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do girls poop posted:Our fairly new CS manager mumbled something about sending an email when I came to pick up my check on Friday and gave me $100 from the till in compensation. Uh...did they document this transaction at all? Your situation already sounds hosed up, but to be paid $100 cash from a store till as compensation feels sketchy as hell
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Jun 17, 2012 20:07
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Shnooks posted:A few days ago my supervisor was standing next to me waiting to get the 1 o'clock reading and I accidentally tried to give her the customer's change I've had a few times where I've been so mentally wiped that I tried to give the customer the change that was equal to the time. Like if it was 3:32 p.m. I'd try to give them back $3.32 in change.
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Jun 17, 2012 21:08
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Moneyball posted:"Oh it didn't scan, must be free!" I have to wonder if all jobs have a overused phrase like that. The one for us inventory clerks is "Y'all marking the prices down?  "
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Jun 17, 2012 21:56
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Byzantine posted:I have to wonder if all jobs have a overused phrase like that. The one for us inventory clerks is "Y'all marking the prices down? The one I hate in call centers tends to be: "Oh well, I'm computer illiterate -" then a stream of excuses. Or something that expects me to be psychic. Yeah, I TOTALLY know you graduated/signed up 20 years ago. Really. Just answer the drat question with a yes or no, not *SIGH* No, I don't remember my ID! It was 20 years ago! like it should be obvious to me...
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Jun 17, 2012 22:22
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Moneyball posted:"Oh it didn't scan, must be free!" I've taken to responding to this joke with "actually we impose a $1 surcharge every time a customer makes that joke." They usually get the message and as far as I can remember I've never had to use it on the same customer twice. This week my 8 year enlistment as a foot soldier of a retail empire comes to a close. After years of dedicating my soul to the glory of the empire, I will be departing the world of retail forever. I will of course continue to contribute to this thread but I will begin a gradual transition to "A ticket came in". I can't wait to be part of the joyous world of helpdesk!
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Jun 18, 2012 01:55
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The Lord Bude posted:I've taken to responding to this joke with "actually we impose a $1 surcharge every time a customer makes that joke." They usually get the message and as far as I can remember I've never had to use it on the same customer twice. It's funny because this would honestly get you fired in the US. fakeedit: I got so tired of a middle aged woman whining about how "getting old is terrible" I finally told her it was better than the alternative. It took her a while to get my meaning, but the look on her face when she did was priceless.
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Jun 18, 2012 02:27
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^^ Depends on where you work. I usually make dumb jokes with both my customers AND my managers. Not everyone works in a humorless hellhole.
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Jun 18, 2012 03:24
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I couldn't bang an attractive female coworker even if we both wanted to 
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Jun 18, 2012 09:04
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D34THROW posted:I couldn't bang an attractive female coworker even if we both wanted to Pretty sure you don't need that "even" in there - I mean, if one of you doesn't want to that's usually a good sign you shouldn't.
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Jun 18, 2012 09:29
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Fil5000 posted:Pretty sure you don't need that "even" in there - I mean, if one of you doesn't want to that's usually a good sign you shouldn't.  All joking aside, I get the corporate policy of not letting subordinates fraternize with their superiors, but if two cashiers wanna gently caress around, especially when there's little to no chance of a promotion for either of them anytime soon because the management is pretty much set, let 'em. Of course, if the relationship goes sour and someone gets promoted somehow... poo poo, I just hate that policy prevents fishing off the company pier. If two people were working at DT and truly fell in love, and both of them were working two jobs and barely scraping by, someone would have to quit or transfer. Just a pain in the rear end :/
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Jun 18, 2012 10:21
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I dunno if I'm just misremembering something or not, but I'm pretty sure any policy like that is illegal.
