Stories from the retail world.

I'm one of the ones who never worked retail, but I sure do appreciate those that do. I always say my thank you's and please and not come in with that mentality that I'm the boss by pulling everything I can out of the workers. At a Gamestop, some lady was looking for a game for her son that wasn't available. She asked the guys to call up a competitor store to see if they have it and they kept telling her that they can't because of that but they an call other Gamestop stores. She wanted to hear none of it, she wants them to call rather than going to the plaza down the street. The poor guy was being calm and nice to her but she was getting belligerent so he caved in and looked up their number and called them.

This made me wonder the tales from the retail world you all have experienced yourselves. I love hearing them.

Oh yeah, one more, "I want an iPod that doesn't play MP3s."

EGGO said:

She wanted to hear none of it, she wants them to call rather than going to the plaza down the street. The poor guy was being calm and nice to her but she was getting belligerent

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And I would never cave to people like that when I managed in retail. When people would start to make "demands" or get loud and belligerent like that, it would earn them a one-way ticket to the front door.
If they wouldn't go quietly, I would make a phone call... to the police. That seemed to get 'em out of there.
Retail workers don't need to be treated like that and nobody's business is worth that kind of hassle.
Sometimes "no" really is "no". Some people can't seem to fathom that concept.

haha, I only had 3 years as a hotel manager, but I could write you a book on the crap people would try to get away with and put me through.

Once a guy tried to check into his friend's room, but his friend wasn't there and he couldn't contact him. I told him that he would have to wait for his friend because we don't have his name. After a few minutes of arguing with me, he opens his wallet, whips out his American Express black and yells, "do you know what that means?" I told him I know what it is, but it doesn't mean he can check into another person's reservation. What I wanted to tell him was it means he could easily afford his own room instead of arguing with me. But, I gave him my best "you can stick that card in your ear" look that I could muster. Then he stomped off, upset that his financial status didn't help him for once in his privileged existence.

Another time we had a big convention in town and there was a huge church group in the hotel. Such groups are notorious for packing 50 extra people in their rooms to save money and taking almost everything that isn't nailed down when they leave. (I'm sorry if this offends someone, but in general it's true. You can ask anyone who works in a hotel that hosts conventions) Anyway, these guests in one room must have asked for 10 new sets of towels a day, and I don't think housekeeping ever actually took any out. At checkout time, the woman with the reservation calls to checkout, from the concierge desk right next to the door, and states that housekeeping never brought them any new towels so "I better not get charged for any". Then before I could reply she hung up. I went out to the lobby, but she was long gone.

I totally agree with DB. Many people in the US seem to have this mind set that service workers are a lower life form that can be treated like dirt and that they are entitled to whatever they want. And I've heard it's even worse in the UK, but that's just rumor. I have the same perspective as DB, which is why I no longer, and never will again, work in a customer service capacity.

i dated a girl for a while who worked at target.

one day i come to see her as she's working customer service.

i see this older rough looking dude who's got a really old, very well used, car battery that he is trying to exchange for a new one "cause it doesn't work, dangit". he's giving my girl all sorts of b.s. and she's trying to explain that not only is he not within the return period for items, and that he doesn't have a receipt, but also that they haven't even carried car batteries for years.

luckily he had no idea who i was, so to him, i'm just some other customer. and luckily i was young and impulsive, so i just started helping her argue her case against this old crank. eventually, even though he thought he was still right, she and i, and another CS person with the help of some dirty looks from a number of other customers, he left in a huff.


oh, i should mention that she would sometimes work the phones, and she would often say, instead of "thank you for calling target, how may i direct your call?", she would replace the "thank" with a curse that rhymes with luck. if they said, "uh, what?" she would just repeat using the "thank". man, she hated that job.

We get some pretty nasty people coming to the veterinary clinic where I work too. They expect us to do everything for them, and they don't have to pay. Or its our fault that they have to take time off from work to bring their dog in.