Retail Employee Stories Part 7: "I'm Not Supposed To Be Here Today!"

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[quote name='PhrostByte']Share some EMT stories.. I used to work in a hospital.[/QUOTE]

When I first met one coworker, he was yelling at me that I'm an FNG and am not allowed to talk. He thought he was being funny or something, I'm sure. I just smiled and said "whatever" because I didn't want to get into a confrontation with him but I didn't want to roll over either, so I pretty much ignored him. I later heard he was fired over something related to him being a douche.

There were also substantiated rumors of one of the managers hooking up with different female EMTs at different times in the backs of ambulances and giving whichever woman the best hours or something. I basically did my best to stay out of everyone's way, and I was lucky to work out of the most chill station.

I'm so fucking glad I've never had to work retail

More to come
 
Guy calls up
G:Yeah, I was just wondering if I could get a price on something?
Me: No, we don't give prices over the phone.
G: But I was just wondering if I could get a price.
Me: No, we don't give prices over the phone.
G: Ok, but I'm calling from Canada.
Me: I understand that, I'm unable to give prices over the phone.
G: Ok, could you check an item number for me though?
Me: Sure
G: ok, it's ******
Me: yeah, it's (an item), and we have ** on hand.
G: Ok, and what's the price on that?
Me: I'm not going to give a price over the phone.
G: But I thought......
Me: No, it's store policy.
G: Oh, alright, bye
 
[quote name='sonderiaom']Guy calls up
G:Yeah, I was just wondering if I could get a price on something?
Me: No, we don't give prices over the phone.
G: But I was just wondering if I could get a price.
Me: No, we don't give prices over the phone.
G: Ok, but I'm calling from Canada.
Me: I understand that, I'm unable to give prices over the phone.
G: Ok, could you check an item number for me though?
Me: Sure
G: ok, it's ******
Me: yeah, it's (an item), and we have ** on hand.
G: Ok, and what's the price on that?
Me: I'm not going to give a price over the phone.
G: But I thought......
Me: No, it's store policy.
G: Oh, alright, bye[/QUOTE]

What kind of place doesn't give a price over the phone? Never head of that before but obviously the customer has a listening problem.
 
[quote name='cager']What kind of place doesn't give a price over the phone? Never head of that before but obviously the customer has a listening problem.[/QUOTE]

It probably deals with price matching and that this 'guy' might be a employee of another competitor.
 
I work at a Circle K. A lady came in today. She was in the other clerk's line. She gets to the counter and tried to pay for a $0.20 single banana with a $100 bill. There are two signs on the door, one on each register, and two on the counter noting we don't accept 50s or 100s. Normally, we still try and help the customer out since they most likely only came in to break that bill and make change. But he just did a safe drop of all of his $20's and simply did not have enough change. He said he was sorry, but he didnt have the change to break it. She told him he did had enough, said he was lying to get out of work, and demanded he count the money in front of her. Since she was the last in line and we had no more customers in the store, he obilged. It did not total the required amount to break her $100. She demanded the customer service phone number, said "fucksake, fucks.", then left.
 
I worked at Burgerville for a couple of years. We have had the quick change deal as well, but ours was special. The guy had a freaking PARROT on his shoulder! He also did it to our token dumb-blonde emplyee. Our general manager (A retired army guy) got into a big yelling match with him, and it almost ended in blows. That was exciting!
 
I hate those quick change people and when they don't leave I just point to the sign we reserve the right to refuses service and shove them out the door.
 
Bump.

I work as a manager at a Chick-Fil-A, and the amount of ignorance simply amazes me. People order our meals by saying the number, which involves us asking them what to drink, pay for it, then proceed to complain to me that they were overcharged and didn't want the fries and beverage. And one time, i also had a woman ask me the difference between 8 and 12 nuggets :roll:. Good Times though.
 
I work at an HEB(grocery store chain in TX), and I have some horror stories.

I work in a side of town known for a lot of drug problems, and a couple months back we had a crazed naked woman come into our store, who we later found out was on meth and various prescription drugs.

The entrance she came in was far from the registers so not many people inside the store saw her before security got her out. I was stocking produce at the time, and I got a good look though. A huge, crazy, naked black woman on drugs is a hellish picture to see in the morning
 
I know no one will believe me, but this actually happened...
I worked at Gamestop in NJ for a few years (I was about 23 at the time of this story), and became a 3rd key (guy below a manager). Anyway, it was a busy Saturday night, and the store was crowded but not packed (our store was small). There were four of us working at the time (I was working the floor while 2 others were running register and the other guy was running back for stuff).

Anyway, it was about 8 PM or so when this pretty hot woman came in (around late 30's/early 40's). She came in and had a list with her. I asked her if she needed help and she said that she was looking for gifts for her nephews and this was what they were looking for. Long story short, we talked a bit about her nephews (ages/interests) and realized they were trying to pull a fast one on their aunt (they wanted GTA, they were only 9 and 11). After about 20 minutes or so, she decided that gift cards were the best bet, and a magazine subscription, and she was on her way.

After we closed, one of the guys asked if I wanted to grab some food, and the mall has an after hours restaurant/bar. We head down, and head to the bar for some apps and a beer or two. We are there about 20 minutes when who walks in, but the lady I helped and a few of her friends. They sit at the opposite side of the bar and are partying it up. Every so often I would glance over and I would notice her staring at us. Anyway, when my buddy went to the bathroom, she walked over and said "hey, are you the guy who helped me before?" I said yes, and she then said "I can't thank you enough for helping" as she rubbed my back.

