I was told today by a coworker (who has worked with the company for some time even before this site opened) that when somebody comes through with a large pile of lumber, I must count EVERY ... SINGLE ... PIECE. Even if it's 125 pieces. Or 150. Or 200.
Me: "What do I do when there's a lineup of 5 or 6 people??"
CW: "You still have to count it. Otherwise we'll have HUGE losses in lumber." (Oh, as opposed to the HUGE losses we're having due to no security ... ?)
CW: "The guys at the desk here will help you."
Me: "Yeah, except for weekends, when they don't work."
CW: "Well, yeah, but you can always call for an extra cashier to come help."
Me: "Really? And when we are drastically short-staffed and the front registers are slammed too?" Because this has already happened, and we're not even in the "crazy busy" season yet.
CW: "Well, you just HAVE to count it."
Okay, well, instead of all this crap about "good customer service," maybe we should just change it to "Our customers are most likely thieves so just treat them all accordingly."
On the one hand, I can see the logic of not letting somebody claim they've got 125 pieces of lumber when they've actually got 150. But ... is there no better or faster/more efficient way to do this? Because I foresee a truly major shitstorm at some point when some poor soul is the only cashier in the lumber department and has a huge backup and is trying to count 100 or more pieces of wood that have been tossed onto a flat along with a ton of other stuff and it's all in total disarray -- I've already had a couple of customers come to my till with that kind of mess. So far it's only mildly aggravating, because we're NOT all that busy.
If anybody has worked or is working in this type of setting, is this standard operating procedure? If not, how does your place of business handle this?
Me: "What do I do when there's a lineup of 5 or 6 people??"
CW: "You still have to count it. Otherwise we'll have HUGE losses in lumber." (Oh, as opposed to the HUGE losses we're having due to no security ... ?)
CW: "The guys at the desk here will help you."
Me: "Yeah, except for weekends, when they don't work."
CW: "Well, yeah, but you can always call for an extra cashier to come help."
Me: "Really? And when we are drastically short-staffed and the front registers are slammed too?" Because this has already happened, and we're not even in the "crazy busy" season yet.
CW: "Well, you just HAVE to count it."
Okay, well, instead of all this crap about "good customer service," maybe we should just change it to "Our customers are most likely thieves so just treat them all accordingly."
On the one hand, I can see the logic of not letting somebody claim they've got 125 pieces of lumber when they've actually got 150. But ... is there no better or faster/more efficient way to do this? Because I foresee a truly major shitstorm at some point when some poor soul is the only cashier in the lumber department and has a huge backup and is trying to count 100 or more pieces of wood that have been tossed onto a flat along with a ton of other stuff and it's all in total disarray -- I've already had a couple of customers come to my till with that kind of mess. So far it's only mildly aggravating, because we're NOT all that busy.
If anybody has worked or is working in this type of setting, is this standard operating procedure? If not, how does your place of business handle this?
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