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Drunk Nerds posted:Black Friday is between the 23rd and 29th of November, depending on the year. This is exactly when most white collar workers are paid in Belgium, seems like it would have made more sense in Europe.
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Nov 22, 2018 19:21
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EvilGenius posted:A dumb marketing move is the fact that about 3 or 4 years ago someone decided that Black Friday should happen in the UK, despite the fact that we don't celebrate Thanksgiving. There's no other holiday or pretence for it - it's just a random day in November where retailers discount their poo poo. To date the discounts have never been enough to tempt me into buying anything in November when I could just pay an extra £20 or so and have something any time I want. Same in Canada, where Thanksgiving is more than a month earlier. I was working for a higher-end small-business retail place around then and I remember my bosses bending over backwards to get all the Black Friday stuff into place for the big sale we were going to have! It was not busy. In fact, it was a slow day. Because it was just a Friday in November. Our biggest sale day is and remains Boxing Day, but they keep trying to make Black Friday a thing, for some reason.
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Nov 22, 2018 22:57
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BrigadierSensible posted:A question: It is considered the beginning of the Christmas season and when people traditionally start shopping for presents. This was a big enough deal that FDR actually moved the federal date for Thanksgiving from the last Thursday of November to the fourth Thursday of November as a stimulus to the retail industry during the Depression.
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Nov 22, 2018 23:28
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RoboRodent posted:Same in Canada, where Thanksgiving is more than a month earlier. I was working for a higher-end small-business retail place around then and I remember my bosses bending over backwards to get all the Black Friday stuff into place for the big sale we were going to have! I work retail but for electronics and poo poo, and Black Friday has managed to take hold for sure. Not only that, but now stores are doing “pre Black Friday!” Sales so you shop a day before to get similar deals and maybe beat crowds! Boxing Day is still always the craziest day, but Black Friday is definitely the 2nd busiest day we have each year now because Retail stores understood they’d make more money by just doing it too. Especially where I live the border is only a couple hours away, better to have people spend money here than go south.
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Nov 23, 2018 15:11
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Phlegmish posted:This is exactly when most white collar workers are paid in Belgium, seems like it would have made more sense in Europe. Even before they started pushing Black Friday as a Thing here in Belgium, big purchases (eg: TVs, consoles, and other electronics) still happened mostly in December just because of our 13th month stuff.
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Nov 23, 2018 15:44
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A few years back we specifically went up to Toronto on Black Friday for the long weekend thinking it wouldn't be too crazy in the stores. We were wrong. I mean, it wasn't storm-the-Walmart levels of crazy, but it was definitely busier than we expected. I'm itching to cross the border again this weekend (for groceries, mostly) and am a little leery of the whole thing.
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Nov 23, 2018 15:58
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RoboRodent posted:Same in Canada, where Thanksgiving is more than a month earlier. I was working for a higher-end small-business retail place around then and I remember my bosses bending over backwards to get all the Black Friday stuff into place for the big sale we were going to have! Yeah, the biggest sale day in Australia is also Boxing Day, because that's when the retailers want to clear out stuff for a stocktake. But Black Friday is catching on because it's a benefit to the retailer (not to the consumers benefit like boxing day sales are). Retailers want traffic, interest and some turnover etc to help pay for their Christmas inventory, so they are jumping on the bandwagon now we all know about it from the USA. It's not a sale day here, it's a "retail event". The close out sales/bargains will happen boxing day.
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Nov 23, 2018 17:10
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After couple years of trying the Black Friday has become a thing in Finland. The Halloween is still something that the consumers keep resisting as stupid, although probably also because it usually is on the same weekend as our version of Remembrance Day or Veteran's Day. Other one which is dangerously close to becoming a thing is the American style Valentine's Day. And realistically, who needs a *reason* for an adult drinking weekend thing?
