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Aesop Poprock
Oct 21, 2008


Grimey Drawer

MY PALE GOTH SKIN posted:

Tbf to olds, it's harder to learn things naturally and without much effot the older you get

Tbf to everyone who has to deal with them, they should either put in the effort or not get a loving iPad. Or learn to say "I'm sorry, I'm kind of overwhelmed, would you mind helping me by (doing whatever), instead of just poking at things until the work or break.

I think a lot of the time it's their relatives buying them those things to be fair

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Snow Cone Capone
Jul 31, 2003


FactsAreUseless posted:

Bookstore customers are insane in a way I've never seen from customers anywhere else.

OTOH the guy who prices the used books at the Barnes & Noble by me is easily the most insane retail employee I've ever encountered. He looks and dresses like if Colonel Sanders played The Mask (has the white hair/beard, glasses, big guy, but instead of a white suit it'll be a yellow blazer, green polka-dot slacks and a red striped tie). His pricing scheme is totally incomprehensible - at one point I was told it was based off online prices, but not where online (eBay? Amazon? Niche collectors' sites?). This leads to things like volumes 6, 7 and 8 of a comic book series (Preacher) being priced at $8, $35, and $18 respectively, for no real reason (they're out of print but the prices are pretty stable across all the volumes). He gets really offended if you ask him about how he prices poo poo; I've never actually pulled up online pricing in front of him for fear of triggering a meltdown.

I still find decent deals and cool finds, but not nearly as much as I used to. I once got a signed, uncorrected proof copy of one of the Science of Discworld books for $6, now they've had a signed, 1st-edition copy of Good Omens for $150 sitting on display for like 6 months that nobody will buy at that price (except me if I get a bonus at work :()

Snow Cone Capone fucked around with this message at 15:00 on Jun 13, 2017

CaptainBtaksDad
Jun 3, 2017

by FactsAreUseless

Azuth0667 posted:

Let me guess you are a computer janitor.

No. I actually know very little about computers. I work in a hospital.

FactsAreUseless
Feb 16, 2011

Kelp Me! posted:

OTOH the guy who prices the used books at the Barnes & Noble by me is easily the most insane retail employee I've ever encountered. He looks and dresses like if Colonel Sanders played The Mask (has the white hair/beard, glasses, big guy, but instead of a white suit it'll be a yellow blazer, green polka-dot slacks and a red striped tie). His pricing scheme is totally incomprehensible - at one point I was told it was based off online prices, but not where online (eBay? Amazon? Niche collectors' sites?). This leads to things like volumes 6, 7 and 8 of a comic book series (Preacher) being priced at $8, $35, and $18 respectively, for no real reason (they're out of print but the prices are pretty stable across all the volumes). I still find decent deals and cool finds, but not nearly as much as I used to. I once got a signed, uncorrected proof copy of one of the Science of Discworld books for $6, now they've had a signed, 1st-edition copy of Good Omens for $150 sitting on display for like 6 months that nobody will buy at that price.
He's probably using Bookfinder. Bookfinder, as I recall, prices poo poo like ebay: it just shows you a list of everyone selling the book on the site. So inevitably it all gets inflated because sellers just chase each other's prices, then it crashes when someone decides to sell a book cheap.

Monos Bullet
Dec 6, 2016

Yea, and I say unto you, bringeth me a machiatto of caramel, with crickets on top.
Anymore funny stories like the guy whose manager picked up poop with a paper towel or is this thread whining only from here on out?

FactsAreUseless
Feb 16, 2011

Customers at major book chains are generally fine. It's the little independent stores that get the crazies. When you have an independent bookstore, you aren't really selling books. You can't out-compete the internet price-wise. It's a losing battle. Instead, you're selling the bookstore. You're selling the experience of browsing and spending time in it, and the sense of identity that comes with being the patron of a local bookstore. This means you have to be this weird meeting place, host book clubs, do signings, be part of community events, etc. Inevitably, you get people who are a little too tied up in your store. They start projecting onto it. It's their home away from home, their secret clubhouse, the Last Bastion Of Truth, the proof that they're a little more enlightened and intelligent than everyone else.

Therefore, they assume you agree with all their insane bullshit. Every conspiracy theorist, every Nibiru nutjob, every alien abductee and burnout (barefoot elderly to be-dreadlocked college kid) comes to your store and pours their heart out while you nod and smile and pray they're not the violent kind of unstable.