Long story short, my buddy left and she and I stayed around drinking and talking it up. Let's just say I didn't go home alone that night :)
 
[quote name='cager']What kind of place doesn't give a price over the phone?[/QUOTE]
Many places. Off hand, I can't think of any stores (at least around here) that will give prices over the phone because they're worried about competitors as well as customers who are comparison-shopping. If you don't like their price when told over the phone, you never show up to the store, so they lose a lot of potential sales (most people end up buying more than what they went for). If you actually show up and check, they stand a much better chance of getting your business; even if they don't have the cheapest price, you might still buy just because you're already there.
 
Here is a few retail experiences I had:

When I was in high school I worked in a grocery store. One Sunday night I was bagging groceries for this lady and I offered to take out her groceries for her. As I'm loading up her buggy full of groceries into her car she looks at me and says, "Your going to hell for working on a Sunday." I then look at her and say "Ma'am, I wouldn't have to work on a Sunday if people like you didn't come in and buy groceries. So does that mean your going to hell for making me work?" She then slams the trunk of her car while I was still loading groceries and storms in to yell at the manager. After she finishes yelling he looks at her and says, "Well he does have a point." She then vowed to never return to the store.

One week later she was back in the store on a Sunday night.

When I was in college I worked at a video rental store. One day a guy comes up to rent a movie and I told him he still had a movie out he said "I had three movies and I returned them all how come is it showing one is still out?" I told him mistakes can happen so I will look to see if it wasn't scanned properly or it was returned without the disc. After checking the floor I told him we don't have it in our possession and asked him if he could check his car to see if it had slid under his seat or something. He then starts accusing me and everyone that works there of being a thief and that he was going to call the police and contact the BBB (I always loved that threat). I told him I would keep looking and he storms out of the store. About an hour later I see the guy walking up to the front of the store, I swear he tried to act like Mr. Fantastic because he tried to stretch his arm as far as he could to slip the missing movie that he had forgot to turn in on the counter. I said to him "Where was it at?" he said "fuck you it was under the seat."
 
[quote name='Lyricsborn']You should ask do you want the meal or just the sandwich.[/QUOTE]

Believe me, i try. One time, someone said they didn't want the meal, but they did want the waffle fries and coke with it. I tried to explain that's what the meal was, but they insisted. Guess who got charged full price.

Had another good one a couple of weeks ago. Dude walks in on a Monday (this is important), and asks to speak to a manager. I show up, and he proceeds to tell me how we messed up his order when he came through the drive-thru. I ask for a receipt, and he says he didn't get one. (Red flags go up, because we always 100% give out receipts, at least at my store) I carry on, asking him to describe the meal, so i could look it up in our computer in the back. Part of the requirements for this receipt look-up is a specific time frame. I ask him around what time and day he came through, and he told me it was around noon the previous day. I just sort of blinked and made sure he was positive it was the day before. Are you sure it was on Sunday sir? He responds that he was, and he wanted his replacement meal. This repeats about 3 more times. I then ask him how he was able to order when no employees were in the store. He asks me what i'm talking about, and i respond saying we're closed on Sundays. Dude gets all defensive, telling me i don't know what I'm talking about. I then point him to a huge stanchion we have at the front door (you can't really miss it) that says we're closed on Sundays. He looks at the sign, then looks at me. Hangs his head, whimpers out Never Mind, and leaves. :D Made my day
 
[quote name='ZombieToast']Many places. Off hand, I can't think of any stores (at least around here) that will give prices over the phone because they're worried about competitors as well as customers who are comparison-shopping. If you don't like their price when told over the phone, you never show up to the store, so they lose a lot of potential sales (most people end up buying more than what they went for). If you actually show up and check, they stand a much better chance of getting your business; even if they don't have the cheapest price, you might still buy just because you're already there.[/QUOTE]

Didn't realize at first you quoted my old post.. this must be a regional thing because I have actually never called a business and was denied a price. I don't usually call around all the local stores that often since it usually takes a bit of time to call multiple stores and wait on hold but once every so often there is something I want to buy and the main reason I would call is to check if they even carry it and then to ask for the price so I don't waste time and gas checking every store.

If I was ever denied a price then the only way I would be going to that place was if they were the only place in town to carry the item and it was a life or death situation that I needed it today. If not then I would just pick from the stores that I got information from.

The price doesn't have to be the decisive factor but many items can have a very wide range of prices so if I don't want to drive all around town that day then I am not going to go check a store and possibly see full price when there is another store that actually gave me information and they have a fair price.

Anyway, I wouldn't hold it against the employee if they aren't allowed to give prices.
 
I'm going to bump this thread because it's amazing. I applaud you brave souls for having the patience to work retail. I know that I sure don't. :/
 
[quote name='Wormed7600']We had another patron yell at us (not at me directly though; I was in the nearby chair watching the pool) for letting kids swim in the lanes during lap swim. In the evenings, we have designated time for lap swimming only, otherwise the diving board is open and everyone can basically swim everywhere. This was a guy in his mid 30's, probably 5'6" and in decent shape, SCREAMING and swearing about how a 10 year old girl ran into him while he was swimming laps and how we weren't watching the pool enough to make sure the lanes are clear and this and that. The other manager at the time was terrified and eventually calmed him down and assured him that we'd keep an eye out.

