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

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I really think that I'm letting these people get to me too much sometimes.

Our phone system sucks. It's the only one in the whole company that doesn't accurately detail which department you'll get when you press it, but since my department is the last in the line of a confusing system, they always choose that. So I get all the questions that should be answered by a different department.

*RING RING*
Me: "Company city department"
Him: Hi, I saw something on your website and need to pick it up instore, it's item 666666.
Me: Sorry, but we don't do in store pickup.
Him: But the website says I need an address, can't I just input the address of the store and pick it up later?
Me: No, we don't have the ability to do that, you need a US address.
Him: You see the problem is that I'm calling from Canada and they won't ship to here.
Me: I understand that, however you'll need a US address to ship to and the werehouse won't work.

*RING RING*
Me: "Store Town Department"
Her: Hi, I was wondering if you had Twin Mattresses right now?
Me: Well, it's kinda outside my department so if you give me a minute I'll walk over there and check.
Her: Ok, that's great, I don't want to drive all the way over there and find out you don't have any.
Me: yeah, that makes sense, alright, I'm right in front of them and it looks like we have 3 left.
Her: Ok, is it possible for me to buy it over the phone and pick it up in a week?
Me: No, we can't do that.
Her: Well, Why not?

And I'm really starting to get annoyed with people asking about contrast ratios on TV's when they haven't accurately figured out specific units to measure with as well as what specific thing they're measuring. Therefore, trying to be a good salesguy, I tell people this so they don't get persuaded by the "10 million contrast ratio" and usually people listen. Today however, this exchange happened.

There's a couple looking at tv's and I walk by and they get my attention.
Me: Howdy, what kinda questions do you have?
Her: Yeah, what's the ratio on this tv?
Me: You mean the contrast ratio?
Her: Yeah.
Me: Well, I'd actually advise to ignore that number as..(he interrupts)
Him: NO! Our son always looks for that info so we need to know what that number is.
Me (still trying to stay calm at being interrupted): Unfortunately I don't know.
Him: Well why not?
Me: Well, it's not on the box.
Him: How about that tv then? *points to a different tv*
Me: No, that doesn't have it on the box either, In fact, most of these don't list that info.
Him: That one over there has it.
Me: Well, most don't, some do.
 
[quote name='Foo228']Went into FYE today, out of boredom, I never buy anything there (terrible prices, :roll:) but I was there with my friend and here's what happened:

Retail guy: So...y'know Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 came out today, right?
Me: Alright
Retail guy: Well, it's got combos
Me: Really

Then my friend and I walked out of the store and I couldn't stop laughing. It's got combos?! That's your selling point? rofl[/QUOTE]
Everything is better with combos.
combos.jpg
 
I don't actually work at the GC by my house, but I might as well. Today, for the launch of Halo 3: ODST, I hung out for a bit.

Dude walks in with kid: Hey, can we preorder the new Haylor game? (Yes, he said Haylor)
Girl: No, it comes out in 7 hours, and we only have enough copies for whoever preordered, and even then, maybe not enough.
Dude: Why the hell not? It's not like everyone's gonna get it, just sell one under the table to me.
Me: Sir, I don't mean to interrupt, but you're asking someone to break street date, which is a bit illegal, and you're asking them to do in front of the manager, who is right there.(Manager turns around and waves hello, rolls eyes). I've been hanging here most of the time you've been in the last few weeks, and every time, they ask you to preorder. And you don't. This isn't her fault.
Dude: Who the hell are you?
Manager: He's the mascot. And he's also correct. We don't break street date, and we certainly don't have a spare copy for you if we had one. Have a nice day.

I love being the regular. They use me to say the things they can't.
 
Yeah, I get that a lot. There was this one guy who constantly talked about a certain game (can't remember which one, but it wasn't mainstream). I asked him if he wanted to preorder it, he declined. I asked him the next time he was in, and the next. He constantly declined. I mentioned that we wouldn't get any extra if he didn't preorder, he still didn't. The game came out, he couldn't find it anywhere. He came to us and asked. We had it for people that preordered it, but he didn't. I told him that I wasn't trying to harass him or anything every time he came in, I thought that he would genuinely want it. He never hesitated to preorder after that.
 
I was working this past Saturday, putting some items in the display cases. It was a rainy day, and the cashier asked a customer if he would like a bag for his purchases. All the cashiers ask this question for a few reasons:

1) Less work for us if they say no
2) Some customers are all about recycling so they refuse
3) We tend to run out of bags as we only get them via donations

The customer was less than thrilled to be asked that question, and just explodes at the cashier. "Yes, of course I want a bag. Do you think I want to go out and get my things wet? How could you even ask a question like that?" Then the best part "You need to smile every once in a while."
 
[quote name='Porksta']I was working this past Saturday, putting some items in the display cases. It was a rainy day, and the cashier asked a customer if he would like a bag for his purchases. All the cashiers ask this question for a few reasons:

1) Less work for us if they say no
2) Some customers are all about recycling so they refuse
3) We tend to run out of bags as we only get them via donations

The customer was less than thrilled to be asked that question, and just explodes at the cashier. "Yes, of course I want a bag. Do you think I want to go out and get my things wet? How could you even ask a question like that?" Then the best part "You need to smile every once in a while."[/QUOTE]
Maybe the customer was Schizophrenic....:roll:
 
I swear my manager was in for me...

It was during Christmas and the shopping carts were piling up outside, my manager told me to go get the carts (even though it wasn't my job and my co-worker was being lazy) I was like Okay w.e it's freezing but okay some fresh air... and like 10min later while I'm pushing sht load of carts he comes out btching at why I'm not inside doing what I'm supposed to do (cashier)...

