So, I have been working retail for the last year and a half, and it absolutely surprises me how disgusting some people can be. So many consumers are under the impression that just because an individual works in retail that they are a verbal punching bag.
Would you enjoy if someone did that to you? Better yet, what if someone did it to your child?
I have had things thrown at me, I have had nasty attitudes about prices being incorrect, or people being unable to read properly (and how is that my fault, exactly?), and again with the reading, people who can not read coupons.
Not all sales are specific; sometimes the entire line of that brand can be on sale, but if it's specific, then ... it's specific. I have had people accuse me of bait and switch (which I honestly feel like so many people don't understand the meaning of that term), then I changed the price on them (while I can, I am not going out of my way to do it, because that information is logged, and I have to explain why I modified a price), and the good old customers that can't read coupons. When the coupon itself says, "EXCLUDES, YADDA YADDA YADDA" and they demand I scan the coupon anyway.
No. I am not committing coupon fraud so you can save 50 cents.
Then I'm racist, because you're not a member of our store's savings club, and to be a member, you need to input your phone number on the pin pad. Or we're taking all your information and selling it online/overseas to the commies/terrorists.
Yep. That's exactly what I'm doing, and it makes my day.
Oh, and we hide all the good stuff in the back. Or when I tell you that it isn't back there (because it really isn't - we get in trouble if it can go out on the floor and it's in the stockroom instead), you ask if I'm sure and if it's because I don't want to take a walk for you. Retail stores don't make money on items sitting in a stockroom. I had actually thought that was common knowledge, but what do I know about business?
I feel like everyone needs to spend a year in retail; maybe that's the answer to getting people to act a little more human, and you know, show some compassion.
I got so much of this during my Tractor Supply days. I came to the same conclusion you did: everyone should spend a year working retail. If nothing else, they'd likely stop being cruel to cashiers.
ReplyDeleteA lot of that behavior stems from the old "the customer is always right" attitude in business I think. People think that if they complain that they will get what they want. Luckily it seems that businesses have started backing their employees as well. The customer is not always right and it's awful to have a manager throw their worker "under the bus" to make a customer happy. Especially annoying with a customer who will never be satisfied anyways. I think common sense is what people lack the most. If something is wrong it's wrong whether it is the customer or the employee/business. I worked retail for years and then as a teller at a bank. Tellers are also targets for customer abuse. Try telling someone that their hard earned paycheck can't be cashed! I don't miss those moments!
ReplyDeleteHang in there! You will have customers that will warm your heart as well. If nothing else...you get paid at least! xx