But here's the kicker:

We don't have lane lines, so we just hope people can stay in their lanes, which they do. This guy managed to swim out of his lane, into the little girls lane that she was doing laps in, and RAN INTO HER, not the other way around. Despite being low paying (7.74/hour) and really boring most of the time, lifeguarding there was such a sweet gig and we almost never had problems with anyone except bratty kids and summer campers who ran around or splashed too much.

I actually have a nice story from that job too. There was an older lady who was swimming laps and came to us saying that she had lost an earring the pool. She was afraid that it would get sucked into the filter and lost and asked if someone could help look for it. We figured it was at the bottom of the deep end so I said I'd look since I had about 20 or so more minutes until my turn in the guard rotation. Donning the bright green goggles, I scoured the briny deep for about 10 minutes before recovering the earring and bringing it back to her. She thanked me profusely and left. I finished my shift before closing with a smile on my face, thinking her thanks were good enough...or so I thought.
[/QUOTE]

Ohhhhh yeaaaaaaa. So glad I'm still subscribed to this thread. I don't go on CAG much anymore since I moved to Israel. I'll answer the question before receiving it; Yes I am crazy. Posts like yours remind me of once-familiar, now-foreign concepts like customer service. I work in a 5-star hotel as a waiter now... I used to make $13/hour back home, now I make 22 shekels/hour (roughly $6.06). I rarely get tips, the biggest one I've gotten is 20 shekels, and that only happened twice. You may want to know who the best tippers are. Well I speak English, Russian, some Hebrew, and enough French and Spanish to do my job, so I can pretty much talk to everybody. The first 20 shekels I got was from some American Orthodox Jews who were happy that I told them about my plan to join the army there. The other 20 shekels I got was from some Israelis. After that it's pretty random.. As far as eating, the French are the worst. They always leave so much food and random assorted garbage on the table that I almost feel embarrassed coming to their tables and asking if they want me to start clearing it. They also stay for long periods of time after we close just smoking cigarettes and speaking Hebrew with a ridiculous accent. The Israelis are also really messy and don't prevent their kids from trashing everything in sight. The Russians are rather tidy. It seems like they joke around with their kids more. Israelis seem to just watch their kids and only really interact with them socially when they need something. The Israeli kids are also the most independent in getting what they want. They'll come to our bar and get eggs and coffee and walk back slowly and carefully. Little Russian kids will just stare at you while their parents are going to get them food. British people have funny accents, and in return think mine is hilarious. Arabs are really reserved and polite. Their Islamic values really show, but I think they're secretly plotting on how to make me trip and drop my tray of plates and glasses. Anyway, not sure what else to add. I can talk about the employees and random girls if people want.
 
I'd just like to thank everyone for posting these stories for the past 6-ish years. Y'all have provided countless weeks of laughter and amazement at the stupidy of human beings. From part 1's xbox/PS2 game era to the horror of the Wii years and now with the current generation...I like how even though the main theme was/is gaming, this thread stretched out and because just about "employee stories".

I love CAG for threads like this one and I hope to see this one keep growing and providing others with countless hours of amusement.

And please keep posting stories...I only work at the reference desk at my local public library so I don't any "good" stories to tell, but I know there are others that have suffered so that we may laugh.

Thank you CAG community!
 
[quote name='foreverjoe20']

And please keep posting stories...I only work at the reference desk at my local public library so I don't any "good" stories to tell, but I know there are others that have suffered so that we may laugh.
[/QUOTE]

LOL you must work at small, slow library branch then. Oh, the stories I could tell.

I witnessed this at my local library.

Library Patron comes up to one of the desks for help, looking for a certain item. Woman working the desk looks up the call number of the item, prints it out for the patron, and then gives directions where in the branch to find it.

Patron says real loudly, "What, you're not going to take me to where it is?"

Library staff member: "Sorry ma'am, but I cannot."

Patron then yells: "What are your legs broken!?"

Library staff member slowly wheels herself out from behind her desk, points to the wheelchair she's sitting in, and then says, "Why yes ma'am, they are." Then wheels herself back behind her desk, and calls, "next!"

Library patron stomps off.

Not sure if this counts for this thread, as its not a "retail" story. But I swear, I keep wanting to make a thread/maybe blog called "Dumbassedry in the Library."
 
[quote name='LordVila']Here is a few retail experiences I had:

When I was in high school I worked in a grocery store. One Sunday night I was bagging groceries for this lady and I offered to take out her groceries for her. As I'm loading up her buggy full of groceries into her car she looks at me and says, "Your going to hell for working on a Sunday." I then look at her and say "Ma'am, I wouldn't have to work on a Sunday if people like you didn't come in and buy groceries. So does that mean your going to hell for making me work?" She then slams the trunk of her car while I was still loading groceries and storms in to yell at the manager. After she finishes yelling he looks at her and says, "Well he does have a point." She then vowed to never return to the store.

One week later she was back in the store on a Sunday night.