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Nov 23, 2018 18:18
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China has Singles Day, which is now the biggest online and retail shopping day in the world. People just like to shop, nationality be damned. America got a lot of attention because of those Wal-Mart fiascos, although I think they’ve toned it down since people dying is a real holiday bummer. Speaking of Wal-Mart, here’s a 10th anniversary story about the storeroom clerk who got killed by crowds in New York. https://medium.com/@nathanveshecco/jdimytai-damour-10-years-later-277706add1e6
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Nov 23, 2018 18:32
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Fishstick posted:Even before they started pushing Black Friday as a Thing here in Belgium, big purchases (eg: TVs, consoles, and other electronics) still happened mostly in December just because of our 13th month stuff. Hang on, what?
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Nov 23, 2018 23:40
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In most sectors in Belgium, employees are legally entitled to a bonus at the end of the year. Often (though not always) this is equal to your gross monthly salary, though you don't end up with exactly the same net amount since income tax is calculated differently. That particular type of end-of-year bonus is also referred to as a 13th month.
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Nov 24, 2018 00:03
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Patrick Spens posted:Hang on, what? Lousy Smarch weather!
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Nov 24, 2018 01:23
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Krispy Wafer posted:China has Singles Day, which is now the biggest online and retail shopping day in the world. $30.8 billion in 24 hours for Alibaba. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/11/alibaba-singles-day-2018-record-sales-on-largest-shopping-event-day.html
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Nov 24, 2018 01:24
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Here's an example of the utter farce that is Black Friday. https://deals.dell.com/en-uk/category/laptops#current-deals Here Dell have done nothing other than knocked £20 (about $25) off the price of all their laptops. All the laptops ranging from £300 to £1000. If I wanted a laptop at any time of the year I'm not going to hang around for Black Friday for the sake of £20. poo poo you could probably haggle someone for more than that, especially on one that's over a grand. Who falls for this poo poo?
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Nov 24, 2018 15:04
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Krispy Wafer posted:China has Singles Day, which is now the biggest online and retail shopping day in the world. Among the other deaths I've heard about were people getting crushed to death at the doors when they were locked and people dying because of fights over merchandise. It really genuinely is retailers' fault collectively. Instead of putting things in place to ensure that people weren't going to get hurt and nothing was too insane they kept making a bigger marketing campaign every year with crazier deals and more exclusive items. The whole thing is just a hideous, cynical cash grab from top to bottom. If you want to buy somebody a TV for Christmas there is no reason that it has to be on the Friday after Thanksgiving. None at all. The snag though is that a calm weekend of non-competitive shopping after Thanksgiving with more than enough deals to go around doesn't generate hype. No, instead we get nonsense like an advert promising "while supplies last!" on things that chances are there aren't many of. The best TV deal? The store has three of them. Once they're gone they're gone. That's part of what led to people pushing so hard to get in every year; this is what was leading people to get hurt. Thousands of people each thinking "I'm getting that TV." However many weeks of advertising and a mix of holiday enthusiasm and rampant consumerism and you have people deciding that they absolutely must get the family the biggest TV for the cheapest price they possibly can. What they never know is the numbers; it's like the lottery. Thousands and thousands of people running desperately to get one of the three TVs on a super ultra sale. The store only cares about getting you in there; the cheap TVs are the bait. Of course the best deals are only in numbers enough to go to less than 1% of the shoppers. Emotions run high enough and you end up with corpses. For what? Televisions. The only thing that made the stores change was bad publicity. People were getting killed for years before the news finally paid enough attention that a big enough mass of people actually cared.
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Nov 24, 2018 15:18
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"only" one death for black Friday this year.
