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Nov 21, 2013 00:13
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Halloween Jack posted:My fiancee just quit Sephora. Customers were "clients," but the workers are "cast members" and their uniforms are "costumes." Calling them 'cast members' is how they get away with dictating your physical appearance, beyond the usual "wear this [color] polo and khakis". I worked at an Abercrombie & Fitch store, where I was a 'model'. I had to adhere to the "Look Policy". You're effectively required to wear A&F clothing, and men must be clean-shaven, hair neat, etc. And if you're chunky, forget it.
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Nov 21, 2013 02:08
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*takes a chomp* posted:My ok with customers being bitchy, angry, abusive or whatever. I can blame society. With coworkers, I don't know who to get angry at.
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Nov 21, 2013 22:01
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*takes a chomp* posted:Preface: I work in a fairly large upscale furniture retail chain, I work in the back, floor, cashier, everything. Anything that isn't manangement related, I take care off/have done.
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Nov 21, 2013 23:44
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PUGGERNAUT posted:I'm moving cross-country and need a job. I'm thinking about applying for a position at Costco, any tips? I've got about 2 years' retail experience at a video game store and a big-box electronics store. Just apply when you get there. If they call you, and it's an option, say you can work any time and you'll do anything. Lot, bakery, front end and assist the night crew with stocking, maintenance, whatever. Emphasize you've dealt with the masses before and that you understand that they come first in any retail setting. If you get a job there, no matter what department, bust your rear end and be eager and pleasant about it. If you're not total dead weight and have a good, positive attitude about the job (and don't gently caress up and get written up) you'll probably make it past the 90 day probation and get a guaranteed 24 a week. Being hardworking and enthusiastic from the get go is important. You want to stand out and become the favorite of a manager. Don't complain or question why this guy doesn't do as much work as he should or why you have to work lovely shifts, suck it all up and keep moving. If you're productive, especially in instances where you could be slacking off instead, you'll be seen as someone who could be a good employee down the road as well as right now. I know this sounds like some type of retail drone thing, but Costco likes its employees to be hard working and willing to do anything as it pertains to the job. Like most places, but it actually matters here and will get noticed, good or bad. Also in event of an interview mention how important customer service is. Costco is big on member service, these people pay to shop there and the memberships are a big part of why they pay so well. The more important you make it sound like you understand customer service the better. Santheb fucked around with this message at 11:44 on Nov 22, 2013 |
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Nov 22, 2013 11:32
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Santheb posted:
What is sadly missed is that really this shouldn't be an issue anywhere (within reason) , it's just a matter of most places pay so poorly that it isn't worth it.
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Nov 22, 2013 14:26
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And then sometimes this is why we need a direct manager. Coworker I was put on administrative leave for about a month. She works 1pm-9pm. Coworker G is part time. He was asked to pick up extra hours and work till 2 or 3pm, since I was out. Coworker G is super happy. Working 8 to 9 hours a day as opposed to his scheduled 6. Now, every worker has an assigned phone, and the phones are shared. So when G was working 6am to noon, his phone was charged and ready for I when she came in to work. The phones are assigned because they are loving expensive to replace, and in case someone needs to call us, they know whose number is what. Now Coworker I is back. G does not want his hours to go back to normal. So what he does now, about 11am, is call our dispatchers and ask for more work. He doesn't say no if they ask him if he wants to do extra drops (which we are supposed to do unless we are super busy, which we are not). So he has been getting back to base between 2 and 3pm again. This means Coworker I has no phone to use. So Coworker I takes my phone. The coworker who needs my phone can't have it now, and has to take someone else's. So at any given time of the day, if you are trying to reach G, or I, or anyone, you have no idea who has what phone. The plant manager says it's at the discretion of dispatch to have us work late and what phones to use. When I pointed out that G has issues with losing his hours, the manager says he has no control over that. So right now G is making his own schedule, I is angry, and no one who has an assigned phone has the right one. Cowslips Warren fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Nov 22, 2013 |
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Nov 22, 2013 22:53
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Nov 22, 2013 23:12
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Duckman2008 posted:What is sadly missed is that really this shouldn't be an issue anywhere (within reason) , it's just a matter of most places pay so poorly that it isn't worth it. Absolutely. When I'm getting paid $19/hour for what is really not hard or complicated work, I'm definitely going to give it my all. I completely understand why someone working at Wal Mart getting paid half of that for similar work just would not give a poo poo. That's part of why Costco pays what they do. Generally, happy employees do better work. Unless you get the pissed off, adrenaline fueled rage where your work rate skyrockets. That happens sometimes too.