When I was in college I worked at a video rental store. One day a guy comes up to rent a movie and I told him he still had a movie out he said "I had three movies and I returned them all how come is it showing one is still out?" I told him mistakes can happen so I will look to see if it wasn't scanned properly or it was returned without the disc. After checking the floor I told him we don't have it in our possession and asked him if he could check his car to see if it had slid under his seat or something. He then starts accusing me and everyone that works there of being a thief and that he was going to call the police and contact the BBB (I always loved that threat). I told him I would keep looking and he storms out of the store. About an hour later I see the guy walking up to the front of the store, I swear he tried to act like Mr. Fantastic because he tried to stretch his arm as far as he could to slip the missing movie that he had forgot to turn in on the counter. I said to him "Where was it at?" he said "fuck you it was under the seat."[/QUOTE]

easily my favorite story of the day. you make my day!!
 
[quote name='Spacepest']LOL you must work at small, slow library branch then. Oh, the stories I could tell."[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I think so too. The town is only around 100,000 people big and as the third person working the Reference Dept, I get almost no people all day. I work full time, 8 hours a day, and only work maybe 1-3 of those hours. All the other time I'm on the computer on CAG or various websites, just wasting time.

But I really don't see any "incredibly stupid" people. Just ones that can't seem to understand the dewey decimal system (goes from 001.00 - 999.99 so if I tell you the book is at 426.47 all you have to do is follow the numbers on the shelves and find your book), how books are shelved in the Fiction section (by Author's last name), and of course...

Me: Reference Desk, How may I help you?
Them: Are y'all open?
Me: -sigh- yes
Them: ...right now?
Me: -annoyed- yes
Them: ...ok, thank yo-...click....
Me: ...damn you...
 
[quote name='foreverjoe20']Yeah, I think so too. The town is only around 100,000 people big and as the third person working the Reference Dept, I get almost no people all day. I work full time, 8 hours a day, and only work maybe 1-3 of those hours. All the other time I'm on the computer on CAG or various websites, just wasting time.

But I really don't see any "incredibly stupid" people. Just ones that can't seem to understand the dewey decimal system (goes from 001.00 - 999.99 so if I tell you the book is at 426.47 all you have to do is follow the numbers on the shelves and find your book), how books are shelved in the Fiction section (by Author's last name), and of course...

Me: Reference Desk, How may I help you?
Them: Are y'all open?
Me: -sigh- yes
Them: ...right now?
Me: -annoyed- yes
Them: ...ok, thank yo-...click....
Me: ...damn you...[/QUOTE]

Loved getting the "Are you open?" call at 5 minutes to close when I worked at the library. People would call at 8:55 when we close at 9, and then bring their entire family in to do some movie browsing right at close. The best were when they would do this, and each member would bring up a GIANT stack of movies, and the librarian on desk would simply say, "Sorry, computer's off." and then walk away. The look on their faces was priceless!

I've also had older people come in to use the phone who go on and on until we're just about closed, and then try and get on the internet, using the computer I JUST cleaned! Now, this wouldn't be so bad in and of itself, but they mostly had no idea how to work the thing, so I would have to stop what I was doing and help them with the "Confounded Internet" so that they would leave. Irritating as fuck.
 
[quote name='foreverjoe20']Yeah, I think so too. The town is only around 100,000 people big and as the third person working the Reference Dept, I get almost no people all day. I work full time, 8 hours a day, and only work maybe 1-3 of those hours. All the other time I'm on the computer on CAG or various websites, just wasting time.
.[/QUOTE]

Wow, sounds like you work in a smalltown branch. The current branch I work at (and its not even the biggest or busiest in our system) gets about 100K patrons walking through its door every month, and circulates about a million items a month. So more people=more stupids walking through the door, its just statistics. My dream is to work at a slow library branch so I could get paid to read books, browse the internet, and hell, if I worked a slow branch I'd maybe even consider going to college and then doing my homework/studying at work.

And arrgg! I'm so glad my department doesn't handly computer use or problems. Our computers automatically shut off about 20 minutes before the building closes to force people out of the building. Free internet use to the public has brought plenty of headaches to our staff.

Oh, another story! Since we're talking about computer use:

Library Patron comes up to me, "I'm having trouble getting onto the computer. I need some help, I think its broken."
Me: "Okay, you log in with your library card and pin number. Your library card number is on the back of your library card."
Patron: "Oh...I stuck my library card in the slot in the side of the computer."
I start thinking..."slot in the side of the computer"...and then it dawns on me...dumbass shoved his library card in the CD drive. "Well, let me take a look." Go over there, and sure enough, that is what dumbass did. And he forcefully jammed it in there, so the hard drive is damaged on top of it, and at this point, the PC has just BSOD. "Sir, you are supposed to enter the CARD NUMBER in MANUALLY, not place the card in the CD drive.You've just damaged it, so now no one can physically use it."
Our PCs also need a daily reservation to use, and you can only have one reservation per day in our district. So when I told the patron that he couldn't use any computers in our district the rest of the day, he flipped. "How am I supposed to fill out job applications then?!"
Me: "I'm sorry, but you'll just have to come back another day."
Repairing this PC cost our district hundreds of dollars, which of course the library could never collect on damages because the person at fault was unemployed. (I also secretly cringe for any place that ever hires this man in the future).
 
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[quote name='Spacepest']Wow, sounds like you work in a smalltown branch. The current branch I work at (and its not even the biggest or busiest in our system) gets about 100K patrons walking through its door every month, and circulates about a million items a month. So more people=more stupids walking through the door, its just statistics. My dream is to work at a slow library branch so I could get paid to read books, browse the internet, and hell, if I worked a slow branch I'd maybe even consider going to college and then doing my homework/studying at work.