Also the management tends to be the "hates customers and the idea of selling products" type, so that's fun too. My old manager was an honest-to-god book hoarder.

Snow Cone Capone
Jul 31, 2003


Aesop Poprock posted:

I think a lot of the time it's their relatives buying them those things to be fair

When I worked at Radio Shack there were tons of olds coming in with no clue how to use the smartphone/iPad they just got. Thankfully the local senior center offered free technology classes; it was just a matter of spinning "I don't have time/don't get paid enough to give you a crash course in iOS" in a polite way.

FactsAreUseless posted:

He's probably using Bookfinder. Bookfinder, as I recall, prices poo poo like ebay: it just shows you a list of everyone selling the book on the site. So inevitably it all gets inflated because sellers just chase each other's prices, then it crashes when someone decides to sell a book cheap.

It's absolutely bizarre and I'm sure he's pricing himself out of some sales and undercutting himself in others (that uncorrected proof I paid $6 for lists on eBay for >$100). It leads to situations like the above with those Preacher volumes; I bought the cheap one and completed the collection through Amazon. At this point the comics section is almost entirely super-overpriced stuff since everyone already bought everything worth buying. If you're tracking inventory, how long until you realize that dropping prices will increase sales?

My main beef is how offended the dude got on the couple times I tried talking to him. I get that it's annoying, but I wasn't like "dude your prices are too high," I literally asked why one volume was so much higher than the rest and got a really sarcastic "it's out of print, anything else I can help you with?" and the like. Oh well :shrug:

CaptainBtaksDad posted:

No. I actually know very little about computers. I work in a hospital.

I guess when you're the guy cleaning old people poo and changing bed sheets, retail is the only field you can look down on :v:

FactsAreUseless
Feb 16, 2011

Kelp Me! posted:

It's absolutely bizarre and I'm sure he's pricing himself out of some sales and undercutting himself in others (that uncorrected proof I paid $6 for lists on eBay for >$100). It leads to situations like the above with those Preacher volumes; I bought the cheap one and completed the collection through Amazon. At this point the comics section is almost entirely super-overpriced stuff since everyone already bought everything worth buying. If you're tracking inventory, how long until you realize that dropping prices will increase sales?

My main beef is how offended the dude got on the couple times I tried talking to him. I get that it's annoying, but I wasn't like "dude your prices are too high," I literally asked why one volume was so much higher than the rest and got a really sarcastic "it's out of print, anything else I can help you with?" and the like. Oh well :shrug:
Most people have no idea what books are worth at all. We would get people trying to sell us poo poo at insane prices because "it's rare." Luckily we had a great pricing person, but I'm not shocked the B&N guy doesn't know what he's doing. None of his managers would know enough to know he's doing it wrong.

We also bought and sold vinyl, and if you think people can't price books, records are a million times worse. No, your Beatles record isn't worth anything. Yes, it's a very famous album. That's why it isn't worth anything.

Minimalist Program
Aug 14, 2010

runupon cracker posted:

:same:

I think working retail as a young adult is the primary reason why I'm not a "conservative" despite being a white cis male in his 40s who makes roughly 4x minimum wage and lives in the suburbs.

I make 10 times minimum wage and I live in a freaking castle w. models your move.

jazzyhattrick
Jul 1, 2010

by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Raere posted:

One of the things that stands out most from my retail experience is the people that tried to haggle. Typically they'd ask if I could give them a discount if they agreed to buy multiple of something. Sure, it was almost always foreigners so I know it's a cultural thing, but I would think that once you're living in the US for more than like a week you'd come to see that haggling at retail stores isn't a thing.
It wouldn't be that bad but many times they'd insist on talking to a manager who I'd have to track down to tell them that no, they can't make their own buy 1 get 1 free deal on the spot.

Protip: now that the Trumpenreich is upon us you can just ask all those bad hombres for their citizenship papers to make them go away.

yeah I eat ass
Mar 14, 2005

only people who enjoy my posting can replace this avatar

FactsAreUseless posted:

Most people have no idea what books are worth at all. We would get people trying to sell us poo poo at insane prices because "it's rare." Luckily we had a great pricing person, but I'm not shocked the B&N guy doesn't know what he's doing. None of his managers would know enough to know he's doing it wrong.

