Holiday Retail Worker Rant Thread

[Zelgadis 638]

Y'all know I'm a teacher now.

Didn't used to be that way.

Oh yes, I was a lowly retail slave on the floor of Pier 1 Imports.  (A gay guy working at Pier 1???  Say it ain't so!!!)

I hate the holidays.  Oh, I like Christmas day, but on the holidays, I really get fed up by the way people act.  (See the Wal-Mart trample story.)

And it's especially bad for the poor retail slaves out there.

Pier 1 wasn't as bad as other places.  But it was still bad.  Snotty, rude customers.  An epidemic of people leaving their empty Starbucks cups on store shelves.  Parents letting their kids run wild in a store full of glass, tearing the place apart.  Yeah, it's fun putting everything back together later...

Tell us of your experience, hardy retail slaves. 

ISF

[beebs 129]

Well, being on night shifts at Best Buy, I miss all the action with customers.. anything I have to rant about doesn't make sense without the context and I don't have nearly enough time to build backstory for that. It is interesting the things people "forget" in the store though. The other week, someone left their boxers in the toilet.. and we found a shirt on a product display at the cash lanes. I think last years boxing day, we assembled a full wardrobe with all the forgotten clothing.

I hear ya about the empty cups, although ours are all Tim Hortons.. being between two Tim's on a busy road in and out of town can do that.

[Duke87 1,070]

Can't exactly associate personally, since I've never worked retail, though I can see where it would be a frustrating job.

Hell, I could never see myself doing it. Those who know me can tell you that I have zero patience for stupidity, and am quite quick to eloquently (read: profanely) explain to someone why they are an idiot when they are, in fact, an idiot.

Let's just say that as an intellectual person I have trouble speaking to someone as an equal when they're being a bleeping moron. I could never be nice in that kind of situation and keep a straight face. So you don't want me working in an environment where I would inevitably have to be helpful and friendly to stupid people who do stupid things, wonder why it they go wrong, and go and ask someone to fix it for them.

Forget retail work. It's stupidity that's annoying.

[hamsterTK 93]

Eh, I work in a grocery store and so now, these last 2 or so days are the worst because people buy food last. You know it's bad when all the carts are being used at one time.

Personally my weirdest story, rush or not, is having help an elderly man onto the disabled toilet because his wife? didn't want to go in the men's restroom...

I knew a girl who once worked at a 24/7 Krogers in Knoxville, TN. She said that one night a man tried to rob the pharmacy, which was barricaded. What he did was sneak into the deli and stand up on the fryer, climb up into the tile ceiling, then run around on the girders so he could drop down into the pharmacy. So he's stomping around up in the ceiling and everyone can hear him, when boom he crashes through the ceiling and falls like 15 feet down into one of the aisles. Apparently the guy was hurt pretty bad and had to go the hospital before the police took him to jail.

[LarksTonguesInAspic 28]

My holiday retail recollections?

Let's see, the menswear store I worked where someone wanted to return a suit the day after Christmas with a condom in the breast pocket. Not a new, unused one in the wrapper, either. Ewww!

The Starbucks I worked at, where people were beating (slamming angrily!) on the door an hour after closing Christmas Eve. I guess they wanted that eggnog latte really badly. They cursed us out for daring to be closed. We had closed at like, 8pm.

And, of course, getting robbed in an 'L' station on Christmas Day 1991. Not while working, but after work. They were caught exiting a crack house an hour or so later.

[Porter 68]

Oh where to begin....

As some of you know, I work (read:slave away) in the Electronics (read: Idiot Magnet) Department at Target, which highest volume one in all my metro (read: center of suburban hell). And honestly, I could write a book on the the experiences I've had there.

Today, I actually had my first day of the year not being chained to the Electronics counter. But, imagine my pleasure of being in the Christmas supplies area. Now, I love me some Starbuck's, but why the HELL our store has one inside when there's like three down the street is beyond me. So imagine my surprise when I walk onto the card aisle and find (and I counted) 377 of those blasted green cups on it, some half full still, a few even still warm. I personally had to check to see if there was a sign that said LEAVE YOUR EMPTY CUP HERE. It's bad when I have to requisition Hefty garbage bags to clean up the aisle.

After the clean up, I am working there helping people, and this woman with wonderful screaming maggot children (chubby kids with no neck) comes up to me and demands that I get a Christmas tree (on the 22nd of December?!) out that we've been out of stock for almost 3 weeks. I have the policy of "I only help one person at a time, so for a god damn line" and told her that I would be with her in a moment as soon as i finished helping the person in front of her. Needless to say that she didn't take this kindly, and began to hit the call box next to me repeatedly. Seeing as we've been cutting hours, I'm the ONLY person on my side of the store available and have to keep clearing the box (saying the guest is being helped) and telling her I will be with her in a moment. So instead of finishing with the person in front of her in like 2 min, she draws the ordeal out into a ten minute thing. Finally at the end of my patience, I turn to her and say that if she doesn't stop pressing the said button like she has the mentality of a 5 year old, I will, by god, grab a pair lawn sheers and chop her god-forsaken fingers off. Her reply? "YOU -bleep-ing -bleep-, I'm going to have your job." My reply: "You know what, I get paid minimum wage to deal with idiots like you all day long with a stupid fake smile on my face. If you want my 20 hour a week job so bad, here's my name tag and walkie-talkie. Enjoy!" and throw my name tag and walkie on the shelf at her and turn back to the person I was helping. And the woman starts crying and apologizing. Kinda ignoring it, I finished (FINALLY) helping the other person (who by now standing there with their jaw dropped) and turn to her and ask her just what was it she could wait to be helped on.

