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I've been so busy this past week with work. I originally was only scheduled four days with shifts that ranged from 3.5 hours to 6 hours. Thursday, my manager called in sick, and the assistant manager (who's really awesome, so I'll resist using the nickname for this position from Chuck) called me in to cover his shift. Unfortunately, that put us over in hours.
(Explanation: In some retail, there's this really weird practice where if a store needs another person during a shift but doesn't have enough hours to cover that shift, the manager can take that shift and the hours s/he works won't count. Or something. I think it's because the management is salaried.)
All my shifts were hectic and a blur. Holiday shoppers are fucking scary. I've had a small crowd mob me a couple of times when I was helping another shopper. The mob was really insistent, because they had been waiting for assistance for a couple of minutes and there was nobody else on the floor (reasons: we only had two workers in the store, because the third was on break, or we had two people manning registers and only one person on the floor). In one case, the shoppers I had originally been helping up and left; I spent five minutes after things had quieted down, searching the store for them (and this was AFTER I found the item they were searching for, which was hard to find). On other occasions, the shoppers were totally understanding, because - hey! - it's the holiday season, we're obviously understaffed, and getting a sales associate to help anybody is kind of a clusterfuck, but we're all really polite and willing to help them. (Which is the truth. I'd rather have somebody accept my help when I offer it, than have them refuse or completely ignore me and search the entire store in vain, only then coming up and asking for help when they're frustrated)
So, the holiday shopping season is running me ragged.
A few points of etiquette that I'd like for people to take from this:
1) If you walk into a store and have NO IDEA where the thing you're looking for is, when the sales associate asks you if there is anything she could help you find (like they're supposed to; I know in my store, that's one the things we're supposed to ask every customer), tell her yes. She know the store better than you do and can have you in and out quicker than you can if you were to try to hunt down the item on your own.
2) Don't walk by and ignore the sales associate when she asks if you need help. It's rude. Even if you're in there to browse, just tell the associate that you're browsing. She'll usually direct you to awesome places to look, especially for good sales.
3) If the store is busy and a sales associate is helping you and gets attacked by 10 other people who have questions or need help or has to jump on register because the check out line is reaching the back of the store - just chill out. Don't leave, assuming she's forgotten about you.
In the case of other customers, the associate will normally ask for them to hold on a moment as she helps you. If those other customers are unreasonable (i.e. a mob), the sales associate will try her hardest to get back with you after she's finished with one of them. Or, if she's super awesome, she'll help you both at the same time.
In the case of the line, the associate is really sorry that she can't help you at this time, but as soon as that line dies down, she will totally get back to you.
Other points of etiquette for this holiday season:
1) Don't call the store in the afternoon and ask the sales associate to look up a billion and one items for you and then ask if there's any way she can see if any of the items that weren't in the store can be special ordered. Normally, we're cool about looking up items this way, but when you recite your entire Christmas list at us over the phone and we're busy with customers in the store, it's wasting our time and inconveniencing customers who might actually buy something. Keep your calls between 1 and 2 minutes. We don't have anything beyond that time to spare. If it's not in the store, it's not in the store.
1.5) For that matter, check our store's website if it's not in the store. Anything we can order, you can order too. The only differences are that you can choose shipping methods (we can't), but you'll have to pay more in shipping than we would.
2) Please don't talk on your cellphone when you're checking out. Yes, we're trying to sell you other things at the register, but some of those deals are pretty awesome. Also, we ask you important things like, "Do you need a gift receipt?"
I kid you not, I have had people yakking away on their cellphones as I ring them up. When I ask them about gift receipts, they inattentively tell me no. After I take their money and bag their items, they ask me if I printed a gift receipt. *facepalm* Being on the other side of customer service, I can't counter or point out that it's all their fault, because America's customer culture follows the archaic motto, "The customer is always right" (which usually implies that the customer can do no wrong). After the transaction is complete, I can't print a gift receipt. This is why you need to pay attention to your purchases and not the other person on the line; you can call them back.