We also bought and sold vinyl, and if you think people can't price books, records are a million times worse. No, your Beatles record isn't worth anything. Yes, it's a very famous album. That's why it isn't worth anything.

I blame shows like those storage locker auction things where they see a box of books and say "man look at all these old books, I'll value the whole pile at 10-20,000 dollars" without even looking at what they are. My understanding is if a book isn't a first printing and/or very rare+signed it's generally not worth much of anything at all. Same with records - they see one that sells for a few thousand on pawn stars and next thing they do is load up their entire beat up old record collection and have it "appraised" and get pissed when they get offered like 5 bucks for the whole pile.

FactsAreUseless
Feb 16, 2011

yeah I eat rear end posted:

I blame shows like those storage locker auction things where they see a box of books and say "man look at all these old books, I'll value the whole pile at 10-20,000 dollars" without even looking at what they are. My understanding is if a book isn't a first printing and/or very rare+signed it's generally not worth much of anything at all. Same with records - they see one that sells for a few thousand on pawn stars and next thing they do is load up their entire beat up old record collection and have it "appraised" and get pissed when they get offered like 5 bucks for the whole pile.
Books are large, heavy, delicate items that have to be kept in very particular conditions, and most are printed in large quantities and aren't built to last. Even if you have a signed first printing of Salinger or something, odds are good that its condition drops the price. And you'll spend more on climate control to keep the condition good than you'd ever make from even a rare book.

The exceptions are extremely high-profile rarities like Action Comics 1, which sell mostly because they're status symbols. Books aren't useful to rich people wanting to display wealth the way art and other collectables are.

Neutrino
Mar 8, 2006

Fallen Rib
If you don't know the market value or even the market of what you are selling then you will most likely sit on that book for a long time. Some old rare books have a limited market for people that have interest.You could be sitting on that book for ten or more years. I see some old local-interest books on Ebay trying to be sold for ridiculous prices. Looking at completed prices gives a more realistic view as long as the buyer isn't someone with more money than common sense.

Starman Super DX
Oct 17, 2011

This title text is surprisingly sturdy.
I'm perfectly pleasant and helpful to normal people, which most retail customers are. We've all been customers at least once. It's actually just extremely difficult to treat the person across the counter like a human being. Particularly for middle-aged baby boomer types that are used to an age where part time hours were plentiful and most establishments had employees running around everywhere and at least one of them could cater to whatever their insane whim was on that particular day. These days managers run a skeleton crew with minimal hours because they figured out they could trick retail workers into doing much more than what is required outside of their job. Beyond whatever bullshit extra tasks your manager forced on you, you're also basically supposed to be a social worker and have to put up with whatever old, infirmed, mentally ill transient comes through your line and treat them like they're a loving king. Sorry but I don't get paid enough to pretend to be friendly when I don't feel like it and when the person I'm serving clearly doesn't deserve it.

I went to a Wendy's with my parents a few years ago and despite how busy they were, my mother insisted on grabbing a drone from the front to wipe the table down. Why she could not do this herself I do not fully understand.

Also, people who just shout at nothing without addressing you. I like to ignore them until they actually do something to try and get my attention.

We've had a number of fun characters (homeless people/drifters/general weirdos) come in and out of my department, and we come up with fun code names for them so we can identify who's who. I made a whole thread about one, actually.
Luckily we really cracked down on it so a lot of these people don't seem to come in anymore.

Box-Car Willie - The guy living in his car who would come in to shave in our bathroom. My manager also thinks he's prostituting himself out to women.

The Lush- Comes in 5-6 times a day for bud ice. his wife came in and asked us to stop selling to him. we can't. Came in with a black eye one day after that. (???)

The Chairman- Local Korean homeless man that makes his way around a bunch of stores in the area. I didn't come up with the name.

Huck- Old weirdo who comes in to try and make friends with the retail staff and threatens to get you fired if you don't have an extended conversation with him. I think I got him kicked out for saying something particularly rude to me.