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Jun 18, 2012 13:21
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Neito posted:I dunno if I'm just misremembering something or not, but I'm pretty sure any policy like that is illegal. I would think an at-will contract can be forced to obey any random clauses. It makes sense to a degree, too; I've worked in places where lovers or even friends get into arguments and suddenly one is calling in or demanding schedules be worked around so they never work together. I dated a cashier for a while, and when she dumped me it made it incredibly difficult to work with her. The first time I saw her again I had to leave because I was crying too much to get any work done. While it's a dumb policy and easily circumvented if both parties are even halfway careful, there is a good reason they stay in place. It also prevents favouritism if a manager or someone were to form a relationship with a subordinate. cobalt impurity fucked around with this message at 14:10 on Jun 18, 2012 |
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Jun 18, 2012 13:59
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The main reason those policies exist is to prevent people from circumventing any dual control procedures like cash drops and the like. Two people colluding are more likely to get away with poo poo than one is the logic I believe.
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Jun 18, 2012 14:04
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cobalt impurity posted:I would think an at-will contract can be forced to obey any random clauses. It makes sense to a degree, too; I've worked in places where lovers or even friends get into arguments and suddenly one is calling in or demanding schedules be worked around so they never work together. I dated a cashier for a while, and when she dumped me it made it incredibly difficult to work with her. The first time I saw her again I had to leave because I was crying too much to get any work done. Yeah, I'm in Florida, so it's at-will employment, but there's no sort of employment contract for part-time associates. Not sure about managers though. I'm not saying I ever would DATE another cashier. It's the company policy against fraternization in general, even casual sex, that gets me. Fil5000 posted:The main reason those policies exist is to prevent people from circumventing any dual control procedures like cash drops and the like. Two people colluding are more likely to get away with poo poo than one is the logic I believe. Two people can scheme and plot regardless of their affiliation with one another, though. You don't have to be dating or married to someone to come up with some grand gently caress-over-the-company scheme. Look at "Office Space". Oh. And sorry, boss. I know you needed a cashier this morning, but I didn't want to come in so I lied and said I was still kinda bombed out and hung over from Father's Day.
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Jun 18, 2012 14:32
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Wal marts rules were that no one in a supervisor position was able to date some one below them. A good few people stepped down as CSM and night manager/ics supervisors because of this. However if you were all on the same level of being a peon you "should" ask a supervisor or manager if its ok for the two if you to start seeing each other. I poo poo you not that exact scenario was on the training videos. Darth Freddy fucked around with this message at 15:32 on Jun 18, 2012 |
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Jun 18, 2012 15:14
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Darth Freddy posted:Wal marts rules were that no one in a supervisor position was able to date some one below them. A good few people stepped down as CSM and night manager/ics supervisors because of this. However if you were all on the same level of being a peon you "should" ask a supervisor or manager if its ok for the two if you to start seeing each other. I poo poo you not that exact scenario was on the training videos. The whole not-allowed-to-date-a-subordinate thing makes sense, because it can cause problems both during and potentially after a relationship, and it warms my heart that people were actually willing to step down to be with their significant others. As far as asking a supervisor or a manager if it's okay when you're a peon, that...that actually makes some sense. Freddy, I'm in the market for a second job because I've got all of 14 loving hours this week. Is Wally World as bad as some people make it out to be?
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Jun 18, 2012 15:45
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D34THROW posted:The whole not-allowed-to-date-a-subordinate thing makes sense, because it can cause problems both during and potentially after a relationship, and it warms my heart that people were actually willing to step down to be with their significant others. Yes. For the love of all things holy, yes. I would rather be unemployed and living on the street than working at Walmart again.
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Jun 18, 2012 17:21
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I've never really been interested in dating a coworker, but I've seen one of my coworkers in my department date a dude from the next department over, and when they broke up it was a whole mess of awkwardness and petty drama that drew in a couple other resident drama queens. Thankfully I wasn't expected to take sides or anything so I could just roll my eyes at how ridiculous it was from a distance, but it's still pretty annoying watching your workplace turn into high school. I guess you can't really determine where you find ~*True Love*~ in advance, but the idea of subsuming my identity as a person even further into the festering, soul crushing pit of retail by mixing it in with my love life is pretty unappealing too.
