How many here have worked in retail?

[kick-ass-bob]

I have, and I find it very amusing when people who have not don't understand the concept of "the back of the store"

I think many people think that the back is set up much like the front, where each item has its own place where a person can go and find whatever is missing out in the store, and just pluck it off a shelf.

When I was in retail, our back room was about 400 square feet, so we would have boxes piled (not stacked) about 10 feet high at times - especially around Thanksgiving.

We found it very amusing when someone would ask, "can you see if you have one in the back?"

We would open the door and show them, "yeah - there might be one in here."

"Oh my, I'll come back next week."

"That's probably a good idea."

:rofl:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

1. I have not--

But that is wicked funny!

:rofl:

[kick-ass-bob]

2. We were a small store - and people would see the truck roll

into town. They would flock to us that very day, "we saw the truck"

:D

[dryan]

3. I worked at K-Mart...

for 2 years in college. What would get me is (1.) people that would "sample" the makeup--open nail polish, lipstick etc. When I would see that, I would toss it out immediately. or (2.) women that would buy special dresses and bring them back the next day. Uck! This is one of the reasons why retailers are getting tougher on returns.

[proud2BlibKansan]

48. I worked at KMart too

I still laugh about all the shoes that came back in August.

"My son only wore these ONCE" And you could tell the kid had spent at least all summer romping in them. Probably most of the previous school year as well. LOL

[Maestro]

4. All during my college days in the late 80's.

Men's suits.

[swag]

5. I have worked in retail.

The back room was good for making out with equally bored female colleagues.

[kick-ass-bob]

6. Not in the store I worked in!

:scared: :yoiks:

[jane_pippin]

7. Ha! Here's another one: "Sorry, we don't have that--it's not

in our inventory."

"Could you order it?"

"No, we don't carry it at all. We can't get it. If we could, we'd probably carry it."

"Well, would one of your other locations have it?"

"Um. No, probably not since it's not something we keep in our inventory."

"I see. Well could you just call your other store to see if they have it?"

"Sure. I'll get right on that."


The best part is when they call later on to ask someone else just in case you were bullshitting them the whole time, and then that person has to go through the whole routine.

:rofl:

[kick-ass-bob]

8. I loved the returns of merchandise that we NEVER EVER

carried.

"Oh, yeah I got it here."

"Ma'am, we've never carried that item here."

"No, I got it right back there."

OK, whatever. I filled out the return sheet - it was for a single dollar. :eyes:

And then I think she went shopping (which means we could have just "exchanged" and not done any paperwork. :eyes::eyes:

[ScreamingMeemie]

11. I worked after Christmas Returns for a few years with Penney's

Me, a hairstylist in Penney's salon, but anyone could sign up for the extra $$. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff people brought in to "return"...Cans of paint, old ties from the 60's...you name it. It was fun assigning values..."We'll return that for 25 cents. A lot of fun to do, and extra money too. :hi:

[jane_pippin]

13. Oh yeah! And the reason is "I decided I don't like it."

Oh. I see. So you read it/listened to it/wore it/watched it...whatever, and you weren't a fan, so now I have to take this unsellable thing back--or take it in the first place since I can clearly see it never came from the store anyway--and figure out what to do with it. Hooray!

We had someone once just before Christmas who forgot to mention that she was supposed to get a 10% discount for whatever reason, so my co-worker had to void out her sale, redo the whole thing, all for about 2 bucks for which she came back about 15 minutes later. Now, I understand wanting your discount but if you know you're supposed to get one and you aren't a regular customer (meaning we probably don't know you're supposed to get one because we never see you and we aren't psychic), 1. don't wait until the whole transaction is over to mention it and 2. let it go! If the person wanted the 2 dollars so bad, good lord, I'd have just given it to the customer myself and avoided the hassle. Do you need a cup of coffee? Is that why you need that 2 bucks? Here, I'll go buy you one if it means this can be over. You need smokes? Here take mine. Happy?

People. They're all nuts. :D

[LaraMN]

14. Oh yes- word for word,

but we actually HAD to call the other locations to see if they had an item, if a customer asked us to. People would expect us to do it even if they were holding up a freaking line of customers and I was the only one in the department. :eyes: I worked in the high-end clothing department at a store. The only area that was worse was (ugh) women's shoes; you couldn't have paid me enough to work over there.:scared:

[flamingyouth]

9. Yes!

And I totally hear you about the "back of the store." We have had a lot of people seem to think that the back room is some mystical place where other, more special merchandise resides. Like lines we don't even carry, for instance.