And then the parade of my pet peeve comes in. Idiot teenagers bent on destroying everything in their path. Needless to say I kicked them out after they took dodge-balls from toys and potatoes from produce and started aiming at my ceiling to hit the signs hanging there or the florescent lights above them.

Lunch was lovely when I had to cut it short by 10 min (out of 30 min) help with a nice glass clean up when some 10 year old with a broken leg decided to drive an electric cart head on into the glass ornament end-cap. I think I may have gotten a few shards in my knees from that fun time.

Later, Electronics get so overloaded (again, highest volume store and corporate thinks we only need 1 employee there two days before Christmas) that they have to call me and several managers there to help out. Being ever so lucky, our store got the dreaded Wii in just in time for retail hell week. So I'm getting a Wii out of the case for a guy, and I tell him "I'll need you to pay for this at my counter or at the front of the store, since its a secured item." This sends the fragging moron into a fuss telling me where I can go to, and what I can do to myself. Having worked 3 years retail, I've perfected the ability to glaze my eyes over and not punch the man in the face, and calmly say to him "Sir, I really would prefer if you not get that tone with me. I'm simply doing my job and following policy. If you would like to buy this product, please do so at the counter or at the front of the store. And, if you are going to continue with that tone of voice and choice of words, I will have to ask you to please leave the store."

Upon hearing this, he tries to take the Wii away from me, and is screaming all sorts of lovely, colorful words. So, I calmly reply that if he tries one more time to use that voice and take unpaid for merchandise away from me, I will personally call store security and the cops and he can explain his actions to them. Fortunately, the man did the same old "I'm never shopping here again..." and left. And the rest of the guest around me break out into applause. I ended up selling it to a nice little old lady for her grandchildren. (Yay Justice)

Later that night, I go to the front of the store and grab our abandoned items to work and and find, just for my department, I have 6.... yes.... SIX... abandon carts to work out of stuff. Needless to say my night ended at 1 am with more stuff to be worked out by other people in the morning.

-sigh- I wonder if I can deduct Rogaine on my taxes next year from all the hair I'm losing from retail hell.

Jacob

[your_adress_here 11]

I have a friend who works in retail (I think it's Future Shop) and if he wants to keep his job he has to work on boxing day.

[beebs 129]

Originally posted by: your_adress_here I have a friend who works at retail (I think it's Future Shop) and if he wants to keep his job he has to work on boxing day.quote>

That's very common among retail. Boxing Day is the most important day of the Christmas rush, and if people aren't committed to working it then the door is shown to them. There are exceptions, but 99% of staff (at least at my store) will work Boxing Day. Lucky me gets to be there at 2am for a 10 hour shift then be back at 10 or 11pm for another full 8 hour shift that night. Whoohoo!

Edit: Besides it's possibly one of the easiest days of the year. He'll just be talking like a robot to customers all day and I'm sure his store will give food out for lunch. Whats not to like?

porter: Wow.. can't say enough how happy I am to miss working days at my store over Christmas.

[screamingman12 30]

Originally posted by: Duke87

Hell, I could never see myself doing it. Those who know me can tell you that I have zero patience for stupidity, and am quite quick to eloquently (read: profanely) explain to someone why they are an idiot when they are, in fact, an idiot.

Let's just say that as an intellectual person I have trouble speaking to someone as an equal when they're being a bleeping moron. I could never be nice in that kind of situation and keep a straight face. So you don't want me working in an environment where I would inevitably have to be helpful and friendly to stupid people who do stupid things, wonder why it they go wrong, and go and ask someone to fix it for them.quote>

At least you don't have to deal with that on a daily basis.

For example, explaining to someone why you don't call Verison Wireless when the DSL modem/WAP breaks.

I can't stand stupid people.

[Dizastrow 4]

So you wanna talk about rude, greedy people.  Well I work as a personal banker.

Customer-- What do you mean I got four overdrafts?

Me-- Do you keep a check register?

Customer-- No, but I "thought" I had the money in there.

Me--  You need to keep a check register and keep track of what you are spending.

Customer-- But......But.......its Christmas!!!!

Me-- Well, I understand that, but its not our fault you spent money you didnt have.

Customer-- This is absolutely ridiculous!!  Im closing my accounts!!!!