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I know one place I worked did restocking fees that only the DM could override . Returns became a ritual for customers to perform. They must first scream their heads off and have an adult tantrum in the store. Then they must berate the manager for at least a half an hour before storming off and attempting to slam the automatic closing door. During this ritual they're constantly being told by us that there is a number they can call to get the restocking fee reversed. Only after a week or two of this horrible behavior do they finally realize that yes the DM is the only one who can get them their money back and he will cave every time to whatever they want. We even had someone get a PS3, surround sound and 38' LCD TV off of him just because. Of course after this the DM would scream his head off at us about how we aren't doing our jobs. Its not our fault the customer refuses to listen to several written signs stating what has a restocking fee, the customer had to agree to the restocking fee for some reason and that said agreement was printed on the receipt.
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# ? Sep 19, 2013 08:54 |
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# ? Jun 10, 2024 13:02 |
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Costco has to be the worst place to work returns. We literally take back almost everything. TV you bought 14 years ago? Sure, here's your money back. Plants you bought that you planted, let die, and dug back up and dragged to our store? Absolutely. The produce you bought that went bad because you didn't eat it in time? Okie doke, no problem. The worst are mattresses. I can't understand how someone, in good conscience, can return a mattress that they've been sleeping on (among other things) after owning it for like 5+ years. Just...nasty.
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# ? Sep 19, 2013 11:13 |
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Santheb posted:Costco has to be the worst place to work returns. We literally take back almost everything. TV you bought 14 years ago? Sure, here's your money back. Plants you bought that you planted, let die, and dug back up and dragged to our store? Absolutely. The produce you bought that went bad because you didn't eat it in time? Okie doke, no problem. That mattress stuff is pretty disgusting. At least the pay is decent right?
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# ? Sep 19, 2013 13:12 |
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I once had a lady try to return a blender without a receipt, that we hadn't had in stock for at least 6 months, and it was it was priced at .01 (meaning it had been discontinued) so that's all we could give back to her. She's all "Well I don't want a penny, what am I supposed to do with it?!" in which I'm like "Try Craigslist?"
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# ? Sep 19, 2013 14:17 |
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Dead Pikachu posted:I once had a lady try to return a blender without a receipt, that we hadn't had in stock for at least 6 months, and it was it was priced at .01 (meaning it had been discontinued) so that's all we could give back to her. She's all "Well I don't want a penny, what am I supposed to do with it?!" in which I'm like "Try Craigslist?" "Not my problem, lady. Have a great day. There's the door. " One of the highlights of my retail career went as follows: I was working the service desk that day in Hell (aka Walmart)and some lady brought in some receipt from literally a year prior and was trying to return an item that we didn't even carry anymore. I denied the return on the grounds that it was WAY past the 90 days, and we didn't even carry that item anymore. "Well I have a friend who works at Walmart who said we could return anything!" "Uh... no, Ma'am. We have a 90-day return policy on purchases, plus we don't even carry this item anymore." "Where? Where does it say you only have 90 days?" (points behind me) "The great big sign directly behind me" At that point she stuttered and stammered and said she'd have to ask her "friend" about the policy because that "didn't seem right." Customers indigently saying "Well, where does it say that?!?" when questioning a policy is often a favorite trick. Pointing to the giant sign behind me was better than sex. BigBallChunkyTime fucked around with this message at 15:23 on Sep 19, 2013 |
# ? Sep 19, 2013 14:46 |
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Necrocult posted:That mattress stuff is pretty disgusting. At least the pay is decent right? Absolutely. It just sucks watching people come in and take such complete advantage of a pretty awesome system that guarantees virtually everything they buy in the store. If a video game gets released on a yearly basis (say, Call of Duty or Madden) then there is absolutely nothing stopping a customer from paying for the game once and recycling it each year, except their conscience. But yeah the mattress and to a lesser extent furniture like couches that have obviously been thoroughly used are far and away the worst. They never bother to put a cover on it or anything like that either. Just the mattress and some equally nasty looking box springs
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# ? Sep 19, 2013 17:14 |
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Retail Slave posted:"Not my problem, lady. Have a great day. There's the door. " Oh man, I love the "My friend told me! " people. I had a lady come in who had bought something recently and was convinced by her friend that she could come back in and get all this money back on it. Now our store did have a 30-day price guarantee policy meaning if you bought something and it went on sale some time in the next 30 days you could bring in the receipt and get back the difference between prices. So she was technically correct in that sense. The item she bought was normally $40 and had gone on sale for $30, BUT she used a coupon so she only paid a little over $30 in the first place. Since this was coming off the price she paid, she was only going to get back maybe like $2.90-something (because our store loved to do those "$xx.99" style prices). So of course she was really upset because MY FRIEND said I'd be getting $10 back and I can't understand why it's only $2 and After I tried to explain what happened about three times I just gave up and got a manager to explain (which of course she magically understood all of a sudden).