"Do you carry Lalique crystal?"

"No, I'm sorry we don't."

"Could you check in the back?" :rofl:

[kick-ass-bob]

10. maybe they thought the back was a wormhole

which took you to a different store so you could get the other product from them.

:rofl:

[Jamastiene]

51. Don't know know that customers believe there is a magical

year round Santa back there along with a wizard who *poof* makes whatever you want just for them?

[supernova]

12. Worked in the first video store around here

when the same store had "family" films and the special "room in the back" with all the naughty films. :-)

Our back room was piled high with videos and display boxes in various states of brokeness or completion for rental because they were new.

edit: If we were out of copies of a film, "Could you check in the back?" :rolf:

It just did not matter how many times I tried to explain that if it weren't on the shelf, we didn't have it right then and please can I suggest something else?

[El Fuego]

15. I worked in retail BUT

I find that if you ask the kids working in the store "Do you have Doohickies?" they will smile and say no, just to get rid of you because it is too much work to go look. And then it frequently happens that I'll the Doohickies sitting on the shelf in the store on my own. Then I have to find them and show them "See, you do have Doohickies!" And they shrug their shoulders and say it's news to them.

In the produce department at the grocery store they usually have stuff in the back they haven't brought out yet. BUT, if you ask one of the teenagers working there if they have fresh dill (for example) they will say they will very authoritatively say they don't have it. But then I find the produce manager and he will go into "the back" and magically produce the dill.

[Beer Snob-50]

16. all through high school and college

we were never open sundays or holidays when i worked there (that is how long ago it was) the best part of it was the dates i was able to procur.

[Blue Diadem]

17. It depends on the store and customers can't possibly know

how much inventory a store has in its stockroom. I've worked retail and at one larger store we did have many things in the back..we also had a very large stockroom with everything placed in order so we could easily retrieve it. They eventually moved some corporate offices into the store, taking up valuable stock area which cut our ability to have what the customers wanted. It didn't surprise me when our sales began to drop soon after that. People very seldom come back next week..they'll go to the store down the block or at the other end of the mall. That particular store dropped 2 grades..from a class 1 to a class 3.

I've also worked for a national chain which has various sized stores and stockrooms. My home store was larger but with a tiny stockroom. Everything was an absolute mess..boxes piled to the ceiling..nothing in order and impossible to put in order. We only had 2 full-timers and 1 part-timer making it near impossible to maintain floor coverage, prevent shoplifting and fill displays. I would cover other stores occasionally and discovered that each store had various sized stockrooms..some stock rooms were bigger than the sales floor.

IMO,it never hurts to ask if there's more in the back. We were able to get my granddaughter's Christmas present by asking. As I walked up to the end cap display, another customer was taking the last one. We thought it would be the last since it was a 1/2 off sale, but decided to ask anyway. Thank goodness we did because the young man told us he'd look and he came out with another one.

[LostinVA]

35. True -- my mom got the last "ever" pink ipod for my niece

that way at Best Buy. They apparently aren't making them anymore. They one they had had on display was in the back, all in its case, great shape... so, Mom got that AND a $35 gift card because it was display. She knows how horrible retail is from me, and is a very good customer if she gets at least adequate service. My Dad on the other hand.... oi.

[xchrom]

18. it's what i do for a living.

oh. the. stories.

i've worked in furniture -- boutique manufaturers, so everything is custom -- the hand holding you wouldn't believe.

[kick-ass-bob]

21. why don't you share a good one?

My favorite of my experience was the idiot stolen check couple.

[xchrom]

42. well, -- it's a favorite but it's also

a perennial pain in my ass.

our furniture is manufactured in small boutique factories in southern cali -- we're up in norcal.

people are always in search of armoires and cabinets for their television -- but we tell them such things as make sure of their measurements.

i.e. make sure it will go in the damn door -- or up stairs.
make sure the armoire is deep enough, etc.

out of every ten orders -- there will one or two people who are asking us to take the items back because they screw it up.

these things usually run 2 grand and up -- and because we are a small business -- we usually have to make some kind of accommodation with them.

[Blue Diadem]

40. Is it similar to selling carpeting and custom window coverings

They always have plenty of time between ordering and installation to think of any question under the sun..and worry worry worry that it's not going to be the right choice and then question if that's the color or style they ordered.

[LisaL]

19. It's a real crappy way to make a living.

And a very crappy living at that.

[cally]

20. Gift wrap counter at Christmas time

I still have nightmares about it. People are not nice!