And after one week I told him I can only work about 20 hour that week because of finals... he gave me 40+ hours that week so I just stop coming to work... my friend told me that i got "fired" and it threw manager's schedule off... I had good laugh
 
Ok, i finally finished reading all the old threads. Now I'm ready to share!

I used to work for a local gas station until I was fired for an insanely stupid reason. But the customers there were insane!

My store had a policy instituted last year that EVERYONE needs ID for beer or cigarettes. Specifically, a state driver's license. Surprisingly, this does not go over well with those customers obviously of age. I've had beer thrown at my head, displays trashed and products broken, just because people forget their ID. The worst offenders? State and local police! You would think they would support a policy preventing underage sales.

We also had several people who tried to drive away with the pump still in their gas tanks. The best drive off was one stupid girl who had a VERY distinct tattoo visible on the camera. 20 minutes later, she came back to buy cigarettes. The manager caught her in the store and said " Hey! Don't forget to pay for your gas from earlier!" She was pissed!

This is getting kind of long, so I will save the rest for later!
 
Talking about how LP can go to detain shoplifters and all. Back in '01 I was working for wal-mart. THis was 2 months after 9/11, the store opened a week after 9/11 so we are all new. And of course we happen to have a shop lifting pair. One distracts, and the other grabs and run. It happen to be a man and woman, they were witnessed by customers and associates taking things. So LP guy, store manager, all come running. The couple make it outside, with store manager, LP chasing them. They get to their car, the woman gets in, the guy is to the car, LP yells at him, the guy turns around. LP doesn't just tackle the guy, he full on spears the guy. Would have made Goldberg and Edge jealous. Must have launched from 4 foot away. We all died laughing, it was caught on security camera and we use to watch it over and over again.
 
[quote name='randomoutburst']No kidding. My husband and I at one time discussed opening our own business. Whether we will or not remains to be seen, as we are still in school, but working for yourself is really the only way to make sure you can run things the way you want them run and not have to deal with corporate bullshit.[/QUOTE]

My husband and I run our own business. My husband especially doesn't want to work retail anymore because of the crap involved. I won't go into detail right now as I'm short on time, but he's worked for various retail companies including Toysrus before going off on his own. I'll post some actual stories when I have time (short on time; got to leave to work in a few minutes).

Edit: Back from work.

My husband has all the really good retail stories.

When he worked for Home Depot, one of his friends, who was legally blind, was hired to work along side with him. I know you all think this sounds cool, Home Depot hires the disabled, diversity, yadda yadda. The position Mr. Legally Blind was placed in...loss prevention. Yup, that's right. Home Depot had a legally blind man monitoring the security gates. Needless to say, he never tackled anyone. He had a hard time finding them, period.

One very hot summer day while Mr. Legally Blind was working, a customer stealing merchandise knocked over a cashier, and ran past Mr. Blind. Now, Mr. Blind was obviously blind (we're talking lazy eyes), and another customer, an old man, saw the thief rough up the cashier and run past security. The old man coincidentally had a large coil of rope attached to his belt. Old man takes the rope off his belt, lassos the thief, drags him to the ground, and then proceeds to tie him up on the ground like you would see a calf at the rodeo. When store management asked the old man how he knew such a trick, he replied, "Oh, I'm a retired goat roper." Did I mention it was hot? The store management left the thief tied to the ground in the parkinglot, sun blazing overhead, his skin burning on the hot pavement. The entire store came out to laugh at him, as it took police hours to show up and arrest the guy.

When he worked at TRU, my husband would tell me that often he would see people he went to school with come in with their families and then try to shoplift from the store. Or people (whom he suspected of not being American citizens, this was in southern California) bring their kids in to shop for toys when they were obviously sick, and i'm not talking cold and flu sick...sick like with measles, mumps, chicken pox, etc. and act like it was no big deal. Thank gawd for innoculations!

And when he worked for TRU, they would only play those horrible, ear bleeding Kids Bop CDs. Not only did they annoy the shit out of him (try listening to only little kids sing anything for an 8 hour shift), but he was absolutely sure that the person who thought up the idea for Kids Bop must have been a pedophile, because no adult in their right mind would allow little kids to sing mainstream songs with sexually suggestive lyrics to sell music CDs.

I'm pretty sure there are more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.
 
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Loving the stories.
My husband's coworker is an EMT and he said they went to a nursing home to pick up this old lady for transport to a hospital for tests or something. Anyway, the whole time he's talking to her to get her name, tell her what's going on, etc. she's bending his thumb back at the joint as hard as she can (which he said really wasn't too hard). He stared at her for a moment and goes, "Lady, WHAT are you DOING?" and she goes, "Trying...to break...your thummmmmb." So he's like, "...........why?" and she snarls, "Because you're WHIIIITTTE!" to which he blinks and yells, "YOU'RE WHITE TOO!" She didn't quite know what to say to that so she just growled at him after that, but I thought the whole scenario was kind of funny. Eh.

I have two new posts on my "stupid customers" blog (link in my sig) since last I posted, go check it out.
 
[quote name='randomoutburst']Best part is when the cashier stares at her and goes, "Ma'am, you'll need to pay for those spices. You can put them on the belt now." The lady doesn't even pretend she's embarrassed or ashamed that she's caught trying to shoplift, sets them in the gum area, and goes, "No, that's okay. I don't want them." Not even the flushed cheeks all other shoplifters develop when they're caught! People have no shame.[/QUOTE]
"He who controls the spice... Controls the universe."

Yeah, I know it's a month old, but it had to be said. :rofl:
 
Ok, just remembered a couple more.

Last year, some lady managed to drive right through the plate glass front to our store. She apparently mixed up the gas and brake but it was hilarious to watch on the video.