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# ? Sep 19, 2013 19:11 |
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Santheb posted:Costco has to be the worst place to work returns. We literally take back almost everything. TV you bought 14 years ago? Sure, here's your money back. Plants you bought that you planted, let die, and dug back up and dragged to our store? Absolutely. The produce you bought that went bad because you didn't eat it in time? Okie doke, no problem. I have some friends who, if they fall short on money, will just return their Costco purchases to make some quick cash. Also, the returns line on weekends is usually flowing out the door.
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# ? Sep 19, 2013 19:32 |
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:I have some friends who, if they fall short on money, will just return their Costco purchases to make some quick cash. Also, the returns line on weekends is usually flowing out the door. Oh yeah. The returns line gets super backed up, but those clerks are really doimg it the best that they can. Usually they're just waiting on a key for the register or managers approval on an item. As for your friends that return stuff when they need money, yeah that happens a lot too. poo poo, I've done it myself but only once. Eventually the account itself can get flagge if it happens too many times and it starts to look suspicious, but you really, REALLY have to be doing some unscrupulous poo poo for that to happen.
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# ? Sep 19, 2013 21:41 |
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I'm hoping someone can share their insight with me. I live in Nevada and starting next week I'll be working as a salaried manager for $400 a week at a fast food sandwich place (not exactly retail but close enough). My expected hours are from opening to mid afternoon, about 9.5 hours, five days a week. Is this pay and those hours a good deal? It's more money than I've ever made at this job, but I'm going to be there a looong time every day. I don't want to do it for a week then have to say I won't do it.
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# ? Sep 20, 2013 03:50 |
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dustbin posted:I'm hoping someone can share their insight with me. I live in Nevada and starting next week I'll be working as a salaried manager for $400 a week at a fast food sandwich place (not exactly retail but close enough). My expected hours are from opening to mid afternoon, about 9.5 hours, five days a week. Is this pay and those hours a good deal? It's more money than I've ever made at this job, but I'm going to be there a looong time every day. I don't want to do it for a week then have to say I won't do it. Sounds like they're paying you minimum wage (8.25*9.5*5=392) for a management position. Salary when they're paying you that much is just an excuse to screw you over, I'd think. Edit: So uh, I wouldn't take it, unless you know for sure management is easy (it's not) and that you only plan on being there a short amount of time. Regular hours are nice, but they're probably not weekdays. I pretty much did this job for Firehouse Subs, and while it wasn't bad, I wasn't even salaried and it wasn't worth it. (I also got paid 8.25, which is over minimum wage here in FL. I will never accept a management position for that little again). Another edit: At those hours you'd also be working overtime, without getting any overtime pay. If I know this kind of job, you probably won't be getting breaks either. (I don't know your state's laws, though) Pre-another edit: Please don't take this and let them take advantage of you. Grok fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Sep 20, 2013 |
# ? Sep 20, 2013 04:19 |
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It might be worth it to do it for a while, just so you have "management" on your résumé. Then use that to get a real offer somewhere else.