Rutibex
Sep 9, 2001

by Fluffdaddy

FactsAreUseless posted:

The exceptions are extremely high-profile rarities like Action Comics 1, which sell mostly because they're status symbols. Books aren't useful to rich people wanting to display wealth the way art and other collectables are.

rich people love rare books, they are just not they types of books sold at book stores. action comics 1 is chump change next to a Gutenberg Bible or a medieval manuscript or something. anything more than a century old

Snowglobe of Doom
Mar 30, 2012

sucks to be right

Rutibex posted:

rich people love rare books, they are just not they types of books sold at book stores. action comics 1 is chump change next to a Gutenberg Bible or a medieval manuscript or something. anything more than a century old

Dusty old books are a great decorating accessory!


A friend of mine knew someone who worked in a rare book store and apparently one time a woman came in and spent thousands buying old books which had green spines.

Space Crabs
Mar 10, 2007

by FactsAreUseless
on the topic of "rare" books

I got invited over to a friend of a friends house and made the mistake of paging through his Marvel Ultimates book signed by stan lee. Terrified the mutual friend told me to put it back immediately because the owner looks through it with a magnifying glass for fingerprints.

Bitch that poo poo is worth like $50 it's not a copy of the declaration of independence.

On the topic of horrible customers some times they are justified.

One day an old man wanted to buy a gun from our locked cage, so I paged the sporting goods associate, the only person with a key to their department. I went about my day and found the guy there a half hour later still waiting. I did another page.

I came back through ten minutes later, the guy was getting pretty irate, so I went to find the sporting goods associate sitting in the break room. They had some kind of FMLA where they were allowed to rest whenever they wanted because they were 400+ pounds and had to use a cart to support their weight. They refused to go help the customer, and couldn't give anyone else the gun keys.

By the time I tracked down the only manager in the store they just joked we probably shouldn't be selling guns to angry people and went on an hour lunch. Last I saw the guy was hitting numbers on the phone to try and figure out how I was paging people so he could scream obscenities over the loud speaker.

Space Crabs fucked around with this message at 17:18 on Jun 13, 2017

VideoTapir
Oct 18, 2005

He'll tire eventually.

FactsAreUseless posted:


Also the management tends to be the "hates customers and the idea of selling products" type, so that's fun too. My old manager was an honest-to-god book hoarder.

This is common in libraries, too.

Actually, the crazies are, too; though certain types tend not to assume you agree with them. They assume you're a jackbooted government thug, and of course you won't grant their every desire because I PAY YOUR SALARY.

(I was a volunteer, at the time.)

yeah I eat rear end posted:

I blame shows like those storage locker auction things where they see a box of books and say "man look at all these old books, I'll value the whole pile at 10-20,000 dollars" without even looking at what they are. My understanding is if a book isn't a first printing and/or very rare+signed it's generally not worth much of anything at all. Same with records - they see one that sells for a few thousand on pawn stars and next thing they do is load up their entire beat up old record collection and have it "appraised" and get pissed when they get offered like 5 bucks for the whole pile.

I sold a collection of rare books for a friend, and maybe 1 in 5 was worth enough to make any money on it at all. There were a few 50-100 dollar gems in there (maybe 2 or 3 out of a couple hundred), but mostly it was stuff where if you aren't making money on the 3.99 Amazon shipping fee, you aren't making money.

VideoTapir fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Jun 13, 2017

Sjs00
Jun 29, 2013

Yeah Baby Yeah !

Isaac posted:

When i was aretail manager if you cleaned up human poo poo without being asked id buy whatever you want from the liquor store.

sounds like a regular occurrence. nice.

CaptainBtaksDad
Jun 3, 2017

by FactsAreUseless

Kelp Me! posted:


I guess when you're the guy cleaning old people poo and changing bed sheets, retail is the only field you can look down on :v:

If it helps you get through the day sure go ahead and believe that. But the orderlies who change bedsheets are providing a service to help the sick and injured, you poorly replace an ipad.

Sjs00
Jun 29, 2013

Yeah Baby Yeah !

CaptainBtaksDad posted:

If it helps you get through the day sure go ahead and believe that. But the orderlies who change bedsheets are providing a service to help the sick and injured, you poorly replace an ipad.

you sound like a great person

CaptainBtaksDad
Jun 3, 2017

by FactsAreUseless
Thank you. I didn't think it was appropriate for a guy like that to poo poo on people who help others for a living.

gimme the GOD DAMN candy
Jul 1, 2007

CaptainBtaksDad posted:

Thank you. I didn't think it was appropriate for a guy like that to poo poo on people who help others for a living.

let us know when you meet one, then.