Oh, and the grossest one! There was this crack whore who lived around the corner from my store. Like, literal crack whore. And because she wasn't hot anymore, she constantly had no cash. You knew business was slow when she would bring her johns in to buy her food and condoms instead of paying her.

We called her Itchy. This is because she was standing in line one day, 5 people in front of her and a few behind, with her hand INSIDE her pants and underwear scratching her crotch! After that Alex and I refused to touch her money. We would leave it on the counter and use gloves. I told one of the local cops about her and he had the undercover go by and try and pick her up. She said "I provide the drugs and sex for parties. No charge but I do take donations!"
 
[quote name='randomoutburst']Take five minutes to bring the butter pat because fuck YOU.

[/QUOTE]

randomoutburst, that was the first time I'd read your blog in a couple months. This line had me dying laughing. While I've never worked as a waiter, I can sympathize. My brother's 28 and has worked as a bartender or waiter since he was 17 so I've heard countless stories, and they're the reason I'll never be a waiter. I'll never understand rude customers. Is it really that hard to be civil with your waiter, let alone people in general?

Also, something I've learned in all types of customer service is this: If you receive really good service, let the person's supervisor know. The supervisor generally will only hear from a customer when the customer is complaining, so even the tiniest positive feedback can go a long way.
 
I worked at Blockbuster the 4 years I was in college and I lost count of the number of times I got called a Mother F-er over a $2 late fee. We had our fair share of busted shoplifters as well as the weekly drunk frat guys looking for porn (which we didn't have). There are several amusing anticdotes I could relate, but insead I offer this advice:

Trust me on this one thing: Never, ever, ever work somewhere with a children's play area that has a ball pit. That is of course unless you like using bleach to clean $hit (literally) off hundreds of plastic balls at least once or twice a week. I was never happier than the day our store got rid of that thing.

 
[quote name='Whambamm']randomoutburst, that was the first time I'd read your blog in a couple months. This line had me dying laughing. While I've never worked as a waiter, I can sympathize. My brother's 28 and has worked as a bartender or waiter since he was 17 so I've heard countless stories, and they're the reason I'll never be a waiter. I'll never understand rude customers. Is it really that hard to be civil with your waiter, let alone people in general?

Also, something I've learned in all types of customer service is this: If you receive really good service, let the person's supervisor know. The supervisor generally will only hear from a customer when the customer is complaining, so even the tiniest positive feedback can go a long way.[/QUOTE]

Glad you enjoyed! I actually think those things in my mind as they happen, I promise...>_<
Yeah, I am so sick of people it's ridiculous. The only reasons I'm still working there are (1) I get cash every night which is useful when you need to buy food and gas, (2) I can easily pick up a shift anytime to make a few extra bucks, and (3) They are much more flexible with my school schedule than anywhere else, and the shifts start at a much more convenient time...like at an hour after class instead of an hour before it.
Tonight was a prime example of asshole-ery, as are most Friday nights. Some guy red in the face over a salad. Called our (very sweet female) bartender a dumbass. And was rewarded with free food. fucking ridiculous. It only encourages that sort of behavior! I firmly believe that tantrum-throwing adults should be treated like tantrum-throwing children: either ignored or taught a lesson.
 
A couple of Pizza Hut doozies:

We have this regular that's a frequent problem. Complained once because her pepperoni and bacon pizza was "too greasy." Yeah. Anyway, this day she ordered a couple of pizzas, some breadsticks, and two extra sides of dipping sauce. The order was complete when I delivered it (I checked before leaving) and had no problem at the door. When I returned to the store I found out that she had called to complain that we had forgotten her extra sauces. One of our managers took the call:

manager: No we didn't.
cust: Yes you did.
manager: Did you look inside the breadstick bags?
cust: *rustle* Yeah they're here. *click*

Didn't bother to check her order before calling us to bitch about it...


Another Mensa candidate:

cust: I'd like a half order of the Meaty Marinara pasta please.
me: Ok, that'll be 7.99.
cust: Now that's the sauce that has the meat in it right?
me: ...yeah.
 
I work at Hollywood Video, where I get at least a good five to ten customers a night that either claim that there is "no way they have late fees" or they were "never told that the PowerPlay subscription automatically renews each month."

This was a pretty amusing moment that came up the other night.

This woman in her mid-20s with a lisp and her overly chunky wanna-be gangster boyfriend come in with a copy of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 that they had rented for Xbox 360 and make note of the fact that it's "REALLY LATE."
They ask how much it's going to be and after seeing that it's almost two months late, I say that it's probably going to be upward of fifty dollars for the late fees.
At that moment, they begin pitching a fit because they're on the PowerPlay program and were told that they would have no late fees. (To familiarize you with the program quickly, it's a point-based, monthly service that comes in four different plans for different prices with points available at anywhere from 8 to unlimited. ONLY on the unlimited plan can games be rented for more than five days and being that there are only six employees total, including managers, at my store, I know how each and every one of them sells and they do it well and correctly, ESPECIALLY the employee in question this time.)
After she pitches her little lisp-fit about how she was never-ever informed that she had to bring games back in five days (which I contest, because she was the one to mention that it was late, not me) she demands that the manager is informed of how the other employee left out details. At this point in time, I let her know it was probably a miscommunication (standing up for the other employee, seeing as he's my friend) and she says "No, he said there were no late fees at all. He didn't say this game had to be back."
At this point, I decide to start playing around with her to see if her story adds up or if she's just trying to get out of her late fees and I mention "Oh, well you bought it in August. That must have been when we were changing the details of the plan, he must have just made a mistake, we were all a little confused around then. You used to be able to hold games on any plan!" (This is a lie. Never could you hold games on any plan other than the unlimited. The only facet of the plan that changed was the conversion to auto-renewal, which happened around June or July.)
This is where she looks around the store awkwardly and goes "Yeah, he mentioned that the plan had changed. I remember that. I got my plan when it was changing."
That's when I laugh to myself and tell her there's absolutely nothing I can do and that's as far as it goes.