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Nov 22, 2013 23:16
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Santheb posted:Unless you get the pissed off, adrenaline fueled rage where your work rate skyrockets. That happens sometimes too. This was basically me at my last job. I had a psychopathic 6ft 5 coke head as the SM, so suffice it to say I was a highly motivated 3rd shifter. I used caffeine and music to artificially increase my work rate, but their impact paled in comparison to good old fashioned righteous fury.
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Nov 23, 2013 04:16
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GabrielAisling posted:That is some evil Mickey Mouse lingo. Do they have to do the Disney Point? I remember when I worked there. They pulled some poo poo like "all employees who leave the building must have bags checked by a greeter before exiting the store." Customers were exempt from this unless they set off the door alarm thingy. Because, you know, we're all filthy thieves. A few of us (myself included) just flat-out refused to participate. Those who did participate soured on it very quickly, and the policy was quietly dropped after about a week and never mentioned again.
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Nov 23, 2013 21:12
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Retail Slave posted:I remember when I worked there. They pulled some poo poo like "all employees who leave the building must have bags checked by a greeter before exiting the store." Customers were exempt from this unless they set off the door alarm thingy. Because, you know, we're all filthy thieves. Dollar Tree is supposed to do bag checks on employees leaving the premises for any reason. If you want to take a walk on your break and take your purse with you, you waste a minute of that break getting your bag checked. Maybe more if you have to wait for a manager to do so. Never did that. All employee purchases must be out of the store by 7 PM or two hours before store close, whichever is earlier. And the bags have to be checked. That's kinda fuckin' hard when I ride a bike and store it in the stockroom. We never followed that rule. Your locker and personal belongings in the locker are subject to inspection at any time. And if you wanted a soda and a candy bar on your break, you were technically supposed to record each as a separate purchase and staple/tape the receipts to the items. I went into Dollar Tree to pick up some odds and ends for Christmas today and ran across a guy that looked vaguely familiar to me. Standard greeting ensued when he asked if I was still working there. That explained why out of the corner of my eye, I was getting that look that said "Oh, he must work here, let me ask him a question." He DID ask me a question, but...it wasn't the one I expected. It was a much nicer one and it's frankly awesome to be remembered six months after leaving. 
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Nov 23, 2013 21:40
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When I worked at a pharmacy bag checks were required because the corporation settled with the DEA over drug diversion charges.
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Nov 24, 2013 01:20
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My big blue DIY store does lunch bag checks, basically any cashier can take a cursory glance into the contents of a lunchbox, but personal items like a purse aren't suppose to be checked unless the employee volunteers it. Pretty lax as it's usually the same lady at the customer service desk, but the "full time returns" cashier will sometimes go "above and beyond" with folks she's not too fond of (read: casual racism).
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Nov 24, 2013 01:35
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Azuth0667 posted:When I worked at a pharmacy bag checks were required because the corporation settled with the DEA over drug diversion charges. Pharmacy is a little different. Although it would suck for the techs, I can kind of get that. But gently caress you for making me stop and have the 105-year-old woman go through my bag of pants and batteries and compare them to my receipt to make sure I'm not stealing anything when you have absolutely no reason at all to believe so. gently caress you, Walmart. Getting out of there must be what getting out of prison is like.
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Nov 24, 2013 01:56
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Retail Slave posted:Pharmacy is a little different. Although it would suck for the techs, I can kind of get that. But gently caress you for making me stop and have the 105-year-old woman go through my bag of pants and batteries and compare them to my receipt to make sure I'm not stealing anything when you have absolutely no reason at all to believe so. gently caress you, Walmart. Getting out of there must be what getting out of prison is like. Of course, if you meant as an employee, I sympathize. We had a circle jerk of bag-checks when I used to close at Joann Fabrics. It was demeaning as poo poo.
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Nov 24, 2013 02:25
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Retail Slave posted:Pharmacy is a little different. Although it would suck for the techs, I can kind of get that. But gently caress you for making me stop and have the 105-year-old woman go through my bag of pants and batteries and compare them to my receipt to make sure I'm not stealing anything when you have absolutely no reason at all to believe so. gently caress you, Walmart. Getting out of there must be what getting out of prison is like. Yeah I was, and still am, a nationally certified tech. The stuff we handle can be ridiculously addictive so I can understand not taking chances with it. They've had problems with everyone taking narcotics and selling them illegally, corporate didn't give a poo poo either. Until the DEA came in slapped them with a bunch of fines and made them do a whole bunch of annoying policies to prevent it from ever happening again.