Snow Cone Capone
Jul 31, 2003


CaptainBtaksDad posted:

If it helps you get through the day sure go ahead and believe that. But the orderlies who change bedsheets are providing a service to help the sick and injured, you poorly replace an ipad.

I don't actually work in retail anymore but yeah idiots like you who have a random superiority complex over retail workers accounts for like 99% of rear end in a top hat customers, so thank you for coming into the thread complaining about lovely entitled retail customers and providing a stellar example of a lovely entitled retail customer :thumbsup:

CaptainBtaksDad posted:

Thank you. I didn't think it was appropriate for a guy like that to poo poo on people who help others for a living.

"working at a hospital" doesn't automatically mean "helps others for a living," you've already claimed you're not an orderly so for all we know you could be a resident pharmaceutical rep or the guy that denies insurance claims :smuggo:

also :lol: at "a guy like that" bitch y'dunnome

The Walrus
Jul 9, 2002

by Fluffdaddy

CaptainBtaksDad posted:

Thank you. I didn't think it was appropriate for a guy like that to poo poo on people who help others for a living.

Maybe what you do for a living has nothing to do with your quality as a person, take you for example, who apparently makes a positive impact in the lives of others and yet is a oval office


edit: I mean you gotta think it's a troll, it's pretty obvious.

The Walrus fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Jun 13, 2017

Rutibex
Sep 9, 2001

by Fluffdaddy

VideoTapir posted:

This is common in libraries, too.

Actually, the crazies are, too; though certain types tend not to assume you agree with them. They assume you're a jackbooted government thug, and of course you won't grant their every desire because I PAY YOUR SALARY.

(I was a volunteer, at the time.)

working at a public library is always great fun! you see the same sort of people lining up outside to get in at the crack of 9am that you would see in front of a liquor store in the morning. one time i saw a 60+ year old woman picking through the trash bin outside and eat something nondescript she pulled out :barf:

the patrons are much more polite than customers in retail though. mostly because they either just want a warm place to sit and read, or they are after a specific book which we let them have for free. unlike a retail store our "back room" is larger than the floor and contains many cool old rare things, which we won't even tell you about if you look sketchy

Snow Cone Capone
Jul 31, 2003


The Walrus posted:

Maybe what you do for a living has nothing to do with your quality as a person, take you for example, who apparently makes a positive impact in the lives of others and yet is a oval office


edit: I mean you gotta think it's a troll, it's pretty obvious.

Usually with a troll there's a post history or some other giveaway, it's pretty rare that someone embraces the "falsely superior asshat" persona so deeply

never go full retard is what I'm saying, I guess

Snow Cone Capone
Jul 31, 2003


Rutibex posted:

working at a public library is always great fun! you see the same sort of people lining up outside to get in at the crack of 9am that you would see in front of a liquor store in the morning. one time i saw a 60+ year old woman picking through the trash bin outside and eat something nondescript she pulled out :barf:

the patrons are much more polite than customers in retail though. mostly because they either just want a warm place to sit and read, or they are after a specific book which we let them have for free. unlike a retail store our "back room" is larger than the floor and contains many cool old rare things, which we won't even tell you about if you look sketchy

Some stand-up comedian did a bit about how he was at Barnes & Noble and asked where the registers were and the dude was like "why buy it? You can read it here in one of our super-comfy couches while you try the latest small-batch coffee we just got in!"

That has literally happened to me multiple times and it's one of the reasons B&N is my favorite store and I will be devastated when Amazon eventually pushes them out of the market (although now that Border's is gone I guess each industry needs at least brick-and-mortar chain?)

unpleasantly turgid
Jul 6, 2016

u lightweights couldn't even feed my shadow ;*
"I ordered the small with extra chicken, and this other guy [who ordered a large] has more!"

"You paid less, why should you have as much as him?"
~me, who was then referred to as the smug human being in front of the manager.

I think I'm conservative now because I've seen too many nasty, greedy liberals at the diners I worked with. I served a table of queers (all diff. colored hair, a lot of piercings) and they were all hilariously rude to me. When I almost tripped and dropped their food, they loving wrung me out when I would have been the one to fall, be embarrassed and clean it up while I was hurt+embarrassed. They didn't tip on a $50 check. like hell no i'm not paying 4 ur healthcare n such bitch.

kthxbai

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

Captain Yossarian
Feb 24, 2011

All new" Rings of Fire"

unpleasantly turgid posted:

"I ordered the small with extra chicken, and this other guy [who ordered a large] has more!"

