All in the space of four hours

[Lingerie_Lackey]

I only worked four hours today, yet still managed to experience all of this in that very short space of time.

The lady [not] in red
Was having a bra-fit and told the fitter that she wanted a white bra, a black bra and a red bra.
Bra-fitter: "I'm sorry, we don't have any red bras in at the moment."
SC: "But I need red."
BF: "We don't have red."
SC: "But I need red."
BF: "But we don't have red."
SC: "But I need red."
BF: "We usually only have red bras at Christmas or Valentines."
SC:"Why?"
BF: *Bangs head against wall*

In another thread I mentioned how a couple of customers flatly refused to believe a bra fit could take more than 15 minutes. This customer was in for over an hour.

A return is part of an exchange
All our sale items are down to their last reductions and, as such, they cannot be returned. I've lost count of the number of times I have had the following conversation:
SC: (Brings sale items to till.)
Me: "Just to let you know, sale items can't be returned now as they're down to their final reductions."
SC: "Oh. I can still exchange them though, can't I?"
Me: "... No. You can't bring them back at all."
Why do people not realise that part of an exchange involves returning something, therefore when I say, "no returns" that is also applicable to exchanges?

Jekyll and Hyde
An elderly lady arrived for a bra-fitting appointment ten minutes early. She was nice as pie whilst she waited, chatting to me and stuff. But when, at five minutes past her appointment time, our bra-fitter hadn't showed up it was like a completely different person took over. She turned into Ms. Mega-Strop because she had "a schedule" to stick to and couldn't "sit around waiting".

I found the bra-fitter who would be one minute, tops. I relayed this information to the customer, very polite and apologetic. She looked up at me, said absolutely nothing, and then went back to her magazine like I'd not even spoken. Ruuuuude.

Bra-fitter turned up and when she came out of the fitting room I asked if the customer was ok, "Yeah, she's fine." ... And she was! I could hear her cheerily chatting way as though nothing had happened. Then when the customer left the fitting room she said to me, in a happy voice, "All sorted!" That woman's mood switched faster than a pre-menstrual teenager's.

[Catwoman2965]

In another thread I mentioned how a couple of customers flatly refused to believe a bra fit could take more than 15 minutes. This customer was in for over an hour.

A return is part of an exchange
All our sale items are down to their last reductions and, as such, they cannot be returned. I've lost count of the number of times I have had the following conversation:
SC: (Brings sale items to till.)
Me: "Just to let you know, sale items can't be returned now as they're down to their final reductions."
SC: "Oh. I can still exchange them though, can't I?"
Me: "... No. You can't bring them back at all."
Why do people not realise that part of an exchange involves returning something, therefore when I say, "no returns" that is also applicable to exchanges?

Oh I know that well. My store's return policy is 90 days, no exceptions, no exchanges, or in the case of final sale items, not at all.

yet, in spite of being printed on the receipt, and, during final sale, signs everywhere, AND being told BEFORE the item is rung up, people still don't seem to get it. If our policy is 90 days, and you bring it back a month or more after that, no, I cannot "just do an exchange" 90 days is 90 days. Your excuse of "I didn't know that" or "when did the policy change?" makes no difference. (Up until THREE+ years ago we took anything back, no questions asked, but then went to 90 days). It's not like it changed yesterday, so if you say you didn't know, too bad.

With final sale items, we ask if they've tried the items on, telling them that the WILL NOT be able to return OR exchange the item. Yet we still get some, and the excuse there is "I wasn't told that" First of all, I have no control over what you're told in other stores, and if you bought it in MY store, you were told. Because its drummed into our heads that we must let them know its final sale.

[Lingerie_Lackey]

^ Exactly! One thing I've learned in this job is that the better a particular policy is, the more entitled the customers get. Our returns policy is 35 days with a receipt, but we will return things without receipts or after that timeframe. I think it's a pretty good policy, better than most places. But for some people it's just not good enough.

[PatchO'Black]

To be fair, I can see where a customer would think a "return" isn't the same as an "exchange". I know where I work, a "return" is when an item is sent back for a refund or store credit, while an "exchange" is when the customer gives back the original purchase and receives a replacement item of the same kind.

[Slayer]

To be fair, I can see where a customer would think a "return" isn't the same as an "exchange". I know where I work, a "return" is when an item is sent back for a refund or store credit, while an "exchange" is when the customer gives back the original purchase and receives a replacement item of the same kind.