You'd be surprised how often this happens. Actually, no, you probably wouldn't. People are stupid.
 
[quote name='Whambamm']I'll never understand rude customers. Is it really that hard to be civil with your waiter, let alone people in general?

[/QUOTE]

No kidding. After working in a restaurant in high school, one thing I learned:
Never be rude to your waiter.

It doesn't matter if the server is the nicest person in the world and takes it in stride--because there are other employees in the restaurant who have eyes in their heads. Where I worked, if any of the employees in the back, or the bartender learned of someone being nasty to a waiter, something interesting would probably happen to their food or drinks. While it isn't right, it does happen. Common sense would tell you, never be an asshat to someone who handles your food.
 
I work at the Goodwill as a donation attendant(Which I hate by the way). Anyways the people that go through are so impatient they can't wait 2 minutes for me to unload the car I am working on so they walk up and just start piling their crap on the ground. Which is not allowed. Another thing that pisses me off is how rude people are. Sometimes they literally bring in bags of trash to donate, so we have to turn their donations away so they then proceed to cuss us out on a daily basis. It pisses me off.
 
Well, I don't work in retail anymore, but I work at a vet clinic, so we have "clients" instead of customers. The bitching and rudeness is still the same, though.

The other night, we were swamped as can be, and a guy that works there was filling out paperwork to send out bloodwork on a dog, minding his own business. Lady opens the door from the room she was waiting in and says "Hey, you. I'm thinking of buying a Doberman, and I need to ask you some questions." He replies "I've never had a Doberman, so I can't tell you a whole lot about the breed from personal experience, but one of the other techs has, so I can go get her."
Lady's reply: "Oh, so you don't know anything about dogs and you work in a vet clinic?"
His reply;" No, I am just not personally familiar with the breed. I can still go get her..."
Her:" So do you know about cats?"
Him: "I'm allergic to cats, so I've never had one, but I know a fair bit about diseases and handling them."
Her: "So, you don't know anything about cats, either? SO you know birds?"
At this point, you can tell he's geting pissed, because he's trying to finish up paperwork and this lady is harassing him for no reason, and being a total wenchbag.
Him: "I'm not a bird person."
Her: "so you don't know dogs, cats, or birds, what do you know? Is everyone as incompetent as you?"

After witnessing that, I made copies of her pet's medical records and told her there are probably other places in the area that are more competent, and we have no qualms with her going elsewhere. Seriously, you would never act like that in your doctor's office, why at your dog's?

I've got a million of those. For some reason, people think they're entitled to treating people like crap.
 
The gas station I worked at was kinda in a bad part of town (case in point, see my post above). One of the more entertaining aspects were the crazies. One of my employees was actually attacked by a customer while I was in the cooler and the store was full of customers.

This old guy came in, skipped the line of about 6 people and demanded cigarettes from her. She told him to go to the end of the line, so he proceeded to come behind the counter and SLAP her across the face! She immediately yelled for me and I called the cops while some male customers kept the guy in the store and away from us.

The whole time we were waiting for the cops, the crazy dude was screaming in Spanish and one of the guys was telling him to calm down, in Spanish. Once the cops get there and start talking to him, he insists he doesn't even speak Spanish, only English. Yeah, he got arrested.

Another story, this one from when I worked across the street at the grocery store. I was in the customer service office, with a front row seat for this one. Our LP, C, had been watching a lady and her son (probably around 10 or 12) stuffing various shampoos and soaps into the kid's backpack. He watched the camera long enough to record her attempting to leave, then got the Assistant Manager. Our AM, Mr.G, was the coolest Jamaican guy, always willing to stand up for employees. I miss him!

Anyways, he and C confronted the lady and grabbed her kid because he had the backpack. The kid just stood there, he knew there was no point in fighting. The mom, though, grabbed a 12 pack of water bottles and slammed them into Mr. G's head. Cue C tackling her from behind and holding her til the police came. Man, I wish I had popcorn for that one!

Sorry so Long!
 
We have a "3 courses, 2 people, 1 price" promotion right now that offers an appetizer, two entrees and a dessert for $20. At the bottom of the promotion page it clearly states that drinks, gratuity, and tax are not included.
A group of 8 people came in to eat and first question out of their mouths is, "Are drinks included in this $20 thing?"
Of course, I reply, "No, drinks are not included and neither is tax or gratuity. But it's still a great deal." (And it is!)
"Oh. Well then we'll all have water."
Great. But fine, I get it. I order water when I go out to eat too.
Each pair orders the promotion (so four promos), then go through the meal running me to death for refills, napkins, extra sauce, you name it. But again, that's cool.
So they get up to leave, thank me for everything, and are headed to the door when I see they only left $80 in cash.
"Hey! Hey, wait! You guys only left $80!"
"Yeah. It's $20 for each pair."
"No, see...your receipt shows where tax should be added. You total is actually $86.60."
(At this point let me tell you how infuriated I am that our company refuses to add mandatory gratuity to large parties.)
"Oh. Well then here." And one lady slaps a five and two ones into my hand.
"Ma'am...I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but gratuity isn't included in the $20 either..."
"That's why you can keep the change."

So once I paid 2% tipshare on $86.60, I was in the hole $1.33. I PAID to wait on those rude motherfuckers.
I mostly blame my company for not including gratuity for large parties, but come on people. Is almost two hours of my time worth 40 cents? Grrr.