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Nov 24, 2013 03:18
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Retail Slave posted:Pharmacy is a little different. Although it would suck for the techs, I can kind of get that. But gently caress you for making me stop and have the 105-year-old woman go through my bag of pants and batteries and compare them to my receipt to make sure I'm not stealing anything when you have absolutely no reason at all to believe so. gently caress you, Walmart. Getting out of there must be what getting out of prison is like. My store did purse checks AND made us hold up our coats/jackets to be patted down by the manager (as managers were the only employees allowed to do the checks). It was to the point where I'd usually just go out to lunch with money in my pocket and no jacket unless it was absolutely freezing out. Weirdly enough they didn't give a poo poo about purchases at all as long as you just kept a receipt around.
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Nov 24, 2013 03:59
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martyrdumb posted:As an employee, or a customer? Because it sounds like you're talking as a customer. If that's the case, you don't have to let them check your bags. Only members of warehouse stores (like Sam's and Costco) are obligated to do that. You can legally just ignore the person asking and walk around them anywhere else. I was talking about the "mandatory" checks we went through when I worked at Walmart that were a complete joke and everyone hated.
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Nov 24, 2013 18:43
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My job has pocket/bag checks every time we physically leave the store, even though some of the employees have been there for years and have never purposefully or even accidentally taken unpaid merchandise out of the store. I have to say, it's definitely strange for me to switch from a family retail/food business to corporate retail. My parents own a couple of seasonal businesses during the summer (May-August) that I've worked at for years, and I don't think I'll ever take it for granted again, dang. Since I took a summer course this year, I didn't have the usual savings that I use during the semester for booze, gas, etc, so I decided to take a part time retail job for the off-season. I work for a chain store that sells games and accessories - you can probably guess which. I don't make much but it's enough for small weekly spending. It's impossible for trying to set aside anything substantial savings though - my little pile has grown by a whopping 75 dollars in the past month  It's a very different work environment for sure. I knew that going in, but there are things that I never considered (like pocket checks). It's also strange how little control the manager has over simple things, even the way we put things on the shelf has a down-to-the-last-detail guide, with no room for creativity or individual adjustments. I can understand some of the reasoning behind this, but it's still odd to me. I've been there for a few months and it seems like there is always a new situation that I need to have memorized. The POS and protocol are so specific and hard to work with/intepret sometimes that I'm constantly asking for help for things that "should" be obvious. My manager isn't a jerk, but he's overworked and the frequent questions definitely start to grate on him, I can tell. The only thing I really have a hard time getting used to is that when customers say "no" to our cards and other offers, we're supposed to try and change their mind. If I think I can without irritating them, I politely explain that they'd be saving on their purchase and lo and behold - most of the time they still say no. But since the pressure on our managers and assistant managers to reach certain goals every week is SO hard, I get reprimanded when I miss an opportunity. Last night for instance, my manager was on break in the back room. I tried to encourage the customer to renew his card as best I could but no dice. When my manager gets back from his break, he looks at the recent transactions and sees that I missed the opportunity and when I explain that I told the customer about the offers and did everything I could his response was "there's a difference between a sale and a hard sell." C'mon guy, you weren't even there to witness it! I realize that this is probably like typical_retail_bullshit.txt, but it's good to vent I guess. I think my manager was hoping that hiring a girl for a game store would help considerably with sales, but it ain't that easy.
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Nov 25, 2013 05:02
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Retail sucks. It seems to me in my experience reading stories here and talking to coworkers in my store that cashiering is probably the worst position that there is. If you're going to work retail, I recommend working with a big corporation that has many positions available in one location. Typical grocery stores, big electronic stores, or DIY stores seems to be the lesser evils of retail to work for. Get a job that's anything besides cashiering! I'd rather clean up delis or meat departments before I go cashier.