"You paid less, why should you have as much as him?"
~me, who was then referred to as the smug human being in front of the manager.

I think I'm conservative now because I've seen too many nasty, greedy liberals at the diners I worked with. I served a table of queers (all diff. colored hair, a lot of piercings) and they were all hilariously rude to me. When I almost tripped and dropped their food, they loving wrung me out when I would have been the one to fall, be embarrassed and clean it up while I was hurt+embarrassed. They didn't tip on a $50 check.

kthxbai

Everyone look at this post lol

20 Blunts
Jan 21, 2017

unpleasantly turgid posted:

I think I'm conservative now because I've seen too many nasty, greedy liberals at the diners I worked with. I served a table of queers (all diff. colored hair, a lot of piercings) and they were all hilariously rude to me. When I almost tripped and dropped their food, they loving wrung me out when I would have been the one to fall, be embarrassed and clean it up while I was hurt+embarrassed. They didn't tip on a $50 check.

kthxbai

yusssss

Rutibex
Sep 9, 2001

by Fluffdaddy

Kelp Me! posted:

Some stand-up comedian did a bit about how he was at Barnes & Noble and asked where the registers were and the dude was like "why buy it? You can read it here in one of our super-comfy couches while you try the latest small-batch coffee we just got in!"

That has literally happened to me multiple times and it's one of the reasons B&N is my favorite store and I will be devastated when Amazon eventually pushes them out of the market (although now that Border's is gone I guess each industry needs at least brick-and-mortar chain?)

protip instead of going to barns and noble try a university library. they sell cheaper coffee and snacks, and the book selection is much better. you have to be a student to check the books out, but no one will stop you if you just go to read stuff off the shelves

Nessa
Dec 15, 2008

I worked at HMV for a few years and one of our worst customers was a lady who thought we were illegally selling Sons of Anarchy merchandise. She began taking pictures of our shelves so she could send them to the Sons of Anarchy people and get us in trouble.

She also wanted to know information about a Walking Dead dartboard. Specifically, she needed to know the exact size of the backing. There is no information on the back of the box, nor on our store website, nor on any other website that sells it. We checked! While we were trying to look up the information for her, she just stood at the counter yelling about how unhelpful we were being by refusing to give her the information.

Normally, we would just open the product in the store, but because it was a dartboard with darts inside the box, it the the only item we were not allowed to open. Head office wouldn't want to risk an employee or customer getting injured by a sharp object in a box.

After we tell the lady that we can't find any information about the backing of the dartboard, she demands the phone number for head office. She used the words "They're going to put on x on this store and that would be bad!" She spoke like a 4 year old the entire time. "The customer is always right! You people have to do what I say!"

For the next half hour, she was on the phone with the head office complaining about how rude we were and how we refused to give her important information. One of my coworkers later came up to her and timidly asked if she needed help with anything and got screamed at for it. The lady probably spent upwards of an hour in the store, didn't buy anything and spent the whole time yelling at everyone while we just smiled and nodded.

When our manager came in the next day, she said she got a really bizarre call from head office about how her staff was extremely rude to a customer. She had no problem believing our side of the story because she knew we never acted like that, so no one got in trouble.

spite house
Apr 28, 2009

Called the customer service line for a semi-luxury retailer this morning because I thought my order had been hosed up. It turned out that the error was my fault, but the rep was clearly bracing for a screeching entitlement explosion anyway. I apologized for being That Customer and wasting her time, and I thought glitter and rainbows were about to come pouring out of my phone. Khadijah, Nordstrom call center worker in Virginia, whatever you're getting paid it's not enough.

Masturbasturd
Sep 1, 2014
There was lady who tried to return some phone antenna at the Radio Shack. She had no receipt and the packaging was about destroyed. She only spoke spanish and her kid grudingingly translated with rolled eyes :rolleyes:.
I told her I can't refund without a receipt and she got pissed. The manager comes up and tells her the same thing and she starts yelling in spanish. Looks at me like it's my fault.
I said "No habla espaņol." and she really blew her top; was so loud the guard from the Walmart showed up and escorted them out.