And arrgg! I'm so glad my department doesn't handly computer use or problems. Our computers automatically shut off about 20 minutes before the building closes to force people out of the building. Free internet use to the public has brought plenty of headaches to our staff.

Oh, another story! Since we're talking about computer use:

Library Patron comes up to me, "I'm having trouble getting onto the computer. I need some help, I think its broken."
Me: "Okay, you log in with your library card and pin number. Your library card number is on the back of your library card."
Patron: "Oh...I stuck my library card in the slot in the side of the computer."
I start thinking..."slot in the side of the computer"...and then it dawns on me...dumbass shoved his library card in the CD drive. "Well, let me take a look." Go over there, and sure enough, that is what dumbass did. And he forcefully jammed it in there, so the hard drive is damaged on top of it, and at this point, the PC has just BSOD. "Sir, you are supposed to enter the CARD NUMBER in MANUALLY, not place the card in the CD drive."
Our PCs also need a daily reservation to use, and you can only have one reservation per day in our district. So when I told the patron that he couldn't use any computers in our district the rest of the day, he flipped. "How am I supposed to fill out job applications then?!"
Me: "I'm sorry, but you'll just have to come back another day."
Repairing this PC cost our district hundreds of dollars, which of course the library could never collect on damages because the person at fault was unemployed. (I also secretly cringe for any place that ever hires this man in the future).[/QUOTE]

Wow.
 
[quote name='Spacepest']Wow, sounds like you work in a smalltown branch. The current branch I work at (and its not even the biggest or busiest in our system) gets about 100K patrons walking through its door every month, and circulates about a million items a month. So more people=more stupids walking through the door, its just statistics. My dream is to work at a slow library branch so I could get paid to read books, browse the internet, and hell, if I worked a slow branch I'd maybe even consider going to college and then doing my homework/studying at work.

And arrgg! I'm so glad my department doesn't handly computer use or problems. Our computers automatically shut off about 20 minutes before the building closes to force people out of the building. Free internet use to the public has brought plenty of headaches to our staff.

Oh, another story! Since we're talking about computer use:

Library Patron comes up to me, "I'm having trouble getting onto the computer. I need some help, I think its broken."
Me: "Okay, you log in with your library card and pin number. Your library card number is on the back of your library card."
Patron: "Oh...I stuck my library card in the slot in the side of the computer."
I start thinking..."slot in the side of the computer"...and then it dawns on me...dumbass shoved his library card in the CD drive. "Well, let me take a look." Go over there, and sure enough, that is what dumbass did. And he forcefully jammed it in there, so the hard drive is damaged on top of it, and at this point, the PC has just BSOD. "Sir, you are supposed to enter the CARD NUMBER in MANUALLY, not place the card in the CD drive.You've just damaged it, so now no one can physically use it."
Our PCs also need a daily reservation to use, and you can only have one reservation per day in our district. So when I told the patron that he couldn't use any computers in our district the rest of the day, he flipped. "How am I supposed to fill out job applications then?!"
Me: "I'm sorry, but you'll just have to come back another day."
Repairing this PC cost our district hundreds of dollars, which of course the library could never collect on damages because the person at fault was unemployed. (I also secretly cringe for any place that ever hires this man in the future).[/QUOTE]

"Hundreds of dollars"? Really? To put in a new CD drive assuming the old one was completely destroyed by a library card?
 
[quote name='kodave']"Hundreds of dollars"? Really? To put in a new CD drive assuming the old one was completely destroyed by a library card?[/QUOTE]

You can get a PC from the dell outlet for like... what $200 these days, it would probably be more than adequate for library use as well. I assume the library isn't using top of the line computers here, so at the very worst the machine could be replaced. I assume you are factoring the CD drive, hard drive and labor into that. If its costing hundreds of dollars to repair a couple simple problems on a PC or you are looking for antiquated parts then its probably cheaper just to get a new one.

This also raises the question what happens if a library patron breaks a computer, who is responsible? Our library doesn't have a policy for that, not that I have seen written on any of the signs around the computers so I can't answer that. But patrons are clearly responsible for the materials borrowed as there are multiple stickers on each stating that. Our library also sends people to collections for outstanding fines. Our library also rents Wii games (and some libraries rent PS2, Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 games), so I can totally understand that policy.
 
[quote name='kodave']"Hundreds of dollars"? Really? To put in a new CD drive assuming the old one was completely destroyed by a library card?[/QUOTE]

I didn't repair it (nor would I be allowed to). The district sends it off to someone else to be repaired or replaced, employees have to fill out a bunch of beaurocratic paperwork and incident reports, plus have an armed security guard escort the ranting PC less patron off the property for the day, deal with irate patrons who were bumped off their computer time because the PC they reserved is now broken, so by the time we account in man hours required paid via union rates for all of this, yeah, it probably cost the district hundreds of dollars.

And @SaraB, our library has a similar policy as yours, except for computers--that's a gray area, which upper levels of management don't even want to touch. Everything else, you damage it, you're responsible for it.
 
Q. I got an iTunes giftcard as a gift but I don't want it. Can I return it and get money back?
A. No, we don't take returns on giftcards.
Q. Why not? Other places do, you should too.
A. Once an iTunes card is activated, we can't deactivate it and resell it.
Q. But why? That's stupid. Apple sucks.
A. ...anything else I can help you with today, sir?