Oh, and as a funny little ending, my next table at least made me smile. The wife asks, "So....is this 'ancho-chile ranch' sauce an ANCHOVY sauce??? That's so gross!!"
Yeah...it's basically spicy ranch. My manager was walking behind me when this lady asked that, and she had to haul ass to get far enough away to laugh at it.
 
[quote name='randomoutburst']We have a "3 courses, 2 people, 1 price" promotion right now that offers an appetizer, two entrees and a dessert for $20. At the bottom of the promotion page it clearly states that drinks, gratuity, and tax are not included.
A group of 8 people came in to eat and first question out of their mouths is, "Are drinks included in this $20 thing?"
Of course, I reply, "No, drinks are not included and neither is tax or gratuity. But it's still a great deal." (And it is!)
"Oh. Well then we'll all have water."
Great. But fine, I get it. I order water when I go out to eat too.
Each pair orders the promotion (so four promos), then go through the meal running me to death for refills, napkins, extra sauce, you name it. But again, that's cool.
So they get up to leave, thank me for everything, and are headed to the door when I see they only left $80 in cash.
"Hey! Hey, wait! You guys only left $80!"
"Yeah. It's $20 for each pair."
"No, see...your receipt shows where tax should be added. You total is actually $86.60."
(At this point let me tell you how infuriated I am that our company refuses to add mandatory gratuity to large parties.)
"Oh. Well then here." And one lady slaps a five and two ones into my hand.
"Ma'am...I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but gratuity isn't included in the $20 either..."
"That's why you can keep the change."

So once I paid 2% tipshare on $86.60, I was in the hole $1.33. I PAID to wait on those rude motherfuckers.
I mostly blame my company for not including gratuity for large parties, but come on people. Is almost two hours of my time worth 40 cents? Grrr.

Oh, and as a funny little ending, my next table at least made me smile. The wife asks, "So....is this 'ancho-chile ranch' sauce an ANCHOVY sauce??? That's so gross!!"
Yeah...it's basically spicy ranch. My manager was walking behind me when this lady asked that, and she had to haul ass to get far enough away to laugh at it.[/QUOTE]

That's terrible that not one person in the group of eight would have the stones to stand up to them and say that it isn't right to leave without tipping.
 
[quote name='MaXx']That's terrible that not one person in the group of eight would have the stones to stand up to them and say that it isn't right to leave without tipping.[/QUOTE]

Considering that the first thing they asked was 'are drinks included?', my guess is the whole lot was a bunch of cheapsakes who wouldn't normally tip to begin with. :roll:
 
[quote name='randomoutburst']
So once I paid 2% tipshare on $86.60, I was in the hole $1.33. I PAID to wait on those rude motherfuckers.[/QUOTE]
Just remember each and every one of those assholes. Next time they'll get the shit service they deserve.
 
Here's an anger inducing story from earlier this week. This guy brings his puppy into my clinic and it was pretty much half dead when he brought it in. It obviously had parvo and needed emergency care. We had seen hima week ago and at that point, the dog was not have parvo symptoms other than some vomiting (but he was also a trash eater). We told hima week ago to bring the dog in ASAP if any other symptoms show, but at that point, you couldn't confirm anything other than "my dog ate the trash and is throwing up." Mind you, this dog is 6 months old and has NEVER had any vaccines. You know, the ones that protect against parvo....

He throws the dog (literally) on the counter and says "if my dog needs care, you all are going to pay for it, because you should've told me this a week ago." "Um, when did the other symptoms start?" "the day after I brought him in." "But we told you to bring him in right away if anything else showed. We can't medicate for non-existent symptoms. Why didn't you bring him back the next day?" "Bitch, I don't have time for that shit! I knew I should've kicked this dog to the curb weeks ago."

He leaves his dying dog on the table, runs to his car and leaves. We have no legal permission to treat or euthanize the dog without him there, but he just seriously abandoned his dog. So we get to sit there helplessly until the Human Society can take custody. We called the cops, and they didn't know what to do, they told us we're on our own. No tickets, no animal cruelty charges, no abandonment ticket or anything. Guy just left his dying dog and got away with it. If I ever saw him again, I'd punch him in the face. Why get a dog if you don't want it/ don't want to take care of it?!?!
 
I quit working for Babbages right before the PS1 came out but my friends said the run on the store with how they stacked the systems made launch day so chaotic at least 3 systems walked out the door from theft.
 
[quote name='randomoutburst']

So once I paid 2% tipshare on $86.60, I was in the hole $1.33. I PAID to wait on those rude motherfuckers.
[/QUOTE]

Most tipshares are illegal so it sounds like your employer is screwing you. The only person he can legally force you to tipshare with is the bartender. Personally I find tipping up front does wonders.
 
I work at a thrift store and sometimes operate the register. I hate when people call and ask if we have specific things.

"Hey I am looking for a wooden dresser with a mirror, do you have one?"
"You don't happen to have any king size bed rails do you?"
"How much would a glass topped dinner table be?"

People, our inventory changes every week. Just drive down and take a look, God.
 
[quote name='Goonie85']Here's an anger inducing story from earlier this week. This guy brings his puppy into my clinic and it was pretty much half dead when he brought it in. It obviously had parvo and needed emergency care. We had seen hima week ago and at that point, the dog was not have parvo symptoms other than some vomiting (but he was also a trash eater). We told hima week ago to bring the dog in ASAP if any other symptoms show, but at that point, you couldn't confirm anything other than "my dog ate the trash and is throwing up." Mind you, this dog is 6 months old and has NEVER had any vaccines. You know, the ones that protect against parvo....