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Jun 18, 2012 17:51
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Aerofallosov posted:The one I hate in call centers tends to be: "Oh well, I'm computer illiterate -" then a stream of excuses. Yeah that's definitely the call center equivalent. I literally have this exchange at least three times a day:  Now I have to let you know that I'm just not a computer person at all hahaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA MY FUCKNIGN SIDES!!!!!!!!
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Jun 18, 2012 19:03
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So about a half hour after I got to work today, a storm rolled in and knocked the power out at my store. Which is not a big deal, except my company will not let us close even if the power goes down. Will NOT, especially not in the summer, in the middle of the day. We also can't let customers walk around the store by themselves when the power's out. Also it's cash-only. ALSO to record every transaction, which means I have to write out the upc/sku on a piece of paper, then the price, then add sales tax on top of it. Pain in the rear end. Thankfully it was painfully slow so we spent most of the day sitting around doing jack poo poo. We had to kick a few people out because they were 'just browsing' and 'didn't have any cash so I'm just looking thanks', or 'just waiting for my wife to get done at the other store'(what). The power went out at 1:30 today, and when I left at 5 it was still out.
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Jun 18, 2012 23:40
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g0lbez posted:Yeah that's definitely the call center equivalent. I literally have this exchange at least three times a day: ... ahaha, yeah... Or that they TOTALLY are entering the right password! Someone must have changed it!
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Jun 19, 2012 00:28
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Ist answer the phone like Roy from the IT crowd. Helloithaveyoitriedturningitoffandbackonagain?
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Jun 19, 2012 00:40
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Magikarpal Tunnel posted:So about a half hour after I got to work today, a storm rolled in and knocked the power out at my store. What? That's insane. The power went out at in the mall once and we had to kick everyone out. We spend the next hour (till the power came back on) hanging up clothes in the back by the light of our iphones. I just realized that my store still has a display model PSP hanging out in the back, collecting dust. I wonder if anything's going to be done with it. What usually happens to display models like that when the store no longer sells them? Nessa fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Jun 19, 2012 |
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Jun 19, 2012 00:40
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No one gave me any poo poo about being sick over the weekend, yay! mainly because all weekend the manager who gives no fucks about anything was working. In other news, we are literally children. We aren't allowed to have staplers at our registers anymore, a necessary tool in a FETM's job, because we are not allowed to count POS slips because it "takes away attention from customers". Even if we have no customers in our line. Even if we have finished every other thing from the checklist and have nothing else to do. They took the staplers away because I guess the staplers enable us to count POS (they don't) and if there are no staplers, we can't count POS! But we also cannot staple receipts together, put together keg/tap/tub refund slips, give customers copies of receipts, or staple refund/exchange slips together. All of this came about because I guess on Saturday, one of the cashiers apparently had all of her POS slips laid out all over the belt (???? probably not??) and told a customer to go to another line so she could finish counting her slips.
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Jun 19, 2012 01:40
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Nessa posted:I just realized that my store still has a display model PSP hanging out in the back, collecting dust. I wonder if anything's going to be done with it. What usually happens to display models like that when the store no longer sells them? They go back to Sony and get refurbed, parted out, or recycled. Assuming they don't fall off the back of a truck.
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Jun 19, 2012 02:59
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That power outage thing is ridiculous. My store has some crazy policies but even here if the power goes out, we're done for the day. That said I really hate that where I work, cashiers have to take all phone calls. It's incredibly annoying because we're pretty much always either busy with customers or away from the phones doing some other work and we have to drop everything to run to the phones. It's even more ridiculous because if the caller has pretty much any question beyond "When do you close?" we have no real way of answering. We have no reliable inventory system so if someone calls in asking if we have an item, how many we have, how much they cost, etc etc we literally have no way of knowing short of running out to the floor and looking or calling for a manager. So basically my days consist of trying to get my work done in between dashing to the phone just to tell people "Um, I dunno. Let me get a manager for you" about 20 times in a row.
