-it-all waste of space!”.
It happened to me last week when a woman asked me for help on finding “B pencils”. That’s all I had to go on-B pencils. So I picked out a set of 12 for her with pencils from 9B to HB, along with F and H. What more could you need, but she still wasn’t sure. Maybe she was looking for bee pencils but we don’t sell pencils with bees on.
Cue husband, who comes in and points to nearly every single other pack of pencils we sell saying stuff like “What about these?” or “This set has B pencils” and “You don’t need all those ones”, which I had to counter with “Yes, that set has B pencils in but also a lot of H pencils in, which you don’t need” or “Those are charcoal”.
This went on for a few minutes and in the end they chose the smallest, cheapest pack of pencils we sell.
Maybe it’s just me, because I’m young and blonde some customers like to lord over me and flex their egos because they don’t get the chance to do it anywhere else. In some cases I think it boils down to sexism, subconscious or not, because it’s usually the men that like to do the contradicting. Men don’t like to ask for help but don’t mind dishing it out where it’s not needed because they think I don’t have the capacity to tell B pencils from Parker pens. Sorry guys.
Anyway, it doesn’t happen to me that much. I just find it really annoying when I’m trying to serve someone, say I’m helping them with fabric paints, and their friend keeps interrupting, or worse, telling me what I already know. I’ll be showing them the Dylon paints, which are next to the Anita’s acrylic paints, and Friend will say “Here! These say you can use them on fabrics too!” and I just wish I could say “I know! I was getting to those! Butt out! You interfering, know-it-all waste of space!”.
Piggy Customer Hell Turns Into Pigsty
09/09/08 14:34 Filed in: Stories
I haven’t been able to take pictures of piggy customer hell recently (because I got a new phone with a crappy camera), but I have found more in the past week alone than I have since Christmas. I had half a mind to keep hold of everything I found then take a picture of all of it together, just to illustrate how much shit gets left on our shelves, but then I realised how disgusting that would be.
So, in the past week I’ve found:
1x Capri-sun carton
1x Powerade bottle
1x Mars Delight wrapper
1x Dairy Milk wrapper
1x lipsticky tissue
1x half-eaten sandwich crust
1x empty coffee cup
1x Ribena carton
I think that’s it. People are so dirty, yeuk!
Also last week, I watched a woman leave the shop with one of our baskets inside one of our trollies. Why have a basket in a trolly? I kept an eye on her through the window, wondering what she was going to do with the basket. It was only when she got to the trolley park that she seemed to realise she still had the basket and proceeded to leave it haphazardly on top of the rest of the trollies. So I went outside, walked straight up to her, wrenched the basket off the trollies and said “I’ll take that back for you!”. That seemed to give her a fright and she kept saying “Oh, sorry love, sorry”.
Satisfaction!
So, in the past week I’ve found:
1x Capri-sun carton
1x Powerade bottle
1x Mars Delight wrapper
1x Dairy Milk wrapper
1x lipsticky tissue
1x half-eaten sandwich crust
1x empty coffee cup
1x Ribena carton
I think that’s it. People are so dirty, yeuk!
Also last week, I watched a woman leave the shop with one of our baskets inside one of our trollies. Why have a basket in a trolly? I kept an eye on her through the window, wondering what she was going to do with the basket. It was only when she got to the trolley park that she seemed to realise she still had the basket and proceeded to leave it haphazardly on top of the rest of the trollies. So I went outside, walked straight up to her, wrenched the basket off the trollies and said “I’ll take that back for you!”. That seemed to give her a fright and she kept saying “Oh, sorry love, sorry”.
Satisfaction!
Pet hate + phone phobia ≠ success
07/08/08 13:41 Filed in: Stories
Sunday 27th July
Something that I really hate doing in work is using the phone. Fortunately, I don’t have to do it that often, but occasionally I’ll get called over to customer service to answer a customers query over the phone and I really, really hate it.
There was also the time when I asked for the store manager to be called to customer service over the tannoy but he rang down on the phone instead. Whoever was on CS just handed me the phone with no explanation and I didn’t expect it to be the manager so I just said hello, and all the manager said was hello, so we went back and forth like that for a while. I really didn’t recognise his voice, which is fucking stupid because he’s Canadian, and eventually he says “Yeah! Whats up?!”, and I’m like..shit! Lol. Rarely have I ever been more embarrassed. I blame my phobia of the work phone for temporarily losing my wits and making a fool of myself. I’d also like to blame the person on CS for not telling me who was on the other end, and because I don’t like him.
But what I hate most is when customers ask me to ring another store to see if they have a certain item in stock. It’s so lazy! I have to stand there while they glare at me because I’m on hold, like because I work there everything should happen faster and it’s my fault when it doesn’t.
