On Wednesday night a young couple came in looking to buy a fish tank and had seen one they liked but the price label below it said £12.99. They were really nice and polite and genuinely thought that was the price but I offered to check it for them because I knew it wasn’t. The actual price was £59.99! They didn’t get angry, they just seemed really disappointed. Y’know when your parents say that to you “I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed” like it’s so much worse? Well, I did feel kinda bad.
However, it turned out the girlfriend is the deputy manager of a jewelers and is a stickler for pricing; get the price of a ring wrong and you could end up losing thousands. So she asked for the address of head office, which I said they could get from customer service, and I also suggested they talk to the manager before they left.
Unlike the guy who was complaining about the price of the canvases, I totally understand where this couple were coming from. The price was wrong, full stop, and although the description on the label didn’t fit the tank, it was above head height so it was hard to read anyway. I was really fortunate that they were so laid back otherwise I would have been on the front line facing a full on customer bitch attack.
So, while the girl went off to customer service I stayed behind with the guy and tried to work out some order with the remaining prices. Over half the fish tanks were incorrectly priced! And I dread to think what the rest of the department was like. I tried not to make excuses and blatantly said that the guy who ran that department was incompetent. I know I shouldn’t say things like that to customers but they both worked in retail so they know what it’s like anyway. It was ages before she returned from customer service and the first thing she said was the behaviour she’d seen from the staff over there was disgusting. Way to rub salt in a wound!
Apparently Scary Mary had been eating behind the desk and swearing loudly and someone else had been drinking a bottle of pop. We were just waiting for the manager to come over when she said to me “Don’t worry, I said you were exceptional” which made me feel slightly better but I still felt ashamed on behalf of the people on customer service.
In the end the manager gave them 20% off the tank and assured them that the guy on that department would be fired, blah blah blah. I was like yeah right, but I’d thought he’d at least get written up for it. All that’s happened is he’s got a bollocking and been told to get the department in order. Big deal, that happens every few months or so and guess who was one of the people who had to pick up the pieces last time. Yeah-me.
a) It shouldn’t be left to get like that, and b) it shouldn’t be other people that have to sort out that department while the guy gets nothing but a slap on the wrist. Discipline is a really big problem in our store. No one is afraid of the consequences if they don’t do any work because there won’t be any.
I really hope that couple do write to head office because the company won’t listen to anyone else.
Something I found funny though was how the people on customer service couldn’t stop going on about how much of a bitch the girl was when I thought they were some of the nicest, understanding customers I’ve ever had. It just shows how some customers can be ordinary nice people in other circumstances but shops seem to bring out the worst in them, it just depends what side you find yourself on.

Tags: rude, anger!, worst, customer, disgusting

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!

Tags: disgusting, customers, worst, anger!

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.

Tags: customers, worst, rude, disgusting

I wasn’t even at work today and I had to put up with another angry customer. I was stood behind this woman in a queue while she was trying to buy some medicine for her baby but she was told the laws had changed and even though it said “suitable for 3 months+” on the bottle, it was only suitable for children over 2 years. But she just wouldn’t let it drop. She was basically being told it was unsafe to give to her baby but she was still trying to buy it! She’d been giving it to her baby already but had run out and couldn’t understand why she couldn’t buy more. It’s one thing arguing with a cashier, but it was the law. Give it up, lady!
I would have really liked to have told her to get lost but she had Stressed Out Mum Syndrome and I would have only made things 10 times worse. Why do kids bring out the worst in people?

Tags: worst, customer

I’v only ever been in the cash office once and I asked my colleague “Do you not find it weird that you’re handling 1000s of pounds, probably the most money you’ll ever hold in your hand at one time in your entire life?” and he said no. He handed me a load of twenties and was like “Here, this wad is £1000, here’s another, that’s £2000….” and I’m holding all this money and he’s right, you just think of it as bits of paper. Then I realise how much I could do with it but I’d probably end up in jail. And then I get angry because I realise here we are, Retail Slaves, making money for the fat cats who give nothing back. It’s not like I’m expecting a pay rise or anything, I know no qualifications = low pay but we at least deserve a safer working environment. I’ve lost count of how many health and safety laws we’re breaking and no one will pay to fix them. We’re not even allowed the fucking heating on in winter because it “costs too much” and the temperature up stairs can reach over 100° in the summer because no one will pay to fix the air-con. But it could be worse…
I know someone who used to work for Jessops (a photographic retailer) and they even had asbestos in their stock room, but not enough to mean the council would repair it for free. Now, Jessops has had to liquidate a lot of it’s stores and stock already to stop it from going under but earlier this year they paid their chairman £500,000 in bonuses….and yet they won’t fork out to repair some fucking asbestos! I’m sure Mr. Chairman would love some in his office. Meanwhile the employees of at least one Jessops store have had to cover it over with tape and just hope they don’t get lung cancer. Nice! That was really worth a 6 figure bonus.