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# ? Sep 20, 2013 04:35 |
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Grok posted:Sounds like they're paying you minimum wage (8.25*9.5*5=392) for a management position. Salary when they're paying you that much is just an excuse to screw you over, I'd think. I was afraid I'd get an answer like that. The thing is, the other store managers work the same hours, but I'm not sure of their pay. On the other hand, it's plenty of work and pay compared to no work and no pay. Dr_Amazing posted:It might be worth it to do it for a while, just so you have "management" on your résumé. Then use that to get a real offer somewhere else.
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# ? Sep 20, 2013 04:39 |
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dustbin posted:I'm hoping someone can share their insight with me. I live in Nevada and starting next week I'll be working as a salaried manager for $400 a week at a fast food sandwich place (not exactly retail but close enough). My expected hours are from opening to mid afternoon, about 9.5 hours, five days a week. Is this pay and those hours a good deal? It's more money than I've ever made at this job, but I'm going to be there a looong time every day. I don't want to do it for a week then have to say I won't do it. I think the question is how old are you and what are you trying to do in the next few years? I would never work for those numbers now, but when I was first starting out they would have been alright.
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# ? Sep 20, 2013 04:54 |
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# ? Sep 20, 2013 05:21 |
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Duckman2008 posted:I think the question is how old are you and what are you trying to do in the next few years? I would never work for those numbers now, but when I was first starting out they would have been alright. I'm 26 and I don't know what I want to do in the next few years. I've worked for this chain in multiple locations on and off for more years than I care to admit and was hoping that being a manager meant NOT being on the line for hours and hours a day. For one, it's impossible to maintain a manicure. Rhonyn Peacemaker posted:HR again:
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# ? Sep 20, 2013 06:13 |
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I spent most of yesterday setting up Christmas trees. In the middle of September.
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# ? Sep 20, 2013 15:08 |
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Retail Slave posted:I spent most of yesterday setting up Christmas trees. In the middle of September. I'm really enjoying all the Halloween ads right now when Halloween is still over a month away. I'm sure there would also be Thanksgiving stuff around if people bought gifts or costumes for that. SO glad I won't be working retail this Black Friday/Christmas season. That was its own special kind of hell and even if I didn't have another job lined up I would have quit just to avoid it.
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# ? Sep 20, 2013 17:05 |
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Kimmalah posted:I'm really enjoying all the Halloween ads right now when Halloween is still over a month away. I'm sure there would also be Thanksgiving stuff around if people bought gifts or costumes for that. Just combine it all into one big holiday called "Hallowthanksmas" and be done with it. People eat a big turkey dinner and then dress up in costumes and go door-to-door receiving gifts from strangers dressed as Santa.
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# ? Sep 20, 2013 17:27 |
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Sundae posted:In lieu of relevant work or internships, even relevant academic stuff is better than irrelevant retail stuff. Example: I will pay more attention to a resume where you've detailed major academic projects relevant to the job description than a resume where you list Nordstroms as your main accomplishment. You can work this stuff into your summary statement as well - four years of collegiate academic projects focused on applying (things from description). If you have literally nothing else relevant, retail is better than nothing. Seriously though, do everything in your power not to put unrelated low-skill work on your resume. Put projects from school, internships, vaguely-related skilled labor you did for your buddy's company during the summer, anything. Just not retail unless you've applied to another retail position or a retail management position [I guess?]. I'm not saying retail isn't hard -- it's hard as loving hell to deal with dipshit customers -- but the general opinion of it at hiring level is 'unskilled' whether it's true or not. So if it's been a few years and I barely remember any undergraduate projects in sufficient detail, and low level retail is all I've done since graduating I'm going into the bin. Well that explains a lot. I loving give up.
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# ? Sep 23, 2013 04:56 |
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Ineptus Mechanicus posted:So if it's been a few years and I barely remember any undergraduate projects in sufficient detail, and low level retail is all I've done since graduating I'm going into the bin. Well that explains a lot. I loving give up. No, it just means you've got to put some effort into digging back into what you did. You've got to have some notes kicking around, or left-over files or something.