This happened quite recently when a couple came in looking for these certain stickers and asked me to ring such and such a store. I said sure, but I could also give them the number so they could do it themselves in their own time, and had they tried the website. This was 2pm on a Sunday and I had just been about to go for my (late) lunch, but they said no, they wanted me to ring the store.
While I was on hold the guy asked me to ask them for directions to the store for him, so I asked if they had the internet, which they did, so I said I’d give them the store’s postcode and they could look it up themselves on google maps when they got home. They didn’t argue with that.
It took another 15 minutes to finally find out that the other store didn’t have any stickers either. The guy then asked for all the details about the store and item that I’d jotted down just as a quick reference, including the SKU number, like he had a clue what that was. I gave it to him anyway, explaining that only the first 4 numbers were relevant because the last 2 referred to the same stickers but in a different colour. I knew he wasn’t listening.
It really pissed me off. I’d asked him if he was able to pick the stickers up that day if they had any, and he said no, so I don’t understand what the rush was. They could have just rung the store when they got home, and seeing as our stores are open till 8pm they could have rung after 6 when calls are cheaper, if not free. Why do customers expect more if they get a staff member to do stuff for them? It’s actually likely to make things worse, because as soon as the other store heard I wasn’t the customer there was no pressure on them to please.
We’re retail slaves, not miracle workers.
Something that I really hate doing in work is using the phone. Fortunately, I don’t have to do it that often, but occasionally I’ll get called over to customer service to answer a customers query over the phone and I really, really hate it.
There was also the time when I asked for the store manager to be called to customer service over the tannoy but he rang down on the phone instead. Whoever was on CS just handed me the phone with no explanation and I didn’t expect it to be the manager so I just said hello, and all the manager said was hello, so we went back and forth like that for a while. I really didn’t recognise his voice, which is fucking stupid because he’s Canadian, and eventually he says “Yeah! Whats up?!”, and I’m like..shit! Lol. Rarely have I ever been more embarrassed. I blame my phobia of the work phone for temporarily losing my wits and making a fool of myself. I’d also like to blame the person on CS for not telling me who was on the other end, and because I don’t like him.
But what I hate most is when customers ask me to ring another store to see if they have a certain item in stock. It’s so lazy! I have to stand there while they glare at me because I’m on hold, like because I work there everything should happen faster and it’s my fault when it doesn’t.
This happened quite recently when a couple came in looking for these certain stickers and asked me to ring such and such a store. I said sure, but I could also give them the number so they could do it themselves in their own time, and had they tried the website. This was 2pm on a Sunday and I had just been about to go for my (late) lunch, but they said no, they wanted me to ring the store.
While I was on hold the guy asked me to ask them for directions to the store for him, so I asked if they had the internet, which they did, so I said I’d give them the store’s postcode and they could look it up themselves on google maps when they got home. They didn’t argue with that.
It took another 15 minutes to finally find out that the other store didn’t have any stickers either. The guy then asked for all the details about the store and item that I’d jotted down just as a quick reference, including the SKU number, like he had a clue what that was. I gave it to him anyway, explaining that only the first 4 numbers were relevant because the last 2 referred to the same stickers but in a different colour. I knew he wasn’t listening.
It really pissed me off. I’d asked him if he was able to pick the stickers up that day if they had any, and he said no, so I don’t understand what the rush was. They could have just rung the store when they got home, and seeing as our stores are open till 8pm they could have rung after 6 when calls are cheaper, if not free. Why do customers expect more if they get a staff member to do stuff for them? It’s actually likely to make things worse, because as soon as the other store heard I wasn’t the customer there was no pressure on them to please.
We’re retail slaves, not miracle workers.
Why ask me questions if I'm too stupid to understand?
13/07/08 18:17 Filed in: Stories
I’v had 2 people in the last 3 days say I haven’t got a clue what I’m talking about.
A woman on Friday asked me for a paper trimmer. She didn’t know what make it was (another case where those mind reading skills would come in handy), but I managed to find her the right one on the 3rd try. Then as she was walking away she starts talking to me about a sticker holder, but then she says “Oh, I bet you don’t know what any of the stuff is, do you?”. I was going to argue but decided to just say “No, sorry”. She didn’t say it in a horrible manner so I don’t think she was being intentionally insulting, she just didn’t realise what she was saying. I was still a tad annoyed though.
But another old woman came in today asking for “wax paper”. Just to be sure I know what she’s talking about, I asked what it’s used for. I usually do this when I’m not entirely sure because a lot of things in arts & crafts can go by several names, like some people call a putty rubber a “kneadable eraser”, blending stumps go by another name I can’t remember, and get this, a tool that folds paper can also be called a “boning tool”.