[seaglass]

22. No, but if someone worked at a grocery store can you tell me

how the frozen vegetables are organized? It's not alphabetical order. I stare at the cases trying to figure it out but it makes no sense.

[ET Awful]

23. Marketing and by brand. The most popular or, in many cases,

most profitable items are displayed more prominently and to draw more attention. The less popular items are displayed at shelves lower than eye level or in spots where they aren't as visible as the most popular.

Also, when it comes to display of Coke, Pepsi, etc., much of that display is dictated by discounts from distributors. They give discounts for end of aisle displays and the like.

[datasuspect]

24. what always would piss me off was the sense of

consumer entitlement.

[jane_pippin]

26. Perhaps one of these is stamped on them somewhere:

:shrug:
I'd tell you to check for it, but that could be unpleasant for everyone involved.

I do know what you mean though--that's the kind of customer I can't stand. Luckily in the job I have now we don't see too much of that but in some other jobs I've had--Oh. Mah. God. The nerve of some people.

[datasuspect]

27. i'd like to take this opportunity to thank you

for that pic.

i remain in your debt.

[jane_pippin]

28. No no, let me thank you for creating the chance to use it!

I've been sitting on that thing for weeks now, waiting for the right moment to bust it out.

Have fun with it. :hi:

[datasuspect]

29. i can only call you "sister"

all power to the people

[Left Is Write]

25. Yes, I have. I even worked retail at Christmas time.

[skygazer]

30. Not only that

They don't understand why you can't keep extra of everything back there. I run a wine and liquor department and I've had people get pissed when I run out of something (which very rarely happens, by the way) - they ask me, "why didn't you order more?" or "why don't you keep extra in the back?"

Because, Jackass, if I kept extra of everything I carry just in case I happened to run out, I'd need three more back rooms and there'd be no room for anything but booze in them.

They also seem to think that everything they purchase just materializes - they can't understand that if the weather is poor, the crab boats can't go out, or if there's a killing frost, there's a shortage of lettuce, etc.

[LostinVA]

38. OOOH! This makes me think of a great story!!!

So, there was a bad ice storm in AL, where our Home Office/warehouse was... so customer orders not filled by Ingram were several days late. NO WAY would Corporate let us ordered these orders from Ingram -- we had to wait for the warehouse truck/weekly delivery. So, a chick comes in, pissed off about this, screams at me for like three minutes, RIGHT IN MY FACE. Tells me she doesn't give a fuck what the reason is (she wore a WWJD pin -- I swear to Goddess). Then, PUT HER HAND AGAINST MY SHOULDER AND PUSHED ME, hard enough to rock em back two steps. I said, "Don't touch em again." She started screaming, "FUCK YOU! I'm the customer! Yada Yada Yada Fired Yada." She leaves. An hour later, my DM calls and says we need to have a phone conference with HR because the woman called and complained about me! Is aid fine, but first I had to call the local PD to file an assault charge against the woman (hey, I know her name,e tc. because of the book order). Long story short, they dropped it.

Other GOOD stories (of many):

1.) The Snake Tattoo Woman who was a "lawyer" who stole a $120 Bible and tried to strangle me at the cash wrap, and
2.) The DM, RM.a nd VP threatening to fire me because I closed the store down due to a HIGH Category 3 hurricane approaching. They wanted em to WAIT until it hit. Morans.
3.) The Baptist preacher who brought his Bible back because ethe spine scracked... the Bible was 15 years old, cheap edition, and totally color-coded with highlighters. Our store had only been there for five years.
4.) Self-elected censors who pulled off books they didn't like.
5.) KKK guys coming in on MLK day and slapping "Martin Luther Coon" stickers on the Black History books. It ended with me being called a "Nigger Lover" and telling em God would cause a rain of fire to fall down on me.
6.) A woman screaming at me asking why we sold her teenage daughter a "homo book."
7.) The guy who said aliens wanted him to sleep in our store.
8.) Various scary encounters with "Turner Diaries" people.
9.) Drunk dude pissing in the children's section.
10.) Various drug ODs.

And that's not even talking about the staff, or Corporate labor violations...

[flamingyouth]

46. Good grief - I love the people who get in your face

That woman sounds like she needs anger management, therapy and drugs. Good god... those people you've described.:wow:

I had a guy on Dec. 23 who really resembled Lurch from The Addams Family. I wrapped a present for him and I swear he stood about three inches away from me, glaring and leering at me the whole time. God, he gave me the creeps. :scared:

[skygazer]

49. I love that "I'm the customer" line

Whoever came up with the (false) notion that "the customer is always right" should be taken out and shot. Really, for the most part I enjoy my customers and think that probably as many as 98% are perfectly nice, ordinary people. It's the 2% who are assholes who give all customers a bad name - they're the most memorable and visible.