He throws the dog (literally) on the counter and says "if my dog needs care, you all are going to pay for it, because you should've told me this a week ago." "Um, when did the other symptoms start?" "the day after I brought him in." "But we told you to bring him in right away if anything else showed. We can't medicate for non-existent symptoms. Why didn't you bring him back the next day?" "Bitch, I don't have time for that shit! I knew I should've kicked this dog to the curb weeks ago."

He leaves his dying dog on the table, runs to his car and leaves. We have no legal permission to treat or euthanize the dog without him there, but he just seriously abandoned his dog. So we get to sit there helplessly until the Human Society can take custody. We called the cops, and they didn't know what to do, they told us we're on our own. No tickets, no animal cruelty charges, no abandonment ticket or anything. Guy just left his dying dog and got away with it. If I ever saw him again, I'd punch him in the face. Why get a dog if you don't want it/ don't want to take care of it?!?![/QUOTE]

Hopefully karma kicks in and his kids treat him the same way when he gets old and sick.

Otherwise... dear god, what a pathetic excuse for an adult human being.
 
[quote name='donkeydrop']Most tipshares are illegal so it sounds like your employer is screwing you. The only person he can legally force you to tipshare with is the bartender. Personally I find tipping up front does wonders.[/QUOTE]

I don't mind the tipshare. I mean, 1% of my sales for each the busser and bartender is usually okay by me. They help me do my job and without them I couldn't make the money I do. My problem is when people don't tip me at all or leave pocket change because then that money (or some of my own) goes to tipshare because some douche thinks not tipping is okay.
And seeing as I work for a very large corporation, if it were illegal in my state I think someone would have noticed by now. ;)
 
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[quote name='randomoutburst']
And seeing as I work for a very large corporation, if it were illegal in my state I think someone would have noticed by now. ;)[/QUOTE]

You'd be surprised. The company that owns Longhorn, Olive Garden and Red Lobster has made a couple of big (6 figure) settlements with individual staff to end lawsuits but I think they are headed for trouble down the road. Chili's lost a big class action. Starbucks got nailed for $100 million but won on appeal by arguing that the store managers are also servers.

If your base pay is below minimum wage its 100% illegal. If you make at least minimum wage before counting tips then it's more complicated, but in most cases "tip out" or "tip share" to other people must be voluntary; the company cannot have a policy.
 
Well we make $2.13 an hour but if we did not make minimum wage after factoring in our tips (and tipshare) for the hours worked on a particular day, they are required by law to bring our pay up to minimum wage. We just don't get it in cash at the end of the night like the rest of our earnings, just on our bimonthly paychecks instead.
The only law I can find about the state of Texas and tipsharing is that contributing tipshare to a "salaried manager" is unlawful, but not tipsharing to another employee like a bartender or busser - even other servers in some cases.

And like I said, I'm more than happy to tipshare out to those individuals because without my tables being constantly cleaned and the bartender making my drinks (they can both do that much faster than I can, it's called specialization of labor) I wouldn't be able to turn over tables as quickly and keep my guests satisfied...so they play a fundamental role in how much money I make. Now, if I were to have to tipshare out to the cooks or the hostesses who get paid above minimum wage...then I would throw a fit. ;) Also, our QAs and food runners are paid above minimum wage and I don't feel they should get tipshare as they are paid about $10/hour. I do on occasion tip them when they've done an exceptional job and really helped me out, but it's only when I want to. The lawsuit against Chili's which you mentioned was against forced tipshare to the QA, not bussers and bartenders.
 
[quote name='Goonie85']Here's an anger inducing story from earlier this week. This guy brings his puppy into my clinic and it was pretty much half dead when he brought it in. It obviously had parvo and needed emergency care. We had seen hima week ago and at that point, the dog was not have parvo symptoms other than some vomiting (but he was also a trash eater). We told hima week ago to bring the dog in ASAP if any other symptoms show, but at that point, you couldn't confirm anything other than "my dog ate the trash and is throwing up." Mind you, this dog is 6 months old and has NEVER had any vaccines. You know, the ones that protect against parvo....

He throws the dog (literally) on the counter and says "if my dog needs care, you all are going to pay for it, because you should've told me this a week ago." "Um, when did the other symptoms start?" "the day after I brought him in." "But we told you to bring him in right away if anything else showed. We can't medicate for non-existent symptoms. Why didn't you bring him back the next day?" "Bitch, I don't have time for that shit! I knew I should've kicked this dog to the curb weeks ago."

He leaves his dying dog on the table, runs to his car and leaves. We have no legal permission to treat or euthanize the dog without him there, but he just seriously abandoned his dog. So we get to sit there helplessly until the Human Society can take custody. We called the cops, and they didn't know what to do, they told us we're on our own. No tickets, no animal cruelty charges, no abandonment ticket or anything. Guy just left his dying dog and got away with it. If I ever saw him again, I'd punch him in the face. Why get a dog if you don't want it/ don't want to take care of it?!?![/QUOTE]

My sister works at a vet clinic, and she's been in spots like that before. It's heartbreaking really- but at least, in the end, the animal gets to be with people who actually care (regardless of how much they can actually do.) Ask the Humane Society folks about legal action in your area, see if there's any options.