So, apparently, wax paper helps protect surfaces when you’re glueing etc. and I know we don’t have anything like that so I tell her we don’t stock it. But as she’s walking away, I hear her tell her husband “I don’t think that girl knows anything!”. Hello! I can still hear you! Later on another member of staff comes up to ask me if we have any wax paper. FFS! I say “I’v already told her - NO!”
It really pisses me off. If you’re not going to believe me or think I’m too stupid to know, then why do you ask me in the first place? You could just use your eyes and look for yourself. Usually it just goes over my head, but I hate being called stupid. If you just don’t believe me, that’s fine, you’re wasting your own time as well as mine, and I can laugh at you later. But don’t fucking say I’m stupid! And even if I’m not Einstein, it doesn’t mean I’m not self-aware. I know when you’re talking about me 2 feet away. I’m not some impervious, apathetic robot and sometimes insults hurt.
A woman on Friday asked me for a paper trimmer. She didn’t know what make it was (another case where those mind reading skills would come in handy), but I managed to find her the right one on the 3rd try. Then as she was walking away she starts talking to me about a sticker holder, but then she says “Oh, I bet you don’t know what any of the stuff is, do you?”. I was going to argue but decided to just say “No, sorry”. She didn’t say it in a horrible manner so I don’t think she was being intentionally insulting, she just didn’t realise what she was saying. I was still a tad annoyed though.
But another old woman came in today asking for “wax paper”. Just to be sure I know what she’s talking about, I asked what it’s used for. I usually do this when I’m not entirely sure because a lot of things in arts & crafts can go by several names, like some people call a putty rubber a “kneadable eraser”, blending stumps go by another name I can’t remember, and get this, a tool that folds paper can also be called a “boning tool”.
So, apparently, wax paper helps protect surfaces when you’re glueing etc. and I know we don’t have anything like that so I tell her we don’t stock it. But as she’s walking away, I hear her tell her husband “I don’t think that girl knows anything!”. Hello! I can still hear you! Later on another member of staff comes up to ask me if we have any wax paper. FFS! I say “I’v already told her - NO!”
It really pisses me off. If you’re not going to believe me or think I’m too stupid to know, then why do you ask me in the first place? You could just use your eyes and look for yourself. Usually it just goes over my head, but I hate being called stupid. If you just don’t believe me, that’s fine, you’re wasting your own time as well as mine, and I can laugh at you later. But don’t fucking say I’m stupid! And even if I’m not Einstein, it doesn’t mean I’m not self-aware. I know when you’re talking about me 2 feet away. I’m not some impervious, apathetic robot and sometimes insults hurt.
GameStop
07/07/08 11:10 Filed in: Rants
Some poor GameStop employee has taken it upon himself to defend the company’s policies because he is so tired of all the GameStop bashing that goes on. You can read the whole thing here. I guess all the know-it-all abusive customers and criticising newsblogs are starting to get too much for one retail slave.
The first thing he talks about is “gutted” games. People are making a big deal of this? It’s common practice in the UK....and it makes sense. If you were to put an unopened £50 game on the shelf someone would steal it, no-matter how many security tags you put on it. Isn’t that obvious, customers? At least you can check the disk of gutted games. Just because a game is sealed, it’s no guarantee it’s going to work any better. And be thankful those gutted disks get put in plastic/paper sleaves. We don’t even do that.
Another thing is the reserves. I never gave a crap about how much I sold or how many reserves I made (which was probably none) because I was only a temp, but I know we had soooo many problems with customers wanting to reserve a Wii. I worked at **** video game store around the time the Wii was released in December 2006 and the UK (well, everywhere) had a pretty bad time of it trying to get hold of consoles. Even those who managed to reserve one weren’t happy they had to wait for it. One day there was a power outage affecting our store and a guy approaches us and kicks off because he can’t get his Wii. Helloooooo! We can’t even get in the fucking store, let alone get your Wii! Why are people so fucking stupid? They see the shop with the shutters still down at 12pm and us standing outside in the freezing cold, but the customer is always right and the customer demands they have their games right now! Sorry, I failed at Hogwarts, which is a good job for you because I would really like to transfigure you into the pile of shit that you really are!
He brings up a lot of other good points as well, like asking for ID and....trade-ins. Why do people get pissy about this? Which other stores will take in your 2 year old, manky game or console? And if you turn up your nose at a pre-owned game that you consider to be in poor condition, that’s not the fault of the employees, but due to the previous owner not looking after it properly. Blame your fellow customers.
Something I need to chuck in though is that you pay nearly half the price for games (not to mention nearly everything else) in the US compared to the UK. Grand Theft Auto IV in the US - $59.99. In the UK - £49.99 ($98.78). Rock Band in the US - $169.99. In the UK - £129.99 ($256.84). You’re getting a steal as it is, quit being a bitch about it.