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Jun 19, 2012 03:06
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Drakkel posted:That power outage thing is ridiculous. My store has some crazy policies but even here if the power goes out, we're done for the day. There is an electronics retailer in Australia called JB HiFi. Every time I shop there, invariably a cashier will pick up the phone while actually serving me, or someone else in line before me. I find it really annoying and unprofessional. At my store, we generally have an office person to answer the phone, or a supervisor, but even at night when it falls back to the front end, and the supervisor may have to double as cigarette counter cashier, we would never ever answer the phone if we had a customer physically present being served or waiting to be served. People in your store should come first. Also it amazes me that stores don't as a matter of course include basic info like trading hours into their on hold music in between repetitions of 'your call is important to us'. That would cut calls down by at least a third. My store's hold music drives me nuts. It's literally a 20 second loop over and over till you want to die.
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Jun 19, 2012 03:25
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The Lord Bude posted:There is an electronics retailer in Australia called JB HiFi. Every time I shop there, invariably a cashier will pick up the phone while actually serving me, or someone else in line before me. I find it really annoying and unprofessional. I don't know how it is in Australia, but I know in the United States, sometimes cashiers don't HAVE the option of not answering the phone. We have phones in the back room, at ever two-register island, and in the office. If the manager's in the office, they'll usually get the phone after a couple of rings. If they're in the back, they'll get the phone there if they can get to it (because stock often blocks it) and the call's for them. If the manager can't get to the phone (and they sometimes can't even hear the phone ring if they're on the floor), it's up to us cashiers to answer the phone, customer or not. Even if there's just one cashier on duty. I also never heard of a store with hold music...probably because most stores around me only have one or two lines. Maybe one for every department.
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Jun 19, 2012 03:39
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Drakkel posted:That power outage thing is ridiculous. My store has some crazy policies but even here if the power goes out, we're done for the day. The chain my store is in is very small, so I guess staying open during outages is fine? I mean, if we went home for the day at 1:30 or 2, and the power came back a couple hours later, we'd still miss the money that comes in between the power coming back and closing. Plus it's not a large store, so we can usually escort people around during outages without issue.
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Jun 19, 2012 04:00
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Cease to Hope posted:They go back to Sony and get refurbed, parted out, or recycled. Assuming they don't fall off the back of a truck. Ah, ok! The store stopped selling video game stuff about a month ago, so I was wondering where it would end up. Speaking of phones, I got a call the other day from someone who just wanted to be "put through" to a different store in a different mall. I didn't even know how to use the hold button at the time, so I just gave her the phone number of the store she actually wanted. Why would you purposely call the store you don't want?
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Jun 19, 2012 04:13
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D34THROW posted:I don't know how it is in Australia, but I know in the United States, sometimes cashiers don't HAVE the option of not answering the phone. When I worked at RadioShack, it was company policy that a ringing phone absolutely had to be answered within three rings. I really hated this because whatever they wanted was usually either a pain in the rear end or something that was a waste of time. Not that these things are mutually exclusive. At my current job there's no real policy on it, though I generally politely ask customers to excuse me while I take the phone if I'm waiting on somebody. I know it's kind of rude, but they're often ordering cakes (I'd guess something like half of our orders are through the phone) and since I just go through a standardized order form it's pretty quick and painless most of the time. Plus if it's after 2PM I'm literally the only person in my department, so it's pretty much, take the phone, or take the risk you don't get a second call or an angry customer when they do call again. For what it's worth I've never really had a customer at either the counter, or on the phone get angry at me related to this stuff so I guess it works. Pornographic Memory fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Jun 19, 2012 |