The story I remember with her is a guy who dropped off a sick cat, who ended up being diagonsed with feline HIV. He said 'do everything, my buddy's bringing me some cash tomorrow'. So he left while they started up treatment, called him when kitty was ready... except he never came back. On the plus side, my sister got to adopt the cat- and Brody is a fucking awesome cat. :D
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS'] He said 'do everything, my buddy's bringing me some cash tomorrow'.[/QUOTE]

At least he gave consent for treatment and the cat wasn't left in limbo like the dog was. Still, the vet's office probably had to eat that one.
Not the dog, the cost. ;)
 
[quote name='randomoutburst']At least he gave consent for treatment and the cat wasn't left in limbo like the dog was. Still, the vet's office probably had to eat that one.
Not the dog, the cost. ;)[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that's defintely true- I just remember that story best since she got her very awesome cat out of it. (She's also got a 3-footed dog acquired in a similar fashion, who is also awesome. We have often teased her about bringing home broken animals.)
 
I love answering questions over the phone like "What time do you guys open today?" (at 2pm might I add), "I don't know what's on the menu, can you read it to me?" during the middle of our dinner rush, and "Are you guys busy? Will you be busy in an hour?" at any and every time of day.
In order: No, no, and no. (Hahah, SUCKER!)
I also had a lady call in who may not understand the concept of employee duties. I answered the call with, "Thank you for calling Chili's, this is ___ how may I help you?" and she goes, "Uhhh...yeah. Hi. Do you work there?" I was soooo tempted to throw out, "No, but I couldn't just walk by a ringing phone without answering it. So, what's your name??" and see what she did. Maybe one day I will.

My best friend who also works with me was waiting on an EXTREMELY rude table and it was really getting to him. One dude goes, "I want a cheeseburger. And make sure there's no mustard." So my friend is in the middle of taking the next guy's order and cheeseburger dude interrupts with, "And don't forget my ranch!" My friend responded (in the most sarcastic tone you can imagine), "Uh, PLEASE?". It didn't occur to him what he had done until he had already walked away. The dude never said anything about it. Wonder what he thought? :)
 
There are times when a customer is looking for something, I tell them where to go, and they return to me with this "you're a liar" tone that really irritates me. So it should come as no surprise that I enjoy their "dunce" expressions when I physically walk them to the item and prove my innocence (especially when it's part of a gigantic display in the area they just came from).

Two examples from Halloween: One person couldn't find Smarties and I pointed (no walking required) to a rack packed with Smarties bags.

Another person said they walked back and forth in the Halloween department and couldn't find makeup. I directed them to the next aisle on the right where the peghooks are. They walk slowly into the aisle like they are in a cave looking for hooks. I should point out that there are racks in 5/6 of the aisle full of costumes blocking the wall so the need to look hard for a hook when you're staring at a large costume is completely unnecessary. Nevertheless, they found the section with the makeup - 1 of 2 sections in the Halloween department ( now made up of 4 aisles) covered with peghooks.

These attitudes are merely a warmup for Christmas where the fun really starts - I meet some of the nicest and meanest people in the community.
 
My fiance works in the same store as me... today, he was out on the floor, and a customer came up to him- she'd managed to get paint on her hands (rule #1- don't open the damn paint in the store) and wanted to clean up. He offered to take her to the restroom- you know, were the sinks are. But she said no, she wanted to clean up now. He offered again, it'll just take a second, follow me- but she wanted to clean up now... and proceeded to wipe her hands on his work apron. Now he was a big yellow blotch on his black apron and spots on his work pants, which will hopefully wash out before his shift tomorrow.

I told him if such a thing ever happens again, he has permission to repsond with a 'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING' and throw the customer out. I'll back him up.

I know it's retail, I expect to be walked on to some extent... but for cryin out loud, we ain't towels! :bomb:
 
[quote name='DuelLadyS']and proceeded to wipe her hands on his work apron.[/QUOTE]

I don't know about your area, but at my work that kind of touching would be considered physical assault and the police would be called.
 
[quote name='Spacepest']I don't know about your area, but at my work that kind of touching would be considered physical assault and the police would be called.[/QUOTE]

That's what I told him- honestly, I bet he was so stunned that someone would actually wipe their hands on a total stranger to think that fast.

Luckily for him, he's looking at (hopefully) getting a promotion in the next few months... I'm sure he'll be a lot more willing to react at that point.
 
[quote name='Foo228']Went into FYE today, out of boredom, I never buy anything there (terrible prices, :roll:) but I was there with my friend and here's what happened:

Retail guy: So...y'know Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 came out today, right?
Me: Alright
Retail guy: Well, it's got combos
Me: Really

Then my friend and I walked out of the store and I couldn't stop laughing. It's got combos?! That's your selling point? rofl[/QUOTE]

I went into GameCrazy a couple weeks ago. I didn't even get a chance to look at the games when the guy came up and asked what I wanted. I told him I wasn't looking for anything in particular and he goes "well we have Call of Duty 4." I was like "yeah, I'm not really that into Call of Duty." He goes "what kind of games do you like, then?" I said "well, I like a lot of shooters and stuff, I just don't dig Call of Duty," and he LAUGHED in my fance and said "you like shooters and you don't play Call of Duty?!" He was blown away. "Sorry, I'm just not into war games. I'm no good at the tactical stuff, I like the ones where it's one guy taking on everything." Then he spent no less than 10 minutes telling me why Nazi Zombies is the greatest thing ever, then randomly began describing every single aspect of Halo ODST for at least 10 minutes. Then he goes "now, don't tell anyone I do this...but since I only make minimum wage here, what I'll do is preorder a game and pay a little on it every week, so when it comes out I don't have to pay full price." I'm like "wow. Holy shiiiiit, that's amazing." "Yeah, man, that's why you should preorder and buy them used." That's pretty much when I left.

And now they're out of business.