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Nov 25, 2013 05:33
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Kimmalah posted:My store did purse checks AND made us hold up our coats/jackets to be patted down by the manager (as managers were the only employees allowed to do the checks). It was to the point where I'd usually just go out to lunch with money in my pocket and no jacket unless it was absolutely freezing out. When I worked at Spencer Gifts, we had bag checks before breaks and after work. So demeaning when you're standing in front of the store that you work at having your bag rifled through. Once they decided to roll out a "clear bag policy," I quit. They wanted us to take our possessions out of our purses or whatever and keep them in a clear bag so there was no chance of us stealing. Uh, no. I'm not going to bring my things to or from work in a loving Ziploc bag. At H&M when I worked there, they did "walkouts" before breaks/end of shift where they would check your bag - You would have to clock out for your break, then ask someone on the sales floor to walkie a manager to meet you at the front of the shop to make sure you weren't stealing. This took a few minutes out of our breaks, which isn't a huge deal, but it sucked and being viewed as untrustworthy with regards to merchandise was ridiculous when anybody who was trained on cash could easily have pocketed a $50 or $100 bill instead of putting it in the drop box. End of shift walkouts were poo poo as well, because the manager taking a minute too long could make the difference between catching your bus or waiting in the cold for half an hour waiting for the next one. I think it's insane how jobs like retail/food service treat their employees so very shittily. I work at a bank now as a teller, and although it's not all roses and I still have supervisor bullshit and customers who piss me right off, at least they trust me with money more than my jobs at the mall did 
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Nov 25, 2013 06:05
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Dear fellow retail workers: When you are using Knives, or dangerous blade containing machinery such as deli slicers, please wear the mesh gloves we provide you. This is a basic safety procedure that prevents injury, as one of my (presumably soon to be ex) coworkers will forever remember whenever she glances at what precious little remains of her finger.
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Nov 25, 2013 15:35
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The Lord Bude posted:Dear fellow retail workers: I hate those gloves and refuse to use them  I've been a butcher for near 5 years and only have cut myself 3 times. And the only time ever on a deli slicer was when I was cleaning it (old slicer where the blade was exposed when you took the guard off
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Nov 25, 2013 15:45
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creatine posted:I hate those gloves and refuse to use them Indeed. I worked in a deli and I always wore those gloves when sharpening and cleaning the blade. Otherwise they prevent you from doing precision cutting, which was a necessary part of my job since we made party/catering platters. I only ever got minor cuts in the deli, all of which came from non-knife related objects that just happened to be sharp. In my tenure, both of the department managers cut themselves seriously on the meat slicer, and the store manager came back to try and show us how easy our job was and that we were a bunch of whiny babies then nearly cut her index finger clean off with a carving knife. 
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Nov 25, 2013 16:30
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In three years or so of working retail, I had more than enough fun watching people give themselves bleeding hand-wounds using box cutters. If I had not worked retail I would have figured it was nearly impossible to do this, especially considering how rarely it was actually necessary to use them--let alone have to go to the hospital because of it. On the other hand, I stayed the hell away from cardboard compactors out of paranoid fear of a wire tie snapping back. It just became known that I would not do that work. Name Change fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Nov 25, 2013 |
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Nov 25, 2013 18:22
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I actually HAD to cut a baling wire once because the person who tied up the bale of cardboard got the wire caught on one of the chains somehow and it couldn't be gotten off. I got as far away as I could and cut as close to the corner of the bale as I could. It still punched a hole in one of the boxes across the aisle of the stockroom. 
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Nov 25, 2013 18:50
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D34THROW posted:I actually HAD to cut a baling wire once because the person who tied up the bale of cardboard got the wire caught on one of the chains somehow and it couldn't be gotten off. Yup! gently caress that poo poo. Exactly what my mind's eye saw happening. We had no goggles or anything. I'm not going to get permanently disfigured for any money, let alone $8 an hour.
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Nov 25, 2013 19:25
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Only ever seen a bale wire snap without being caught in the chains once. Came back and gave this guy a nice raspberry right on the rear end. Could've been much worse, but it actually turned out kind of funny.
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Nov 25, 2013 19:49
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I had to tie and empty the baler 2 or 3 times a shift and the wire only snapped a couple of times. Just have to make sure you tie it properly and don't have too much cardboard in there.
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Nov 25, 2013 21:11
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I've never seen a wire snap on a properly tied baler. The baler I use now takes 4 equally spaced wires. The only snap I've seen was when someone from another store came in and tied it with only 2 wires, and made the knots a big ball like a 6 year old would if you ask them to tie the best knot.
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Nov 25, 2013 21:17
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Mine had 3 and they only snapped when some idiot tried to tie it with too much cardboard in it.