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Jun 19, 2012 04:15
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Bookstoreville, VA. I guess I missed the memo about today being Tend To Your Personal Hygiene All Over My Counter Day. I've rung a customer up and I'm bagging his manly sports magazines, manly DIY manual and girly Fifty Shades of Grey erotica he's hoping I didn't notice him slip face down between the magazines. (We know, customers. We always know.) Anyway, as I'm bagging, the customer whips out a pair of nail clippers and proceeds to start clipping his nails all over my loving counter. I stopped what I was doing and just stared at him until he finished, looked up and simply shrugged. "We all do it!" he said, as if that was a perfectly justifiable reason for leaving bits of himself all over the counter. Half an hour later, another guy comes up, chewing on a soggy, rotting toothpick. After I've finished with him, he takes the toothpick out of his mouth, tosses it on the counter and says, "Could you throw that away for me? Thanks!" and walks off as nonchalantly as possible. That's quite okay, people. Totally normal. Next time, feel free to pull down your britches and take a huge steaming dump on my counter while you're at it. Other miscellaneous bookstore poo poo: Customer: I'm looking for Random Bullshit Book by Crappy Author. Me: (tippety-type) Yeah, we had that in a few months ago when it first came out, but sales have tapered off so we no longer keep it in store. Would you like me to order it for you? Customer: Well, which section would it be in if you do have it? Me: Self Improvement under Relationships. Customer: Okay, thanks! Customer then proceeds to wander off to the appointed section and spends the next ten minutes looking for the book. Bizarrely, they don't find it. Customer: I can't find the book in the section. Me: Like I said, we don't have it in stock. Customer: Well you should, it's a bestseller. No, it's not a bestseller. James Patterson, Clive Cussler, John Grisham write bestsellers. We sell dozens of their books each day. Your lovely little self-help book written by some random quack sells one copy a year. We're not going to order fifty copies and stack them up on the floor by the store entrance just because the crazy bitch who does your nails every week found it comforting as she was going through her third divorce. These are also the same customers who, because you can't find the book they want that's not in stock, somehow come to the conclusion that you're a colossal retard and ask another bookseller the same question. Only to get the same answers. Sometimes I'll head people off if I'm the second or third bookseller they come to. Customer: Do you have Retail Shopping for Dummies? Me: Didn't you ask my colleague for that book a few minutes ago? Customer: Um. She said you didn't have it. Me: Then we don't have it. Customer: She didn't look in the back though. Me: No, she didn't. Because we don't have it. Customer: So you don't have it? Me: No. Would you like me to order a copy for you? Customer: No. Me: Okay then. Customer: When will you get it in? Me: If you order it, a couple of days. If you don't, probably never. Customer: Oh, well I'll come back next week to see if you have it. Me: So you want to order it? Customer: No, I'll just check next time I'm in store. Me: 
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Jun 19, 2012 04:22
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I'm pretty sure bookstore stories must have the most knuckle-draggingly stupid customers. Is it just an American thing where bound sheets of paper with print are just utterly foreign to them (I swear I get treated like an eccentric because I bring a book to work to read on breaks)? Or is it universal?
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Jun 19, 2012 04:27
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Sort of reminds me of something similar. I work at a doctors office. There are some things we are not equiped to do, and some procedures he can't be bothered to do. When I say he does not do something, he doesn't. He might have in the past but he has greatly simplified his practice. I can sometimes recommend another physician, sometimes I can't. Don't rip my head off if I can't keep track of what the couple of thousand physicians in the province do. We also can't force drug stores to carry your crappy makeup. Either get them to order it in or buy it online.