Same. There's a clothing store here that I always visit and their policy is no returns. One day I asked about exchanges and they said "oh yeah, no problem, we just don't refund your money".

When I'm selling something I know can't be returned or exchanged, I always say both words. Helps for us.

The last woman with the mood swings, omg, how bizarre. If only it was an isolated event, lol!

[Teskeria]

Mood swings? possibly bipolar. my bipolar daughter was extremely fast cycling. she could go from totally manic to suicidally depressed in about 3 seconds, and she did so during her teen years (yeah, a great mix, bipolar and teenage hormones!) multiple times daily. Very scary when they suddenly flip.

[ArcticChicken]

Why do people not realise that part of an exchange involves returning something, therefore when I say, "no returns" that is also applicable to exchanges?

Because in a lot of places, that's not how it works. Most of the places I've shopped at "return" = "Get your money back" and "exchange" = "replace the item with a different one, or get store credit."

[Moosenogger]

In another thread I mentioned how a couple of customers flatly refused to believe a bra fit could take more than 15 minutes. This customer was in for over an hour.

...Really? An entire hour? But...why? Seriously, I can't imagine what would cause a bra fitting to last that long.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

A return is part of an exchange
All our sale items are down to their last reductions and, as such, they cannot be returned. I've lost count of the number of times I have had the following conversation:
SC: (Brings sale items to till.)
Me: "Just to let you know, sale items can't be returned now as they're down to their final reductions."
SC: "Oh. I can still exchange them though, can't I?"
Me: "... No. You can't bring them back at all."
Why do people not realise that part of an exchange involves returning something, therefore when I say, "no returns" that is also applicable to exchanges?

Easier way to say this: All sales final on final reduction merchandise.

It prevents people from switching between "return" and "exchange" and interpreting those terms in the way that most benefits them.

[CatsLairArchives]

I only worked four hours today, yet still managed to experience all of this in that very short space of time.

The lady [not] in red
Was having a bra-fit and told the fitter that she wanted a white bra, a black bra and a red bra.
Bra-fitter: "I'm sorry, we don't have any red bras in at the moment."
SC: "But I need red."
BF: "We don't have red."
SC: "But I need red."
BF: "But we don't have red."
SC: "But I need red."
BF: "We usually only have red bras at Christmas or Valentines."
SC:"Why?"
BF: *Bangs head against wall*

I f someone needs an article of clothing in red, and the stores do not have that color, why not simply buy a white one and then color it with rit fabric dye????

[mharbourgirl]

I f someone needs an article of clothing in red, and the stores do not have that color, why not simply buy a white one and then color it with rit fabric dye????

Well, most lingerie is made from synthetics, and they don't take dye all that well. If at all, really. That would only work with a cotton or maybe rayon bra.

I'd pay money to watch a whiny customer do that, though, if only to see how much of the dye they get all over themselves before they're done.

[Becks]

I can't imagine a place that only sells certain colors of bras at certain times of the year.

But then, I'm all about Frederick's of Hollywood.

[CatsLairArchives]

Well, most lingerie is made from synthetics, and they don't take dye all that well. If at all, really. That would only work with a cotton or maybe rayon bra.

Strange, as I have used it to dye quite a few things, from cotton to nylon and even the hair of several large dolls, and only had that happen once.

I'd pay money to watch a whiny customer do that, though, if only to see how much of the dye they get all over themselves before they're done.

Dying a garment tends to be a lot easier when you use an old ice cream pail. You just mix the dye in it, put the garment in, put the lid on, and swing it back and forth.

The same method also works fairly well for washing clothes in a pinch

[Iseeyouthere]

The lady [not] in red
Was having a bra-fit and told the fitter that she wanted a white bra, a black bra and a red bra.
Bra-fitter: "I'm sorry, we don't have any red bras in at the moment."
SC: "But I need red."
BF: "We don't have red."
SC: "But I need red."
BF: "But we don't have red."
SC: "But I need red."
BF: "We usually only have red bras at Christmas or Valentines."
SC:"Why?"
BF: *Bangs head against wall*

If you listen carefully... you can hear the wrench of stupidity in the gears which are my thoughts, grinding and shrieking metal as the gears try desperately to resume work.

[PepperElf]

BF: "But we don't have red."
SC: "But I need red."

makes you want to say, "What part of 'we don't have them' aren't you understanding"