Even though I only worked at a video game store for a few months, I learned that buying games and consoles can induce a state of anger in the most placid of people. If you’re not happy with the policies, take it to the guys at the top. Don’t take your frustration out on the retail slaves because they can’t change anything. You think they get paid minimum wage for drafting company policy and procedure?
One comment says:
Sorry- this just basically says one thing to me:
"The customer should conform to our practices" instead of the other way around.
Um....yeah, what’s your point? You expect us to change policy for each customer’s individual preferences? I think you need to go pinch yourself, or worse.
"Staff announcement: Leash for customer in aisle 3!"
04/07/08 11:40 Filed in: Stories
If you ask me to go and get something or find something out for you, stay where you are!
How do you expect me to find you when you wander off to the opposite side of the store?
A woman on Wednesday night asked me if a certain table was in stock so I go and try and find it but can’t, so I have to fetch someone who actually works on Furniture. I go back on the shop floor to let the woman know I’m just going to find someone from that department and she asks me where the napkins are. I tell her Housewares but she says “Oh, so they’re not over there then?”, pointing at textiles. I thought “What?! Not likely!” but then I remembered I had actually seen table runners over there at Christmas so I lead her over to have a look anyway and there were actually some fabric napkins...and placemats....on Textiles. WTF? No wonder no one can ever find anything. It makes no sense whatsoever. And if she knew they were over there, why the hell did she ask me in the first place?!
Anyway, I leave her to look at the napkins and I track someone down to find the table but when I go back to tell her we have the table in stock, she’s neither at the napkins or by the display table! I eventually find her, give her the good news and she isn’t even grateful in the slightest. I’ve just chased around, doing everything her purse desired, then had to search half the store looking for her fat ass and she looks bored as hell, completely oblivious to my efforts, and has to force a thankyou out. I don’t care if it makes you gag, you’ll be grateful and say thankyou!
What also happens quite a lot is when I’m not on my department and a customer needs help, I either get called to customer service or back to A&C. I really wish I didn’t get called back to A&C for a customer because it takes me about 5 minutes to find them. They don’t stay in one place. How can they moan about slow customer service if they make it nearly impossible to find them?! It’s not rocket science!
How do you expect me to find you when you wander off to the opposite side of the store?
A woman on Wednesday night asked me if a certain table was in stock so I go and try and find it but can’t, so I have to fetch someone who actually works on Furniture. I go back on the shop floor to let the woman know I’m just going to find someone from that department and she asks me where the napkins are. I tell her Housewares but she says “Oh, so they’re not over there then?”, pointing at textiles. I thought “What?! Not likely!” but then I remembered I had actually seen table runners over there at Christmas so I lead her over to have a look anyway and there were actually some fabric napkins...and placemats....on Textiles. WTF? No wonder no one can ever find anything. It makes no sense whatsoever. And if she knew they were over there, why the hell did she ask me in the first place?!
Anyway, I leave her to look at the napkins and I track someone down to find the table but when I go back to tell her we have the table in stock, she’s neither at the napkins or by the display table! I eventually find her, give her the good news and she isn’t even grateful in the slightest. I’ve just chased around, doing everything her purse desired, then had to search half the store looking for her fat ass and she looks bored as hell, completely oblivious to my efforts, and has to force a thankyou out. I don’t care if it makes you gag, you’ll be grateful and say thankyou!
What also happens quite a lot is when I’m not on my department and a customer needs help, I either get called to customer service or back to A&C. I really wish I didn’t get called back to A&C for a customer because it takes me about 5 minutes to find them. They don’t stay in one place. How can they moan about slow customer service if they make it nearly impossible to find them?! It’s not rocket science!
Mind Reading
27/06/08 13:41 Filed in: Stories
You know those customers that come in and just expect you to know what they’re looking for?
Me: “Are you okay there?”
Customer: “Erm, yeah, I’m looking for this thing, I saw it in a magazine and it’s blue.”
Me: “Okay, do you have the magazine with you?”
Customer “No, I didn’t think I’d need it.”
And so on.....
I’v even had customers who have come in on someone elses behalf, with no idea about what they’re really looking for, and end up ringing the other person and then hand the phone over to me.
That never, ever works! I will never find whatever it is you’re poorly describing. And no-matter how hard you try, the mental image you’re sending will never reach me.
For example, I had to speak to one woman over the phone who was looking for sequins and I felt like saying “Seriously, do you know how many things with sequins we sell?! Get off your lazy ass and come and look for yourself!”