All. Day. Long.
 
easily the best thread on this forum

i ran a restaurant from when i was 19-22 so i completely relate with this thread.. and because i made it from the bottom up and had to deal with d-bag customers all day, when i was running the restaurant i made it rule #1 to NEVER kiss the customers ass if he/she was acting a fool in my establishment.. my favorite thing to do was when somebody was being disrespectful to one of my employees.. just flat out eject the unruly party from the premises

'the customer is always right' is a slogan thats wrong at least 75% of the time
 
[quote name='Spacepest'] My dream is to work at a slow library branch so I could get paid to read books, browse the internet, and hell, if I worked a slow branch I'd maybe even consider going to college and then doing my homework/studying at work.

And arrgg! I'm so glad my department doesn't handly computer use or problems. Our computers automatically shut off about 20 minutes before the building closes to force people out of the building. Free internet use to the public has brought plenty of headaches to our staff.[/QUOTE]

Ha! That's exactly what I'm doing. I'm going to college part time, I'm working here full time, and I use my down time at the library to do my homework. And when that's done, I just browse the web. I used to read books but my annoying co-worker told me we couldn't read books while we worked because it "looked bad".

Her: Hey, just wanted to let you know that you can't read books during your down time.
Me: Huh? Why not?
Her: Because if a district commisinor or judge were to walk in here they would get mad at us for reading on the job. (I've been working here for about a year and a half and I haven't seen a single "district" person ever walk in here...I've asked other people that have been working here 10+ years and they told me they have never seen a "district" person walk in here either)
Me:......but we're a library...shouldn't we have the priviledge of reading a book during our downtime if we wanted to?
Her: No...
Me:....so what should I do then?
Her: Browse the internet.
Me:.....just browse the internet all day?
Her: Yes
Me:.....that's dumb. We're the library!
Her:.... -annoyed- Well, I don't make the rules, I just enforce then -walks away-


Our computer systems is also set up the same way but ours shut down 30 minutes before closing time. And yet there are still some idiots that walk up and try to use the kiosk (the login computer that assigns you your own computer) even though it's shut off and I'm cleaning up the lab.

Them: Hey, what time y'all close the lab?
Me: (I'm standing next to a 3x3 poster that shows the times of the lab)......... -look at post, turn and look at patron- We close at 5:30pm
Them: -mad- Thanks... -leave-
Me: -laugh on the inside-
 
Oh, just remembered this from two days ago...

-Backstory: Our check out area is about 50-ish feet from the computer lab. We face it slightly so if there's a lot of noise coming from the lab, we can usually hear it-

-There's three of us sitting at the check out area, working, when all of a sudden we hear:

Lady: EXCUSE ME!
Us:.....-maybe someone left the sound on on one of the computers in the lab?-
Lady: EXCUSE ME!!!
Us:.....-looking around at each other, making sure our own computers aren't playing any kind of sounds, because it can't possibly be a patron yelling at us over all the way at the lab, if they need something or are having problems, there are multiple signs that specificly say "Come to the check out area if you're having problems or need assistance"-
Lady: EXCUSE ME!!! I NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!!!!!
Us: No fucking way is this lady yelling for one of us to go all the way over there...
-the 1st floor manager lady starts walking over to the lab...I wasn't there but she says that right as she got there, the "Lady" turns around and yells right at her face-
Her: I NEED SOME HEL...oh, there you are-
1stFloorManager: Madam, you can't start yelling in the library.
Her: But I needed some hel-....
1stFloorManager: I understand that but that doesn't give you the right to start yelling and startling patron just because you need help. You have to get up and walk over to the check out area and ask us for assistance. That's what the signs say -she points to all at the random signs on the wall-
Her:....oh....


I just starting laughing when she told us this.
 
[quote name='foreverjoe20']Ha! That's exactly what I'm doing. I'm going to college part time, I'm working here full time, and I use my down time at the library to do my homework. And when that's done, I just browse the web. I used to read books but my annoying co-worker told me we couldn't read books while we worked because it "looked bad".


Me:....so what should I do then?
Her: Browse the internet.
Me:.....just browse the internet all day?
Her: Yes

[/QUOTE]

Read ebooks online then. You're browsing the internet, and reading books at the same time! Its like magic!

LOL, my district would rather have us read books then spend all day surfing the internet, because its a library, and if you're going to be goofing off, then read a book, it looks more professional that way. And employees accessing the dreaded FACEBOOK while on the clock...here that's a firing offense. But staff members giggling over the library's copy of how to perform fellatio (with pictures!)--that's ok. Because its a book.
 
[quote name='Spacepest']Read ebooks online then. You're browsing the internet, and reading books at the same time! Its like magic!

LOL, my district would rather have us read books then spend all day surfing the internet, because its a library, and if you're going to be goofing off, then read a book, it looks more professional that way. And employees accessing the dreaded FACEBOOK while on the clock...here that's a firing offense. But staff members giggling over the library's copy of how to perform fellatio (with pictures!)--that's ok. Because its a book.[/QUOTE]

This is exactly how the policy was where I worked.
 
But I'm old fashioned. I can see the books in front of me so I have the urge to read them, not read them off a monitor. I like to hold them and feel the weight of the book in my hands. I like turning the pages and risking getting a paper cut all for the benefit of enjoying the book.

They don't mind you being on FB. It is a "rule" that you can't check up on FB during work hours but then everyone else does it so no big deal.
 
[quote name='foreverjoe20']Oh, just remembered this from two days ago...