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Nov 24, 2018 16:22
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my store doesn't do black friday because we don't sell anything relevant, but my husband works at a major retailer and hoo boy thanksgiving/black friday was awful there. he told me many stories but the one that sticks with me was a lady yelling at a new hire and blaming him for the TV prices. 'you should be ashamed of yourself', she said. customers are the worst in general but good lord, calm down you freak
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Nov 24, 2018 17:10
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So you can make a Google Assistant say words she normally can't by setting your nickname to bad words. Edit: huh she stopped saying it and now says beeps again. That was a very weird couple minutes where she said gently caress Shite Whore oval office Len has a new favorite as of 17:29 on Nov 24, 2018 |
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Nov 24, 2018 17:20
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The Snoo posted:my store doesn't do black friday because we don't sell anything relevant, but my husband works at a major retailer and hoo boy thanksgiving/black friday was awful there. Yeah, I had a lady stand there and scream at me for...gently caress, I don't even know, had to have been 15 minutes because we ran out of the camera she wanted before she even showed up. She pulled out every argument she could think of, far as I could tell. One was "false advertising" of course. She demanded that I go in the back and get her that kind of camera because if we didn't then the advert was a lie. Except that, like all Black Friday fliers, it says stuff like "while supplies last" or "limited quantities available" or whatever. Next she tried to say that she just knew we had more in the back and I was not giving her one just to spite her (as an aside, that is the single most stupid argument I've ever heard and I heard it entirely too often for my sanity all the time) so I had no choice but to go get her one or she'd go find a manager, complain, and get me fired. Except that my boss was a few feet away at the time and backed me up on it. Display is empty? I don't have one to sell you. Sorry lady, I'd sell you one if I could. She screamed and kvetched and hemmed and hawed and...well no sorry I'm not budging. I'd happily sell you one if I had one but, thing is, I don't. Limited quantities and all. We even had a bunch of almost identical cameras for like $15 more still on the display but no only that one was enough. Eventually she left only to come back later and say that she saw somebody that had one and that person told her to come to this display because that was where they were and that person said there was some left so I had to go get her one and...no. Just...no. Shelf on the display is empty? No camera. Sorry. That's how the day works. We ran out? That's it. No more. I told her that if somebody decided they didn't want one it would end up at customer service and then wander back but other than that no luck. She then proceeded to stand there and defiantly wait for drat near an hour dead certain that a camera was going to end up there and she would be the one to get it. It never happened. She wasted something like two hours of her life and made a lovely day for a retail employee worse over a cheap camera that wasn't even all that good. Just a normal point and shoot people take lovely photos of their vacations with that they'll never look at again. The level of cynicism and misanthropy I have don't develop naturally and doesn't come from inherent traits. It only comes from a lifetime of bullshit, abuse, and trauma. ToxicSlurpee has a new favorite as of 17:44 on Nov 24, 2018 |
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Nov 24, 2018 17:41
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That’s why you just use the day to buy cheap movies for yourself and no one else. It’s so much better that way. She was probably buying for her dumb kid or something and that kid HAD to have it. The pressure was on for her.
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Nov 24, 2018 18:04
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gently caress that lady and her dumbass kid!
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Nov 24, 2018 18:09
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Exclusivity is a hell of a drug. The fact it wasn't available made it all the more desirable. What is the bullshit tech purchase this year? Are we still buying hoverboards? A friend of ours got 3 of them one year for their kids. One broke in half when two people tried to ride it at the same time. Another one didn't die right then, but when their kid crashed they smashed the phone she was texting on. Within a month a thousand dollars was just a bunch of junk plus they had to replace an iPhone screen.
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Nov 24, 2018 18:14
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CelticPredator posted:That’s why you just use the day to buy cheap movies for yourself and no one else. It’s so much better that way. I celebrate Buy Nothing Day. I spend $0 on Black Friday deliberately. If I didn't have to go to work I'd deliberately refuse to go anywhere as well. Black Friday is a symptom of everything wrong with contemporary society so gently caress it, I'm not participating. ToxicSlurpee has a new favorite as of 18:29 on Nov 24, 2018 |
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Nov 24, 2018 18:26
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B uy L ike A C razy K ing F ind R ubbish I nexplicably D iscounted A ll Y' all
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Nov 24, 2018 18:54
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I got Hereditary for 8 bucks. I feel like a boss.