And another guy came in looking for an easel so I showed him most of the easels we have. Some are on the back wall which you can’t get to unless you get the ladders, which I was willing to do once I’d asked a few questions to find out what type of easel he was after. Then he said “I was looking for something a bit more, y’know, fab”. I just said to him “Easels don’t really get that glamorous”. He decided he’d just have a look round on his own for a while and about 10 minutes later he came back to me with a big red box and said “This was the kind of thing I was looking for”.
Oh, so you wanted a box easel? Why didn’t you just fucking say so?!
Half the time it’s customers expecting you to be a walking encyclopedia. Like, they can’t even be bothered to remember the name of what they’re looking for. Just the freakin’ name! So they expect you to know every single product and to do their thinking for them.
And the other half are customers who don’t really know what they’re looking for. They haven’t done their research and just come in with a vague description.
I was just reading a few stories on Facebook about these mind reading skills some customers think we possess. Say, a customer orders a coffee but doesn’t specify what kind then kicks off when it isn’t decaf. Is telepathy more common than I thought? We work in a shop which obviously means we’re all as thick as pig shit but we’re supposed to be able to read minds?
This must be about #127on my list of “Things I don’t get” about retail. I wish #1 was customers, but alas, I get lots of them.
Me: “Are you okay there?”
Customer: “Erm, yeah, I’m looking for this thing, I saw it in a magazine and it’s blue.”
Me: “Okay, do you have the magazine with you?”
Customer “No, I didn’t think I’d need it.”
And so on.....
I’v even had customers who have come in on someone elses behalf, with no idea about what they’re really looking for, and end up ringing the other person and then hand the phone over to me.
That never, ever works! I will never find whatever it is you’re poorly describing. And no-matter how hard you try, the mental image you’re sending will never reach me.
For example, I had to speak to one woman over the phone who was looking for sequins and I felt like saying “Seriously, do you know how many things with sequins we sell?! Get off your lazy ass and come and look for yourself!”
And another guy came in looking for an easel so I showed him most of the easels we have. Some are on the back wall which you can’t get to unless you get the ladders, which I was willing to do once I’d asked a few questions to find out what type of easel he was after. Then he said “I was looking for something a bit more, y’know, fab”. I just said to him “Easels don’t really get that glamorous”. He decided he’d just have a look round on his own for a while and about 10 minutes later he came back to me with a big red box and said “This was the kind of thing I was looking for”.
Oh, so you wanted a box easel? Why didn’t you just fucking say so?!
Half the time it’s customers expecting you to be a walking encyclopedia. Like, they can’t even be bothered to remember the name of what they’re looking for. Just the freakin’ name! So they expect you to know every single product and to do their thinking for them.
And the other half are customers who don’t really know what they’re looking for. They haven’t done their research and just come in with a vague description.
I was just reading a few stories on Facebook about these mind reading skills some customers think we possess. Say, a customer orders a coffee but doesn’t specify what kind then kicks off when it isn’t decaf. Is telepathy more common than I thought? We work in a shop which obviously means we’re all as thick as pig shit but we’re supposed to be able to read minds?
This must be about #127on my list of “Things I don’t get” about retail. I wish #1 was customers, but alas, I get lots of them.
Beyond me, beyond help.
23/06/08 23:29 Filed in: Stories
These Fitting Room Nightmares make me soooo glad I don’t work in a clothes store.
I’v seen Primark left in a pretty bad way, but that’s not even the half of it. Not only do people rip clothes because they’re too fat, but they leave their litter and even take a dump in there. Obviously toilets are too good for some people.
I’v heard some disgusting things about our customer toilets from our store cleaner. For instance, one woman decided she didn’t want to put her used sanitary towel in the appropriate bin and stuck it to the toilet instead. Sick!
And another woman needed to change her baby but didn’t have anything to clean it with, so she went and got a towel from the shelf, wiped her shitty baby with it and just left it in the toilets. Classy! I bet she wasn’t a day over 18.
And then other customers have the nerve to complain about the state of the toilets! “Don’t they get cleaned?!” they say. Yes, but then your fellow revolting customers come along and dirty them up again.
But they’re toilets. At least that’s where shit belongs, not in fitting rooms. Okay, so maybe you have a bowel problem, but if thats the case, shouldn’t you stay at home, or at least overdose on Imodium before you leave the house.
I just don’t get some people. Angry customers making your life hell is one thing, but people who make your life HELL at risk of personal embarrassment to themselves is something else!
I’m still struggling to comprehend it.
I’v seen Primark left in a pretty bad way, but that’s not even the half of it. Not only do people rip clothes because they’re too fat, but they leave their litter and even take a dump in there. Obviously toilets are too good for some people.