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Nov 25, 2013 21:20
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:In three years or so of working retail, I had more than enough fun watching people give themselves bleeding hand-wounds using box cutters. If I had not worked retail I would have figured it was nearly impossible to do this, especially considering how rarely it was actually necessary to use them--let alone have to go to the hospital because of it. Yeah, our store policy dictates we can only use one kind of knife (provided free via HR dept. or Head Cashier), which is spring loaded, so if you let go of the tab it will retract. Still doesn't prevent stupid people cutting boxes in retarded ways from hurting themselves, but at least it's something, I guess.
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Nov 25, 2013 22:04
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YF19pilot posted:Yeah, our store policy dictates we can only use one kind of knife (provided free via HR dept. or Head Cashier), which is spring loaded, so if you let go of the tab it will retract. Still doesn't prevent stupid people cutting boxes in retarded ways from hurting themselves, but at least it's something, I guess. I remember when my store switched to this style of spring-loaded box cutter. Everyone was upset because they were tiny, and HR actually made it so it was against company policy to use your own 'real' box cutter. Well less then a week into using them, one of my pals forget his belt at home. So he attempted to make his own by twisting pallet wrap. When he went to cut off one of the end (he was already wearing his 'belt' at this point) he slipped and this tiny drat box-cutter opened up his thigh, right through his jeans. Never thought a lovely little key-ring saftey box cutter could cause so much gore. Now any time we see someone doing something stupid, we ask them, "Hey can you make me a belt when you're done?"
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Nov 25, 2013 23:12
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Baldbeard posted:I remember when my store switched to this style of spring-loaded box cutter. Everyone was upset because they were tiny, and HR actually made it so it was against company policy to use your own 'real' box cutter. Well less then a week into using them, one of my pals forget his belt at home. So he attempted to make his own by twisting pallet wrap. When he went to cut off one of the end (he was already wearing his 'belt' at this point) he slipped and this tiny drat box-cutter opened up his thigh, right through his jeans. Never thought a lovely little key-ring saftey box cutter could cause so much gore. Oh, wow, I can only imagine. Ours actually use proper box-cutter blades, it's just all plastic and feels cheap as crap. They come with a tab installed that prevents the blade from fully extending, but you can break it off. Though at least one coworker has removed/broken the spring itself. And, when I first started (as a cashier) and asked the HR lady why I wasn't issued one, her response was, and I quote, "You're a cashier, you'll just cut yourself."
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Nov 26, 2013 00:55
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I have seriously gotten more serious cuts on dense cardboard than I have boxcutters. Anyone have any experience with Trash Compactors and You: The Walmart Experience? The rules are, only certain things can go in the chute compactor. When certain not-allowed things go in, it gums up the compactor and costs money and time. Due to someone's gently caress-up, at length a mid-level manager had to go dumpster-diving in the compactor to unstick something. I don't even like the bad watermelons normally, let alone when I am stuck in a confined space with them and everything else. As a direct result of this manager's (understandable) wrath, from then on you needed an adult to accompany you to any trash compactor runs. Funny thing is, in my department, produce, we threw out about a million tons of poo poo an hour. So there was a lot of great moments in workplace productivity while we waited for a manager to unlock the door and then watch us obey the rules.
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Nov 26, 2013 01:06
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They issued us S4 box cutters at Dollar Tree. Oddly enough, only one person ever got severely cut while I was working there, and that was from one of the box cutters her husband uses at HIS job...which are spring-loaded. I still have mine and will likely hold on to it for a long time. I love that stupid little thing.
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Nov 26, 2013 01:44
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What the gently caress? At all my jobs we just used these: 
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Nov 26, 2013 02:00
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creatine posted:What the gently caress? Ugh. Not those things. Walmart issued EasyCuts when I worked there, and they ruled. Clipped to your pants, seemed way more safe.  Before that, they issued S4s. Daniel Bryan fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Nov 26, 2013 |
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Nov 26, 2013 02:32
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You people are underestimating the difficulty in using a box cutter . Ok I admit, 8 or 9 years ago I messed up and was cutting the side of a box by moving the cutter towards my left hand that I was using to stabilize the box. The cutter slipped off the side of the box directly into my left hand. My mistake left the biggest scar on my body.  Surprisingly it was only an open wound that didn't bleed one bit.
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Nov 26, 2013 03:04
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