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Nov 24, 2018 18:56
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CelticPredator posted:I got Hereditary for 8 bucks. I feel like a boss. You should saved your money. That movie was advertised as ultra spooky and I got a two hour long dry family drama movie and 30 minutes of poo poo that was so over the top it was hilarious.
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Nov 24, 2018 19:02
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It’s in my top 5 best movies of the year. It’s pretty much perfect.
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Nov 24, 2018 19:05
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ToxicSlurpee posted:Instead of putting things in place to ensure that people weren't going to get hurt They do do that, but people still fight and trample each other despite their efforts.
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Nov 24, 2018 19:17
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Working for non-profit charities with retail sucks on big sale days because obviously we don't take part, and it pisses people off so much. If you're disappointed a charity doesn't have a mega boxing day or black Friday sale, at least keep it to your loving self instead of whining at me, the cashier. I seriously do not loving care about you and your cheap rear end.
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Nov 24, 2018 20:33
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Picnic Princess posted:Working for non-profit charities with retail sucks on big sale days because obviously we don't take part, and it pisses people off so much. Are we talking Goodwill/SoSVdP/Cancer shops?
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Nov 24, 2018 21:02
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it's funny how all lovely customers use the same abusive tactics to try to get their way and they can't accept being wrong/late/illiterate, and they know they can get away with it because the ~customer is always right~ but at least the bitter and petty woman owned herself, lmao
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Nov 24, 2018 22:12
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In pharmacy we're allowed, and in fact required, to sometimes just flat out refuse to sell somebody something, and there are people whose brains kind of break when that happens. They stare and say "No, it's all right" and I end up having to say very slowly and clearly, "I'm not going to sell that to you, because it's not safe for you".
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Nov 24, 2018 22:27
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The Snoo posted:it's funny how all lovely customers use the same abusive tactics to try to get their way and they can't accept being wrong/late/illiterate, and they know they can get away with it because the ~customer is always right~ One of the standards I hold the business I manage to is that the customer is not always right and nobody gets what they want by being mean. We're accredited, which means we actually have strict standards that we need to uphold with equal treatment for everybody. We can bend the rules at certain points, but there's hard lines we can't cross under any circumstances. What I've noticed is that when people can't get what they want by screaming and threatening, they usually come back with either begging or being really nice (in some cases, only after trying to cry about "poor customer service" to the owner and getting shut down after the owner gets told that the customer was abusing staff while also being in the wrong). I have a rule that a customer who becomes verbally abusive gets one warning, and if they don't cool it they just get the call disconnected and their number ignored. We're an office that deals almost exclusively with customers over the phone or email, so there's no risk of someone actually being in the building if they go into a rage. Most of them aren't even in the same state. It becomes really clear that they're not actually losing their temper, but they've gotten used to the idea that they can get things by harassing and yelling at customer service people that they view are inferior and are making a calculated effort to get special treatment through cruelty. When they don't get the response they want, they get confused and shut down.
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Nov 24, 2018 23:27
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Beachcomber posted:Are we talking Goodwill/SoSVdP/Cancer shops? Conservation society. We have gift shops and we use the funds to breed and reintroduce endangered species and do conservation stuff all over the world. Everyone thinks we should be giving our poo poo away and get mad at us all the time because we don't do blowout sales. If we mark down stuff to cost or below, endangered animals are technically paying people to take shirts and toys out of our store.