I’v heard some disgusting things about our customer toilets from our store cleaner. For instance, one woman decided she didn’t want to put her used sanitary towel in the appropriate bin and stuck it to the toilet instead. Sick!
And another woman needed to change her baby but didn’t have anything to clean it with, so she went and got a towel from the shelf, wiped her shitty baby with it and just left it in the toilets. Classy! I bet she wasn’t a day over 18.
And then other customers have the nerve to complain about the state of the toilets! “Don’t they get cleaned?!” they say. Yes, but then your fellow revolting customers come along and dirty them up again.
But they’re toilets. At least that’s where shit belongs, not in fitting rooms. Okay, so maybe you have a bowel problem, but if thats the case, shouldn’t you stay at home, or at least overdose on Imodium before you leave the house.
I just don’t get some people. Angry customers making your life hell is one thing, but people who make your life HELL at risk of personal embarrassment to themselves is something else!
I’m still struggling to comprehend it.
Best Customer Award
21/06/08 20:57 Filed in: Stories
I spend so much time complaining and seething over stupid customers that I’d forgotten that there really are some lovely people out there, and if I reminded myself of that fact a bit more often, I’d be a bit less bitter.
There is one lady in particular who comes in about once a fortnight to top up her dress making supplies, and as soon as we get talking, we could be there for nearly an hour. She’s nearly 70 but young at heart and a really good laugh.
She even made me a necklace (which is really, really nice) when we were just getting to know each other because she liked my customer service. So that just shows I’m not one of those lazy, unhelpful, nonchalant sales assistants some of you might think I am.
So I’m going to award Lynda the Best Customer (of undetermined time period) Award!
I also had a customer today who was extremely nice, like too nice. I thought he was either gay or flirting but no, it just turns out he was a very, very, very, very happy person. He asked me for fabric scissors and sewing needles so I sent him upstairs to Textiles, but halfway up the escalator he shouted back down to me “They’re not for me by the way!”. I don’t know why, but I got the feeling I’d probably be seeing him again before he left the store and lo and behold, 15 minutes later, he’s back asking me where else he can buy sewing needles. I found it a really nice gesture that he came back to ask me, and he was happy no-matter what I said. Maybe I should find it creepy, but I don’t. It was like he could have got hit by a car and he’d still be smiling.
So I need more nice customers, and it doesn’t take much to be nice. Just an “excuse me”, “please” and a “thank you very much” with a smile, and all previous grievances are forgotten.
There is one lady in particular who comes in about once a fortnight to top up her dress making supplies, and as soon as we get talking, we could be there for nearly an hour. She’s nearly 70 but young at heart and a really good laugh.
She even made me a necklace (which is really, really nice) when we were just getting to know each other because she liked my customer service. So that just shows I’m not one of those lazy, unhelpful, nonchalant sales assistants some of you might think I am.
So I’m going to award Lynda the Best Customer (of undetermined time period) Award!
I also had a customer today who was extremely nice, like too nice. I thought he was either gay or flirting but no, it just turns out he was a very, very, very, very happy person. He asked me for fabric scissors and sewing needles so I sent him upstairs to Textiles, but halfway up the escalator he shouted back down to me “They’re not for me by the way!”. I don’t know why, but I got the feeling I’d probably be seeing him again before he left the store and lo and behold, 15 minutes later, he’s back asking me where else he can buy sewing needles. I found it a really nice gesture that he came back to ask me, and he was happy no-matter what I said. Maybe I should find it creepy, but I don’t. It was like he could have got hit by a car and he’d still be smiling.
So I need more nice customers, and it doesn’t take much to be nice. Just an “excuse me”, “please” and a “thank you very much” with a smile, and all previous grievances are forgotten.
Strawberry Fields Forever: Greedy customers get barred.
19/06/08 18:06 Filed in: Stories
I heard on the radio today that a farmer has had to close his strawberry fields to people wanting to pick their own strawberries because too many people were leaving without paying.
The farm had been running since 1923 but they lost so much of the crop last year due to people not paying (and poor weather conditions) that they can’t afford to open it to the public anymore. I’m not sure if they’ve closed the farm completely or just to the public.
One family he saw walking round had a bowl of water and some cream and were eating the strawberries as they went. When they got back to the exit they claimed they hadn’t found any and left.
Another woman used her skirt to carry a load of strawberries to the car while her husband went to the counter, claimed they could hardly find any and paid for about 3 strawberries.
There were also countless people who would turn up at the counter with their face and clothes covered in juice and only pay for the couple of strawberries they’d have in their basket.
What is wrong with these people? This man is trying to run a business, and farmers are struggling enough as it is. How is not paying for the strawberries you stuffed your face with while going round the field any different than scoffing an ice bun in the supermarket and not telling the cashier?
