RETAIL SALES

ok, i started this journal to vent my emotions.  most of the time i am either depressed or joyous.  but i need to vent a little anger tonight. 

this entry may or may not appeal to journal readers.  but sometimes i have to just get things out to make myself feel human again......... thus, this entry.   

can i get a show of hands of those who currently or have previously worked in retail??? 1-2-3-4.................ok, alot of you.  well, until august of 2003, i had never worked retail.  i was always a data entry clerk, or an office manager.  i shopped alot so i did come into contact with the retail employee on numerous occasions; sales associates, cashiers, customer service clerks, and managers.  i have always tried to be courteous, but in cases of whether i am right or the store is right about an issue, i have always stood my ground.  i don't necessarily believe the customer is always right, but if "I" am sure i am right, i will stick to my guns.  

when i go into any store, i.e. wal-mart, i find myself adjusting stock on shelves, putting things back in their proper place, picking fallen items up off the floor and placing them on the shelves.  that has always been me, the way i am.  yes, i have left an item in the wrong place before, and even felt guilty about it on the way home.  i am prone to panic attacks, and had a major one in a grocery store check-out lane once, and had to abandon my buggy full of groceries, and leave the store.  but i at least had the decency to push the buggy over to the customer service window, and told the clerk i had an emergency, and couldn't purchase or put back the items.  

i currently work for a major chain of craft stores.  our store is one of the biggest in the southeast.  we carry an extremely large variety of craft and home decor items.  and yes, it keeps all our employees pretty busy.

 

i love people...........usually.  since becoming a sales associate/cashier at this craft store, i have slowly developed a disliking to alot of people......i know i know........i should develop my patience and compassion more.........sorry, ain't gonna happen i don't think..........   let me ask you this......if you walk over to the buggy corral and get a buggy when you come in to shop.......why have you suddenly developed amnesia when it is time to put that same buggy back in the corral??  is the sea of bright orange buggies less obvious after 2 hours of shopping??  does the customer service area (where i spend 5-8 hours a day) seem like a more appropriate place to return that buggy?  obviously, since it seems every single buggy ends up there.......grrrrrrrr.......and i hate dozens of bright orange buggies crowding my space..........        

 

and when you pick up something from space A, and decide a minute later you don't want it, is space A too hard to find again?  so, let's put it in space T, at the end of the aisle, or possibly space Z on the next aisle.  yep, i always thought the bright pink feather boas looked better over in the wilton cake pan aisle.........grrrrrrrrr  

children........God's precious gift and promise to us.......but not someone who needs to go shopping with mom or grandma in a craft store........and especially not with dad....who doesn't want to be in the store in the first place.  i understand a newborn baby crying at the top of his/her lungs , as well as a child 3-5 years old, who, after being drug store to store all day, is tired, hungry, and way past nap time.....but why are they there?  when they start crying incessantly for 10 minutes, isn't it time to leave the store, and maybe either go home for nappy time , or stop at mcdonald's for a happy meal and a romp in the balls?  sigh...........  

and do parents allow their children to just destroy their home, their room?  if not, then why is it ok for them to destroy our store?           one story comes to mind here that shows my point:  in december of 2003, a mother and her 2 children, a boy and a girl, both between the ages of 6-8, graced our store with their presence, and while the mother was shopping for last minute craft items for Christmas, the 2 children were making a game of taking the clear glass Christmas tree ornaments (of which there were hundreds in a bin) and smashing them on the floor, tickled pink with the way they "smashed" on the floor, and made that glass tinkling sound.  the mother was standing 3-4 feet away from them.........how could she not hear or see them???  fearing the safety of the children and other customers, our manager went to the mother and asked her to please have the children stop.  she gets indignant and flounces out of the store.  people!!!  

cell phones..........yes, they have become a necessary evil......but not in a store at the check out counter.......unless you need to call someone to bring you money to pay for your purchase.  case in point:  just this week, i had a pregnant woman approach my register (which used to be the main customer service desk, but has been downgraded to just another register) and had her cell phone firmly plastered to her ear.  she put five items on the counter, still talking into the cell phone.  i greeted her, no response, then began the process of ringing up her "purchase".  upon completion of ringing her up, i stood there awaiting her payment.  she excuses herself from the person on the cell phone for a second, and asks me what i want or need.  i told her that her total was blah blah blah, and she snaps back at me, i am returning this stuff, not purchasing it.  then she told the person on the phone she would call them back.  finally!!!!!!!!  she threw down her receipt, and i said sorry ma'am, you were on your cell phone and didn't mention what you wished to do, and since your items were not in a bag, and i had no instructions from you, i wrongly assumed you wanted to make a purchase.  she said "when you pay my cell phone bill, you can complain about it!"  okey dokey!!  grrrrrrrrrrr.  then.......as i began the process of voiding the transaction, and then processing her return, she mutters that customer service in that store sucked.........ok, someone better sit on me...and quick.....grrrrrrrrrrr.  to make matters worse, i had to get her to complete the return form, which is easily misunderstood and often completed incorrectly.  i explained, as i do to all customers that have returns, that each item is under the heading........so, she completely screws up the form, and i asked her since she signed where the phone number goes, please just put it there...........and she slammed her hands on the counter, and says, that's it, that is it.  you people suck in here.  and then she proceeded to tell me she worked in customer service and she knew how it was supposed to be done, i didn't need to be telling her........ok, well then why didn't you do it right, right???  of course, i didn't say that.  it was hard not to.  and i pity that poor baby she is carrying.........i guess she used me to get even with all those people who mistreated her on her job.........sigh.      ok, i have vented, and feel somewhat better.  so......dear friends, please remember this........when you are in a retail store, please try to think about the poor sales associates who have to stay for an hour or more after the store closes, just to clean and straighten up the nastiness and thoughtlessness of others.......and put things neatly back where you found them........including those dang orange buggies...........