-Backstory: Our check out area is about 50-ish feet from the computer lab. We face it slightly so if there's a lot of noise coming from the lab, we can usually hear it-

-There's three of us sitting at the check out area, working, when all of a sudden we hear:

Lady: EXCUSE ME!
Us:.....-maybe someone left the sound on on one of the computers in the lab?-
Lady: EXCUSE ME!!!
Us:.....-looking around at each other, making sure our own computers aren't playing any kind of sounds, because it can't possibly be a patron yelling at us over all the way at the lab, if they need something or are having problems, there are multiple signs that specificly say "Come to the check out area if you're having problems or need assistance"-
Lady: EXCUSE ME!!! I NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!!!!!
Us: No fucking way is this lady yelling for one of us to go all the way over there...
-the 1st floor manager lady starts walking over to the lab...I wasn't there but she says that right as she got there, the "Lady" turns around and yells right at her face-
Her: I NEED SOME HEL...oh, there you are-
1stFloorManager: Madam, you can't start yelling in the library.
Her: But I needed some hel-....
1stFloorManager: I understand that but that doesn't give you the right to start yelling and startling patron just because you need help. You have to get up and walk over to the check out area and ask us for assistance. That's what the signs say -she points to all at the random signs on the wall-
Her:....oh....


I just starting laughing when she told us this.[/QUOTE]

Aside from the fact that a library has the connotation of "quietness" attached to it already, you would never yell for help at a grocery or department store, so why at a library. Of course...if she does it everywhere, then that's a different story hahaha
 
Had this just happen to me...(I work at a public library)

Girl (around 12-14 yrs old): Hi, do you have -bookTitle-?
Me: Let me check our system...Yeah, we have a copy but it's up on the 3rd floor (children's dept)
Girl: Ok. Which row is that? -looks around at the nearby rows-
Me:...what? I said it's up on the 3rd floor...
Girl: What's that?
Me:....-keeps staring at her-...the third floor? If you go past this door -point at the door-, take the elevator and go up, it will take up to the third floor. To the Children's Dept.
Girl:....ok...-leaves-
Me:...what the hell was that?!
 
[quote name='Spacepest']You know you've worked in a public library too long when you have actually witnessed this taking place...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjLikEwfEwQ

...and then have had to call the police because one of the watchers was publicly whacking it.

(I saw this clip on another thread).[/QUOTE]

A couple months back I saw some dude (looked homeless to boot) at the computer against the wall in the farthest corner just having this murderous stare at the screen...then I heard moaning coming from his area...and his breathing was getting heavier. Creepy as shit, but I was laughing hard too because I couldn't believe that was actually happening.

I had never thought of working at a library all those years, that's almost the perfect gig for a college kid! (Granted it's not a busy one)
 
This just happened...

Backstory: I work in a Public Library and we have a public computer lab. We don’t much funding so we can only certain software or certain versions of software (ex: Office 2003, Windows XP, IE 6/7 (I work here full time and we have IE 8)…)
Because of this, we have constant problems with patron believing we have Windows 7, Office 2010, 10 Terabyte machines and are pretty shocked to see what we actually have (about 5 yr old machines).
So besides having slightly older machines, we have older software (older Windows, flash, and yahoo mail)

So this is what happened…

Guy: Hey, you work here?
Me: -thinking: Why else would I be behind the checkout desk?- Yeah, I work here. Can I help you?
Guy: I logged on to Yahoo mail and tried to access my email but someone else was logged on and didn’t log off. I tried logging them off for about 10 minutes now but it doesn’t let me.
Me: Ok. Let me check it out.
-I go to his computer and saw that it “showed” some else login. I moved the cursor over the “log out” option and noticed that the cursor didn’t change from an arrow to a hand like it was suppose to.

Turns out it wasn’t actually the mail portion of Yahoo Mail, it was the screen you get when Yahoo is trying to get you to try out a newer version of Yahoo Mail. It shows a little preview of how it will look and since it looked exactly as my own machine, I thought it was the mail screen.

But it only fooled me for about 5 seconds before I figured it out. I can’t imagine sitting there for 10 minutes trying to log off an imaginary person’s login…
 
*clickclick...click...clickclickclickclick* "It won't let me log out!?!!" :rofl:

In this day and age I don't understand how anyone who isn't completely dirt poor or 70 years old can't figure out how to work a computer...at least a little bit.
 
[quote name='Thekrakrabbit']*clickclick...click...clickclickclickclick* "It won't let me log out!?!!" :rofl:

In this day and age I don't understand how anyone who isn't completely dirt poor or 70 years old can't figure out how to work a computer...at least a little bit.[/QUOTE]

right? Just like most of the people here don't know how to work a vagina...much less ever seen one that isn't pixelated or printed on glossy paper. :roll:
 
[quote name='Thekrakrabbit']

In this day and age I don't understand how anyone who isn't completely dirt poor or 70 years old can't figure out how to work a computer...at least a little bit.[/QUOTE]

Alot of people who come to use the library computers ARE dirt poor or 70 years old. Many of the dirt poor are unemployed trying to fill out job applications, since many job apps are online nowadays. Hell, in my area you are forced to even apply for unemployment benefits online. Old people are forced to fill out online applications for various benefits (social security, low income assistance benefits, some of their retirement plans have gone online, etc.). The older people are the some of the worst--many of them come from a day and age where there was a SECRETARY to fill out all this crap for them and are offended they have to do things themselves, others want to remain willfully ignorant because they don't want to have to learn anything new. It makes me very grateful to be a financial position to own my PC and be able to afford high speed internet access. (And the vagina comment by another poster--LMAO in many parts of the world its easier for a person to access a vagina than a PC or internet access).