Children were also responsible for destroying a lot of the crop because they’d run around, knock the fruit off then either stand on them or throw them, and the parents would do nothing. Another case of bad parenting. Why aren’t these people sterilised?
One person rang in to the radio station and said “This is just farmers being greedy. They should employ people to pick them and not exploit people by getting them to pick them for free.”
What? Exploitation? It’s not the farmer doing the exploiting! It’s the greedy fucking customers again! Just because he’s not paying anyone to pick them, doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all. He still has to sell the strawberries to make a living.
This has pissed me off no end. I know it’s only a strawberry field. Hell, I won’t miss it. But the fucking cheek of some of these people. Taking cream with them for crying out loud!
“It’s ok, it’s only a few strawberries”. How about I feed your kids to a pack of wolves, then you wouldn’t have as many mouths to feed.
Sorted!
The farm had been running since 1923 but they lost so much of the crop last year due to people not paying (and poor weather conditions) that they can’t afford to open it to the public anymore. I’m not sure if they’ve closed the farm completely or just to the public.
One family he saw walking round had a bowl of water and some cream and were eating the strawberries as they went. When they got back to the exit they claimed they hadn’t found any and left.
Another woman used her skirt to carry a load of strawberries to the car while her husband went to the counter, claimed they could hardly find any and paid for about 3 strawberries.
There were also countless people who would turn up at the counter with their face and clothes covered in juice and only pay for the couple of strawberries they’d have in their basket.
What is wrong with these people? This man is trying to run a business, and farmers are struggling enough as it is. How is not paying for the strawberries you stuffed your face with while going round the field any different than scoffing an ice bun in the supermarket and not telling the cashier?
Children were also responsible for destroying a lot of the crop because they’d run around, knock the fruit off then either stand on them or throw them, and the parents would do nothing. Another case of bad parenting. Why aren’t these people sterilised?
One person rang in to the radio station and said “This is just farmers being greedy. They should employ people to pick them and not exploit people by getting them to pick them for free.”
What? Exploitation? It’s not the farmer doing the exploiting! It’s the greedy fucking customers again! Just because he’s not paying anyone to pick them, doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all. He still has to sell the strawberries to make a living.
This has pissed me off no end. I know it’s only a strawberry field. Hell, I won’t miss it. But the fucking cheek of some of these people. Taking cream with them for crying out loud!
“It’s ok, it’s only a few strawberries”. How about I feed your kids to a pack of wolves, then you wouldn’t have as many mouths to feed.
Sorted!
Sleazy-ass dirty customers
16/06/08 23:09 Filed in: Stories
Carolanne, of Retail Hell Underground, posted about something which I, fortunately, haven’t have much experience of: Sleazy-ass dirty customers! Although I haven’t had any really bad, pervy customers, I do have to work with a couple of sleazy-ass dirty male colleagues.
One is just plain creepy. I think everyone finds him creepy, male or female. I just don’t think he’s very “socially well-adjusted”, rather than sleazy. He doesn’t know the right things to say to people, or maybe he just has the weirdest sense of humour of anyone I’ve ever come across. He says the strangest things sometimes. But there’s quite a few disturbing rumours floating round about him, which I don’t thoroughly believe, and everyone jokes about going round to his house. I do my best to avoid him, because he does freak me out a bit, and just incase he is some sex predator. Not that I’m suggesting he is, but just in case.
The other sleazy colleague always tries to joke about going out for a drink.....constantly. There’s stuff floating round about him too but he’s not half as creepy as the other guy.
As for pervy customers, the only one I can remember is an old man who told me I had a dusty arse, but that was it. Hardly a sleazy-ass dirty stalker shopper.
The fact is I always have a dusty arse because I find excuses to sit on the floor so I'm not on my feet all day. Half the staff have told me and I'm past the point of caring.
There is a much worse example of a pervy customer in Carolanne’s post. Yuk!
Y’know that game: Fuck, Marry, Kill? There should be one to categorise the disgustingness of sleazy-ass dirty customers, ie. Shiver, Puke, Die.
Shiver - I wish I hadn’t heard that; Puke - nauseas and possibly mentally scarred; Die - kill me now!.
Mine only reach Shiver, and for that I’m eternally grateful.
One is just plain creepy. I think everyone finds him creepy, male or female. I just don’t think he’s very “socially well-adjusted”, rather than sleazy. He doesn’t know the right things to say to people, or maybe he just has the weirdest sense of humour of anyone I’ve ever come across. He says the strangest things sometimes. But there’s quite a few disturbing rumours floating round about him, which I don’t thoroughly believe, and everyone jokes about going round to his house. I do my best to avoid him, because he does freak me out a bit, and just incase he is some sex predator. Not that I’m suggesting he is, but just in case.