I'm extremely nice and professional but I also don't take unwarranted shit from anybody. I'm paid to put up with people but I'm NOT paid to be verbally or physically abused. I had a woman at the checkout one day who was just miserable, complaining and cursing and making a fuss about stuff none of us had any control over. When she called me stupid, I'd had enough. I stopped what I was doing, leaned on my knuckles right over the checkstand and got within an inch of her face. I told her, "Ma'am, I'll only tell you this once - you are out of line but I will accept an apology." Then I waited, without moving.

She just stammered and fumbled for a couple of seconds, then she did apologize. Said she was having a bad day and just wasn't thinking. I immediately moved back, continued checking and told her, "Apology accepted." End of issue. People don't expect retail clerks to fire back - they often look at them as punching bags.

[transeo]

31. Second most awful job of my life

I hated retail. The customers were the meanest, most vile bunch of humans I've ever met. The worst job though was cleaning the meat department at a major supermarket. I couldn't go near a meat dept. for years afterward without coming down with severe nausea.

[crispini]

32. We actually did have a back of the store like that.

We'd get the boxes and stock them nicely on shelves waiting to be taken out to the floor. But we were SUPER organized and the stockroom was HUGE.

[baldguy]

33. I worked a Sears one xmas.

(One of many retail jobs)

We used the stacked-up microwave ovens as steps to get to the rear-projection TVs. The warehouse had 40-ft high ceilings and during the holidays it was stacked up to the top. They also had about 10 trailers out behind the warehouse with MORE stock.

Looking for something "in the back room" was an expedition in itself.

[RockaFowler]

54. I started at Sears during Christmas

I worked there for 4 years. I liked it when I first started, but then it got a little harsh there. I was working in Jewelry and Perfume and moved upstairs to Big Ticket (TV/Stereos). It was so cutthroat. People would steal your sales if you were off one day. I used to give people my card during the day and the weasels at night took my sales. I don't think I could ever go back to retail unless it was without commission.

[LostinVA]

34. I managed a bookstore, and can go one better

We actually had people (more than you might think), who would not only do what you described, but would ask us why we couldn't just go "in the back" and PRINT A COPY UP FOR THEM. OMG.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

36. ...

:rofl:

[Blue Diadem]

37. OMG..

:rofl:

[LostinVA]

39. I SWEAR I'm not joking,am nd this was only ten years ago

because should have known better....

[Blue Diadem]

41. I believe you..

We used to get pretty gross about people like that..like they expect sales people to pull it out of thin air..or as one salesman I worked with used to say..

Excuse me while I go shit that out for that customer.

[flamingyouth]

45. C'mon, slacker, go fire up the printing press!

Just more proof of the adage, "The customer's always right and usually crazy too." :rofl:

[miss_american_pie]

43. And don't you love when they want to use the restroom back there?

Sure lady, let me move three broken rounders, 15 shipment boxes and a hot steamer so you can get to our toilet. Because you won't walk ten feet to the nearest public facility.

(We did make exceptions for kids and medical emergencies.)

I think I'd have to be pretty desparate to work retail again.

[kick-ass-bob]

44. YEEESSSS!!!!

Seriously lady, you DON'T want to go in there!!

:D

[khashka]

47. I have... and I have a proposition.

No one should be allowed to buy anything 'til they've worked in retail.

Khash.

[bigwillq]

50. In high school

I worked at three different retail stores. I knew from that point on that I wanted to go to college so I never had to work in retail again. It just wasn't for me.

[tuvor]

52. Everyone buys retail. Everyone should have to work retail for a year.

Just to get a sense of what retailers have to put up with.

[NuttyFluffers]

53. as tidy as Doris Day's kitchen,

if you count her real life kitchen after one of her drunken benders.

seriously, i think working retail should be mandatory for all citizens. something like 2 years of retail work before you are given the right to drink, smoke, gamble, or vote (but if you haven't worked retail i'd gladly let you sign up for the military. only freebie adult thing i'd let slide. perhaps the only thing worse than retail would be boot camp and war). we'd be a far more polite society if everone had to face down hordes of obnoxious customers, many who'd be better off as soilent green, for endless stretches at a time. and the tip level would skyrocket.