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# ? Sep 23, 2013 09:51 |
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I spent the whole night on the scissor lift hanging Christmas signs and popping balloons. Not too bad of a retail night.
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# ? Sep 23, 2013 12:41 |
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Kerbtree posted:No, it just means you've got to put some effort into digging back into what you did. You've got to have some notes kicking around, or left-over files or something. I'm not sure he's completely off base. I've had my academic projects listed in detail on my resume for at least that past four years and I'm still working low-level retail. Honestly, I believe people look at my resume and see "2008" graduate date and bin my resume, because if no one else has hired me why should they? Must be something wrong. Then when I give my (different) resume to anyone else, they see I have a degree and say "overqualified/won't stay long before he's whisked away" and into the bin I go. Otherwise, got to head to a sister store tomorrow for training in my department. Working with tile is a pain in the rear end. You can have a few pieces of loose tile sitting next to an unopened box, and 9 times out of 10 customers will ignore the loose tile, open the box and pull out one single tile. I guess to "see what it looks like" despite the loose tile and the fact the boxes have openings. Or they want a "sample" to take home, but that still is ignoring the loose tile. Whenever they do this I have to break out the banding machine and repackage stuff.
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# ? Sep 23, 2013 14:05 |
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I hosed up and didn't play the networking game. Oh, all of the professors in the degree program knew and liked me, but I couldn't get into any of the internships still around after the 2007 crash and I didn't join any clubs outside of NYPIRG (with whom I didn't do much). I also have doubts as to the quality of the Env. Sci. program, there was little to no laboratory/field work and most of the projects were either term papers or presentations. You can guarantee I've been selling my public speaking/presentation/technical writing skills hard but with college already a few years back and me without examples. Maybe I'll make some new ones and backdate them, I still remember the topics. At this point, I don't mind the low pay, abusive customers, exploitative labor policies and all of the other negatives of retail (though my store is far, far better in those respects than many). I just wish it wasn't such a dead end. If running a store well is your passion I'd assume you see it differently, but I just do not care about selling crap. And most of it is crap. Essentially all I do is get between the customer and their merchandise with my member cards, long lines and protection plans while charging them more than if they were to buy it online. Amazon's checkout system does my job better in every way than I can. It's just such a useless industry that I want to have zero interaction with, as a customer or employee. This is just my point of view though. redgubbinz fucked around with this message at 05:00 on Sep 24, 2013 |
# ? Sep 24, 2013 04:53 |
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This was a grown rear end man and not in any way impaired. Can I help you find anything? No, I'm fine. Hey, where are graphic novels? Were you looking for anything specific, or did you just want to browse? Nothing specific, I just want to see the section. [I walk him to graphic novels] Here you go! The book I'm looking for is called RASL. Ooookay, let's go all the gently caress way back over to the CS desk so I can look that up. (I did not actually say this but I thought it) [at CS desk] Okay, RASL. It's about Nicola Tesla, right? No. No? The RASL I'm seeing is about Nicola Tesla. The book I want isn't about Nicola Tesla. [I try a number of different searches and come up with absolutely nothing called RASL that isn't about Nicola Tesla. This takes a LONG drat TIME.] I don't know what to tell you, sir. There is a comic called RASL but it is definitely, in large part, about Nicola Tesla. Do you know who the author is? I don't know the author, but the one I want isn't actually ABOUT Tesla. It's just that the characters talk about him a lot and use a lot of his scientific discoveries. So... know what, fine. We have it. Let's go back to the section. The author's name is Jeff Smith. Jesus. spite house fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Sep 25, 2013 |
# ? Sep 25, 2013 03:44 |
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Imapanda posted:How is it legal to wake up at 4am every day just to earn 8 bucks an hour for 12 hours a day. I wake up at 1:45am every day as a retail supervisor. I've had guns pulled on me, been spit on, had people shake their open wounds at me. Hell, I've had to kick a prostitute out of the store once for blowing a customer in the employee's only back room. My heart goes out to you, I share the misery. The saddest part, the only part that I truly regret, is the fact that I have to put "retail management" on applications and resumes and I know the people reading them will think McDonalds Shift Supervisor and pay no attention. Even though I've had to demonstrate some ridiculous discipline over the years, and other important accomplishments like working 3 years without taking a single sick day or being late.