Then there was the biker dude & girlfriend, both stinkin of booze, come and pick about two grand worth of poo poo. I was stoked; I made 2% commission on that! I ring it up and he slaps down an American Express card, some lady's name on it. "Call Amex" is what I got when I swiped it.
Yup, stolen card. I even handed the phone to him, he yelled some bullshit about it's his mother's card. He tore in half and stormed out, drunk bimbo in tow.
I should have kept the card and got a reward but it was a natural reflex to swipe and hand it back.

Snow Cone Capone
Jul 31, 2003


unpleasantly turgid posted:

"I ordered the small with extra chicken, and this other guy [who ordered a large] has more!"

"You paid less, why should you have as much as him?"
~me, who was then referred to as the smug human being in front of the manager.

I think I'm conservative now because I've seen too many nasty, greedy liberals at the diners I worked with. I served a table of queers (all diff. colored hair, a lot of piercings) and they were all hilariously rude to me. When I almost tripped and dropped their food, they loving wrung me out when I would have been the one to fall, be embarrassed and clean it up while I was hurt+embarrassed. They didn't tip on a $50 check. like hell no i'm not paying 4 ur healthcare n such bitch.

kthxbai

holy poo poo you mean people can be giant douches regardless of their political leanings or lifestyle :aaaaa:


Rutibex posted:

protip instead of going to barns and noble try a university library. they sell cheaper coffee and snacks, and the book selection is much better. you have to be a student to check the books out, but no one will stop you if you just go to read stuff off the shelves

Yeah, mostly when I was in college it was fun to kill a summer day there reading comics and raiding the cafe in the a/c, nowadays we usually just stop there on the way somewhere else to grab coffee and check out the Used section.

Snow Cone Capone
Jul 31, 2003


Sue Eastside posted:

There was lady who tried to return some phone antenna at the Radio Shack. She had no receipt and the packaging was about destroyed. She only spoke spanish and her kid grudingingly translated with rolled eyes :rolleyes:.
I told her I can't refund without a receipt and she got pissed. The manager comes up and tells her the same thing and she starts yelling in spanish. Looks at me like it's my fault.
I said "No habla espaņol." and she really blew her top; was so loud the guard from the Walmart showed up and escorted them out.

Then there was the biker dude & girlfriend, both stinkin of booze, come and pick about two grand worth of poo poo. I was stoked; I made 2% commission on that! I ring it up and he slaps down an American Express card, some lady's name on it. "Call Amex" is what I got when I swiped it.
Yup, stolen card. I even handed the phone to him, he yelled some bullshit about it's his mother's card. He tore in half and stormed out, drunk bimbo in tow.
I should have kept the card and got a reward but it was a natural reflex to swipe and hand it back.

lol if you think you would have gotten a reward, you probably would have been reprimanded for potentially escalating the situation by not giving the card back and letting him walk out

Sitting Here
Dec 31, 2007
I work at a (relatively nice) hotel and as far as I can tell, people are angry, making GBS threads, bleeding, drunk monsters. They're also heavy, stinking smokers, and all of them have deep personal issues that I am obligated to care about because they are a paying guest and I am basically a living anal douche wedged deeply into the sphincter of their problems. These things are true regardless of country of origin, financial status, gender, or any other factor.

people go absolutely nuts when they are paying to sleep/poo poo somewhere.

I would never go back to retail or food service, though.

clockwork chaos
Sep 15, 2009




I'm in my upper 20s, and work a retail job at slightly over minimum wage, for about 10-20 hours a week. 110% of my paycheck goes to rent and, due to my narcolepsy/cataplexy, my prospects of finding a better job or even a second job (lol) are negligible. I'm not allowed to drive, have to walk with a cane, and I can't afford to eat. atleast I can make fun of old people that can't read that we don't have a chip reader, look lady there's literally a piece of plastic in the slot that says please swipe what are you doing

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Snow Cone Capone
Jul 31, 2003


Also there's this impression that retail employees are grudge-holding motherfuckers who will remember forever the one time you didn't say "thank you" to them and be lovely to you every time you come into their store from now on.

Everyone's human, the key is how you react to your own gently caress-ups. On the rare occasion where a customer got lovely with me, then genuinely apologized when it turned out they were at fault, I think my overall opinion of them ended up even higher than when they first came in. Owning up to your poo poo is crucial.

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