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Nov 25, 2018 02:04
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oldpainless posted:I am furious right now Sorry I should've used the more formal f1rst chitoryu12 posted:One of the standards I hold the business I manage to is that the customer is not always right and nobody gets what they want by being mean. We're accredited, which means we actually have strict standards that we need to uphold with equal treatment for everybody. We can bend the rules at certain points, but there's hard lines we can't cross under any circumstances. I love it because I get sooooo much customer service just by being nice. The old: State my huge complaint, then add, "I bet you've got a lot of people getting mad at you recently about this, huh? That sucks, sorry," works just about 100% of the time Drunk Nerds has a new favorite as of 02:18 on Nov 25, 2018 |
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Nov 25, 2018 02:05
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chitoryu12 posted:One of the standards I hold the business I manage to is that the customer is not always right and nobody gets what they want by being mean. We're accredited, which means we actually have strict standards that we need to uphold with equal treatment for everybody. We can bend the rules at certain points, but there's hard lines we can't cross under any circumstances. Good on you. When I interviewed for my former library position, I was already freaked out because I'd never had an interview with 3 people hurling questions at me. The head of reference asked me: "What do you think about the statement, 'the customer is always right'?" poo poo poo poo poo poo. I'm sweating bullets. What answer are they looking for? I'd done enough tour of duty in retail where the customer was always right, but wondered if this was a trick question, coming from a non-profit org. I went with honesty and said, "Wellll, not always. Sometimes customers are trying to pull a fast one on you, or trying to break the rules so they can get away without paying, or something illegal." He smiled and nodded; this was apparently the correct answer. I got hired and worked there for 12 years. And jeezus Picnic, that's abominable. How the gently caress you buy merch from a charitable conservation place and then whine about the t-shirt that might help an endangered animal not being on sale? loving people. (Also, does your shop do online sales? My retired father does turtle rescue in FL, and I'm in the market for a holiday gift. That would totally be his jam. PM me!)
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Nov 25, 2018 03:12
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lifehack: be the exact opposite of a lovely customer because it feels really loving nice to help and be kind and sometimes they give u stuff for being a decent human being
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Nov 25, 2018 06:56
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The biggest problem is that we've trained customers to be lovely. If a customer is nasty enough usually customer service will give them something free or a big discount to get them to shut up and go away. Want to pay less for your cell phone? Just scream at the guy at the customer support line until they give you a discount. People have learned that businesses, big ones especially, reward lovely, abusive behavior. Conversely if you're nice and decent then there are companies that will deliberately try to rip you off. Which of course just makes retail work suck even more than it already does.
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Nov 25, 2018 07:17
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chitoryu12 posted:One of the standards I hold the business I manage to is that the customer is not always right and nobody gets what they want by being mean. We're accredited, which means we actually have strict standards that we need to uphold with equal treatment for everybody. We can bend the rules at certain points, but there's hard lines we can't cross under any circumstances. Call centres tend to work with well defined processes that the employee has to work through with the customer. That process can be effectively held to ransom if the customer is being abusive. On top of that, you have managers that will take on the call, or hundreds of colleagues that might. You'll usually be backed up on this, because a good call centre recognises that it's a lovely job and will look out for the people on the phones. Social media on the other hand is total anarchy, and a pretty dumb marketing move if you've set up with the 'we'll answer anything' approach. It fails to recognise the kind of pile-on campaigns you get, and that they're not interested in reasonable responses from the company in question. I watch the car crash that is Tesco's (UK supermarket) Facebook quite regularly, and it's ripe for abuse. You can be as insulting as you like to a store or employee (short of actual swearing), you can promote your thinly-veiled racist anti-Halal campaign, you can rant in all caps with no punctuation and you'll get an answer. You can pretty much libel the company with false information (e.g. a viral video of animal amuse attributed to Tesco, which is actually 10 years old and from Romania). All you'd have to do is set up a few reasonable rules on customer conduct and it would all disappear after a while.
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Nov 25, 2018 09:22
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The Snoo posted:lifehack: be the exact opposite of a lovely customer because it feels really loving nice to help and be kind and sometimes they give u stuff for being a decent human being This. Entirely this. During my time on the floor it was amazing how, after having a shift of rude, sullen, angry blaming you for their problems, all it would take to cheer me up was one person with a smile, or a "please", or "thank you." I was never in a position to give them stuff for free or anything, but sometimes all it takes is a simple act of politeness to brighten a retail monkey's otherwise dire day. And you are less likely to get poor customer service.
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Nov 25, 2018 11:15
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