[quote name='MirrIll']I work at Hollywood Video, where ... customers ... claim that there is "no way they have late fees" [/QUOTE]

I HATE that. I did some work for ChaCha, which is a mobile search like KGB. It's free, so there's a (terrible) limit on guided questions, which are the ones that go through to a guide who physically has to research it. KGB doesn't have a limit because they charge. You'd think that most people should be able to understand this concept. If the question has to go through to a guide and you've reached your limit, it sends a message that says you're temporarily out of questions. That aspect is completely automated, we have absolutely no way of knowing if someone is out of questions or not, and we can't see when they get the "you're out of Qs" text. People can NOT grasp this concept whatsoever, and will send messages that just say "no im not," leaving us to figure out what the heck they're referring to. That, or they call us stupid and lazy, and that we purposely say they're out of questions when they ask something "too hard," like Kevin Jonas's favorite color.

Another massive annoyance was song lyrics. People would ask for lyrics to a song VIA A TEXT MESSAGE and couldn't understand that there was a 140-character limit and that it's not automated. So you'd get things like "THE FULL LYRICS TO DISCO STICK ALL OF THEM NOT JUST THE FIRST VERSE SEND A MILLION TEXTS IF YOU HAVE TO." Then, of course, it would just send 140 characters and they'd text back and swear at us. I got cut from that job because of my inability to deal with that all day.

This also reminded me of the other night, I was at the library. There was a woman with her kid in front of me trying to check out some books, and they had some late fees. If your fees are over a certain amount, you can't check out until you're at least under that amount, you can literally pay a penny. It $3, but they raised it to $10. That's HUGE, considering books are checked out for two weeks to a month and are a nickel a day after that. The woman had $13 in fines. Even movies are a dollar a day, and pretty much the only way that could have happened was if she checked out one movie and it was 13 days late. She actually got mad at the clerk and was like "LOOK, my daughter has this project due tomorrow." It was 8 PM. The clerk was like "sorry, there's nothing I can do if you're not going to pay them," and the woman goes "ALL THIS OVER $3?!" "All" what? You're too lazy to bring stuff back anywhere NEAR on time and now you're mad at the poor woman who works there?

That's why I go out of my way to be as cool as I can be with people in stores. Maybe you have to work retail to know what it's like dealing with stupid and rude people all day. One night, when I used to work at Toys R Us, I was carrying some kind of 50-pound sandbox or a pool or something up a ladder to put it in the overstock where it literally touched the rafters. I was standing on the top rung struggling to get the thing over my head, and this woman starts asking me about High School Musical underwear. Just, really? I looked like an amazing choice for that question?
 
[quote name='Survivalism'] That's why I go out of my way to be as cool as I can be with people in stores. Maybe you have to work retail to know what it's like dealing with stupid and rude people all day.[/QUOTE]
It's a common sentiment among retail workers that everyone should be forced to work retail for at least one year to teach them how to be a better customer.
 
[quote name='Survivalism']I went into GameCrazy a couple weeks ago. I didn't even get a chance to look at the games when the guy came up and asked what I wanted. I told him I wasn't looking for anything in particular and he goes "well we have Call of Duty 4." I was like "yeah, I'm not really that into Call of Duty." He goes "what kind of games do you like, then?" I said "well, I like a lot of shooters and stuff, I just don't dig Call of Duty," and he LAUGHED in my fance and said "you like shooters and you don't play Call of Duty?!" He was blown away. "Sorry, I'm just not into war games. I'm no good at the tactical stuff, I like the ones where it's one guy taking on everything." Then he spent no less than 10 minutes telling me why Nazi Zombies is the greatest thing ever, then randomly began describing every single aspect of Halo ODST for at least 10 minutes. Then he goes "now, don't tell anyone I do this...but since I only make minimum wage here, what I'll do is preorder a game and pay a little on it every week, so when it comes out I don't have to pay full price." I'm like "wow. Holy shiiiiit, that's amazing." "Yeah, man, that's why you should preorder and buy them used." That's pretty much when I left.

And now they're out of business.[/quote]

Any GC store that hired an idiot like that deserves what it got.
 
I have a friend who works at a Library, who I thought of when Survivalism posted his Library story. I listen to him all the time and man, for the center of learning that it is, libraries just seem to attract the dumbest people imaginable. Here's one such example:

At his library, they send overdue notices once the item is late for half a loan period. Borrow a book for 1 month, they send you a notice when it's overdue 15 days. Simple right?

Some woman calls up.

Woman: "Hi, I want to know, why exactly, you sent me, an overdue notice, 5 days ago- FIVE DAYS!- when, I returned it."

Friend: "Alright, ma'am, no problem. Can you give me your library card number? Also, when did you return it?"

Woman: "Well, I returned it, in the outside book drop."

Friend: "... We check that three times a day, ma'am, but I just need to know when it was dropped off."

Woman: "I dropped it off, about one hour ago. So why, why did you send me, an overdue notice five days ago?!"

Friend: "... Wait, what?"

Woman: "I RETURNED, MY BOOK, ONE HOUR AGO. YOU SENT ME, AN OVERDUE NOTICE, FIVE DAYS AGO. WHY?! I RETURNED IT!"

Friend: "... Because... now it's 20 days overdue, and we do send you notices when you're overdue, and you were overdue 5 days ago, and you only returned it now?"

Woman: "BUT, I RETURNED IT, I DID!"

Friend: *sob*
 
This is from a while ago at my bookstore.

Customer: Can I return this?
M: As long as it's in new condition and within the return period.
*checks receipt*
M: It's within the return period and--
*looking at highlighting and notes in the book*
Me: Why are you returning this?
C: I already had the book.
M: What's with all the writing?
C: I was taking notes. What's the problem?
M: ... We can't resell it like this, nor return it to a distributor. Sorry, you can't return it.
C: ?!? Is this a standard policy?
 
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