3) Please don't ask if a store can do price-matching. Hardly anybody does that anymore. Why? Because of places like Wal-mart and Target.
3.5) Same applies to layaway. I honestly can't think of any store that does layaway. Not even department stores. No store has done layaway since the 90's.
4) On the subject, don't tell us that you can get something for cheaper at Wal-mart or Target. It's rude and there's nothing we can do about it. Sales associates do not have the power to magically change prices so you won't go to Wal-mart of Target (which, btw, are not my store's competitors, as far as pricing goes).
5) In the face of a customer's rudeness, I still manage to be polite and chipper, and yet, they can be offended and some will (very loudly) complain to their companions. If you're one of these customers, and my politeness and sunny disposition offend you after you've been rude to me, the problem isn't me; it's you. So, that being said, during this holiday season, please check your attitude at the door. We're here to help you, even if you're being an insufferable dick.
5.5) Don't come into a store spoiling for a fight. Sales associates are generally a non-confrontational bunch that would rather help you and save you money.
(Explanation: In some retail, there's this really weird practice where if a store needs another person during a shift but doesn't have enough hours to cover that shift, the manager can take that shift and the hours s/he works won't count. Or something. I think it's because the management is salaried.)
All my shifts were hectic and a blur. Holiday shoppers are fucking scary. I've had a small crowd mob me a couple of times when I was helping another shopper. The mob was really insistent, because they had been waiting for assistance for a couple of minutes and there was nobody else on the floor (reasons: we only had two workers in the store, because the third was on break, or we had two people manning registers and only one person on the floor). In one case, the shoppers I had originally been helping up and left; I spent five minutes after things had quieted down, searching the store for them (and this was AFTER I found the item they were searching for, which was hard to find). On other occasions, the shoppers were totally understanding, because - hey! - it's the holiday season, we're obviously understaffed, and getting a sales associate to help anybody is kind of a clusterfuck, but we're all really polite and willing to help them. (Which is the truth. I'd rather have somebody accept my help when I offer it, than have them refuse or completely ignore me and search the entire store in vain, only then coming up and asking for help when they're frustrated)
So, the holiday shopping season is running me ragged.
A few points of etiquette that I'd like for people to take from this:
1) If you walk into a store and have NO IDEA where the thing you're looking for is, when the sales associate asks you if there is anything she could help you find (like they're supposed to; I know in my store, that's one the things we're supposed to ask every customer), tell her yes. She know the store better than you do and can have you in and out quicker than you can if you were to try to hunt down the item on your own.
2) Don't walk by and ignore the sales associate when she asks if you need help. It's rude. Even if you're in there to browse, just tell the associate that you're browsing. She'll usually direct you to awesome places to look, especially for good sales.
3) If the store is busy and a sales associate is helping you and gets attacked by 10 other people who have questions or need help or has to jump on register because the check out line is reaching the back of the store - just chill out. Don't leave, assuming she's forgotten about you.
In the case of other customers, the associate will normally ask for them to hold on a moment as she helps you. If those other customers are unreasonable (i.e. a mob), the sales associate will try her hardest to get back with you after she's finished with one of them. Or, if she's super awesome, she'll help you both at the same time.
In the case of the line, the associate is really sorry that she can't help you at this time, but as soon as that line dies down, she will totally get back to you.
Other points of etiquette for this holiday season:
1) Don't call the store in the afternoon and ask the sales associate to look up a billion and one items for you and then ask if there's any way she can see if any of the items that weren't in the store can be special ordered. Normally, we're cool about looking up items this way, but when you recite your entire Christmas list at us over the phone and we're busy with customers in the store, it's wasting our time and inconveniencing customers who might actually buy something. Keep your calls between 1 and 2 minutes. We don't have anything beyond that time to spare. If it's not in the store, it's not in the store.
1.5) For that matter, check our store's website if it's not in the store. Anything we can order, you can order too. The only differences are that you can choose shipping methods (we can't), but you'll have to pay more in shipping than we would.