The other sleazy colleague always tries to joke about going out for a drink.....constantly. There’s stuff floating round about him too but he’s not half as creepy as the other guy.
As for pervy customers, the only one I can remember is an old man who told me I had a dusty arse, but that was it. Hardly a sleazy-ass dirty stalker shopper.
The fact is I always have a dusty arse because I find excuses to sit on the floor so I'm not on my feet all day. Half the staff have told me and I'm past the point of caring.
There is a much worse example of a pervy customer in Carolanne’s post. Yuk!
Y’know that game: Fuck, Marry, Kill? There should be one to categorise the disgustingness of sleazy-ass dirty customers, ie. Shiver, Puke, Die.
Shiver - I wish I hadn’t heard that; Puke - nauseas and possibly mentally scarred; Die - kill me now!.
Mine only reach Shiver, and for that I’m eternally grateful.
This doesn't make me a bad person
16/06/08 11:53 Filed in: Stories
This is in no way meant to be offensive or insulting but why do people bring mentally disabled people shopping?
That sounds awful doesn’t it?
The only reason I say it is because some of the carers seem to think it’s ok to off-load them on me for a while.
It’s NOT okay! It freaks me the hell out!
I know a few people who have looked after people with mental and learning disabilities so I know most of them are the nicest, well-meaning people in the world, but I’m niether trained or paid to look after them in my work. I just don’t know how to deal with them, how to respond to them. Like kids, I’ve no idea how to talk to children.
A woman pushing an old man in a wheelchair came up to me yesterday and said “Go on, ask the lady,” and all the old man did was go “Nah nah nah nah nah!”. WTF? What am I supposed to say to that? I was just like “Umm....”, then the woman said “Okay, I’ll ask her then”. That’s fair enough.
But another woman, quite a few months ago now, came in with a girl who must have had Down’s Syndrome or something, and the woman stood by while the girl asked me if we had such and such a thing. When I said no she kept on asking the same thing over and over again, and the longer it went on for, the more amused her carer seemed to get but didn’t do anything about it. I just kept thinking “Why isn’t she doing anything?” and “Can you go now please?”, and finally when the carer had had her fun she said “C’mon, lets go, they don’t have any”. The girl was really sweet, but the carer should have intervened a bit sooner.
Our store is quite close to a school for people with learning difficulties so they’re in the store quite a lot, and I don’t mind that, and I don’t mind serving them either. It’s just when the carers expect me to handle them on my own and don’t step in when they go a bit “off track” or they start dribbling or something. I try and treat them like normal people but how am I supposed to do that when they start talking jibberish?
And whats the point in having a carer if they don’t do anything?
18/6/08: I know this will inevitably cause offence, but please read this post before you get angry/upset/wish death upon me. There’s no good way I can make my point without making myself look shallow, judgemental and prejudiced, I’m just not articulate enough, but I will explain as best as I can.
That sounds awful doesn’t it?
The only reason I say it is because some of the carers seem to think it’s ok to off-load them on me for a while.
It’s NOT okay! It freaks me the hell out!
I know a few people who have looked after people with mental and learning disabilities so I know most of them are the nicest, well-meaning people in the world, but I’m niether trained or paid to look after them in my work. I just don’t know how to deal with them, how to respond to them. Like kids, I’ve no idea how to talk to children.
A woman pushing an old man in a wheelchair came up to me yesterday and said “Go on, ask the lady,” and all the old man did was go “Nah nah nah nah nah!”. WTF? What am I supposed to say to that? I was just like “Umm....”, then the woman said “Okay, I’ll ask her then”. That’s fair enough.
But another woman, quite a few months ago now, came in with a girl who must have had Down’s Syndrome or something, and the woman stood by while the girl asked me if we had such and such a thing. When I said no she kept on asking the same thing over and over again, and the longer it went on for, the more amused her carer seemed to get but didn’t do anything about it. I just kept thinking “Why isn’t she doing anything?” and “Can you go now please?”, and finally when the carer had had her fun she said “C’mon, lets go, they don’t have any”. The girl was really sweet, but the carer should have intervened a bit sooner.
Our store is quite close to a school for people with learning difficulties so they’re in the store quite a lot, and I don’t mind that, and I don’t mind serving them either. It’s just when the carers expect me to handle them on my own and don’t step in when they go a bit “off track” or they start dribbling or something. I try and treat them like normal people but how am I supposed to do that when they start talking jibberish?
And whats the point in having a carer if they don’t do anything?
18/6/08: I know this will inevitably cause offence, but please read this post before you get angry/upset/wish death upon me. There’s no good way I can make my point without making myself look shallow, judgemental and prejudiced, I’m just not articulate enough, but I will explain as best as I can.