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Jun 19, 2012 04:34
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Our store offers a discount card to customers. It costs $25 to get it for a year, but it discounts your purchases. It's not a charge card, it's just a bullshit piece of plastic that says, "Hey, discount my books!" On top of that, discount card holders get sent coupons on a regular basis that stack on top of their regular discount. The average customer, assuming they buy about one hardcover or a couple of paperbacks a month, will easily surpass $25 worth of savings in less than a year. A good number of customers will buy enough books in a single transaction that the card pays for itself right there and then. Unfortunately many of these customers aren't too bright when it comes to doing the math. Me: Okay, your total right now is $150. If you had a discount card and coupons you would save $38 on this purchase. The discount card costs $25 for a year, so you'd still save $13 overall today and get discounts every time you're in the store for the next 12 months. Customer: No, that's okay. Me: Okay, just to be clear. If you don't get the discount card, your total will be $150. If you do get the discount card, your total will be $137. Customer: But the card costs $25? Me: Yes, but that $137 total includes the purchase of the discount card. Customer: Right, so I'll be spending more money. Me: No, you'll be spending less. Customer: I'm confused. Me: (writes two numbers on a piece of paper -- $150 and $137) Look at these two numbers. Which one would you prefer to pay today? Customer: Erm... (points to $150) that one. Me: So you want to give me $13 more than you really need to? Customer: Yes? Me: Okay, your total's $150. Customer: (swipes card) Mutter, books are so expensive these days, mumble. And these aren't (usually) confused old grannies. Occasionally they're thirtysomething school teachers. Retroblique fucked around with this message at 04:57 on Jun 19, 2012 |
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Jun 19, 2012 04:54
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D34THROW posted:I don't know how it is in Australia, but I know in the United States, sometimes cashiers don't HAVE the option of not answering the phone. Our policy is, if there are customers waiting to be served, the phone can just keep on ringing. If need be, it can ring out. It just seems more polite to me for the customers who are actually present.
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Jun 19, 2012 04:54
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Blue_monday posted:
Are you loving serious? "HEY! YOU LITTLE poo poo FUCKS BETTER START CARRYING MARY KAY EYE LINER, OR IM GONNA REPORT YOU TO THE BOARD!" Dear God what is wrong with people...
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Jun 19, 2012 04:59
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The Lord Bude posted:Our policy is, if there are customers waiting to be served, the phone can just keep on ringing. If need be, it can ring out.
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Jun 19, 2012 05:08
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D34THROW posted:The whole not-allowed-to-date-a-subordinate thing makes sense, because it can cause problems both during and potentially after a relationship, and it warms my heart that people were actually willing to step down to be with their significant others. Honestly? Wal mart is a shity rear end company. You will be lucky to get 33 hours a week, you will be lucky to get 8 dollars a hour starting pay. The health benefits, issurence and what not won't kick in for a year and a half if your part time, vacation time over two years. You will probably not have a set schedule at all unless your one of the lucky ones and can get them to work with you. Beyond that? Its going to be who you work with that makes it. If it was not for one assistant manager and couple of "co workers" I would of actually enjoyed the job for the most part. This is coming from a small division one store with less then I would say maybe 30sih workers so this may be different with a larger store. It was 112F out side today and my rear end was up on the roof changing air filters, out in the parking lot doing pump duty, sweeping the parking lot and fixing all the handicap parking signs. I don't mind working in the sun at all but our work uniforms are black. Well made shirts all polo and breathable and poo poo but still sucks when its 110+ out side.
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Jun 19, 2012 05:10
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Sonance posted:Yep, same here. If I'm helping a customer who's about to drop $300+ on an e-reader plus accessories, the last thing I'm going to do is pick up a phone and spend ten minutes with some confused gently caress who either wants to know a) what our store opening hours are (answer: you just sat through an automated message that told you), b) if we have a bestselling novel in stock (answer: yes, it's a bestselling novel), c) where are we and can they have directions (answer: no you loving can't, because I don't have an intimate knowledge of every road within a 50 mile radius of the store, and the fact you don't even know where YOU are or which road you're currently on isn't helping matters; also, Google loving Maps). Because that's what 90% of phone calls boil down to. You forgot d) staff member calling in sick (probably doesn't happen as often in America where you get fired for it, but here paid sick leave is a legal entitlement) and also e) staff member who is too lazy to check the roster themselves and is calling because they want me to do it. These account for probably a third of all calls.
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Jun 19, 2012 05:15
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