What I don't get is the people who buy (or just as bad, are gifted) Kindles or ereaders, don't register them online, and then come to the library to get ebooks and then can't download anything because their device isn't registered, and library staff can't register it for them. And then are shocked or get mad when the find out some of the books they want at the Amazon/Barnes and Noble store they have to pay for (its like they think they can download everything out of the air for free). I'm dreading the after Xmas deluge of new Kindle owners the library is going to get (and have stacks of informational fliers printed in preparedness). Moral of the story is: if you're going to buy a technologically ignorant relative a Kindle, for gawd's sake, REGISTER THE DAMN DEVICE FOR THEM and then show them how to turn it on and use it. Thousands of librarians worldwide will thank you.
 
I wish I could still delight in posting one-off stories but after working at the cable company in telesales, I can't even count how many non-stupid stories there were. Every call was some bologna.
 
[quote name='Spacepest']Alot of people who come to use the library computers ARE dirt poor or 70 years old. Many of the dirt poor are unemployed trying to fill out job applications, since many job apps are online nowadays. Hell, in my area you are forced to even apply for unemployment benefits online. Old people are forced to fill out online applications for various benefits (social security, low income assistance benefits, some of their retirement plans have gone online, etc.). The older people are the some of the worst--many of them come from a day and age where there was a SECRETARY to fill out all this crap for them and are offended they have to do things themselves, others want to remain willfully ignorant because they don't want to have to learn anything new. It makes me very grateful to be a financial position to own my PC and be able to afford high speed internet access. (And the vagina comment by another poster--LMAO in many parts of the world its easier for a person to access a vagina than a PC or internet access).

What I don't get is the people who buy (or just as bad, are gifted) Kindles or ereaders, don't register them online, and then come to the library to get ebooks and then can't download anything because their device isn't registered, and library staff can't register it for them. And then are shocked or get mad when the find out some of the books they want at the Amazon/Barnes and Noble store they have to pay for (its like they think they can download everything out of the air for free). I'm dreading the after Xmas deluge of new Kindle owners the library is going to get (and have stacks of informational fliers printed in preparedness). Moral of the story is: if you're going to buy a technologically ignorant relative a Kindle, for gawd's sake, REGISTER THE DAMN DEVICE FOR THEM and then show them how to turn it on and use it. Thousands of librarians worldwide will thank you.[/QUOTE]

True, but I'm talking about the people who don't fit into that category, as small that percentage may be. In any case, some of the stories in this thread are pure gold.
 
I used to work at the bell about 15 years ago as the graveyard manager. We had this one problem customer come in about every other day through the drive-thru. He was some contractor and always ordered the same thing, a crap load of food and every item extra this or minus that. He would eat it all in the parking lot and toss all his trash on the ground. And to top it all off he would always call the manager to complain that it was made wrong. Eventually he started calling the corp number then the DM directly. So he almost always ate for free. Finally, one night I had enough of this pig, and when he came through one night, I was making his food and decided to make it special. First I licked all his tortillas and then "accidentally" dropped them on the floor before making his order. He did his usual eat and toss ritual but later called the DM and told him it was the best meal he had ever had there! A few months later he stopped coming and we found out from his son he had a massive heart attack and was now bed ridden.
 
[quote name='MajorSmeg']I used to work at the bell about 15 years ago as the graveyard manager. We had this one problem customer come in about every other day through the drive-thru. He was some contractor and always ordered the same thing, a crap load of food and every item extra this or minus that. He would eat it all in the parking lot and toss all his trash on the ground. And to top it all off he would always call the manager to complain that it was made wrong. Eventually he started calling the corp number then the DM directly. So he almost always ate for free. Finally, one night I had enough of this pig, and when he came through one night, I was making his food and decided to make it special. First I licked all his tortillas and then "accidentally" dropped them on the floor before making his order. He did his usual eat and toss ritual but later called the DM and told him it was the best meal he had ever had there! A few months later he stopped coming and we found out from his son he had a massive heart attack and was now bed ridden.[/QUOTE]

I question the truth of this. Why would he call the manager to tell them that it was a fantastic meal? Who does that? Especially if he constantly complained about the meals he got.

The heart attack is possible, but man if I don't have trouble believing the whole "I loved the licked tortillas you gave me" story. :rofl:
 
I just witnessed this at a fast food place and it reminded me of the days where I worked as a greeter/server. "Customers" who order something, and then when their food is ready and they have to pay, they're short. And they know they're short, but try to weasel getting out of 5 or 10 cents. I mean, are you that cheap that you order knowing that they'll give it to you since they made it for you already.
 
[quote name='Link927']I just witnessed this at a fast food place and it reminded me of the days where I worked as a greeter/server. "Customers" who order something, and then when their food is ready and they have to pay, they're short. And they know they're short, but try to weasel getting out of 5 or 10 cents. I mean, are you that cheap that you order knowing that they'll give it to you since they made it for you already.[/QUOTE]

Why go to the trouble for 10 cents? I mean, if somebody said "ah, I'm 2 dollars short" I could see but "ah, I'm 8 cents short" seems odd to me.
 
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