2) Please don't talk on your cellphone when you're checking out. Yes, we're trying to sell you other things at the register, but some of those deals are pretty awesome. Also, we ask you important things like, "Do you need a gift receipt?"
I kid you not, I have had people yakking away on their cellphones as I ring them up. When I ask them about gift receipts, they inattentively tell me no. After I take their money and bag their items, they ask me if I printed a gift receipt. *facepalm* Being on the other side of customer service, I can't counter or point out that it's all their fault, because America's customer culture follows the archaic motto, "The customer is always right" (which usually implies that the customer can do no wrong). After the transaction is complete, I can't print a gift receipt. This is why you need to pay attention to your purchases and not the other person on the line; you can call them back.
3) Please don't ask if a store can do price-matching. Hardly anybody does that anymore. Why? Because of places like Wal-mart and Target.
3.5) Same applies to layaway. I honestly can't think of any store that does layaway. Not even department stores. No store has done layaway since the 90's.
4) On the subject, don't tell us that you can get something for cheaper at Wal-mart or Target. It's rude and there's nothing we can do about it. Sales associates do not have the power to magically change prices so you won't go to Wal-mart of Target (which, btw, are not my store's competitors, as far as pricing goes).
5) In the face of a customer's rudeness, I still manage to be polite and chipper, and yet, they can be offended and some will (very loudly) complain to their companions. If you're one of these customers, and my politeness and sunny disposition offend you after you've been rude to me, the problem isn't me; it's you. So, that being said, during this holiday season, please check your attitude at the door. We're here to help you, even if you're being an insufferable dick.
5.5) Don't come into a store spoiling for a fight. Sales associates are generally a non-confrontational bunch that would rather help you and save you money.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-19 02:35 am (UTC)From:Sorry you've been getting mobbed. I am terrified enough of the press of people when looking for things from my Christmas list; I can't even imagine what it's like on the other side of things. D:
no subject
Date: 2010-12-19 02:42 am (UTC)From:But you meeting my girlfriend at the end of the month is going to be AWESOME. Please do not steal her from me with your sheer awesomeness.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-19 05:06 am (UTC)From:I'll survive this holiday season, hopefully with my sanity intact. It's just been so overwhelming that when I come home at night and finally decide to turn in, I sleep very deeply and almost miss my alarm the next day D:
I'll also be exciting to meet your girlfriend! No worries about me stealing her away with shiny wit and instant likability. I'm playing the tragic hero right now in my own life and refuse to date on account of my deeply wounded heart. *sniff sniff*
no subject
Date: 2010-12-19 05:11 am (UTC)From:I guess I've got it pretty good though; I've only been mobbed on Black Friday and I had a counter to separate me from the crazies.
Good luck!
no subject
Date: 2010-12-19 07:49 am (UTC)From:There's layaway in a lot of places here, but they all advertise it.
Christmas brings out the worst of all the asshole customers. I'm amazed that they have anyone to buy presents for at all with the way some of them act.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-19 08:07 am (UTC)From:Asshole customers: After one instance, I found myself for the first time privately wishing that the dickbag's children were ingrates and resentful of their parents.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-19 08:13 am (UTC)From:However, yes, it is much much much easier if a customer actually brings the damn receipt. And the card that they used (if paid with credit/debit). We're not Wal-mart, so we can't give them cash back for a return, even if they used a card to pay for the original transaction.
Actually, despite the rabid claims of a customer, I don't even think Wal-mart really practices that. It would be dishonest and can potentially screw a customer if their purchases were stolen. As completely evil as Wal-mart is, I just can't see them doing that; it's too stupid.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-19 08:13 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2010-12-22 07:14 am (UTC)From:Actually, at my store, if people pay with their debit card and choose debit rather than credit, when we do returns it comes back as cash. But then I get people who want it to go back to their account. Because cash is so difficult to deal with? IDEK.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-22 07:15 am (UTC)From: