I officially started Tuesday last week at Hardware Store, but I only started my actual job of working the returns desk on Thursday last week, making today my 5th day on the front end.
Yesterday, being Wednesday, was really manic and a bit of a struggle for me. Hardware Store gets a huge influx of customers on Wednesdays mostly down to the discounts they give certain club-members on that day. It also means a lot of returns.
To give you a build up, I am a newbie who has not been fully trained and getting a lot of difficult transactions. Up until the latter part of my shift nobody had been mean or unreasonable, but I did struggle- in the first hour, only 2 transactions were I able to finish by myself!
The "Pilot"
It had died down a little towards the evening, and I was serving a couple of customers. 2 in a row were older gentlemen who had faulty goods and I had turned to my supervisor to ask what department to call to get someone with more expertise to help them. However, my supervisor was also serving customers, meaning I had to pause and wait for a polite moment to interject. I said to both customers "Please bear with me, as I'm new, I just need to ask my supervisor..." etc. Both were fine.
The second gentleman, a lovely little old man, was fine with this, as I said. By this point, a short queue was beginning to form. I moved away to get my supervisor's attention but she was rather deeply involved with another transaction, also a tricky one by the looks of things. I was not sure who to phone, so I waited another moment.
Then this middle-aged man pushed forward, slapped a piece of metal and a receipt on the counter and snapped in a hostile manner "Well do you know what to do about this?!"
Me: *blinks* If its a straight forward refund, then yes.
Mean Guy: Well do it then!
Me: *icily polite* I'll be right with you.
MG: (*can't remember what he said, but makes some rude comment about me being incompetent or something).
My supervisor has noticed, and is looking up with an unimpressed expression, probably about to ask me what is up, when I decide that I need to get this arsehole out of my line. So I put on a neutral expression and said "If you would come to this till then please, sir."
The older gentleman steps aside politely, already content to wait for a department person. He stands next MG, and MG carries on making rude comments about how I'm useless and I'm making a queue. He stands there saying "You don't know how to do your bloody job, you're just standing there doing nothing!"
Me: I was waiting to ask my supervisor about something that I didn't know how to do.
MG: See you're incompetent! You don't know how to do your job!
Old Gentleman: You don't have to be so bad-tempered to her!
I love that man.
MG is continuing to rant in the same vein. My supervisor has caught his words now, and calls across "Excuse me! She's new! Don't be hard on her, she's doing her best!"
I love my supervisor too. Not her fault she was busy!
MG seemed to accept then that perhaps a new staff member cannot be blamed for being new, so instead continues with this line of ranting:
MG: Well thats absolutely stupid! You shouldn't even be down here if you're new!
Me: But thats my job, sir, to be here.
I am now speaking in a sickeningly sweet tone, as I am aware that this can piss people off and it amuses me I can't quite manage the sugary smile however. I probably just look haughty.
MG: Thats just stupid, if you're new you can't do your job. I am a pilot and when I was first learning how to fly they didn't have me flying planes!
Me: Well, sir, this isn't a plane. Its a till.
I finish his refund (which was in itself exceedingly simple) and then he walked off.
I rolled my eyes at his back which made the little old men and ladies burst into titters. They all were quite sympathetic, and I thanked the old man who had been waiting.
My supervisor gave me the numbers I needed, everyone else got seen to, all were happy My supervisor was very annoyed on my behalf!
"Stanley"
This happened today.
I used to work in a very impoverished district in my town, known notoriously for its high level of theft. Shoplifters and violent junkies were just part of life down there. We managed to avoid confrontation most of the time by being wary, savvy and knowing when to let things go. This still surprised me though.
I can't entirely remember the problem. I think it was something involving a buggered up refund or severe overcharge...I think it was the latter, as it apparently involved a self-service checkout. I think the guy had accidentally been overcharged for an item, and was charged £999 for a £9.99 item.
Well my 2 supervisors were dealing with him, while I was standing nearby, as it was quiet. I think it was a straight-forward fix but he started to speak belligerently. I started to pay attention and it seemed it was more about the fact that they were refunding the WHOLE cost and not letting him keep the item he bought. Apparently, it should never have been sold to him in the first place, as it was a "trade" item, which means only a company or someone buying for a company can buy it. You have to have the right card for it etc.
This item that he desired so much? A tape measure.
A fucking. Tape. Measure.
"I want THAT one, not ANOTHER one!" he kept snapping. They kept trying to explain that he should never have been sold it, that it should never have even gone through the till. He was demanding goodwill, and they kept saying it just couldn't be done! They were offering him domestic alternatives (some cheaper), but nuuuu. HE HAD TO HAVE THAT ONE!
There was a packaged Stanley knife on the counter, and he picked it up and started making a show of holding it, and said several times "You're stupid to argue with me, I have a knife! You should do what I want, because I'm holding a knife."
He was very aggressive and belligerent, but I felt he was trying to make a bad-taste joke. However, I held back the urge to snap "At my last job I WAS threatened with a knife, so thats not funny!" Lets face it, he was definately an arsehole and not going to suddenly become sympathetic.
One of the supervisors got him down the Trade area, mainly just to get him away from us. I don't know if his issue was resolved or not.
My supervisors said they weren't personally bothered by his comments, but they also felt he hadn't been joking. I've been told that if I encounter anything like that when I'm alone, I'm to hit the panic button.
Yesterday, being Wednesday, was really manic and a bit of a struggle for me. Hardware Store gets a huge influx of customers on Wednesdays mostly down to the discounts they give certain club-members on that day. It also means a lot of returns.
To give you a build up, I am a newbie who has not been fully trained and getting a lot of difficult transactions. Up until the latter part of my shift nobody had been mean or unreasonable, but I did struggle- in the first hour, only 2 transactions were I able to finish by myself!
The "Pilot"
It had died down a little towards the evening, and I was serving a couple of customers. 2 in a row were older gentlemen who had faulty goods and I had turned to my supervisor to ask what department to call to get someone with more expertise to help them. However, my supervisor was also serving customers, meaning I had to pause and wait for a polite moment to interject. I said to both customers "Please bear with me, as I'm new, I just need to ask my supervisor..." etc. Both were fine.
The second gentleman, a lovely little old man, was fine with this, as I said. By this point, a short queue was beginning to form. I moved away to get my supervisor's attention but she was rather deeply involved with another transaction, also a tricky one by the looks of things. I was not sure who to phone, so I waited another moment.
Then this middle-aged man pushed forward, slapped a piece of metal and a receipt on the counter and snapped in a hostile manner "Well do you know what to do about this?!"
Me: *blinks* If its a straight forward refund, then yes.
Mean Guy: Well do it then!
Me: *icily polite* I'll be right with you.
MG: (*can't remember what he said, but makes some rude comment about me being incompetent or something).
My supervisor has noticed, and is looking up with an unimpressed expression, probably about to ask me what is up, when I decide that I need to get this arsehole out of my line. So I put on a neutral expression and said "If you would come to this till then please, sir."
The older gentleman steps aside politely, already content to wait for a department person. He stands next MG, and MG carries on making rude comments about how I'm useless and I'm making a queue. He stands there saying "You don't know how to do your bloody job, you're just standing there doing nothing!"
Me: I was waiting to ask my supervisor about something that I didn't know how to do.
MG: See you're incompetent! You don't know how to do your job!
Old Gentleman: You don't have to be so bad-tempered to her!
I love that man.
MG is continuing to rant in the same vein. My supervisor has caught his words now, and calls across "Excuse me! She's new! Don't be hard on her, she's doing her best!"
I love my supervisor too. Not her fault she was busy!
MG seemed to accept then that perhaps a new staff member cannot be blamed for being new, so instead continues with this line of ranting:
MG: Well thats absolutely stupid! You shouldn't even be down here if you're new!
Me: But thats my job, sir, to be here.
I am now speaking in a sickeningly sweet tone, as I am aware that this can piss people off and it amuses me I can't quite manage the sugary smile however. I probably just look haughty.
MG: Thats just stupid, if you're new you can't do your job. I am a pilot and when I was first learning how to fly they didn't have me flying planes!
Me: Well, sir, this isn't a plane. Its a till.
I finish his refund (which was in itself exceedingly simple) and then he walked off.
I rolled my eyes at his back which made the little old men and ladies burst into titters. They all were quite sympathetic, and I thanked the old man who had been waiting.
My supervisor gave me the numbers I needed, everyone else got seen to, all were happy My supervisor was very annoyed on my behalf!
"Stanley"
This happened today.
I used to work in a very impoverished district in my town, known notoriously for its high level of theft. Shoplifters and violent junkies were just part of life down there. We managed to avoid confrontation most of the time by being wary, savvy and knowing when to let things go. This still surprised me though.
I can't entirely remember the problem. I think it was something involving a buggered up refund or severe overcharge...I think it was the latter, as it apparently involved a self-service checkout. I think the guy had accidentally been overcharged for an item, and was charged £999 for a £9.99 item.
Well my 2 supervisors were dealing with him, while I was standing nearby, as it was quiet. I think it was a straight-forward fix but he started to speak belligerently. I started to pay attention and it seemed it was more about the fact that they were refunding the WHOLE cost and not letting him keep the item he bought. Apparently, it should never have been sold to him in the first place, as it was a "trade" item, which means only a company or someone buying for a company can buy it. You have to have the right card for it etc.
This item that he desired so much? A tape measure.
A fucking. Tape. Measure.
"I want THAT one, not ANOTHER one!" he kept snapping. They kept trying to explain that he should never have been sold it, that it should never have even gone through the till. He was demanding goodwill, and they kept saying it just couldn't be done! They were offering him domestic alternatives (some cheaper), but nuuuu. HE HAD TO HAVE THAT ONE!
There was a packaged Stanley knife on the counter, and he picked it up and started making a show of holding it, and said several times "You're stupid to argue with me, I have a knife! You should do what I want, because I'm holding a knife."
He was very aggressive and belligerent, but I felt he was trying to make a bad-taste joke. However, I held back the urge to snap "At my last job I WAS threatened with a knife, so thats not funny!" Lets face it, he was definately an arsehole and not going to suddenly become sympathetic.
One of the supervisors got him down the Trade area, mainly just to get him away from us. I don't know if his issue was resolved or not.
My supervisors said they weren't personally bothered by his comments, but they also felt he hadn't been joking. I've been told that if I encounter anything like that when I'm alone, I'm to hit the panic button.
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