Tags: money, worst

I think customers behaviour can be likened to road rage. Being in a shop has the same effect on some people as being in a car and can cause them to stop thinking rationally and forget that they’re actually talking to other human beings. Nothing else matters but themselves and their money and they will curse, shout and threaten until they get what they want. I’m going to call it consumer rage.
The worst thing is though, I could become a perpetrator of it myself if pushed. Usually if service is a bit slow and I can see the cashier is struggling, I’l say to them it’s fine, don’t worry about it, but I have got a bit angry sometimes when there’s absolutely no excuse for crappy service. I was in Matalan a few months ago and it took 15 minutes for me to get served with 2 tills open and only 3 people in front of me. There was absolutely no reason for it except that the woman on one till was so ancient she should have retired 30 years ago (ok, not her fault but she shouldn’t be working at all) and if the guy on the other till walked any slower he’d be going backwards. Currys is also really bad for crappy customer service. I’d get written up if I did some of the stuff that’s happened to me there.
But to be honest, if you can get away with it, why not. I don’t blame them for trying to do the least amount of work possible. The pay only covers getting out of bed, anything else you do is extra. Minimum wage = minimum effort.

Tags: rude, worst

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done to a customer? Did you get fired? Was it worth it?

I’v not really done anything really rude or bad. The worst I did was when I worked in a small shop that sold replica antiques (whats the point, I know) and other olde worlde things, so 99% of our customers were old to very old women. A very old women came in with her daughter and asked about some unicorn statue, for her granddaughter, and then started complaining about a chip in it’s horn. I checked with the highest ranking member of staff in on that day who confirmed it was supposed to be a have a chip (us being a shop that sold olde worlde things that were supposed to look rustic an’ all, plus there wasn’t even a fucking chip, she was just imagining it) but when I told the woman she said “I don’t think so!”. I’d only been working in retail for about a month or so and I’d already run out of patience so I said “Well, it’s the only one we have in stock. Do you want to buy it or not?” and when she said no, I just said “Fine!” and walked off. It doesn’t sound too bad, but she was in a wheelchair so I left her sitting in the middle of the shop until her daughter came and wheeled her away. They didn’t make a complaint or anything and it still makes me smile when I remember how I left that stupid, ol’ senile bitch sitting helpless with no one to moan at for once in her life. I’m supposed to like old people, and I generally do, but some seem to just cling onto life for no reason other than to make yours a living hell. Oh wait, that’s just retail. *facepalm*

Tags: worst

Why is it standard procedure in some stores for the cashier to do your packing for you? As if they don’t have enough do to, they have to pack your stuff while you stand there twiddling your thumbs. If I can help it, I don’t let the cashier bag stuff for me when I go in other stores, or better yet I try to avoid using plastic bags altogether. But I’l go into that another time.
I have learnt not to ask customers if they would like a bag because I always end up packing for them and it really irks me. Then some of them have the cheek to moan about how slow the queue moves.
The worst customer I ever had on the tills was a middle-aged woman who refused to do anything else with her arms other than fold them. I was in the middle of scanning her items when she said “I’d like a bag, please!”. I just said ok and carried on, thinking I’d do it at the end once everything else was taken care of but as I totaled her items she asked again. I had to stop everything and pack her bags while she stood by, arms folded, face sour. One item was a football though, which I’d actually had to keep hold of while I scanned her other stuff because it would have rolled away otherwise and she couldn’t possibly have held onto it herself, so I had to grab a bag and open it one-handed. Then once I’d finished packing she said “I can’t carry it like that!” so I had to repack it! It all fit perfectly into one bag but it’s like she wanted everything in a separate bag.
I don’t know what her problem was. She was with her son but didn’t look like a stressed out mum and if it was PMS, she should really consider a hysterectomy. I mean, she was that bad, in a weird, non-abusive but doing voodoo on you with her mind, kinda way! It was unhealthy.

Tags: worst, customer

An old man was buying a Bounty priced at 42p. He gave me 58p so I tried to give him the 8p back but he said he was trying to get rid of his coppers. It didn’t really make sense because he was still going to get coppers in his change. So I put it through, gave him his change and receipt, which he checked before leaving, and then he started complaining that the price on the shelf had said it was actually 38p. I said he could have his 4p back but he’d have to go to customer services for the refund.
He then put the Bounty back on the counter and said “Fine! I just won’t have it then.” and held his hand out for his refund. Over 4 fucking pence! I just said “We’d be happy to give you a refund but you’ll have to go to customer services”. He just stood there and shrugged so I carried on by saying “I can’t just give you your money back, I can’t do refunds on this till. You’ll have to go to customer services.”. So he went over to CS and demanded to see the manger, complained then left without his friggin’ Bounty.
That was an old guy with too much time on his hands and a vendetta against wrongly priced goods. It could have been easily solved if he’d paid attention throughout the sale, like when I said “That’s 42p please”.

I know unpriced and wrongly priced items are annoying but to make such a fuss over 4p was a bit pathetic. And it’s not the first time it’s happened either. I know of a woman who rang Trading Standards to complain about a discrepancy between the price on the digital kiosks and the price that comes up on the till in a Jessops store (a photographic retailer). A difference of 4p. She even ended up in tears in the shop. :/
I think it’s taking the saying “Watch the pennies and the pounds take care of themselves” a bit too far.

Tags: worst, customer, dumb, stupid