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By "stealth shoppers" I don't mean the "secret shoppers" who are really the quality assurance people or whomever that verify our employees are doing their jobs properly.
No, I mean ... well, let me explain.
At my job currently at the wholesale club, I work primarily as a cashier, although I do work LP checking receipts at the front door... and then last summer, management abruptly decided I was going to work the back door on Sunday mornings... starting at 5AM. Apparently someone needs to make sure the overnight crew aren't stealing stuff when they go outside on their smoke breaks.
Mind you, they didn't ASK before giving me this shift which necessitated a major change in my life on Saturdays. They just DID it. And they'd asked me once before if I'd wanted to work the back door job. I had considered it, but turned it down.
This time they just gave me the job, no asking.
But I'm getting off topic.
So, mostly my job on Sundays is to come in at the ass-crack of morning, eat either McDonalds food or microwaveable meals while checking the overnight crew as they head outside, and signing in the one vendor who comes in to check their stock. Otherwise, it's a fat lot of NOTHING. (Which is why I bring in my laptop and watch DVDs.)
Anyway. Last holiday season, the Nintendo Wii (oh god how I hate that thing, from a retail worker standpoint) was released. And, of course, Nintendo knows how to create a demand for it, by releasing such very very small quantities of units. And you'd see people lined up in the shopping center at the Kids World (Toys 'R Us chain), Target, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy. And invariably we would get people coming to us after those other places sold out (as our store flat out refused to do pre-sales or midnight sales on ANY merchandise).
So I'm driving to work Sunday morning at, like 4:45, having just stopped at McD's for food, and driving past the people lined up outside Kids World and Target, knowing they're waiting for the Wii, and knowing about 95% of them won't get one.
I go to work, get my stuff all set up, eat my food, do some mindless paperwork that my manager gave me to do (so at least I'm doing SOMETHING), while my DVD plays on my laptop. One of the overnight managers goes outside for a smoke around 6am.
OM: Hey, Jay?
J2K: Yeah?
OM: We got any Wii's in stock?
I stare at him. I knew for a fact we'd had some in stock the day before, but sold out within ten minutes of opening. If we'd gotten anymore, wouldn't YOU be the one who knows about it, being the overnight restock manager?
J2K: I doubt it.
OM: 'Cuz there's a guy outside asking if we have any.
I stare at him again. I KNOW it's someone who'd been in one of the lines at Target or wherever, who'd gotten dejected when wherever had sold out, and was now trying to literally do a back door sale.
J2K: Tell him to come back when we open.
OM: Righto.
I went back to what I was doing, and sure enough, not too long after that incident, I got call after call from people wanting to know whether we had any Wii's in stock, and saying no, no, no, etc. over and over.
And even when I was told we DID have some in stock, I had to tell people, "Yes, we just got some in... no, you can't place a hold on one... my recommendation is to BE HERE at 9AM when we open... no, as I said, no holds, no pre-sales... I understand you want to get one for your son for Christmas, but you really shouldn't have waited until the week before to get one... no, I don't know when our next shipment will come in... because our computers only tell us IF something is on order, not WHEN it will come in... sorry I can't help you. Have a nice day."
No, I mean ... well, let me explain.
At my job currently at the wholesale club, I work primarily as a cashier, although I do work LP checking receipts at the front door... and then last summer, management abruptly decided I was going to work the back door on Sunday mornings... starting at 5AM. Apparently someone needs to make sure the overnight crew aren't stealing stuff when they go outside on their smoke breaks.
Mind you, they didn't ASK before giving me this shift which necessitated a major change in my life on Saturdays. They just DID it. And they'd asked me once before if I'd wanted to work the back door job. I had considered it, but turned it down.
This time they just gave me the job, no asking.
But I'm getting off topic.
So, mostly my job on Sundays is to come in at the ass-crack of morning, eat either McDonalds food or microwaveable meals while checking the overnight crew as they head outside, and signing in the one vendor who comes in to check their stock. Otherwise, it's a fat lot of NOTHING. (Which is why I bring in my laptop and watch DVDs.)
Anyway. Last holiday season, the Nintendo Wii (oh god how I hate that thing, from a retail worker standpoint) was released. And, of course, Nintendo knows how to create a demand for it, by releasing such very very small quantities of units. And you'd see people lined up in the shopping center at the Kids World (Toys 'R Us chain), Target, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy. And invariably we would get people coming to us after those other places sold out (as our store flat out refused to do pre-sales or midnight sales on ANY merchandise).
So I'm driving to work Sunday morning at, like 4:45, having just stopped at McD's for food, and driving past the people lined up outside Kids World and Target, knowing they're waiting for the Wii, and knowing about 95% of them won't get one.
I go to work, get my stuff all set up, eat my food, do some mindless paperwork that my manager gave me to do (so at least I'm doing SOMETHING), while my DVD plays on my laptop. One of the overnight managers goes outside for a smoke around 6am.
OM: Hey, Jay?
J2K: Yeah?
OM: We got any Wii's in stock?
I stare at him. I knew for a fact we'd had some in stock the day before, but sold out within ten minutes of opening. If we'd gotten anymore, wouldn't YOU be the one who knows about it, being the overnight restock manager?
J2K: I doubt it.
OM: 'Cuz there's a guy outside asking if we have any.
I stare at him again. I KNOW it's someone who'd been in one of the lines at Target or wherever, who'd gotten dejected when wherever had sold out, and was now trying to literally do a back door sale.
J2K: Tell him to come back when we open.
OM: Righto.
I went back to what I was doing, and sure enough, not too long after that incident, I got call after call from people wanting to know whether we had any Wii's in stock, and saying no, no, no, etc. over and over.
And even when I was told we DID have some in stock, I had to tell people, "Yes, we just got some in... no, you can't place a hold on one... my recommendation is to BE HERE at 9AM when we open... no, as I said, no holds, no pre-sales... I understand you want to get one for your son for Christmas, but you really shouldn't have waited until the week before to get one... no, I don't know when our next shipment will come in... because our computers only tell us IF something is on order, not WHEN it will come in... sorry I can't help you. Have a nice day."
SOLD!
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