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# ? Sep 26, 2013 22:33 |
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Baldbeard posted:The saddest part, the only part that I truly regret, is the fact that I have to put "retail management" on applications and resumes and I know the people reading them will think McDonalds Shift Supervisor and pay no attention. Even though I've had to demonstrate some ridiculous discipline over the years, and other important accomplishments like working 3 years without taking a single sick day or being late. Don't feel this way! For every interviewer that dismisses your retail experience, there's another one that has been in the poo poo and knows what managing a store takes and what kind of people are successful at it. When I was interviewing for jobs, it was a night and day difference.
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# ? Sep 27, 2013 01:06 |
"Hi I would like to return these shoes, I only wore them for a few hours and they hurt my feet" "Ok that shouldn't be a problem." *Opens box* "Um ma'am these shoes have clearly been worn longer than a few hours the sole is worn down to almost nothing, I can't accept these as a return we have to put returns back on the shelf and this is in un-sellable condition" "Well it isn't my fault the shoes are poor quality." *These are Asics on sale for $95* "I can't take these back I'm sorry" "Let me talk to your manager then" "I am the manager for the night, if you would like to come back in tomorrow morning you can try your luck with the manager then" *lady storms off* *Next day wake up to a text from my GM asking me why in the gently caress I told her to come back in to try again.* *My Answer "Just to gently caress with her". I'm well on my way to advancing within this company gently caress anyone who thinks you can wear your shoes to poo poo then try to return them, I'm sorry your meth addiction ate up all your funds for rent this month.
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# ? Oct 2, 2013 06:45 |
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The best part of working third shift is buying 40oz's at 7 am. I may have a problem.
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# ? Oct 3, 2013 14:11 |
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Necrocult posted:The best part of working third shift is buying 40oz's at 7 am. I may have a problem. When I worked 7 on 7 off nights, the best part of the week was easily playing videogames and drinking beer at 6 am on a monday.
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# ? Oct 3, 2013 14:24 |
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Necrocult posted:The best part of working third shift is buying 40oz's at 7 am. I may have a problem. Only if you have to take up another retail job just to pay for your "just got off shift at 7am" drinking habits. Third shift is a great shift even at a 24/7 grocery store. After over two years, the "worst" customer was the one customer who chastised me because I didn't know where something was even though she had been buying it from us for years now. She didn't know where it was either and, incidentally, we supposedly haven't had what they were looking for in some time.
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# ? Oct 3, 2013 14:41 |
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a big fat bunny posted:Only if you have to take up another retail job just to pay for your "just got off shift at 7am" drinking habits. Third shift is a great shift even at a 24/7 grocery store. After over two years, the "worst" customer was the one customer who chastised me because I didn't know where something was even though she had been buying it from us for years now. She didn't know where it was either and, incidentally, we supposedly haven't had what they were looking for in some time. These are great. A close relative to "I've been shopping here for years, this is my favorite store, I've never had a bad experience here, but your employee X was rude to me. I'm never shopping here again!" Try harder lady, I've never seen you before.
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# ? Oct 3, 2013 20:17 |
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"Employee X was rude to me" is the new "the customer is always right". It inevitably translates directly to "the employees wouldn't give into my unreasonable demands".
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# ? Oct 3, 2013 20:32 |
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When I worked at the toy store, I wasn't even a manager and I had customers come up and say "Your employee X was rude to me!!" or "Well X told me it was that price so you'd better talk to them!" Once I had a man come check out and expected 2 items to be on sale but they weren't. After I told him, he blamed the floor assoc for telling him they were on sale. I said something like "Ok, but I still can't give you that price." He begrudgingly paid for them and as he was about to leave, that coworker came wandering up. "THAT'S HER! SHE'S THE ONE WHO TOLD ME! Make sure she knows she lied to me! You better have a talk with her!" I nodded and said I would definitely talk to her. After the guy left she asked what happened. Apparently he had just asked where the items were and she showed him. He never asked her about a sale. I play-scolded her about "how dare you show a customer to an item?" and we both had a laugh.
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# ? Oct 3, 2013 20:41 |
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Ineptus Mechanicus posted:So if it's been a few years and I barely remember any undergraduate projects in sufficient detail, and low level retail is all I've done since graduating I'm going into the bin. Well that explains a lot. I loving give up. Make something up. Put something interesting on your credentials. If the schmo asks you about it, you had better be more clever than him to keep the story convincing. After high school, I did three different positions (cashier, sales floor, backroom) at a Wal-mart store during the year and a half I was with the company. During that time, I realized that the industry is a dead-end and unprofitable unless you want to commit years of effort into gaining a upper management position. I joined the navy and although it has been a very illuminating experience, I have realized that it also isn't something I'd want to do for years due to the work environment. I'm getting out and when I do I'll be picking up a new job and taking night classes. The point is that if you don't like where you work, leave and find something else. If your mind isn't totally committed to something, it is probably not going to get off the floor. I can't say I know you, but by that quoted remark, it seems like failure is not only an option to you, but it is the default option.
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# ? Oct 4, 2013 15:15 |
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usernamen_01 posted:The point is that if you don't like where you work, leave and find something else. If your mind isn't totally committed to something, it is probably not going to get off the floor. I can't say I know you, but by that quoted remark, it seems like failure is not only an option to you, but it is the default option. I know what you're getting at, and I agree. However, it's difficult to "just leave" when you have financial obligations. I don't think that Ineptus necessarily wants to fail, but trust me, after a few years of trying to break into a career with no success, poo poo gets pretty depressing. Especially when the only work you can find is retail and nobody else seems to want to even give you a second glance. At this point I'd take almost any job that isn't retail, call center or an MLM, but I can't get anyone outside of those three to talk to me.
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# ? Oct 4, 2013 16:14 |
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usernamen_01 posted:Make something up. Put something interesting on your credentials. If the schmo asks you about it, you had better be more clever than him to keep the story convincing. People need an income source and there is literally no social safety net for transitioning from one source to another. With the rate retail pays as well there isn't much people can do to save short of forgoing the basics.
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# ? Oct 4, 2013 16:36 |
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# ? Oct 4, 2013 16:43 |
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Yeah, I try to tailor my resume best I can. Networking is, and has been, very difficult for me. I can usually connect with someone, but it's always come up dry; usually because said person I'm networking with thinks networking means they get to tell me when their company is hiring so I'll know when to apply online, and no they're not going to chat with the hiring manager, or give me their name because that's not how networking works; oh, btw the hiring manager and I are drinking buddies. My only other problem right now is, after 5 years of nothing, what, other than my degree field, can I apply for with any hope of actually getting a job (or, you know at least an interview). I've heard of plenty of people with my degree getting into finance or banking, but I've always been turned away with "not enough experience". Otherwise, I really want to join AIAA, but I don't have the money for that at the moment.
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# ? Oct 4, 2013 19:33 |
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# ? Jun 10, 2024 13:02 |
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YF19pilot posted:Yeah, I try to tailor my resume best I can. Networking is, and has been, very difficult for me. I can usually connect with someone, but it's always come up dry; usually because said person I'm networking with thinks networking means they get to tell me when their company is hiring so I'll know when to apply online, and no they're not going to chat with the hiring manager, or give me their name because that's not how networking works; oh, btw the hiring manager and I are drinking buddies. Maybe you're being too blatantly goal-oriented in your networking? Networking is about forming "business friendships" - having fun spending time with other people you work with or who work in relateable fields. If you only "network" when you're trying to get a job you are being that guy that makes everyone feel awkward.
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# ? Oct 4, 2013 21:19 |